Home Page | Rotary Club of Alexandra, Vic. Australia

Welcome to our Rotary Club

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Wednesdays at 7:00 PM

Alexandra Golf Club

Gordon st
ALEXANDRA, VIC 3714
Australia

First, third & fifth Wednesday 7.00pm Apologies/Guests John Allcock by mid-day Monday at the very latest SMS 0414 397 376 or landingear1991@hotmail.com Secretary Helen Gibb 0419893370

District Site

Venue Map

Welcome new member Lou Norgard

Business and pleasure were combined at the most recent meeting of RC Alexandra.

On the business side, new member Lou Norgard, formerly of Cooktown Qld and sponsored by John Cannon, was inducted into the club. Welcome Lou.

On the social side, a group of visitors from RC Seymour, along with Lily and Lachlan from RC Yea, and Jane and Graeme Byland from Yarck (formerly Geraldton WA) took part in the mini golf challenge. After much fun and laughter, Seymour were declared the winner and reclaimed the perpetual trophy.

Kayla Morton local champion

Our guest speaker this week was Kayla Morton, Iron Woman.

Originally from Buxton, Kayla is employed by the Reddrop Group, as is her mother and greatest supporter, Janet.

In 2019 she competed in her first triathlon in Portarlington, on a borrowed bike, without clip-in pedals. This ignited a passion, so she got a coach, and trained with a club in Geelong.

In her first Half Iron Man – a 1.9Km swim, 90Km bike ride followed by a 21Km run she qualified for her the World Championships planned for New Zealand in 2021,which were cancelled due to Covid.

For her next competitive effort, she left work at Mt Buller, collected gear at Buxton, then met her coach (with her bike) at Tullamarine in time to reach Cairns just before Victoria’s borders slammed shut. Her first attempt at Full Iron Man (3.8Km swim, 180Km ride and 42.2Km run) was completed in 11hrs, which qualified her to compete at Kona (Hawaii). This has lapsed due to passage of time.

This event requires a huge commitment in training time, and international travel, to compete in qualifying events, and Covid has been a huge disruptor.

Kayla typically trains at 4am for 2 hours, does a full day of work then does another 2-3 hour training session in the evening.

Specialized triathlon bikes come in at about $10K and need their own hard travelling case to survive air travel.

Family and friends take photos in competition and keep track of split times.

Michael and Tina Reddrop have been sponsors along Kayla’s journey, much appreciated. Kayla’s parents have also been great supporters.

The bike and run legs are Kayla’s strongest- running is her ‘safe place.’ Depending on event location, the swim can be in a lake or in the ocean, in any weather. Friends can follow competitor’s progress via a dedicated app.

Kayla’s long term target is to qualify for World Iron Man at Kona, while her target this year is to compete at the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship at Lahti, Finland August 26-27, after qualifying at Port Macquarie in May.

An outstanding talk and a person all of Murrindindi should be proud of.

Welcome Jenny and Trevor

Welcome Jenny Paul and Trevor Holmes as members of the Rotary Club of Alexandra.

As a Rotarian, you both join 1.2 million people worldwide in a quest to create lasting change around the globe. You are united with leaders from all continents, cultures, and occupations and have a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and take action in local and global communities.

Rotary can be as big or small as you want it to be. Whether you are looking to volunteer within your local community or explore the opportunities to engage Rotary outside of your club and community, the possibilities are endless.

Music in the Park

Helping Ukrainain Refugees

Rotary supporting Ukrainian Refugees

Alexandra and Euroa Rotary were given a presentation by Alexandra Rotarians Ian Gibb and Geoff Proctor, outlining our Ukraine relief program.
Up to 1000 refugees at a time are housed in Melbourne at a time (200 in Carlton) mainly in student housing, predominantly women (often grandmothers) and children, and the elderly. The Australian government provides $200/person on arrival, and over time they have access to Centrelink, and a visa which enables them to work during their stay.
With the return of overseas students especially from China, accommodation pressures will increase.
Reaching out through Geoff’s contacts to the local Ukrainian community it was established that what they wanted most was food.
Local champions Bec and Janet at Foodworks helped by locating a trolley for food donations at the Alexandra store. Dobsons Potatoes also came on board with a fantastic supply of local produce.
Truckloads of food were then transported to Carlton for distribution from the Ukraine cultural centre.
On these visits Ian and Geoff observed that first comers seemed to get a greater share of the goods, so have refined the program by transitioning from direct provision of food to a voucher system, liaising with RC Carlton through their president Ian Ada, and Carlton supermarkets. Initially $1000 was transferred from RC Alexandra to RC Carlton, which was used to purchase $50 vouchers for distribution to refugees, overseen by Licia, for equity.
A second aim, yet to be realised, is to provide an opportunity for some of the younger refugees to visit our area and experience the outdoors, rafting, hiking, fishing etc.
The final aspect of the project is cooperation with other clubs. Rotary Mansfield has already come on board. The 200 people currently in Carlton rotate through, starting there before moving into the community. Their needs will not disappear. This support needs to be long term.
Our President Sharon and Secretary Helen were very well received when they visited an event in Carlton in November. At our annual Easter Art Show this year, opening night guests are encouraged to wear blue and yellow, purchase a supporter ribbon or make a donation to support this worthy program providing food relief for displaced persons. We are hoping to secure the Ukraine dance troop to perform on opening night.

Thanks to all those in Alexandra who supported the grocery collection at Reddrops Foodworks. Without new members and community financial assistance Rotary couldn’t support this worthy cause.