Today's club meeting was a very enjoyable informal breakfast at Beau's in Bentleigh to welcome in the new Rotary year and Neville as President. There was a good turn out that included guests, Gary Ramage, and Clemence Vandercruyssen - our youth exchange student from France of 2019. There were no guest speakers, but club members who had plenty to say.
- Neville thanked everyone for turning up and making his first meeting special. He reminded everyone of next week's board meeting on Tuesday 14 July in his office at the usual time.
- Nicky Chung reminded everyone of next week's guest speaker, Mark Jones, who is a member of Traralgon RC, and a photographer of note.
- Jim Magee has just returned from his trip to Europe and a fantastic 1000km Camino de Santiago walk which he undertook as a personal challenge together with his wife, and raise funds for All Abilities Cricket. The walk took 49 days and he managed to raise over $7,000. He thanked the club for donating $1,000 to the cause. He and his wife enjoyed the walk so much, they are planning another similar walk next year.
- Jules Gaddie spoke of the people of Roseto in Pennsylvania who defy the medical odds for longevity regardless of lifestyle habits - the importance of connections with other people. A scientific and medical study found that diet or lifestyles were not the panacea for longevity but was due to real connection and interest in other people. - known as the Roseto effect. He likened this to Rotary, and the continued opportunity for connection Rotary provides, and encourages everyone to remain connected.
- Clemence Vandercruyssen spoke of her visit to Australia, after having spent 5 months in New Zealand on a working holiday with her boyfriend. She is here for 10 days, catching up with home-stays and friends from her time here as an exchange student in 2019. She has completed her studies with a masters in food science and technology, and will return to France to seek work in Lyon whilst her boyfriend will help run the family farm specialising in dairy production and cheese-making. She thanked Rotary and the club for her wonderful exchange and was so grateful for having had the experience that could not be repeated without Rotary's support. She even discovered two of our club members who speak French - Marg Toyas and Bert d'Unienville. Well done Marg and Bert! The club wishes Clemence all the best for the future.
- Linda announced next week's breakfast meeting will be held at Gilbert's at 282 Centre Road, Bentleigh. The breakfast room is upstairs and is equipped with AV capabilities suitable for running club meetings with guest speakers. She spoke of Cilantro's recent offerings for holding our meetings moving forward - however, these do not meet our expectations and has resulted in needing to check other venues for our club meetings. An email will be issued to club members to explain our current situation and proposed change in venue for future meetings.
The meeting closed on a high note with members lingering to chat and mingle in a friendly environment.
