We had the pleasure of our District Insurance Officer John Honey joining us. Also Brandon Lye who spoke with Barry Mendelawitz at the PMM Rotary information stall and expressed an interest in finding out more about Rotary.
 John Honey |  Brandon Lye |
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PMM Chair Chris Whelan reported the recent event was very successful with gate donations up 50% on previous best activity. This was the first time that we had EFTPOS machines(3) available and 10% of the donations were made through this medium. The convenience of the EFTPOS terminals were appreciated by the public and the Rotary volunteers collecting and did reflect in a higher than average donation than normally given with cash. The next Makers Market will be on the 20th September and Chris will circulate the roster to the members who will be rostered on for this event.
RJF Chair Kenn Williams passed onto the meeting information he has received from the City of Melville advising that the Jacaranda Festival could not go ahead unless the State Government moves to Phase 5 restrictions which the decision has been brought forward from the 24 October to the end of September. Kenn has replied to the correspondence stating our disappointment with the decision.
HAPPY DOLLARS
Birthday celebrations for Ian Lander for September 6th and Helen Jones-Fairnie on September 7th.
Two year Rotary anniversary for Andrew Bower on September 4th
Wedding anniversaries for Clive and Jan Pearson (Sep. 2nd) and Ian and Anita Lander (Sep. 4th)
Barry Mendelawitz was very happy to announce that last week Lieutenant Colonel Professor Dr Tim Ingles and colleague flew to Derby for the day with the 'lab without walls' equipment. They tested 30 ADF personnel for COVID with the results returned under 3 hours from taking the samples. This has never been done before and allowed the personnel to return to duties with minimal disruption.
Chris paid some HAPPY DOLLARS on behalf of the lucky person he managed to recover a piece of meat from his wind pipe by inserting his hand down the person's throat to allow him to breath again. This happened last week when Chris and Lee were at Oakford winery, and followed his first unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the piece of meat by using the Heimlich Maneuver.
GUEST SPEAKER
Past President and club secretary Chris Whelan was this weeks guest speaker.
The title of Chris's presentation was 'International Man of Mystery' and he took us through his very interesting story.
Chris was born in England and moved at an early age and grew up in Northern Rhodesia. He was sent to boarding school in Southern Rhodesia from the age of eight where he would only go home three times a year. When he finished school he got a scholarship in England to study Chemical Engineering which he qualified with honours in 1972. He then hitch hiked across Africa and then joined his parents who had moved to Australia in 1973.
Chris got a job with Cliffs Robe River and quickly rose through the ranks to become the Production Superintendent in the iron ore pelletizing plant. He met Lee at Cliffs.
Chris joined Alcoa in 1979 and worked for them for over 30 years in many different roles. He did a lot of work in China and Russia for Alcoa and worked in Alcoa's head office in New York City for 10 years until he retired around 2009. He was on Alcoa's payroll for a further couple of years and spent a few years doing executive coaching.
Chris joined Applecross Rotary in October 2014 to re-establish friends in Australia following his 10 years he had spent in America.
Chris and Lee use to spend a lot of time long distance walking however now they settle for travelling around Australia and "buzzing'" around the world. Well that was before COVID 19 so Applecross Rotary benefits further from the significant amount of work Chris contributes to the club as secretary, PMM chair, RJF committee etc, etc.