As usual, our Christmas dinner at Wyndham Cache went off with a big bang. Everyone got into the spirit of the occasion.

The major highlight, apart from the visit by a very jovial Santa, was the Rotary's Got Talent quest. We had three contestants who vied for the coveted prize of being the best performer. The brave souls were:

• Andrea Fredskild (our exchange student) who sang the song "Santa Lucia" in Danish. She was accompanied by Ross Conley on keyboard. A very accomplished performance by Andrea.
• Peter Ross who gave a stirring recital of Banjo Patterson's poem "The Man from Ironbark".
• Geoff Smith and his companion Pam Lang who sang a wonderful rendition of the song "The Prayer". They sounded very much like Charlotte Church and Josh Groban.

• The announcement of the Board for 2018-19.
• Distribution of Kris Kringle gifts by Father Christmas, ably supported by his two elves.
• Another great musical performance from the Barking Dogs. It was good to see many of their fans getting up and dancing to the music.

President Graham Roper has revealed his Board for the 2018-19 Rotary year. And what a dynamic team it will be.

Here is the star-studded line-up:

• President - Graham Roper
• Vice President - Ian Hovey
• Secretary - Ross Smith
• Treasurer - Kim Deneys
• International - Jason Daddy
• Youth - Marty Vaina
• Membership - Lyn Fava
• Community - Phil Purdy
• Vocation/Foundation - Michael Redding
• Immediate Past President - Ross Conley
• President Elect - Brian Ahmed

For a number of years now, we have cooked sausages at the Thomas Chirnside School's Christmas Carols by Candlelight. This year, we have been advised, at late notice, that the function will be happening next Monday (18th December) commencing at 4:30pm. A number of members and partners have volunteered but if you can also help out, it would be appreciated. 

Contact Geoff Smith if you are planning to come.

The Community Committee has been given a large number of coloured pencils. The plan is to deliver them to Donations in Kind for distribution to children in South Pacific nations.

However, before we donate the pencils, we thought we might have a bit of fun and create a competition called GUESS THE NUMBER OF PENCILS. For $2 you can enter in the competition to guess the number of pencils. Prizes include a $150 voucher for Shadowfax Winery and tickets to the Werribee Cinema.

All funds made from the competition will be handed to the club for general community-related projects.

The container of pencils will appear at various club meetings in January after which a winner (or winners) will be announced.

At the Committee for Wyndham's annual Gala Dinner last week, our very own Peter Ross was presented with the 2017 John Nicol Community Service Award.

The award which was created in honour of the late John Nicol recognises members of the committee who are tireless in their efforts to make Wyndham a better place to work and live. Peter has spent the past 50+ years, in various capacities including as a Rotarian, doing good things for the local community. Last year the honour was awarded to Tino Ballan.

The date for the Werribee Rotary Annual Golf Day is Friday 2nd March.

The Golf Day committee is already hard at work to ensure it will be another successful event. There will be a few changes to the overall format from previous years. Some of these changes include:

• The golf club's professional, Marke Millar, will be conducting a pre-game group lesson at 10am for anyone who requires a bit of help with their game. The cost of this will be $20 per person.
• The presentation dinner will be shorter because we will not have a comedian. The dinner is expected to run from 6pm to 7:30pm.

• Guests at our Christmas dinner included:

  • Rebecca Coulson (niece of Mary Macaulay)

  • Pauline Nicol

  • Veronica Hepburn

  • Charlotte Daddy

  • Alex Dunlop and Pam Lang from Federation Village

  • Nancy and Mark (friends of the Randalls)

  • Andrea Fredskild (our exchange student)

• A handful of dedicated Rotarians and friends donated their time to sell candles at last Saturday's Carols by Candlelight at the Werribee Park Mansion. The volunteers worked hard for 3 hours to satisfy the high demand for candles and glow sticks. Special thanks to Ross Conley, Mary Macaulay, Peter and Elizabeth Ross, Kathryn and Nathan Williams, Margaret Wade, Jason Daddy and Ian Hovey for their help. Here's a photo of some of the crew hard at work.