THE WILLETTON CHRONICLES EDITION 98 (Dec 09, 2021)

Stephen Genoni

'Tis the season to be merry, but it's fair to say we've been doing a fair bit of "merry making" over the past six months and I wanted to get that on the record and to especially thank Kevin Baruffi for his sterling efforts in organising our programme including inserting plenty of interest and enjoyment into the social side of things. That started with our annual wine tasting fund raiser at La Vigna hosted by the inimitable Michael Tamburri ably assisted by his daughter Anne Marie They treated us to a magnificent "feast" of wine and food and gave us an insight into some very interesting and very tasty wines.

We followed this up on 13 October by attending a social gathering hosted by the Member for the Federal seat of Tangney, the Honourable Ben Morton MP. This is an annual event to thank a multitude of service Clubs for their important contribution to society and provides a great opportunity to mix and exchange ideas.

Then thanks to Mary Henderson, on 20 October we had a vey interesting (if somewhat chilly) visit to the Port Of Fremantle and learnt much about its interesting history including the part played by CY O'Connor in engineering the wharf side. It was only right that in keeping with the "sea faring theme" we then adjourned to Clancy's Fish Pub for dinner and a "thirst quencher" (whether needed or not! ED)

You might say that we "topped" this off by celebrating Australian Rotary Health Hat Day on 3 November. From the rather disparate lot below, the Melville Glades Golf Club (MGGC) staff picked "Lethal" Leigh Thorp (third from the left) as the winner of the "best" hat award. There was no prize, just the glory to bask in!

David Honeychurch then spoke about Australian Rotary Health (ARH), its history and its research (most recently into Mental Health) The full text is in the right hand column, but it's noteworthy that over time Australian Rotary Clubs have donated over $42,000,000 to ARH of which our Club has given $58,586 plus $5,000 toward the education of two indigenous scholars. Club Director For Community Service, Rob Webster, then presented a $1,000 cheque from the Club for ARH.

Thanks to Kevin Baruffi our next formal social event on 9 November was at The Bentley Pines Gold Plate Awarded training restaurant at the South Metropolitan College Of Technical And Further Education, where the trainees and staff made sure we, our partners and friends had a most enjoyable experience.

The Chefs!

Perhaps a little less merry, but no less important, we held our AGM on 17 November and I especially want to thank Club Secretary John Erkins (working closely with Club Treasurer Richard Ibbitson) for all that he did to ensure the members were fully informed and that the meeting ran smoothly including the election of: John Erkins, Richard Ibbitson, Ian Ross, Kevin Baruffi, Stuart Diggins, Gordon Booth, Kieran English, Rob Webster, Simon Cubitt and David Honeychurch. My report is in the right hand column.

Our last meeting for the year is this Wednesday 15 December 2021. It's a BBQ with partners at MGGC. This will be followed by our Christmas Breakfast with partners at the Royal Perth Golf Club on Sunday 19 December 2021; and in the New Year with the President's Barbecue on 5 January 2022. Our next regular Club meeting is on 12 January 2022 The members rostered for that meeting are Gordon Booth, Ann Edgar, Simon Cubitt and Vic Camp. A new roster will be published soon for the remainder of the Rotary Year.

And with that I would just like to wish everyone a very Merry and Safe Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm off to deliver my presents:

ARH, PRESIDENT STEVE'S AGM REPORT AND SIMON'S TOAST

ARH was founded by Ian Scott, from the Rotary Club of Mornington, Victoria. Scott was so moved by the impact of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) on families that he resolved to set up a fund to support research on this and other family health problems. It made its first grants in 1985. This included a project which showed that the prone sleeping position of the infant was a major risk factor. An information campaign following this research led to a rapid fall in the deaths from SIDS in Australia.

The Fund later supported research, into environmental health problems of the aged, adolescent health and family health and from 2000, it began to specialise in support for mental illness research in recognition of the adverse effects that mental illness had on the health and wellbeing of children, youth and adults in Australia.

ARH is currently the largest non-government funder of research in this area in Australia. There are currently active:

Thirty two (32) Mental Health research grants
Nine (9) Ian Scott Scholarships
Eight (8) Phd Doctorates
Four (4) Post Doctorate Fellowships
Thirty eight (38) General Health Scholarships

Covering such things as: Substance Abuse-Risks and Health Factors; Perinatal PTSD in Refugee women; Behavioural Issues in Children of ADF Personnel with PTSD; Alcohol Drugs and Anxiety; Bowel Cancer; Prostate Cancer and Diabetes

In addition, ARH supports research into a wide range of other health problems with Funding Partner Grants, which involve Rotary Clubs raising money for a specific project with matched support from ARH; plus also for students training as health professionals with Indigenous Health Scholarships, Rural Medical Scholarships and Rural Nursing Scholarships.

ARH also supports community awareness activities and education campaigns on mental health including Community Mental Health Forums, Mental Health First Aid Workshops and training of young researchers to better communicate with the public.

Since inception of the $50,000,000 funds raised by ARH, Rotary Clubs have contributed $42,000.000 of which D9465 has contributed $1,574,000 Of that, our Club has donated $58,586 plus $5,000 for the education of two indigenous scholars for which we recently received a letter of thanks from Western Regional Director PDG Jerry Pilcher (RC Of Scarborough) and D9465 Representative PP John Dodman (RC Of Como)

PRESIDENT STEVE"S REPORT TO THE AGM

To this point, the Rotary Year has been interesting, challenging and gratifying. Interesting because of the changes to programming we have introduced; challenging because for want of a major source of income, we have committed to establishing the Willetton Rotary Artisan Market (for which I especially thank Ian Ross and his team) to replace what we've lost, but also to refresh and re-energise and head in a different less labour intensive direction than was the case with the Willetton Rotary Community Fair; challenging also to obtain and retain new members and gratifying we have made headway; gratifying that we have been able to retain and build upon our strong relationship with WSHS Interact Club and more broadly with WSHS to source and sponsor candidates for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA); the Rotary Youth Programme of Enrichment (RYPEN): the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF); the Santos Science Experience ; Camp Inspiration for the disabled; and Rotary WA Driver Education (RWADE); and also gratifying that we've been active in Community Service with the Buddy Bench project, Willetton Community Garden, Castlereagh School and Australian Rotary Health. I thank everyone for their support and the part they have played and am looking forward to all we can achieve in the second half of the Rotary Year.

SIMON CUBITT TOAST THE ROTARY CLUB OF FAIRBAULT GREENLAND

Given the recent hot weather, Simon thought it would be good to toast a Club from colder climes. Enter the Rotary Club of Fairbault, Greenland. which was chartered on 1 May 1920 as Rotary's 596th club, and on 1 May 2020 celebrated its 100th birthday. Under inaugural President Frank W. McKellip there were twenty one (21) other members. This increased to thirty five (35) by years end and a further twenty-one (21) in 1921. The current President, Brenda DeMars, is the 101st. The Club supports a local program called STRIVE for high school students who find themselves at a crossroad in their lives, trying to complete the day to day requirements of a student while also deciding what career or education path they will take after graduation. STRIVE, which is now in it's twenty third year (23rd) year, covers topics such as managing stress, personal finance, and the role that civics plays in communities as well as providing scholarships valued in 2020 at USD16,000.

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