The Rotary Club of Healesville wrapped up the tumultuous 12 months at the celebratory changeover dinner.
Rotarians and other community members rocked up at the Healesville RSL on Monday 16 June.
Despite many challenges including the relocation of the regular meeting place three times, the local rotary club has thrived with the theme of Beautiful Town for 2024-25 under the leadership of president Sally Piper with support from the dedicated board.
From producing the inaugural Healesville Business Guide, decorating lamps on the main street with wreaths for the Christmas season, to hosting the Diwali Festival and Marvellous March Cabaret Ball, along with presenting Ron Goding Excellence Award and Pride of Workmanship Award, the Healesville Rotary Club has achieved a lot in one year to serve the community with joy.
The rotary club displayed all of its achievements on a ‘brag table’ and distributed its annual report for the sake of transparency at the meeting.
With the fabulous leadership in her first tenure, the rotarians decided to extend Ms Piper’s presidency for one more tenure.
President Piper spoke of her vision for 2025-26 by introducing the three Rs remedy.
She said the vision is to look back at the past traditions for a better future.
“Part of the future for any group is to look at what we achieved in the past and how we did that, and it’s through people power. So people power is number one, and to actually continue to do that, I had a very simple, little remedy for how you deal with things,” she said.
“So I had this basic three Rs. The first R is to retain the very people that are there as best as you can. And I think I can do a lot better than that.
“The second R is to re-engage. Over the years, members just drifted off for various reasons. There are a whole lot of reasons, but don’t forget them. So re-engage with those who’ve been part of the history and the success of the club.
“And the third R is to recruit … And when we talk about recruiting, it’s not just about numbers, it’s about having a look at the people who have something really special because it’s all about service above self.”
The three Rs remedy was launched on the day by inducting new members as well as re-inducting the past members who’d left the club for a while.
Lauren Richardson was elected to membership of the Rotary Club of Healesville.
Robert Chippindall and Ian Vine were re-inducted as rotarians.
Two different awards were presented at the meeting as well: the Community Service Award and the Paul Harris Award.
The inaugural Community Service Award was given to people, who dedicated their time to helping the rotary club services.
Pam, Lauren and Brett Richardson, Andy Ives, Cheryl Chippindall and Andrew Kwon took the honour of being the recipients of the inaugural Community Service Award.
The Healesville Rotary Club also amended its constitution to introduce Friends of Rotary to those who can’t commit to the rotary club on a permanent basis but are still available to support with rotary matters consistently.
Cheryl Chippindall and Pam Richardson were the two of the first Friends of Rotary inductees.
The highest recognition from Rotary International, the Paul Harris Fellow Award, was given to Cheryl Chippindall who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes for over 20 years.
When her name was announced unexpectedly, Ms Chippindall was overwhelmed with emotion and could only muster a single “thank you” before passing the microphone.
After Ms Chippindall’s short speech, vice president Terry Hills announced one more Paul Harris Fellow Award recipient out of the blue, which was Ms Piper.
“I have learnt so much in the last 12 months, I wasn’t expecting to learn quite as much as I did,” Ms Piper said.
“But for me, it’s all about how you can give back, and how I got to work with the most extraordinary team.
“I’m so grateful that I see a very bright future for the club.”
After the awards presentation, Mr Hills asked Mr Violi to come forward so he could ask him a few questions.
The last question was ‘What do these people have in common – John F Kennedy, Pope Francis, Don Bradman, King Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and Aaron Viloi?’
Mr Violi was trying to find a correct answer.
“I was going to say Italian but that isn’t for Kennedy or King Charles,” he said.
“I’m not sure. They’re all humans.”
Mr Hills welcomed the Casey MP as an honorary member of Rotary International.
“I can tell you that these people have in common with you that they are all honorary members of Rotary International,” the vice president said.
“It’s with great pleasure that I offer you honorary membership of the Rotary Club of Healesville.”
The meeting was wrapped by introducing the new board members who will officially take action from 1 July.
The new board is made up of president Sally Piper, vice president Terry Hills, secretary Del Brown, treasurer Lauren Richardson, community director Ben Lancaster, youth director Barba Dickson, vocational director Clifton Maberly and international director Vinay Kumar.
