Area 4 of our District is an eclectic assortment of Rotary Clubs. While the bulk of the Clubs (Ginninderra, Gungahlin, Belconnen, Aurora Gungahlin, and Canberra University Rotaract) are in the northern suburbs of Canberra, the remainder are in rural or semi-rural communities. With no more than 110 kilometres between Clubs, the Area is possibly the smallest in District 9705 but holds a great diversity of Rotarians. While the northern Canberra Clubs mainly consist of public servants, military personnel and retirees from the armed forces and the public service, Clubs like Yass, Crookwell, and Goulburn have farmers, business owners, accountants and politicians comprising their membership. Each of the Area 4 Clubs contribute magnificently to their local community, to the Rotary Foundation and by participating in overseas service projects. Most of the Area 4 Clubs work together with Clubs both within our District and in adjoining Districts.
Emily Nabakooza is a Ugandan Rotary Peace Fellow. Emily gai  ned her Masters in Peace Studies degree just three years ago at the University of Queensland. She returned to her home city of Kampala Uganda and founded her Assisi Centre for Social Justice and Peace. The website www.acesjp.org explains the Centre’s mission and current projects. |
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| As requested by the Rotary Club of Canberra, Emily has just made an exceptional documentary on the last two years of work done. Click on the photo of the little girl to view the video. It comes to us via the We Transfer system. I believe that what Emily has recorded in this seventeen minute video encapsulates everything you wrote in the article in RDU about the need to empower and lead the next generation of peace builders. She has ticked all your boxes and provided in this video a very valuable tool for the Rotary Foundation to communicate its message to Clubs and Districts around the world. |
Fifty Years in the Making
In 1971 the Rotary Club of Goulburn began an affiliation with the park area at Marsden Weir in Goulburn. In the Rotary Club year, 1971-72, President Bill Thwaite and members of the Club embarked on a project to have a continuous link between the park and the Club. The project included the planting and maintaining of trees, erection of fencing, picnic tables, a double-sided barbeque and bins. Fifty years later in conjunction with the Goulburn/Mulwaree Council, a design for a new sign was selected, manufactured and is now in position proudly displaying Goulburn Rotary Park,
See the full timeline below.
Last week Pambula Rotary lost one of their oldest and longest serving Rotarians - Murray Jarvis - he was a month shy of his 94th birthday. Murray was born in 1927 and joined Rotary in 1962 at age 35. This year he would have been celebrating 59 years in Rotary. His family understand that he was the 3rd longest serving Rotarian in Australia and while our digital systems at Parramatta office seem unable to verify this, we have had feedback from a fellow Rotarian who joined soon after Murray and have confirmed the timeline. Murray was a past President and PHF; he also received an OAM in 2016 for his work for Rotary and in the community.
Murray remained an active member and was still regularly attending meetings before he passed away. He was always ready to volunteer at events and working bees and was a dab hand on the BBQ. At the time of his death, Murray also had lead responsibility for maintaining Eden Rotary Park - he would visit daily, liaise with Council on any issues that arose, and coordinate working bees within the Club to assist with ongoing maintenance of the gardens and picnic facilities. 
Murray will be sadly missed - he was well respected within the Club and the broader community, and devoted his life to community service. We thank him for his service.
Rotarians across the District acknowledge the contribution Murray made and extend their condolences to the family and Murray's sons - Ray, Rob and Alan.
Images courtesy RC Pambula.
