A Little bit of Yeo Vale Rotary History by Andy Irwin

In my recent visit to Australia last summer, in August, I once again failed to visit a Rotary Club, administering to the sick took up all my time you know!

However, I did spend time – over 8 hours in a car being driven north to a wedding - with a Rotarian from Belmont RC (a suburb of Newcastle), a club 120 odd Kilometres north of Sydney.  Nan, a widow of a former Rotarian from Belmont RC, had joined this May & was now greatly enjoying the Charity work she was involved in with her Club.

Yeo Vale has more than one connection with Belmont RC. In 1987 our District hosted a GSE exchange with a group based from around Belmont. This was the first time an Australian GSE team was made up of an all lady team, needless to say with a male Rotarian in charge, before the days of Ladies in Rotary! Although I expect his wife was called upon to “oversee” from time to time.

Yeovil and Yeo Vale hosted this group for two days and this was a real eye opener for all us new Rotarians. The team was made up of high-end professionals, all in their twenties. From memory, rather vague, there was an Accountant, one in the News Industry, a Water Agronomist & a Police Sergeant from the Newcastle SWOT team. All I can remember was the Sergeant was very pretty, very tough of manner & almost insulting of speech, someone you didn’t forget easily. I didn’t attend their District farewell party but heard that this Sergeant had appeared much changed by her stay in Somerset.

Two years later I was invited by a friend, Alan Johnson, to attend a Belmont RC meeting which I did (Very rare occurrence). Alan was a past President and Past District Governor & kindly sat me next to the organiser of the GSE visit to Somerset, two years previously. I mentioned the Sergeant & he retold her story to me. When in her teens her Mum & Dad had been murdered & joining the hard end of the police was her life’s aim & with this came a very tough shell. The GSE visit had changed her completely as she couldn’t get over how wonderfully kind & thoughtful Rotarians could be, she had loved every minute of her stay. The Rotarian Organiser said it proved to be a life changing event.

A couple of years later I had a letter from Alan Johnson telling me that he had done his stint in Rotary & was going to retire – & drink wine (His daughter had a vineyard which helped). I must say that being a Rotarian certainly hadn’t stopped him drinking wine, very partial to chewey red he was. I found out that his Club & his District were going to have a special Dinner event to celebrate his time in Rotary. On my recounting this upcoming event to Yeo Vale our Club sent him a card, signed by all members, a Club Directory, a Banner and a “well done” letter from the President. At his dinner Alan read out the letter to the assembled throng to highlight just one of the benefits Rotary can bring – lots of really good lifetime friends, even Poms! He said what a fantastic trip it had been and hoped the benefits to all the Team would last for many  years to come.