Secretaries Announcements
Secretary Nicole Chong was an apology so Chairman Steve Wolf filled. Apologies were:
Nicole Chong, Brendan Kierce, Donna Wright, Jo Kwok & Graeme Watson.
Anne Holland: Anne spoke about a familiarisation of CPR & using an AED session.
She said that Gwyn Nichols & Leon Landau from Community First Responders Australia have confirmed their availability for a first aid orientation session on Thursday 7 March 2024 at the Rotary meeting.
It is important to note that the session is not accredited first aid training - that is a 3 hour course with hands on assessment of competency. It is an education/information, demonstration/participation session for familiarisation of CPR & using an AED.
The format will be:
- A shortened (Rotary length) presentation by Anne on the who, why, when, how & what of sudden cardiac arrest and bystander use of a defibrillator with Q&A.
- A participation session in CPR & application of defibrillator pads on manikins conducted by Gwyn & Leon from CFRA. There will be an opportunity for everyone present to participate if they wish.
- The option will be provided for members/guests to register for an accredited CPR training course with CFRA – date/venue to be announced
Max Martin: Max spoke firstly about the Brighton Classic Car Show on Sunday 17 March and asked if anyone had the time to distribute some flyers for the event around Brighton by putting them into letter boxes. Two people volunteered.
He also said that at long last the Member's Directory was available to Members and copies would be at the front table at $5 a copy. It was strictly one copy per member at this stage.
Geoff Cunningham: Geoff spoke about the Brighton Theatre Night on Saturday 24 February and said a couple of tickets were still available. He said to speak to him if anyone would like to go.
Member Behind the Badge presentations.
Malcolm James
Malcolm said he was married twice - divorced with 3 lovely kids 22-28. Has lived in Brighton for last 30 years having grown up in Doncaster - He is a Donny Boy. He was with his wife a past owner of Brighton Medical Clinic in Carpenter St and currently runs a Brighton Buy Sell real estate company. He has bought and sold for some of the wealthiest and famous in Brighton, Toorak and Hawthorn for the last 20 years. Early in his life he wrote speeches for business people and has written an influential property blog for last 20 years. What he learnt is family is the only game in town whether rich or poor. In real estate he has learnt the best deals and the best agents are ethical and truthful. He makes a lot more telling truths than lies and he is not that smart and still has a mortgage and no super - but he likes working so really not unhappy. When he first came to our Rotary Club it was to get an African project over the line. He found a warm welcome from many of us including Colleen and Anthony.
Malcolm said that he is on the spectrum, full on Asperger which means some of his human interactions are less than perfect like many doctors and lawyers. He has high IQ low eq. What he learnt is not what he says or how smart he is but how he makes people feel. He has climbed big mountains in Everest base and Kilimanjaro and Patagonia and Kokoda when he was 60. He has been to a Vietnamese Buddhist monastery in France 1/2 dozen times for weeks of silence .This year he is completing a Masters in New Tech at RMIT having failed all schooling efforts before this. What he learnt is self belief and never give up - even when he should have. If you love, you are loved and if you care you are cared for he says. He said that currently the African project is mindbogglingly difficult but meaningful in taking kids from the desert to a local hospital and paying for an op and returning them home - a broken bone, a cleft palate cancer. It’s taught him a lot about prejudices. He wished he had a been a better manager of people.
Life is incredibly precious and his parents lived with him and his children for their last 20 years. It was so wonderful and I am so lucky - but not perfect. What he learnt is you can make a difference to an individual.
What a life and he hopes he can contribute a little bit to our wonderful club going forward.
David Frauman
David said its very hard to talk about himself. He said his parents were holocaust survivors and he was born in Melbourne in Preston. He didn’t speak English until he was 6 years of age. They used to speak Yiddish at home a very old language and when he went to primary school he had to learn English. David grew up in Carlton and moved to Mont Albert North. He went to High School in North Balwyn. When he got married he lived in Doncaster and his parents were running a footwear business in Victoria Market. He got his training there selling shoes. At the Vic Market he became very politically involved and he became President of the Traders Association and he would meet with the Council on a regular basis regarding the future and the history of the Market. David said unfortunately at the moment it looks like it is going to go down as there aren’t many customers at the market these days.
In his early years he was heavily involved in boxing and he used to go ringside for about 4 or 5 years and write for an American boxing magazine. He was advised by boxing promoter Bill Long not to wear a white shirt at ringside and he found out why. He used to interview all the Australian boxers. He was there until 1973 and then it was sold to a Canadian company. He was married the first time in 1975 and he was helping his parents part time with their footwear business until the 90s. Along the way he started his art and antique business in 1985 and it still going under the name of David Freeman Valuations and Amanda Addams Auctions an has been doing it for 39 years. He said he would love to retire but he can’t as he is too busy.
They moved the business to Black Rock and they have been busier than ever. During covid they went online and they were one of the only businesses that were helped by covid. He has written for art & antique magazines for the last 25-30 years. He used to be on the radio on 3AK & 3UZ between 1993-2000 doing talkback on antiques. He and his wife had a lot of trouble adopting a child from overseas countries as he was Jewish and she was catholic. Finally through Current Affairs they managed to adopt twin girls from Romania and they are now 32 years of age. This opened the door for 100 other parents who wanted to adopt a child. He said this was one of the most important things they ever did.
Last week's Raffle results
Last week the raffle was run by Geoff Cunningham with help from Jennifer
Nanfra. The winners were Suzie Leary and Jill Barr.
Funeral for Elaine King
On Wednesday14 February family, friends and Rotarians gathered at St Leonards Church Brighton to farewell Elaine King OAM, wife of the late PDG John King OAM. It was a very emotional service with moving eulogies from family members. Afterwards we all met in the church hall for refreshments and to reminisce about the wonderful life of this great lady. It was lovely to see Alex Spear there and he sent his best wishes to all. G'day Alex.
