The end of the week is here yet again, and for some of us we had a day off in the middle of the week to let everyone enjoy Australia Day!
Although I wasn’t able to attend our Australia Day event on Wednesday, I understand it was an enormous success for our local community in celebrating “We’re all part of the story”. From the feedback I have received, there was nothing but positive & praise coming from the day. Comments were made like
“Thank you for the Damper, how much do we owe – Nothing all is free – wow, thank you, thank you”
“You know the best thing about the day? – There was no trouble, everyone was well behaved”
From the president, I cannot thank VP Lee, Mark B & Tony for their outstanding & tireless contributions both leading into the day & on the day to bring this amazing event together in such a short period of time for our community to enjoy. What a major event for the club so early in 2022! A huge thank you to each & every GMR member, partners, Rotary friends, friends of Rotary & other community organisations that assisted on the day, big or small for their contribution to make the day an enjoyable day, thank you, thank you…
VP Lee will have a report further in this bulletin and we will have a debrief of the day on Wednesday at our regular meeting of the day.
The week has also been a busy week for our club with Jacaranda Queen Hannah Craig & Candidate Ella Gilbert attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) at Camp Bornhoffen, Natural Bridge (Nth of Murwillumbah), from last Tuesday & finishing on Sunday. The program for people aged 19-29 is a week long camp to promote proactivity, personal & professional development through a range of speakers, team building exercises & leadership training. I trust that our candidates will have a great experience and will attain many skills from the awards. We will have the girls attend a meeting in the future to share their experiences from the event.
Our wonderful Youth leadership director, Leila has organised for our three Frank Glasson scholarship nominees to be interviewed by an interview panel over the weekend. The panel consists of Leila, Don Cardow & past member Don Philbrook after an amazing job to sift through the original candidates by our FGS committee, Richard Nichols, Don Philbrook with Judy Glasson overseeing the process. On Wednesday I am sure that Leila will be able to debrief the meeting & advise the overall recipient of the 2022 FGS.
Have an enjoyable week, take care, stay safe & look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.
NB: Wednesday meeting is proposed to be at the Crown Hotel same time as usual.
The members of Grafton Midday Rotary like to Congratulate Des Harvey on his Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community of the Clarence Valley.
A well deserved award – Des has dedicated his service with passion to our community – Congratulations!
Citation
For service to the community of the Clarence Valley.
Rotary Club of Grafton Midday
President, 1998-1999.
Foundation Member, since 1989.
Paul Harris Fellow.
Carols by Candlelight.
Grafton Chamber of Commerce
Executive Board Member, until 2021.
Co-Chair, Business after Hours, 2004.
President, 2001-2004.
Intimately involved with the development of the Grafton Bridge over 19 years.
Involved in the upgrading of Grafton CBD lights, drainage and installation of CCTV cameras.
Participant, Trade Mission to Norfolk Island.
Community
Committee Member, Clarence Valley Council, Flood Mitigation.
Committee Member, Clarence Valley Regional Training Hub, Grafton Base Hospital in collaboration with University of Wollongong.
Honorary Life Member and Patron, Clarence Pastoral and Agricultural Society Show, 2014.
Founder, Patron and Honorary Life Member, Clarence Valley Gem and Mineral Society (now Grafton Gem Club), 1964.
Fellow, Gemmological Association of Australia.
Guest of Honour, Opening Grafton and Quasquicentennial Maclean Agricultural Shows and Jacaranda Festival
Jacaranda Toastmasters
Foundation Member.
Past President.
Youth Leadership Director.
Jaycees
Participant, Trade Mission to Asia.
Conceived and delivered Jaycee Park and Trade Fairs.
Jacaranda Art Society
Established Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, now a national contest run by the Grafton Art Gallery.
Vice Vibes Last week we came together as one – We’re All Part of the Story – Australia Day 2022. The goal was to bring our community together to Reflect, Respect and learn about each other with stories. Our Guest of Honour Poppy Harry Walker – Wahlabul Bundjaling Elder from Tabulum requested that we respectfully come together to understand the First Nations peoples pain and unite as one to create a future filled with truth, hope, respect and Freedom for Everyone. January 26 has multiple meaning – it is Australia Day for some, and it is also, for some, Survival Day – Invasion Day – A day of Mourning. It is important that these feelings are respected and that together we have constructive conversations about this history and seek ways to move forward. Before we can move forward we MUST acknowledge the past. We’re All Part of the Story – this day provided an opportunity to acknowledge and learn. I am proud to be a part of this story and wish to Thank everyone that participated in this day. A special Thanks however goes to Mark Blackadder who was the driving force behind such a successful event. An extreme amount of work behind the scenes was conducted with many late nights. Your dedication is very much appreciated. The day was well attended despite light rain…….The building of relationships and collaboration with other organisations was strengthened with this event and I would hope that we can work closely with them in the future. The feedback from all who attended was that it was a HAPPY family event enjoyed by all who attended.
A huge congratulations to Grafton Midday Rotary for all your support – Be Brave…..Be Respectful….Be Truthful…Be Open to Learn……We are ALL Part of the Story. Once again a huge THANK YOU to everyone for all your assistance and support. I look forward to organising the next one.
I would also like to Congratulate Des Harvey on is Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community of the Clarence Valley. A well deserved award – Des has dedicated his service with passion to our community – Congratulations!
Congratulations Lee and Mark on a very successful day.
A few photos from the day more can be found on Facebook
