Meeting Report 3126 August 22nd
Apologies for the evening:
Lance Hatcher, Helen Rapp-Bourne , Julie Tekell, Bob Ahrens, Patsy Johnson, Tom Kelly, Anthea John, John Lyons.
Guests
Dave Clarke - Guest Speaker
Margaret Leversedge – Guest of Beth Hudman
PP Ian Sanders provided the toast for the evening and Grace was given by PP Alan Harris. Chair for the evening was Stan Roulston
Chairperson Stan opened meeting 3126 and welcomed members, guest speaker Dave Clarke and guest of Beth Margaret.
Stan then called for members and Rotarian for their spots.
PP Almoner Mike Williams Reported that Lance is making a slow recovery back to his old self. He is missing Rotary and his Rotary friends but has just not been up to coming. Lance and Glenice have a trip to the NT booked in September to see their son, so Mike told him that it would be best to focus on that and we would see him on his return.
PP Steve Barilla announced final roster for the weekend’s Gawler show parking.
Sergeant Barry called for the wheel spin and this week’s lucky winners received chocolates. Anniversaries week was Pres Kathy Heindrich on 10 years of membership. Barry also pointed out that Colin and Lisa Bazeley were celebrating an impressive 40 years of marriage this week. He then gave another entertaining session with “Facebook funnies”.
After a short break Stan introduced Guest speaker Dave Clarke from Willo’s Mens shed.
Dave has been Chair of the Mens Shed for 2 years and a volunteer since 2014 when he joined as part of the Newstart program. He has been a long time Scout Leader and collects Model trains in his spare time.
Willo’s Mens Shed is in Little Paxton St Willaston and has been there since its inception in 2007.
In the beginning it was a meeting place for men to go and have a chat and use the shed when they no longer had their own. The committee meetings were more informal chat sessions but since 2019 the meetings are called Toolbox Meetings which are more formalised and ideas and jobs are listed so everyone can see what is going on and who is doing it when. Willo’s has grown to 100 members – from 60 -100 in the last 5 years. Willo’s Men’s Shed Inc. is linked to the
Australian Men’s Shed Association. It is a non for profit incorporated group. They charge an annual membership fee and have a come and try before you buy.
The Mens Shed is a South Australian initiative started in 1993 by a woman who saw the need for husbands of her health care patients to have a place to go. 5 years after the initiative, the Victorian’s called it “Mens Shed” There are now over 1200 Mens Shed in Australia and another 1100 throughout the rest of the world. Ireland has more Mens Sheds per capita that anywhere else. Fun Fact-There are more Mens Sheds in Australia than there are McDonalds!
Willo’s Mens shed has a social inclusion program to cater for men of all ages who have a neurodiversity such as Brain injury, Autism ADHD etc. This was started when the group was approached at the Village Fair by a mum of a young lad who had nowhere to go that met his needs. After meeting as a committee Dave was approached to mentor the boy. His parents could not believe the difference in the young man after a few weeks. He looked forward to attending and was more outgoing at home. Carers who come along members of the program are taught the woodworking skills as well so they can help.
Wiilo’s isn’t all woodworking though they encourage music and have a small group called “the Shed Shakers” with a variety of instruments and singing. They do welding, have a social/ leisure area with a kitchen to prepare meals and snacks and have a chat.
In 2019 the Willo's Men's shed obtained a $20,000 grant from the "Fund my Neighbourhood" scheme through the help of the Rotary Club Gawler, to add another new shed to expand as the workshop space was becoming too small to cope with the expanding membership,
Ahrens Construction erected the shed and donated the concrete floor. The Shed was officially opened on February 8th 2020 by Mayor Karen Redman, Steve Barilla (who was the outgoing Rotary Pres) and Mark Smeaton as the incoming President of Gawler Rotary.
It is a common misconception that Willo’s Mens Shed is named so because of its location in Willaston but that is just a happy coincidence! It is actually named because John Williamson has a barn on his property called Willo’s. Willo’s Mens Shed use one of John’s songs on their YouTube clip and got permission from John to name their shed Willo’s.
Willo's have stalls at the Gawler show, and Village fair to showcase their products and also sell them to recoup costs to be able to make more., Their famous Tepees are in many schools and kindies in the area. These are designed, built and installed by Willo's members.
Willo’s is only one of 2 sheds in SA to hold a “Shed Muster” a little like our Rotary conference. From the muster They have introduced “Shed Mates” where all the names of people who are sick or in hospital is recorded for everyone to see so visitors and follow up can be arranged making sure everyone is checked in with.
Mens Sheds have organised a charity fundraiser called Bat for Will where groups can decorate a cricket bat and these will then be sent to Canberra to be exhibited then auctioned. Dave showed us 2 magnificent examples that have been done at willows.
Stan thanked Dave for his most informative talk and after a short Q & A session from members he presented Dave with a Certificate of thanks. He then asked Pres Kathy to present her weekly wrap up.
Pres Kathy Thanked guests for coming and reminded members that on
25th August there is a meeting at the Vine Inn to hear an update of the dental project; she thanked volunteers for the upcoming Gawler show parking.
Don't forget about booking the area 6 dinner and watch out for the email re voting on the regionlisation project.
Next weeks Chair is Angela Moore and the Gust speaker is Rosie Gilsenan -Reed from Two Wells Primary School.
After the Four Way Test Pres Kathy closed meeting 3126
Creating Tomorrow Regionalisation Project
