Looking forward to our first social event for 2025 this Sunday for breakfast at the East Fremantle Yacht Club.
Co - President's Notes Tom Atkinson & Murray McKay
Welcome all Rotarians and friends to 2025!
Our little Rotary club has some big plans for positive community impact this year and we can't wait to get started!
Club meetings return on Tuesday January 21st, but not before our traditional "welcome back" breakfast on Sunday Jan 19th, 8:30am at East Fremantle Yacht Club. A terrific chance to get reacquainted with friends, on what may be the best time of day to be out and about on a hot day!
We look forward to seeing all members and supporters in coming weeks to continue our service to the community.
The first tranche of meetings in 2025 show off ’Both the new and the old’, not that Roger Painter is old, just his thousands of puns are!
The new is uncontested: 17yo Joshua Patrick will start year 12 at Northam Senior High School in 2025. He wants to do well enough to be accepted into a Biomedical Engineering course at UWA, and win a scholarship to live at St George’s College, before applying to Medical School. He is also very keen to join the Western Australian University Regiment, and is really looking forward to meeting Colonel Tim Inglis.
Let’s start with Roger who will kick off 2025 on 21 January before he heads back to the Canadian winter.
Roger “The Punster” Painter with Gordon Dunbar
Roger visits Perth from British Columbia, Canada every couple of years to reconnect with his grandchildren, usually just in time to help out at JacFest, and as a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Duncan, he comes to most of our meetings as well.
His old club RC South Cowichan, recently merged with RC Duncan and he is going to tell us how that has gone and what activities his new Club is involved in, just in case we might like to look at doing something similar.
On 28 January, Chis Back will give us his insights into the Los Angeles Wildfires from his perspective as a former CEO of the WA Bush Fires Board.
Lobsters and Fancy Plants
Dr Simon De Lestang is Principal Research Scientist with the WA Department of Fisheries. His focus is the western rock lobster, deep sea crabs and southern crustacean fisheries, with his primary duties being the stock assessments of commercially exploited fisheries.
And that’s what he will talk to us about on 4 February - Catch Quotas for recreational fishers.
Meanwhile, back on land, we have landed John Foss, a fourth generation wheat farmer who received a Nuffield Scholarship to help him get a grip on what might be on the horizon for wheat growers like his Eastern Wheatbelt family business. The result: in 2003 he established The Chia Co. to positively impact global health by making the nutrition in chia available to everyone, every day.
Now, John's on a mission to make plant-based foods mainstream — addressing issues like taste and texture — with millennials a big target. His first venture is Fancy Plants, a chilled dessert-style product. John insists Fancy Plants isn’t some “hardcore vegan brand” but instead wants to capture the rise of flexitarians — people who are choosing to eat less animal products in their diet.
And finally here’s Josh Patrick. A young man who Never Gives Up! He’ll be our Guest Speaker on 18 February.
“I was taught to walk, talk, swim and climb by First Nations people in a small community in the Kimberley region. This idyllic life changed forever when my sister Charlotte was born, a time of stress and anxiety while her life was hanging in the balance. We literally lived between the hospital and Ronald McDonald House for over 2 years cumulatively; my older sister and I even attended the hospital school when Charlotte was in PMH/PCH, which usually catered only for patients."
"Our previously functional and harmonious home turned suddenly volatile and violent as Charlotte’s extensive medical treatment and complex home care needs proved too much for her father. The combination of prescription and illicit drugs mixed with alcohol had a terrifying effect on a man who was battling to come to terms with the prognosis, and the impact of the countless medical procedures and hospital admissions required to keep this new baby girl alive. After a terrifying, unpredictable and volatile few months, my mum eventually found herself a single mum of three, newly pregnant with my youngest sister and caring for a child with extremely intensive and complex round-the-clock care needs. Her only option was to rely heavily on her eldest child, me, who was only 6 at the time."
"Despite the history of volatility, violence and drug and alcohol abuse that my mum and our family had all known so well and were relieved to be free of, our battle to protect my sisters had only just begun. Following almost two years of my mum fighting with everything she had to protect her babies from further male trauma and danger, she finally was awarded sole custody. Though the outcome was an immense relief for every member of our family, this prolonged, dehumanising process took an immense toll on my mum physically, emotionally and financially."
"Charlotte is now 10 and we were recently advised her condition is caused by a very rare genetic mutation, which is not heritable. It is an absolute miracle that the infant who was given such grim odds at birth and had such a traumatic start to life is now fairly medically stable and has survived a decade! Our hope is that we can use our tumultuous journey to advocate for initiatives that will hopefully pave an easier path for the young carers or disadvantaged youth of today and tomorrow."
"I acknowledge and honour my other family members, including my step-father Paul, who not only encourage me to embrace any opportunities to contribute and share our reality and story, but who actually do so knowing the toll and impact that my absence or investment will have on each and every one of them every time I accept yet another engagement.”
So we have some great and contrasting speakers coming to us in early 2025, with meetings that members should seriously consider inviting potential new members to be their guests.
Our regular big collectors in George Mavros at his village and Clive Pearson (Raffles Apartments) were very busy following Xmas and New Year celebrations resulting in a number of trips to the Scouts WA Recycling Centre in Cockburn Central. The funds raised from these collections support our local community projects as well as supporting the Scouts social enterprise helping them make a difference to young people through the scouting movement.
The club vehicle and trailer are invaluable assets for this activity as well as for JacFest and the Perth Makers Market.
Other club members also collect throughout the year with special mentions to Chris Dawson, Kenn Williams and Liz Palmer. Liz (David) must have been particularly thirsty over the holiday break (even though Liz blamed it on family and friends) dropping off a few bags of containers that filled a 240L bin. Thanks Liz and encouragement to members if you haven't got a use for your containers think of collecting for the club!
Como Rotary is doing a Fund Raiser to support Rotary International’s Number 1 project - the elimination of Polio worldwide.
This film is more than just a thrilling adventure. It's a story of sacrifice, determination, and the fight to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. Witness breathtaking Himalayan landscapes, the dedication of Sherpas, and Ken's unwavering spirit as he pushes his limits for a worthy cause.
Fly from Everest has already raised nearly half a million dollars to end polio, and net proceeds go directly to the End Polio Now campaign!
Want to be a part of this incredible story? Check out the trailer through out website - https://comorotary.org/
Roger has been joining Applecross Rotary meetings and activities over the past few years when he visits his daughter and her family who have lived in Perth since 2013.