At our Club meeting on Wednesday night, I had the immense honour and privilege to induct 
four new members to Rotary.
Some sixty members and guests were in attendance for this very special occasion.
Our new Rotarians Gary Castricum, David Cutler, Gaetano Fina and Cheryl Zuhlsdorff are well versed in the principles of goodwill and service having already practiced these in their business, professional or personal lives. They will no doubt be added sources of strength to our Club and Rotary in general. I wish them all many happy and useful years in Rotary.
Thank you to Sergeant David Nutter, Past District Governor Tim Moore, District Governor Nominee Adrian Froggatt and Past President (PP) Laury Gordyn who assisted during the ceremony. All four nominees were inducted at the same time which made for a very special ceremony. A huge thank you to the members and guests present at the meeting and especially all those who came to support the nominees, Gary’s wife Henny and his mum Mia, Gaetano’s wife Sandra, and Cheryl’s daughter Kirstin-Leigh.
We were very pleased to welcome our visitors Josie Wilson from the Rotary Club of Pakenham, Kay Morland, Robyn Shaw, Deb Giesen and Kanch de Silva.
Prior to the inductions I had the pleasure to present Kay Morland with a book containing many of the special memories that we shared with PP Mick Morland during the many years that he served the Club. This was Kay’s first visit to the Club since Mick’s tragic passing in June and it was really great to see her. Kay is currently on the Board of Directors of the International Inner Wheel.
After the inductions, PP Laury took charge of proceedings and he did a sterling job managing all the reports and allowing ample time for our guest speakers, Michelle Nichols and Emma Bentley from the City of Casey, to give their presentation on the City’s new premier entertainment and cultural precinct, Bunjil Place. It was an excellent presentation covering all the key stages of development from the sod turning event on 30 March 2015 by our very own PP Mick Morland OAM, who was then Mayor of the City of Casey, to the current Mayor Sam Aziz’s Black Tie dinner with community leaders on 26 October, the grand public opening on the weekend of 28-29 October, and the many arts, cultural and musical events to come… The City of Casey has really come of age!!
At the sod turning event Mayor Morland said that ‘Bunjil Place links us to Casey’s Aboriginal heritage. Bunjil is derived from traditional Aboriginal mythology meaning ‘the eagle’. It is the creator and spiritual leader of the Boon Wurrung people’. The project architect, Francis-Jones Morehen Thorpe were clearly inspired by the Bunjil when they developed the winning design for the building. Mick went on to say that ‘the story of the Bunjil provides a great link to this new facility and the idea that it will be a gathering place for the community and visitors.’ Thank you Sir Mick… After the Tigers, Bunjil Place is another achievement you would have been proud of in 2017!
I must make a special mention for Doug and Rhonda Anderson, who resumed their attendance this week after what was a pretty traumatic time for both of them. Congratulations also on being named mentors for Gaetano.
Hope you enjoy this week’s edition of the Spoke ‘n’ Words, which is a labour of love for our editor extraordinaire Sandi Tarant.
Enjoy
