Sivaraj
My 25 Years in the Rotary Club of Hornsby District
Our long-term member, Sivaraj Sagathavan, recently resigned. The club sadly accepted his resignation, but he offered to share some of the memories from his years at the club.
“When I migrated in Feb 1995, my only friend then was my kindergarten mate, Michael Wong who lives in Normanhurst. After joining the Rotary Club of Hornsby, the members became my extended family.
I still remember the days when I joined the Rotary Club of Hornsby in July 1996, inducted by PP John Bolton. Our meetings were at Asquith Golf Club. We were all in our Rotary gear. There was a set up with the display of banners collected either through make-ups or presented by visiting Rotarians. Every attendee was a diner. The meeting started with Rotary Grace and a Toast to the Queen. Those who attended Rotary meetings at other Rotary Clubs related their experiences during make-ups.
A month after my induction we planted hundreds of plants including trees at our Rotary Park in Waitara. Col Pinkerton coordinated this project. Almost all the 35 members were present that day. IPP Roger McCarthy was seen carrying a wheelbarrow of mulch up the slope despite having hernia. Even Peter Allen who was suffering from lung cancer (passed away 4 months later) was there. I found that very impressive.
We had our Bric-a-brac Bazaar at the Hornsby Mall where we even sold mattresses, beds, cupboards and other furniture. It was a big event as we also had a Sausage Sizzle on that day whilst others were selling raffle tickets in raising funds for Hornsby Hospital with a trip to Bali as the first prize.
The champion Raffle ticket seller was Chas Fealy until I came onto the scene.
Just before Christmas we were involved in the Grace Brothers Shopping for the Aged, wherein we escorted the aged who were in wheelchairs during their shopping.
Our Christmas Dinners were either in a nice restaurant or in the homes of one of our members, often with a Chris Kringle. Bobbin Head BBQ was a regular feature often with other Rotary Clubs, before our Christmas break.
We had further fun and fellowship in our Mystery Dinners when some of us hosted dinners for unknown guests. We were at the Williams when we were treated to Malaysian cuisine. On another occasion at the Caldwells in September 2001, just after that infamous attack it was a Pie night. It was one pie after another, and they got even bigger. Each of us paid $20 and half of that went into our Club Account.
Our Charity Golf Days were again fun days from morning to night ending with an Auction.
Even our three days District Assemblies at Charles Stuart University, Bathurst were fun days that included a dinner with entertainment, with lots of fellowship and opportunities for interaction with other clubs.
How can I forget the fun we used to have at our District Conferences? At the 1998 Conference at Canberra, our club won the fancy dress competition beating all the other clubs in the district with the theme “Titanic”.
The following year, with Phil Williams as our President and Alex Gow as DG, all the Conference delegates made our way to Tamworth in two long trains, an XPT and another with coaches used in the forties and fifties. Alcoholic drinks were served on board the train and there were some playing country music with their guitars. I took the opportunity to sell our club’s raffle tickets. The train stopped at Muswellbrook where we had a BBQ lunch hosted by the Rotary Club of Muswellbrook. The Country Music atmosphere continued to Tamworth. The conference venue presented a farm outlook. There were number of competitions, eg. guess the weight of the pig, or the number of wheat grains in a wine bottle. I won the latter not by guessing but by calculation! The lady presenting the prize, a coffee machine, said, ‘You were so close!”.
The District Conference during Dennis’s year (2001-2002) when Barry Philps was DG the Conference at Dubbo had the largest gathering of 1,400 delegates. I missed that one, but President-Elect Allister Wylie must have danced and danced as he snapped his ankle and came back home in crutches.
Poor Allister, throughout his year, every week he had to finish the meeting by saying the theme of his year given by the RI President who was from Thailand, “Sow the seeds of love”.
When I was President for the first time (2003-2004), it was an unforgettable year as I had the strong backing of my team with Geoff always beside me as the back-up. We made a trip to the Railway Museum in Thirlmere, in one of those puffing billies with Priya to see the older ones rusting away. The report for the bulletin was written by Priya, who was nine years old then.
We made a trip to Dormie House in the Southern Highlands. After that we made a trip to Nordswarf where Graham Hall took us round Lake Macquarie in his boat. Our Conference was at Newcastle and our club had the 3rd largest group of attendees, beaten only by the host club, Mosman and Roseville Chase by just one person. With some of the funds raised that year we donated the first billi bed (for infants with jaundice) to Hornsby Hospital and funds from the coin project for building a Microscope House for diagnosing malaria in the Solomon Islands
In the year 2005-06, I was Chair of Vocational Service for the first time but did not realize that I would be stuck with it for a while. We had a Pride of Workmanship Awards evening together with the Rotary Club of Waitara and had a gathering of 150 people.
In 2007, Heather Hogan organized an enjoyable weekend trip to the Hunter Valley. Our fellows brought out some of their oldest wine they had in their cellars. What a trip!”