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Rotary Club of Albury |
| District 9790 |
 The
Rotary Club of Albury was chartered on 2 November 1927 with Charter
number 2691 presented by District Governor of District 65 Fred Birks of
the Rotary Club of Sydney. We were the 17th Club established in
Australia and The Rotary Club of
Sydney was our Sponsor Club. We are now in District 9790.Charles Griffith was our first President in 1927 and Claude Lillyman our Secretary. DG Fred Birks gave the Charter Meeting address and installed the Club Officers and all members with a total of 20 Charter Members. Over the years many District Conferences have been held in Albury with a considerable number from other clubs in addition to our own Club. There are now 5 Rotary Clubs in Albury - Albury, Albury North, Albury West, Albury Hume and Lavington. Albury was the only Club in the city until we sponsored Albury North in 1963. Since then we have sponsored 9 Rotary Clubs in our District. Our Club reached its highest membership of 101 in 1969-70.  During
World War II we packed and sent food parcels overseas and erected and
staffed a Soldiers’ Rest Room in Albury, helped organise the Mayor’s
Patriotic Fund and organised a successful Appeal for clothing for bomb
victims in England. After the war we assisted migrants arriving from
overseas at Bonegilla Migrant Centre, including sorting and distribution
of clothing and Language training for the migrants.Our oldest Charter Member and Past President Percy Burrows was still a member of our Club when he died at age 101. We sponsored the Charter of the Apex Club of Albury (the 4th Apex Club in Australia) on 20 October 1931. Paul Harris and his wife Jean visited our Club on the 30th March 1935 during a tour of Australia and since that time RI Past Presidents Angus Mitchell, Clem Renouf, Royce Abbey, Glen Kinross (for our 70th Anniversary) and Bhichai Rattakul (in March 2003 for our 75th. Anniversary) have followed. A selection of some of the projects we have organised over the years is:- · Albury Floral Festival · Australia Day Parade and entertainment · Assistance to Scouts and Girl Guides · Erected buildings at Camp Nelson for Scouts · Red Shield Appeal organization, committee membership and assistance with collection · Assisted with erection of a hall for the Girl Guides · Supplied equipment and new ambulance to St.John Ambulance Brigade · Supplied equipment to Albury Base and Mercy Hospitals · Donated a new car for the commencement of the Albury Mobile Nursing Service · Packed and despatched over 400 food parcels to England as part of the National Food for Britain Campaign · Constructed a Memorial in the Albury Botanical Gardens dedicated to founder of Rotary, Paul Harris · Constructed a Youth Chalet and facilities at Lake Hume by working bees of members of our Club over many years. The buildings were sold in 1991 with the proceeds used to establish the Rotary Club of Albury Charitable Trust Foundation (from the idea of one of our members now deceased) · Donated books and an Encyclopaedia to Albury City Library. In 1961-62 we commenced (in conjunction with the Apex Club of Albury) a Trade Fair and Motor Exhibition which has raised approximately $500,000 over the years. We have an Annual Scholarship at Charles Sturt University and an Agricultural Scholarship at Albury High School. In 1966-67 we commenced involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program and are still involved, having hosted 33 incoming sent 34 outgoing students to Asia, Europe, USA and Canada. We have constructed an Aged Care Unit at an Aged Peoples Home and established a new ward at Albury Mercy Hospital. We have supplied a car to the Albury Palliative Care Service. We have also donated considerable funds to Adamshurst Day Hospital Auxiliary for the erection of new buildings at their Day Hospital in Albury which provides Day Care for the Aged and Disabled. We have provided two District Governors from our Club over the years and have made 45 Rotarians and citizens Paul Harris Fellows. In 2001 our Club with other Rotary Clubs in our area contributed to the cost of a new bus for an Aged Concern Organisation in this area. We also published a small booklet for school-leavers containing useful information and guidelines for their future. Over 5000 copies have been distributed. Over the years the Club has:- · Provided 4 electric clocks in Albury Railway Station Tower · Built a Sensory Room at Wewak School for disabled/retarded children · Built a new garage/store and other work for Kalparin Special Education School for the disabled · Erected a 30 metre high flagpole to Albury City · Supplied 100 queen bees to commence a bee industry at Ludhiana in India · Conducted a Drug & Alcohol Seminar in Albury for School Children · Conducted picnics for orphaned children · Assisted in the distribution of food parcels to poor families at Christmas for the St.Vincent de Paul Society · Established a lookout and park (with toilets) on Eastern Hill overlooking Albury. We also supplied materials and some labour for the Moira Kelly Open Door project in our District for support of overseas youngsters brought to Australia for operations to overcome deformities etc. and for their convalescence at the above farm outside Kilmore,Victoria. We provide support for Aboriginal Students at High School each year to allow them a better education. This has been a successful program. Our Club has made donations to Polio Plus over many years, The Rotary Foundation and the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund and conducted two Mental Health Public Forums to assist them in their research program for this and associated health problems. We are currently conducting Driver Training Schools for young car drivers in our area, which are proving highly successful. Experts are used in the program. One of our Club members served as a Group Discussion Leader at the 1973 International Assembly at Lake Placid USA; a member of the RI Youth Activities Committee 1973-1975 and the R.I Young Peoples Consultative Committee 1981-1982. Four of our Club members have travelled overseas at different times to participate in International Service Construction Projects and voluntary Medical/Dental/Eye projects in poor countries. Our Club conducted Camp Quality in conjunction with the Lions Club of Albury for a number of years for Children with Cancer. We donated a stained glass window for the Western Facade of St. Matthews Church reconstruction (after a major fire) in Albury. We conduct a program under the Preserve Planet Earth Program each year at the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre at Thurgoona (Albury suburb) for one week. Approximately 40 students attend each year from secondary schools in our Rotary District and beyond. We have also had two Rotary Environmental Students Exchanges (with a Rotarian Leader) with the Rotary Club of Gilmer County, Georgia, U.S.A. There are two more exchanges currently being planned. Albury has been a very active Club over the years. |
 This entire section was prepared by PDG John Louttit |
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