Club History

A Brief History of the Rotary Club of Port Darwin

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THE BEGINNINGS

Port Darwin's sponsor club, Darwin, convened an inaugural meeting of the Port Darwin Rotary Club in March 1983 at the old Hotel Darwin. Eight months later Port Darwin received their charter on Thursday 8 December at the Mindil Beach Casino. The club had 26 charter members of whom two remain as the club merges with the Darwin Sunrise Club. The dinner meetings were first held at the Darwin Hotel, the Don, the RSL, Guiseppes, Chatz and then the Darwin Sailing Club.

OUR CHARTER MEMBERS
Howard Aldridge - Casino Management	Brenton Hancock - Youth Services
Alistair Bailey - Newspaper Administration	Peter Harvey - Computer Equipment Sales
Neil Barrett - Footwear Retailing	Anthony MacMichael - Property Management
Neil Blackley - Business Equipment Sales	Andrew McCracken - Structural Consultant
Mervyn Brooks - Education Administration	Ian Menzies -
Philip Clark - Office Automation systems	Rodney Meyers - Pathological Services
Charles Constance - Intrastate Air Transport	Colin Minton - Architectural Services
Edward D'Ambrosio - Investing	Robert Rankine - Aerial Work Contracting
Barry Davis - Racing Gaming Policy	Barry Savage - Accounting Services
Paul Ewens - Legal Services (Private)	Neil Stewart - Building Societies
Peter Fanning - Police Adm. Industrial Relation	William Stewart - Building Societies
Robert Glovitch -	Michael Taranto - Mechanical Engineering
Carl Gorsuch - Business Consulting	Simon Wragg - Quantity Surveying

OUR INAUGURAL BOARD
Charter President	Charles Constance
Vice President	Barry Davis
Honorary Secretary	Mervyn Brooks
Honorary Treasurer	Barry Savage
President Elect	Neil Barrett
Club Service Director	Colin Minton
Community Service Director	Barry Davis
International Service Director	Paul Ewens
Vocational & Youth Service Director	Rod Meyers

PAST PRESIDENTS
1983-84	Charles Constance PHF	1994-95	Gary Smith
1984-85	Neil Barrett	1995-96	Chris Moyle
1985-86	Barry Davis PHF	1996-97	Rod Meyers PHF
1986-87	Ian Menzies	1997-98	Ken Hatfield PHF
1987-88	Mal Grosvenor PHF	1998-99	Ross Muir / John Mizen
1988-89	Neil Barrett	1999-00	John Mizen
1989-90	Geoff Wiff	2000-01	Barry Richards
1990-91	Stuart Shelby-James	2001-02	Rod Meyers PHF
1991-92	Ken Selwood	2002-03	Asha McLaren PHF
1992-93	Monty O Mahoney PHF	2003-04	Asha McLaren PHF
1993-94	Joe Davis PHF	2004-05	Joe Davis PHF

HIGHLIGHTS

In its 20-year history, the Club has been active in a large number of projects and programs, especially in the early years, the most significant being:

Provision of a portable stage for PCYC;
Coordination of the Mardi Gras for the Bougainvillea festival;
Construction of a $50,000 outdoor patient recuperation area at the Royal Darwin Hospital with support from the Government and other Rotary clubs;
Instigator and regular contributor to Camp Quality in the Northern Territory since its inception;
Rotary Youth Exchange. The club has hosted 9 students from overseas countries as well as sponsoring a number of students from the Northern Territory overseas;
Providing financial assistance to local charities and Australian and International Rotary Programs including RAWCS, ROMAC, Polio Plus and the Rotary Foundation;
Instigated and assisted the rehabilitation of the Duke St Rainforest;
Provision of a split air conditioning system for Ambon Protestant Hospital;
sponsorship of the education of three children in Indonesia;
Regular successful film nights;
yearly raffle for Paspaley Pearl;
Earlier this year "a Big Morning Tea" was held with the profits supporting the Cancer Council;
Provision of magazines for the Cowdy Ward;
Sponsorship of a training course for a junior sailor; and
Supporting: The Leprosy Mission, southern bushfires, sausage sizzle at the Home Show.

THE FINAL YEAR

As we moved into the year 2004/2005 centenary year of Rotary it became apparent that our declining membership was again undergoing further losses with one member taking extended leave of absence due to illness and another indicating an extended time away from Darwin due to well deserved long service leave.

This meant that for a large portion of the year our seven members were reduced to an effective five.

Despite our efforts to recruit new blood, our ageing membership and low numbers were simply not an attractive combination.

As well, the decision of Rotary International to charge us for a minimum of ten members placed an extra burden on the existing membership.

Added to the above the pressures placed upon the remaining members for fundraising and other community activity were enormous.

The debate that we had to have was finally raised. This was not an easy decision by President Joe but in the best interest of Rotary and the members generally over the ensuing months the debate continued.

Members were charged with attendance at other clubs to quietly assess their attitude towards accepting us into their ranks.

Once the decision was made to amalgamate/merge with another club we began negotiations with two clubs.

We were made to feel very welcome at Darwin Sunrise and there followed a series of meetings with myself and Malika Okeil eventually resulting in the amalgamation of both clubs, retaining the name of the Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise (incorporating The Rotary Club of Port Darwin).

The new club will continue with our ongoing commitments as well as their own, it will be a truly amalgamated club.

We truly look forward to the opportunity to enjoy Rotary with all of you.

Joe Davis PHF
2004-05 Centennial President

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A Brief History of the Rotary Club of Port Darwin

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