YESTERDAY
Another excellent Makers Market on what could only be described as a perfect-weather day. The crowds kept coming, with the usual morning surge setting the pace. I spoke with several visitors heading to and from the Upper CP—some from Germany and the UK—who were amazed by the location, the quality of the stalls, and the generosity shown toward Applecross Rotary for our orderly and supportive parking management. And what a wonderfully multicultural mix of people.
Well done to everyone on another busy day and a job well executed.
I did some rough arithmetic on the team who stayed behind to bump out our assets and return everything to storage. Would you believe it?
The average age of the five-person crew was almost 80—yes, 80!
And after a long day in the trenches, we were still there at the end doing the heavy lifting. There is a clear need for change here, and some younger support would make a world of difference.
The average age of the five-person crew was almost 80—yes, 80!
And after a long day in the trenches, we were still there at the end doing the heavy lifting. There is a clear need for change here, and some younger support would make a world of difference.
There are absolutely no prizes for dying on the job 
A few challenges emerged in the Lower Carpark as we reach the end of summer, with construction vehicles leaving large sections of the lowerlands sandy and stripped of grass. This made parking management particularly tricky, and despite careful coordination, four vehicles still needed assistance after becoming bogged. Unfortunately, this issue is likely to worsen until we get some rain, and the area will require attention from the City of Melville before the next markets in early April.
DISTRICT MEMBERSHIP GRANT UPDATE
Under Membership Director Adele, we have submitted a joint application (with Melville RC) for a District 9423 Membership Grant to support a partnership initiative with the Melville Cockburn Chamber of Commerce (MCCC). Both Applecross Rotary and Melville Rotary are members of the Chamber.
Each Club will contribute $1,000 alongside the District Grant. The project aims to strengthen our relationship with the Chamber so local businesses can support our existing projects, propose new ones, and experience the value of deeper charitable engagement with our communities.
The intention is twofold:
• increase business involvement and awareness of Rotary’s work
• build Rotary membership as a natural outcome
This will not be a short-term project, but we will monitor interest and progress as it develops. The plan is to culminate in a joint MCCC/Rotary Volunteers Expo in October.
This initiative also aligns with the work of the Rotary Community Group under David Barton and the activities of Melville Rotary within the Chamber.
I attended a well-supported Chamber breakfast last Wednesday, and the key executives expressed strong enthusiasm for working with us.
Each Club—including potentially Attadale and hopefully Cockburn—will need to appoint a business member as a Champion for the initiative. Both AxR and MR appear to have this in hand.
Well done to Adele for driving this. We expect District approval within the next week so we can begin. The Board has a copy of the submission.
Kenn.