Guest speaker, Daniel Wilksch, works at the Public Records Office Victoria (PROV) whose main focus is to preserve State and Local Government records for a long time, in some cases for more than 100 years.

Daniel told us that 60,000 Victorians came back from overseas at the end of World War 1. Up to 12,000 of these veterans took up leases under the soldier settlement scheme offered by the Federal Government. 

However, by 1929, 17% of the properties had been abandoned due to:

• The lot sizes were too small to derive a satisfactory income.

• Poor quality of the land.

• Insufficient water to grow crops and to nurture livestock.

• Inability to effectively manage the land due to injuries received during the war.

• Increasing debts.

PROV had a massive amount of physical records relating to the settlement of returned soldiers and their ultimate successes or failures. In 2001, Daniel and a group of volunteers, in conjunction with the National Archives of Australia, started a project to digitise the thousands of hard-copy records relating to the allocation of farm land to soldiers returning from World Wars 1 and 2.

Following that exercise, he was instrumental in creating the Battle to Farm website to give the public the opportunity to learn more about the history of the program and read and hear about some of the personal stories of hardship.

It's interesting to note that many areas of Werribee, in particular Werribee South, were occupied by returning soldiers. The following map shows some of the local properties that were allocated to veterans.

 

The early bird registration for the 2018 District Conference closes on November 30th. You can save $50 per person if you take advantage of this offer.

There is also a concession for those who are first-time attendees.

Planning for the conference is starting to take shape. Heading a great line-up of key note speakers will be television personality, Stan Grant. The MC will be PayTV presenter, Mandy Drury, who was a Rotary Youth Exchange student in 1991.

Other outstanding speakers include Sonja Dawson, a nurse who has spent over a decade volunteering with Mercy Ships, and Michael Crossland who has defied the odds of life-threatening cancer to build a life of exceptional achievement.

Click here to go to the conference website.

Click here to view the conference flyer.

A big warm welcome to our newest member Carlo Vimercati who was inducted at Tuesday's meeting.

Carlo was born and raised in Italy and completed a Diploma of Mechanical Engineering at London University. His employment has taken him to many countries around the world including South Africa, Turkey, Spain, Germany, England, Canada and the USA.

Click on the image below to view a larger version of the invitation to our Christmas Dinner at Wyndham Cache on Tuesday December 12.

The evening will be an action-packed and entertaining affair and will include:

• A sumptuous dinner prepared by the dedicated staff at Wyndham Cache.
• A Rotary You've Got Talent contest which will see the best (and worst) of our artistic capabilities.
• A visit from Santa.
• A Kris Kringle (don't forget to bring your home made or home grown goodies as a gift).
• A high-class musical performance from the very popular Barking Dogs.

Please contact Geoff Smith if you haven't already booked.

Do you fancy winning 10 bottles of Penfolds Grange, each of them being produced in consecutive years from 2001 to 2010? If so, you should enter the Rotary Club of Eaglehawk's Great Grange Raffle.

The value of the prize is $7,000. Only 200 tickets will be sold. Each ticket is worth $200.

Click here to enter or to learn more about the competition.

On Saturday 2nd December, the developers of the Riverwalk Estate are running a community event and pop-up cinema. They have asked us to operate a BBQ between 6 and 9pm.

In return, we will receive a donation of $1,000. We can also sell soft drinks and water.

Are you able to help out?

We need two crews of 4 people as follows:

• Crew 1 - 5:30 to 7:30pm (includes set-up)

• Crew 2 - 7:30 to 9:30pm (includes pack up)

If you would like to assist, please let Jason Daddy know as soon as possible.

• Pictured below are members Lyn Fava and Mary Macaulay joined by Andrea (our exchange student) and a prospective new member, Alison Di Rosario, who works at Wyndham Central College.

• There are two upcoming midweek Bunnings BBQ's at Hoppers Crossing:

  1. Tuesday 21st November

  2. Tuesday 5th December

Most of the time slots for next week are taken but we are looking for volunteers for the December date. Please contact Peter Sandlant if you can help.

• We're also seeking hands-on support for the Carols by Candlelight at Werribee Mansion on Saturday 9th December. Eight people are required. Please contact Jason Daddy for more details.

• It seems that our Uganda project is getting some good publicity. An article prepared by Ian Knight and Brian Ahmed has been published in the latest version of the District newsletter, The Networker. Click here to read the article.

• District 9800 is calling for nominations for District Governor in 2020-21. The minimum requirements for a Rotarian to be nominated is that they must have at least 7 years membership and must also have served as a Club President. If you would like to nominate someone, please contact secretary Ross Smith.

• Congratulations to Roly Wade for selecting the Joker and winning the grand sum of $362. We promised him we wouldn't tell Margaret.

• John Micallef reported that we have a candidate for the upcoming RYLA camp in December.

• Exchange student, Andrea, is going to a 70's disco party this weekend. If you can help with any appropriate clothes or accessories, please give Lyn Fava a call.

• Speaking of Andrea, it would be appreciated if you could invite her home for dinner or take her on a trip. She is free next week and during the school holidays. Please offer to help out if you can.

• Fashion Statement No 1 - Marty Vaina was a colourful attendee at the Emirates Stakes race meeting at Flemington last Saturday. He even contested the Fashions on the Field competition and was voted 3rd best. One cynical member of the club wondered if there were only 3 contestants. Some people are so unkind. Congratulations Marty. Here is a photo of the very trendy Marty at the races. Seems like he was in such a rush to get there that he forgot to put his socks on!

• Fashion Statement No 2 - Most members dressed down at our last meeting due to the hot conditions. But the coolest dude was Anthony Pante who took it to the extreme by wearing shorts (with no socks!). Such is the changing face (and fashion) of Rotary. 

• Tino Ballan found himself in a sticky situation at a recent function. He had to pose for a picture with a snake which, from all reports, was quite friendly. Outwardly, Tino appeared as cool as a cucumber but inwardly he was shaking like a leaf and sweating profusely. If you had to put a caption to this picture, what would it be? Maybe both Tino and the snake would be saying "Help! Get me out of here".

• Six members of the club spent last weekend on a fact-finding mission to Swan Hill. They stayed at the Murray Downs Golf Course. Needless to say, there wasn't much fact finding but there was a lot of golf. The members were Ross Conley, Ron Fava, Ross Smith, Steve Evans, Jason Daddy and Ian Hovey. A good time was had by all. But what happens on a golf trip........