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Rotary Club of Perth |
| District 9450 |
 The
founding of Rotary on 23rd February 1905 in Chicago, was followed by the
movement becoming International in the Rotary year of 1911/12 with the
founding of a Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.The first Australian Clubs were the Melbourne Club (on 21st April 1921) and the Sydney Club (on 7th May 1921). It was not until 1926 that Perth was visited by the Special Commissioner for Australia, Professor W. T. Osborne of Melbourne. Twenty five leading citizens of Perth were invited to be inaugural members and the first luncheon was held on 1st September 1926. The founding President was Sir William Lathlain, a major Retailer in Perth and Mayor of Perth from 1919 – 1923. At a meeting on 22nd April 1927 the Club President Sir William Lathlain, presented a cable from Chicago dated 20th April 1927, which read as follows: “Perth Club elected member Interotary April Fifteenth Number Twenty Five Thirty Nine Congratulations.” By 1928 all seventeen Clubs in Australia had become District 65 with Fred Birks of the Rotary Club of Sydney as the first District Governor. The second President of the Rotary Club of Perth, Sinclair McGibbon, became District Governor of the 65th District in 1932 – 33. Thus began the work of Service above Self in Western Australia, with over 1200 members passing through the ranks of the Rotary Club of Perth to the present membership level of 120 business women and men. Since then the State of Western Australia has Clubs from Derby to Kununurra in the North to Albany in the South and the State has seen the formation of three Districts 9450 (Perth Club is in this District), 9460 and 9470. District 9450 has 41 Clubs with a total membership of 1241 as at February 2001. The District Governor is as member of Port Hedland Club which is approx 1700 road kms from Perth. Perth Medical School A Gala Dinner was held in April 2002 to celebrate the 75th Birthday of the Perth Rotary Club, with the Governor of Western Australia and Rotary Dignitaries in attendance. The celebration of 75 years of Rotary in Western Australia recalled the many Club initiatives, with pride of place being Rotary’s involvement in 1954/55 with the establishment of the Perth Medical School. Previously all medical training was conducted interstate or overseas. On the International scene, since 1978 the Club has been involved in the hosting of 36 overseas students and the sending of 37 Australian students overseas. As another International initiative the Rotary Club of Perth organised a project in Bangladesh to introduce a Cyclone Early Warning System in an endeavor to save lives from the effects of cyclones. The project involved funds raised by the Club and matching Grants from the Rotary Foundation and the Australian Government. Management of the project was undertaken by the Rotary Club of Dhaka. In recent years the Club has established (in partnership with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul) a centre in Perth supporting youth from the streets. This house is named Bendat House and was officially opened by Rotary International World President James Lacey in 1999. The Rotary Club of Perth has a sister relationship with the Rotary Club of Singapore. Passages Project – Bendat House ROTARY RETURNS TO CHINA (Main article appears in The Rotarian and Rotary Down Under April 2002) "When Rotarian Hermann G. Heid, then Vice President of RC Hong Kong, visited our club in 1996, he lobbied - as he had done many times with other Rotary Clubs - then President David Reed for support in his efforts to re-establish Rotary in China. Specifically, Hermann wanted to establish the Rotary Club of Beijing. While carefully trying to avoid collision with existing written and unwritten Chinese Laws and Regulations on the one hand and not to break any Rotary Rules, Heid knew that he needed to rally support from as many Rotary corners as he could find. One of his strategies was to have Rotarians and Rotary clubs from around the world lobby at RI Headquarters for approval of a chartered Rotary Club. Hermann Heid, on behalf of RC Perth, presents PP Percy Chu the PHF needle and medal. David Reed immediately appointed then International Director Maurice Rousset to liaise with Hermann Heid. In 1997 Hermann's fledging "Beijing Fellowship Group of Rotarians", as it was called then, honored the oldest living Rotarian, Past President Percy Chu of Rotary Club Shanghai (1934/35) at his 100th birthday. Percy had been introduced to Hermann by David Reed. The Rotary Clubs Perth and Hong Kong both awarded PP Percy Paul Harris Fellowships at the birthday event. RC Perth also arranged for Hermann to find a link to ROTARY DOWN UNDER which published several articles and information about the China efforts in its magazine. And through the introduction of RC Perth Hermann was introduced to the newly elected RI Director Dr. Ken Collins who ultimately became a vital supporter in Evanston of the Beijing Fellowship Group. When Hermann Heid left Beijing in 1999 he became a member of the Rotary Club Perth. Even though physically removed from China he continued his vigorous efforts to see that the Beijing efforts remained on the agenda of Rotary International. In the process he met and pleaded with many leading RI Directors and Presidents. The break-through for recognition of the China groups within Rotary came when Bhichai Rattakul was nominated to become RI President (2002-2003). Hermann had built a solid relationship with Bhichai when he was Chairman of Rotary's Asia Extension Committee. In November 2000 a high ranking RI delegation, consisting of three RI Presidents - Frank Devlyn, Rick King and Bhichai Rattakul - accompanied by several RI Directors, including Ken Collins of Perth, and the General Secretary of Rotary International, Ed Futa, visited China and met with Chinese leaders. It was then that Hermann Heid knew that the return of Rotary to China was imminent. Upon return to Rotary Headquarters and intensive deliberations the RI board unanimously extended "provisional" status to the Rotary groups in Beijing and Shanghai. In June 2001 both Chinese cities once again have Rotary Clubs (Provisional). Full chartering is expected once the Chinese government has passed laws governing non-governmental organisations. For his work for the return of Rotary to China Hermann was made a lifetime honorary member of the RC Beijing and he received a PHF from RC Hong Kong." This entire section was prepared by Rotary Global History board member, Australia project chair, the late PDG John Louttit 24 July 2003 |
| This page was compiled and provided by PDG John Louttit |
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