It has been a busy month of the Rotary Club of Melville. We began with a social get together and casual meal on Wednesday 1st October in the piano room at the Wray Ave hotel, which has been recently refurbished.
On Friday 10th October, 2025, the Rotary Club of Melville supported the Men’s Shed Cup for the remote sailing boats at the South of Perth Yacht Club.
On Friday 17th October, 2025, the President of the Men’s Shed, Quentin Wilson was presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship for his ongoing volunteer work in that area.
On Sunday 19th October, 2025, several Rotarians and their partners braved the weather and trained it to Whiteman Park, stopping at Maylands for morning tea on the way. Another wonderful time spent with Rotarians, and getting to know another highlight of Perth.
Many Rotarians wore their ‘End Polio Now’ tee shirts on World Polio Day, on Friday 24th October, 2025 to promote Rotary’s ongoing involvement in the eradication of polio. The eradication of polio, which was started more than 40 years ago, is one of Rotary’s greatest global health achievements in history. With our supporters, partners, and leaders, we’ve helped immunize more than 3 billion children against polio in 122 countries, and we won’t stop until we end the disease for good.
However we still haven’t finished and we mustn’t let the ball drop now, because if it is not completely eradicated, it will once again spread like wildfire. By increasing awareness of polio and raising funds through our Foundation on World Polio Day and year-round, we can keep working to provide critical funding for vaccination campaigns, public awareness initiatives, and health care infrastructure.
The Refurbishment of the Leeuwin
by Sinead (Oct 8th, 2025)
Our guest speaker, Sinead gave us a little bit of the history of the sail training ship Leeuwin. The safe home of the Leeuwin for 39 years has been the B Shed in Fremantle. However, on the 30th August 2024, the ship was hit by a Container ship and was demasted. Every single piece of the mast and all fittings, were then photographed in order to be replaced correctly when the ship had been rebuilt.
The ship has been in dry dock in Henderson. Fremantle Foundry has been involved, also Robin Hick’s Workshop for the remaking of the masts, as well as the Men’s Shed. Repainting and encapsulation have been at the AMC and new sails have been made. As much as possible, young volunteers have been part of the restoration process in a hands-on way.
The ship will be returning to the B Berth jetty on the 24th October, 2025 and there will be a jetty party. The first voyage will be the end of January, 2026.
The upcoming programme of speakers for the Wednesday meetings in November, 2025 are as follows, and we hope to see as many as possible to hear the guest speakers.
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Wednesday 12th November, 2025: Bruce Ivers: Tree planting and restoration
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Wednesday 26th November, 2025: Annalise Oxenbrough, Manager of St Pats, Fremantle. Philanthropy and fund Raising
Three dates for your diaries:
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Wednesday 10th December, 2025: AGM of the RC of Melville .
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Monday 15th December, 2025: RC of Melville Christmas party. See flyer for details. Follow
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District 9423 Conference is in Northam on the 13th-15th March, 2026.
Melville Community Health Cup
On Friday 10th October, fourteen yachts (including visitors from Tasmania) competed in the Melville Community Health Cup for radio controlled yachts at the South of Perth Yacht club.
The event was organised by Robrt Willis and there were six Rotarians present who watched the racing and mingled with the sailors afterwards. The Rotary Club of Melville sponsored the event, funded by the Community Committee who provided drinks and pizzas after the racing.
The Planning and Development of the Canning River – Greg Commisky
Greg was the guest speaker on Wednesday 22nd October, 2025. He was from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservations and Attractions, which is responsible for the and development of the Canning River. It provides a co ordinated approach to the planning and management of rivers.
Greg said that the Canning River is a place of Noongar spirituality, an Active place (e.g. boat use), a gathering place, and the lungs of the city (helping us have space to breathe, and keeping us cool).
The river needs space to do its job, celebrate culture and community. Greg described the river as a network of lively places and tranquil spaces, there are plenty of activities and movement on the water.
