Last Thursday's meeting was held at the Brighton Baths and it was our Melbourne Cup Carnival night and what a night it was. Nearly 50 attendees enjoyed Chairman's Paul Nicholson's presentation, Shawn Cosgrove's Phantom Race call and Jenny Styles winning the 'Best Hat' competition. It was a lot of fun and speaker Shawn didn't let us down telling stories of his long career of 53 years in TV and radio and his tales of the racing industry. One of the things he said was that being a jockey was one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Shawn was also the voice of 'The Price is Right' with his famous "Come on down" call. It was a great presentation and I hear he has been booked for next year as well.
An excellent evening. Well done Paul, Christine & Wendy
and the staff at The Baths.
The winning horses from Shawn Cosgrove's Phantom Call were:
First: Meydaan Second: Buckaroo Third: Half Yours
Last: Goodie Two Shoes
The winning prizes were:
$10 ticket $100, $70, $50 & $20
$5 ticket $50, $35, $25 & $10
The winning Punters were:
$10 ticket: John McArdle, Keith Cameron, Peter Sherman & Wayne Styles
Paul Nicholson (gave back), Ivan Vojlay, Mel Ansell & Carmel Thomas
Photos PP Ivan Vojlay, PP Cameron Ward & Max Martin
St Leonard’s College FORaMEAL
The St Leonard’s College FORaMEAL packing day is coming up on Friday 7 November. This is a fabulous, fun opportunity for those who would like to do some hands on volunteering helping and supervising the students to pack nutritious fortified meal kits that support disaster relief areas. This award winning initiative is an iconic Rotary District 9800 project.
When:Friday 7 November - 10:30am to 3pm
Where: St Leonard’s College, South Road, Brighton East
At this week's meeting we will be presenting a big cheque to Sean Straton, the Group Scout Leader of the Holloway Bend Scout Group. The Rotary Club of Brighton, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Brighton Charitable Foundation and The Rotary District 9800 Charitable Foundation are proudly supporting this local scout group with the purchase of a much needed custom built trailer.
David Smyth, fresh from returning from the UK, will also present a short observance of Remembrance Day.
Science and Engineering Challenge
What an exciting week with the University of Newcastle who celebrated 25 years of inspiring students with STEM opportunities with the Science and Engineering Challenge (SEC). Throughout 2025, 888 schools from across Australia competed in SEC local heats, from which the winners went on to compete at State finals and then yesterday the Top 8 schools went head to head in Newcastle at the National finals Supported by local Rotarians and some who had travelled interstate, these Year 9-10 students had a day filled with exciting, hands on team based activities representing their schools. Congratulations to all the students who participated including Auburn High School who won the Deakin University Burwood Challenge and Victorian State Final. Congratulations to Emmaus Christian School (ACT) as the overall winners on the day. Thank you to all the Rotarian volunteers and the SEC team who make this a possibility.
The Rotary Club of Brighton are proud supporters of this Rotary initiative over the last couple of years and are looking forward to 2026! We have just been approved for a Rotary Foundation - Rotary District 9800matching grant and will be looking forward to other Rotary Clubs joining us in supporting the Australian future STEM talent pipeline. Next year the National Finals will be taking place in Parliament House Canberra…
Some of our Members will be going to Warrnambool this week. Our club has funded the provision of 12 pallets of goods sourced from the Rotary Donations in Kind West Footscray store for families affected by the extended drought impacting Western Victoria. Our volunteers will join on the ground Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Central Warrnambool and the CFA distribute goods including household goods and clothing in response to requested items identified by families in need.
