Jacob Taurins was a Past President of the Rotary Club of Essendon North. His parents, Martin and Diana, are members of the Rotary Club of Gisborne. Last week, Jacob passed away at the age of 50 after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis.

Many of our longer-term members and partners would have known Jacob or at least knew of him. If you would like to learn more about Jacob and the significant challenges he had to face since he was diagnosed with the disease in 1989, click here to read an article written by his father late last year.

The theme for this Rotary year is "Be The Inspiration". Jacob and his parents definitely epitomised this theme.

About 8 years ago, our club raised $65,000 for MS by organising three 24-hour Mega Swims. We were blessed to have Jacob attend one of the swims to support our cause.

Werribee Rotary extends its deepest sympathies to Martin, Diana and family for their loss.

It's not too late to join Jason, Therese and Charlotte Daddy and Rob and Lyn Fava at the 39th independence celebrations for the tiny nation of Kiribati.

The celebrations are taking place this Saturday (14th July) at 6pm at the Collingwood Town Hall.

A wonderful evening is planned to celebrate the unique Kiribati culture.

You can expect the following:

• Traditional I-Kiribati Dancing
• Island feast
• Singing
• Dancing
• Hangi style pig 

This is a feast style event in the traditional way of Kiribati, so bring a dish to share at the banquet. BYO alcohol and finger food or snacks for your table.

Cost of entry is only $10.

It should be noted that the International Committees of our club, and a few other local Rotary clubs, are planning to focus on supporting Kiribati this year. The country consists of hundreds of islands in the Pacific Ocean spread over an area larger than the United States. Many of these islands are under threat of disappearing due to an increase in the sea level caused by global warming.

If you would like to attend the celebrations on Saturday please contact Jason Daddy.

Planning is well advanced for the celebration of the club's 50th anniversary on Saturday 18th August.

This special function will be held at the Werribee Racecourse Function Centre. The guest speaker will be Ian Riseley who is just completing his year as RI President.

If you haven't already received an invitation, please click here.

Click here to register on-line.

Next year's District Conference promises to be much different and much bigger than anything before. It will be a Multi-District Conference consisting of four of the Districts in Victoria. It will be held on 16-17 February 2019 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Organisers are working hard to deliver a great conference. There will be many inspiring speakers and a large number of breakout sessions to enable delegates to choose sessions with specific Rotary content. There will aslo be a Youth Forum as well as an Interact/EarlyAct Forum.

Registrations will open on July 1st.

Click here to visit the conference website.

Click here to view a flyer of the event.

Click here to register online.

• Our new District Governor Bronwyn Stephens will be making her official visit to our club on Tuesday 31st July. President Graham would like to have as many members and their partners at the meeting as possible.

• Footy Tipping - Tony Todaro has taken a stranglehold on the comp. Last week, he picked 9 winners and has now jumped ahead of Ross Smith. But Anthony Pante, Marty Vaina and Mary McGuire are only a few points behind and are still in with a chance.

• The Rotary Club of Hoppers Crossing is having a movie night at Werribee Village Cinemas on Wednesday 29th August. You are invited to join them to see "The Meg". It's about a massive creature that attacks a deep-sea submersible, leaving it disabled and trapping the crew at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Click here to see a trailer of the movie. Click here to see a flyer of the evening and to make a booking.

• Jason Daddy visited the site where we planted 750 trees a few months ago. He reports that "our babies" are doing well and all seem to be growing despite the dubious planting techniques of some of our crew. Here's one of Jason's pictures of the plantation...

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