President Peter Smith's Column

What a happy 40^th Birthday Party we all had last Friday night! We are now officially into our 41^st year of Rotary in Strathfield.

Harley Tarrant and his committee (Peter Manenti, Peter Foss, Roger Vince, Kevin Beltrame and Raymond McCluskie el al) all did the club proud with their organisational skills which culminated in a wonderful and memorable evening.

It had everything. A great venue, terrific food and wine with entertaining reminiscences. A real celebration of 40 years of service, lots fun, fellowship and a great MC. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with some 23 former members of Strathfield Rotary.

I was pleased that 9 PDGs (including a past IR Treasurer), representatives from 11 other Rotary clubs, three local politicians, our Mayor – and some 36 members together with their partners – were able to honour our club by their attendance. We even had a visiting Rotarian from the RC of Pokhara New Road Nepal – their Charter President Rabi Prasad Baral. I believe total attendance was 170.

Terry Rohan and his raffle helpers did a sterling job and raised   $1,670 - $1,500 of which was donated to the Gandaki College & Boarding School in Pokhara, Nepal. The donation will provide a 12 month scholarship to enable a financially disadvantaged student to attend the college.

There were many others, too numerous to mention here, who contributed so much to the success of the evening – but I will certainly thank them personally at forthcoming dinner meetings.

Two weeks ago we welcomed Jenny Abela, from Vision Australia, who gave a wonderful and inspiring talk about how she has learnt to live with blindness – even to how she plays golf, does her own gardening and how she even mows her own lawn! Jenny was accompanied by Nick Gleeson, also from Vision Australia, with his guide dog Mr. Unity.

Graffiti Removal – as mentioned in my last column I am keen that the club investigate the possibility of commencing a graffiti removal program in our local community. As mentioned Strathfield Council have been informally approached and were very enthusiastic about the project - they are amenable to providing financial support and e1quipment storage.

A commitment sheet – or rather an “expression of interest” sheet – will be circulated over the next 2 weeks to gauge the level of interest. I am happy to be actively involved – but unless there is interest from at least 10 members the project will not be pursued (at least by me!).

This week/tonight we welcome   Faye Yarroll who will share with us her story of living life to the fullest with Bilateral Cochlear Implants. Faye was born with a hereditary loss of hearing – her siblings, parents and grandparents are all hearing impaired. Faye last visited us in 2009 and tonight will tell us of the technology changes that have occurred over the 2 years.

President Pete