The Rotary Club of Maffra
The 10th October 2021 was International Mental Health Day. Australian Rotary Health instituted a Hat Day to raise funds for research into mental health. The Rotary Club of Maffra took up the cause to celebrate this, and to raise awareness of the issues of youth mental health in our community.
Our Rotary Club sponsored the First Aid for Mental Health Course in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Traralgon. There were 10 participants, all with an interest in the identification and support of young people with mental health issues. At our Club meeting that week, our guest speaker was Peter Wallis from the Rotary Club of Traralgon. He gave us information about the First Aid for Mental Health Course, which allowed members to understand the ethos behind the course, and the need for it.
The Rotary Club of Sale
Rotarians gather under an indigenous ‘marker’ tree discovered on the survey for the Rotary Club of Sale’s Wetland Trail project.
The Rotary Club of Sale enjoyed celebrations including International Women’s Day and the 100th Anniversary of Rotary in Australia. We marked the achievements of members including PP PHF Graeme Dyer OAM’s 50 years of membership and PP Lyndon Webb’s posthumous OAM award.
The club projects include the development of the Sale Wetlands Trail, which will be a great community asset as it will extend current trails - which were themselves a Rotary project - and will allow a complete circumnavigation of the Sale Common.
The club also runs the ‘Rotary Race the Rubeena’ 5 km and 10 km fun runs each year to raise funds for community projects. The 5 km runners race against ‘The Rubeena’ from the Swing Bridge on the La Trobe River to the Port of Sale. This year will be special as the event on 3rd April will be held on The Rubeena’s 110th Anniversary.
The Rotary Club of Sale club helped with traffic management during The Archibald Prize Exhibition at the Port of Sale in October and November. The club had a sausage sizzle and raised funds for End Polio Now.
The Club continues to support projects that it has inaugurated, but which are now incorporated and self-managed. These include the Sale Music Festival, a free day of music and fun for families, and Monday Tucker which provides a free hot meal each Monday night.
Traralgon Central Rotary Club
Traralgon Creek flows from the Strzelecki Ranges meandering through the town and into the Latrobe River. The creek has significant cultural heritage and natural environment values for the many communities, indigenous and pre/post town establishment, that have lived in its vicinity. In the 1980’s the City Council constructed connected pathways along the creek. As the town has expanded so has the Traralgon Creek walk. Today, it is a much-loved recreational area for people who traverse it daily with their four-legged friends.
The rapid flooding that swept through the town in June 2021, highlighted the need for a community effort to remove rubbish and debris within the creek and banks. It highlighted for the Club a need to develop a maintenance and improvement plan for the creek that could eventually lead to a southern expansion of the creek walk connecting it to the Traralgon Railway Reserve. Rotarians Charlie Medhurst and Jenny Hammett set about pulling together the key stakeholders and established a Friends of Traralgon Creek Walk volunteer group, auspiced by Traralgon Central Rotary Club Inc. They found partners in the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Latrobe City Council, Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation, AGL and Traralgon Centre Plaza. On Monday 28 February, Traralgon Central Rotary Club will officially launch the Friends of Traralgon Creek Walk and their first project will be participation in the Clean Up Australia Day on March 6.
In the coming months the Club will work with the Friends group volunteers and stakeholder partners to develop and implement a three year strategic plan for the Creek Walk.
Interested volunteers can contact Jenny on 0418334747 for further information.
The Rotary Club of Traralgon
John and Wayne installing Fairy Lights, a Traralgon Rotarian lost taking them down, and approval from the Elf! Christmas Eve.
What has the Rotary Club of Traralgon been up to lately? Apart from celebrating its 80th Anniversary this year, just a few of our projects are below!
Fairy Lights in the CBD - For the second year in a row the Christmas Parade held in Traralgon was cancelled due to the Covid restrictions. Not to be outdone, the Rotary Club of Traralgon along with a helpful Elf decided it was high time that townsfolks and visitors had a little cheer and so they installed fairy lights in the trees in the Franklin Street CBD. Members were up bright and early on consecutive mornings to climb ladders, arming themselves with installation devices - namely rakes to help reach the branches. The lights were solar, and retailers were encouraged to get into the swing of things and decorate their windows too. Of course, correct permission was sought from Council and the Arborist and no trees suffered as a consequence! Coffee and breakfast followed and even the Elf was amazed how well they brightened up the CBD. The hard part came in taking them down in January! We made the Latrobe Valley Express newspaper and Rotary made a splash in the centre of the paper complete with write up and photos. The Elf hopes to build on these lights next Christmas and that we can have the Parade as well.
Following the success of the fairy lights in the CBD, we were asked by the Traralgon Centre Plaza to cook an early morning BBQ on Christmas Eve. This was free event for shoppers and staff. A donation tin was there and shoppers were very generous with their support for Rotary along with a sizable donation made by the Traralgon Centre Plaza for Rotary’s time and energy. Another early morning effort but well worth it.
Youth Mental Health First Aid - In February 2022, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Foster, our Club completed its eleventh YMHFA Course. The aim of the course is to teach participants to recognise and provide help to those people who may show signs of suffering a mental health problem. Our club pays all costs. The course is free and participants receive a course book and a completion certificate. It is open to any interested persons. If any Rotary Clubs are interested in holding a course for their community, contact Traralgon Rotarian Ian Keith.
Business Breakfasts - For the seventh year in a row, we had our monthly Rotary Business Breakfasts which give us an opportunity to liaise with the community and tell them about Rotary. So successful are the Breakfasts that we have even had new members join the club as a result. Come and give our Breakfast a try, it’s well worth the early start! At the February breakfast we welcomed Tina Hunt, the owner manager of Hello World who has just clocked up 30 years in business.
Gardening at Traralgon Centre Plaze - Members of the Rotary Club of Traralgon are helping the Traralgon Centre Plaza with some gardening and light maintenance in return for donations to club Project account. Of course, the two hours once a fortnight are followed by a well earned coffee and cake!
Eat Up Australia Program - Feeding hungry Kids so they can Learn, grow and succeed. Eat up Australia is a program to provide sandwiches to various school children who regularly attend school without lunch. The Rotary Club of Traralgon will be making sandwiches on a regular basis. The food is packed in plain brown paper and recipients are anonymous.
This year we are launching the Rotary Junior Community Awards at two rural primary schools - Tyers and Gormandale. These awards are targeted to Grade 6 and cover Community service, Social experience and Physical experience.
Business Breakfasts - For the seventh year in a row, we had our monthly Rotary Business Breakfasts which give us an opportunity to liaise with the community and tell them about Rotary. So successful are the Breakfasts that we have even had new members join the club as a result. Come and give our Breakfast a try, it’s well worth the early start! At the February breakfast we welcomed Tina Hunt, the owner manager of Hello World who has just clocked up 30 years in business.
Gardening at Traralgon Centre Plaze - Members of the Rotary Club of Traralgon are helping the Traralgon Centre Plaza with some gardening and light maintenance in return for donations to club Project account. Of course, the two hours once a fortnight are followed by a well earned coffee and cake!
Eat Up Australia Program - Feeding hungry Kids so they can Learn, grow and succeed. Eat up Australia is a program to provide sandwiches to various school children who regularly attend school without lunch. The Rotary Club of Traralgon will be making sandwiches on a regular basis. The food is packed in plain brown paper and recipients are anonymous.
This year we are launching the Rotary Junior Community Awards at two rural primary schools - Tyers and Gormandale. These awards are targeted to Grade 6 and cover Community service, Social experience and Physical experience.
