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In The Chair: President Peter Draper Members: 11. Guests: Rod and Ruth Tait Exchange Student Javian Niewöhner ******************************** Presentation of PHF to Ruth Tait President Peter presented the Paul Harris Fellow to Ruth Tait with the following citation: ‘I am Peter Draper and the current President of the Leeton Rotary Club. The Rotary Foundation is Rotary International’s Charity which supports Rotary’s 7 areas of Focus – These include: - Promoting Peace
- Fighting Disease
- Providing clean water sanitation and hygiene
- Saving Mothers and Children
- Supporting education
- Growing local economies
- Protecting the environment
Rotary Clubs support the Rotary Foundation though annual contributions that are invested internationally. In Australia, Rotary Club donations provide the opportunity to allow the symbolic presentation of Paul Harris Fellowship Awards, named after the founder of Rotary. These awards are this club’s way of acknowledging significant contributions both within the local community and within our Club. With each PHF award the Rotary Club of Leeton donates $1000 US towards the Rotary Foundation. This year President Peter Draper and the Rotary Club of Leeton wish to acknowledge a person who has made a significant contribution toward our community and Club. Could I ask Ruth Tait to come forward. Ruth Tait has a long association the Rotary Club of Leeton through the RC of Leeton Rotary Ball, as accompanist for the debs. Ruth is a Barellan local (and we know how supportive of local community Barellan is). Ruth is a committed community person - always happy and easy to collaborate with and over the past 20+ years has made a significant contribution to the Leeton community in many ways. Ruth instigated the revival of the Leeton Town Band in 2006. Ruth Tait, a local piano teacher, called for expressions of interest to resurrect the town band, so held a public meeting at the Leeton Roxy Community Theatre. After receiving an overwhelming response at the meeting, the new Leeton Town Band was formed and has been thriving ever since! It provides wonderful music for the towns many events and is a great training opportunity for young local musicians. Leeton Town Band has organised a highly successful ‘Outback Band Spectacular’ in November for the last 11 years. The Outback Band Spectacular attracts bands and individual performers from as far as Sydney, Canberra as well as many regional centres. The event has become a highlight of the Leeton Community as well as on the NSW Band Association calendar. Ruth has had a long involvement in supporting youth and providing opportunities and experiences for youth in our community. The contribution of Ruth to our community is acknowledged, appreciated, and recognised by the Rotary Club of Leeton. It is with great pleasure that I present Ruth with the emblem of appreciation given to Paul Harris Fellows. Please accept our congratulations and sincere thanks, for your contribution and commitment to our community.’ Ruth noted in reply that the award is overwhelming since her contribution to the community is all about music. Ruth came from Barellan and was surrounded by music – her grandfather played violin and mother played piano by ear. She learnt piano from the Nuns at Barellan and Leeton but related a particularly traumatic experience with a Nun in Barellan that nearly ended her music career. She continued her studies at the Canberra School of Music. She and Rod moved to Leeton some 20 years ago. Her journey with the band began after she was the official accompanist at the Leeton Eisteddfod and noted to her sister in Sydney that the town needed a band. Her sister told her to do something about it so she did by convening a meeting at the Roxy and it went from there! It has been quite a learning curve - particularly the conductors role. The Band Spectacular began in 2010 with a small gathering of bands from Wagga, Griffith and Leeton. It has now grown to a much bigger affair (she has been told that the Band Spectacular brings more money to the town than any other event). It has attracted some Australian composers – including one who will be conducting original work at this year’s event. |
