Members, partners and friends eased back into Rotary mode for 2018 by attending a very pleasant evening at the home of Tino and Robyn Ballan.

It was good to see everyone in a very relaxed and refreshed manner and ready for the challenges of the New Year.

Thanks to Tino and Robyn for their hospitality.

Click here to see some more photos of the evening.

During 2017, our club donated funds to the NTCM Charity in Vietnam to purchase four tricycle wheelchairs for people who are unable to walk.

The first of these was recently delivered to Mai Tram who is disabled as a result of an accident. Prior to receiving the wheelchair, she had been able to get around in an electric wheelchair but this had reached its end-of-life.

NTCM has many volunteer supporters who go out and identify people in need. What follows is a thorough interview and verification process to establish the support that they require.

A very happy Mai Tran expressed her extreme gratitude for the generosity of the club.

Special thanks to our member Michael Redding for coordinating this worthwhile project. He will be travelling to Vietnam shortly to deliver the second of the four wheelchairs.

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. It will be finished by 7:30pm.

• We send our best wishes to Geoff Smith who is recovering from another bout of cellulitis. He was having a relaxing holiday on the Gold Coast when he contracted the infection in his left leg. Then he spent the next 6 days in hospital. Isn't there a slogan that relates to that?  "Ah Queensland. Beautiful one day. Hospital the next!"
• Thanks to the crew who volunteered their time, at late notice, to cook sausages at the Thomas Chirnside Primary School Christmas Carols night. They worked flat out for a couple of hours. The team consisted of Andrea Fredskild, Roly Wade, Lou Dowling, Michael Redding, Jeff Garfield, Graham Roper and Geoff Smith. Here's a happy snap of the willing workers.

• Tough macho man Phil Purdy seems to have a softer side. Here's a picture of him with what appears to be a man bag. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

• Speaking of Phil, here's a picture of all the golf balls he has found in the back yard at his Torquay holiday house. He and Barb live beside the first hole of The Sands golf course. Needless to say, there are a lot of hack golfers playing there, including Phil. Anyway, he has enough balls there to last him for at least a few games.

• Special thanks to those Rotarians and partners who have accepted the call to host or entertain Andrea over the past few months. She has had a busy time during the Christmas school holiday period. She spent Christmas Day with the Favas at Separation Creek, had a few days at Barwon Heads with the family of the District Youth Exchange Coordinator, spent another few days with Peter and Elizabeth Ross at their country retreat and finally she went to Echuca with the Vainas for a week. She said she has loved every minute of her holidays and has appreciated those who have treated her as one of their family. Here are a few photos of her at Echuca - one with Marty and Kara and kids and the other showing off her water skiing skills on the Murray.
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