Welcome to December wrap up
Rotary Club of Gawler December 1914 report
Happy new Year to members and friends and welcome back to the Rotary year.
December brought a mix of joy and sorrow for our club community.
We were delighted to celebrate the arrival of Elio Steve Barilla, born on 2 December to PP Anthony and his wife Rosene. Elio is their first child and the first grandchild of PP Steve and Grace Barilla, making the occasion especially meaningful for the family.
We also felt deep sadness with the passing of Dr Bruce Eastick. Bruce was a founding member of our Club and remained actively involved until late November. Club members and friends formed a guard of honour at his funeral, where Mike Williams delivered a heartfelt tribute on behalf of the Club. The large attendance on an extremely hot day was a powerful reflection of Bruce’s lifelong commitment to the community, far beyond his Rotary service. His family expressed how significant Rotary was in Bruce’s life.
Our thoughts remain with his grandson, President Kyle, his daughter Meredith, and their families during this difficult time.
The final meeting at Nixon’s on the 8th December saw the induction of new member John Barker and Past member Brian Burt as guest speaker. Prior to his talk Pres Kyle presented Brian with his latest Paul Harris pin. As guest speaker Brian outlined his time in Rotary, how people can be awarded the Paul Harris fellow pins and paid tribute to the people who made his time in Rotary memorable.
On the 15th December members and friends met at Clonlea Park for a wonderful twilight BBQ to end the year. Mike and Deb Williams did a wonderful job organising the BBQ and members brought salads and desserts to share. There was a fun Kris Kringle exchange which was popular and of course Mark Smeaton entertained everyone with the traditional Mystery Auction. The eventual winner of the Mystery box was Wayne Murphy. Wayne and Maggie were also winners in one of the minor prizes with Deb Williams the other. We thank everyone for their participation and being good sports. The money raised will go to Interplast to assist in cleft palate surgery.
Rotary meetings will commence on Monday 12th January at Nixon’s. The first guest speaker will be PP Anthony Barilla to enlighten us on some of the more interesting cases he has been involved in recently. I am sure he will also be letting us how his role as daddy is going as well.
Don’t forget if you have ideas for guest speakers or vocational visits don’t keep them to yourself share them with your committee so they can come to board to be prioritised and slipped into the calendar.
Keep an eye out in the next bulletin for the return of the what's coming up calendar.
