Welcome to the 34th Annual Handover Dinner of the Apex Club of Mooroopna. At the beginning of the Apex year three challenges were established for the Club to strive towards during the year. Firstly, to increase membership from 13 to 25, secondly to take on a significant hands on service project, and thirdly to increase mixed meetings / functions.
We got off to a great start on our membership drive with four inductions and two transfers in the first two months and a further induction in March. However, three members also left during the year leaving us with a membership of seventeen. The pleasing part of this result is that we have seventeen active contributing members. Nevertheless, this is one area of our Club that we must continue to work at to ensure the Club’s ongoing future.
The Club was fortunate to be offered an opportunity for a hands on project at the Kids Connection, to build a Fruit Bin Climbing Pyramid. This was originally estimated to take the Club approximately 6 hours, as long as we had a good roll up! In excess of eight hundred man hours and "just one more day" later we managed to complete what turned out to be one of the Club’s finest achievements, and certainly something that we can be proud of for many years to come. The really pleasing aspect of this project was the involvement and commitment of the whole Club, including both past and present members.
During the year we had quite a number of mixed functions including the Handover Dinner, Brownlow Medal night, Snow Skiing trip, Combined Services Club dinner, NZ Exchange Welcome Home Progressive Dinner, Christmas Dinner at Monochino’s, State Convention at Ballarat, 800th Dinner, New Zealand Exchange Week, Mixed ICV to Tongala and the District Convention. I believe that these functions, along with the ladies nights and ‘footy trip’, continue to contribute significantly to the strength of our Club.
The Mosgiel Exchange was once again one of the highlights of the year and with continued enthusiasm and hard work this can continue for years to come. The Father/Child weekend and Annual Fishing Trip were also well attended and enjoyed by a large number of members, both past and present. The Club’s 800th dinner was also a milestone passed during the year.
Thank you to the Board. All portfolios were handled competently and enthusiastically and certainly made my role easier. The Club received the State Dinner Notice award for the second year in succession, a reflection of two admirable editors and good input from Directors. Congratulations to Jim on his year as District Governor. Once again I believe Mooroopna has been the club that the district looks to for direction and leadership and Jim has certainly enhanced this perception. Thanks also to the members that assisted Jim during the year by attending ICV’s, taking minutes etc. The Club took on the role of running the district convention and what a fantastic family weekend it was, special thankyou’s to Jim & Jeanette and Andrew & Andrea.
This year two of our most popular and respected members in Rob Rosaia and Chris Mitropoulos have reached retirement age. Their sustained contributions to all facets of the Club over many years have been outstanding. While their presence, knowledge and experience will be missed and will certainly be difficult to replace, their friendship will be valued for a lifetime. Congratulations to the both of you. Thank you also to Glenys and Maria for supporting the guys during their time in Apex and especially for your own contributions to the Club over many years.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Helen. Her enthusiasm and support not only made the job easier but also that much more enjoyable.
Finally, good luck to Perry for the 1996/97 year. I believe the Club is currently in a sound position and will continue to thrive and grow stronger under his leadership.
