PRESIDENTS ANNUAL REPORT
2025 - 2026
Good Afternoon Fellow Rotarians, Family and Friends,
I’d like to start by thanking Past President Sam Loughridge for his year as President and for handing the Club over in such good shape.
It seems like it was only yesterday we were here having the changeover and I was starting my year as President. As I have said on a couple of occasions, where has the year gone. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the Rotary Club of Koo Wee Rup – Lang Lang as its President during our Club’s 53rd year. My year was the 2nd time in our Clubs History that a Father and Son have served as President of our Club. The other was John and Peter McCurdy.
Whilst I might be the President, nothing would have occurred if it wasn’t for the wonderful support of the Board. This year we ran a number of Board Meetings and they were opportunities for open and frank discussion about the Club and where we are travelling and what we are doing. Our Board this year was made up of Secretary Casey Hamblin, Treasurer Michele Hird, Sargeant at Arms Robbie Hird, International and Youth Services Director and Bulletin Editor Travis Davidge, Community Services Director John Patterson, Vocational Services Dean Turner and Immediate Past President Sam Loughridge.
Unfortunately due to personal reasons our Secretary Casey had to resign from the Club in April and we as a Club thank her for all her hard work and dedication. A special thank you to Michele who stepped up to cover the last ¼ of Casey’s term as Secretary.
Once again Michele has had wonderful stewardship of our finances, but it’s been so much more. Attached is Michele’s Treasurers report and it’s very pleasing to see our Club in such a strong financial position. Michele is also heavily involved in the running of all our major activities such as Show N Shine, Golf Day, Christmas Carols and of course her and Robbie are front and centre at any BBQ event that is occurring. Thank you Michele for your advice and counsel during the year.
Our Sargeant at Arms Robbie. What a fantastic job Robbie has done keeping me in line and keeping meetings running. You are the power behind the throne at meetings and for that I thank you. A quiet “Get on with it” was offered when things were running off the rails etc. Your fine sessions are always a highlight as well as your compassion and understanding as the Club contracted so that I wasn’t having to pay numerous fines each week (although I often deserved them!). Again, all our BBQ events were supported in Preparation, running and then cleaning again afterwards by Robbie and Michele. This effort cannot be underestimated. Thank You!
One of the first changes that the Club introduced was the adoption of Club Runner to facilitate the administration of our Club. Ensuring this occurred smoothly we had Casey, Michele and Travis all involved. Whilst Casey and Michele were beavering away behind the scenes, Travis converted our weekly Bulletin into Club Runner and after some teething issues Travis has turned our a great bulletin each week recording the history of our Club. Thanks Travis, especially for your patience as you waited for me to send you my fortnightly ramblings!
For our Directors, the year was not as busy as other years but your contributions are greatly appreciated. To Travis, Dean and John, we thank you for your assistance during the year. I would also like to thank Rudy De Jong, Jan Kruizinga and Bob and Dianne Comber for their guidance and sage advice during the year. They say you cannot put a wise head on young shoulders however you were able to
provide me with much needed and welcome advice. Thank You!
This year we continued our calendar of annual events supporting our community.
50th Annual Rotary Golf Day – This event was a success although numbers were down this year. Unfortunately the day clashed with the Big Blokes BBQ and took several of our normal teams and sponsors. This years event will need to be done so it doesn’t clash with this BBQ. A big thank you to David Williams and Andrew Bullen for their support of the event.
Lang Lang Community Christmas Carols was held on the 1st Friday in December at the Memorial Hall. Unfortunately this years turnout was very poor but those who attended all had a fantastic time. Once again the Cardinia Civic Concert Band and Matt Shearer provided a wonderful night entertainment.
Lang Lang Hot Rod Custom and Classic Show N Shine and Swap Meet was held again in February and was another huge success. The culmination of months of planning and huge community support ensured a very successful day. Thanks to everyone involved in this great event.
Anzac Day Dawn Service Gunfire Breakfast. Wow. This year was possibly the best ever and it was fantastic to support the RSL and the veterans of our community. A great morning of cooked bacon and eggs and sausages for the large crowd who had paid their respects at the Dawn Service. Special thanks to Kyra for laying Rotary’s wreath on the cenotaph.
Father’s Day BBQ Breakfasts at Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang Primary Schools were both great events and once again helped build communities by bringing people together on these days. We also supported the Lang Lang Cricket Club and Bendigo Bank and continued to cater at Clearing Sales during the year. Thanks again to all the members who attended and assisted at these events.
Again this year our Club has supported many organisation both in financial and equipment which is of importance to these clubs and organisations.
We had a couple of guest speakers during the year and we were fortunate to have Cr Trudi Paton from Cardinia Shire attend several times and provide our Club with detailed reports on what Cardinia is doing and we certainly have appreciated the connection and input from Cr. Trudi throughout the year. These relationships are vital for the ongoing success of our club.
We have had a number of social nights over the year and recently members have been attending the monthly dinners at the Bowling Club. These nights are great nights of fellowship and I thank everyone for attending these nights.
Our meetings continue at the Lang Lang Bowling Club and we thank Marianne, Colin and Scott for making the venue and bar available for fellowship and our meetings. We also must thank Judy Lougridge for her wonderful sandwiches and scones each week and Michele for her tea and coffee.
Sadly this year our Club has lost some of our founding members. We remember the service and friendship of Charter Member Ken Male and Charter Rotarianne Una Fell. We acknowledge and pay our respects to these former members.
During the year I have had the pleasure of attending several events representing our Club including the District 9815 Conference in Hobart. As this was my first conference it was a wonderful opportunity to learn more and more about the larger world of Rotary. I have attended Pre PELS and Mini PELS Training, several District
Presidents forums and District Change Over. Our Club has been involved in our working group to help raise awareness on Domestic Violence and we have met monthly working on the issue.
A large highlight for the year was the Cluster Club Meeting which we hosted by us at the Golf Club. We had several clubs and the District Governor and the “G” Train attend on the night. It was a fantastic opportunity to promote and celebrate our Club on the District stage. Talking of District 9815, we offer our thanks to District Governor Peter Behm and all his team for their friendship and support over the last 12 months. I certainly have been made very welcome and we thank them for all the
efforts. We also welcome our new District Governor Emma Clark to the role and wish her and her team all the best for 2026 – 2027.
Thanks again to all our members, families and friends who have supported me and our Club over the last 12 months and for your ongoing support. It was greatly appreciated. I’d like to wish incoming President Harold Keily and his team all the best for the coming year. I’m sure that you will have a fantastic year.
Yours in Rotary,
Scott Hamilton
2025 – 2026 President
Rotary Club of Koo Wee Rup – Lang Lang
