At the handover dinner meeting held at SSHS Cafe, five new members were inducted into the Satellite Club, Rotary Club of Stanthorpe.. Jo Bell has been the Chair of the group for 20 months and spoke about her journey in Rotary. She welcomed incoming Chair Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi who outlined some of the "big picture" ideas she has moving forward especially continuing to support and grow opportunities for Youth Leadership experience and training opportunities locally.
Nathan Grayson introduced and will mentor Lance, Marilyn and Jaymie Cross.
Robyn Henderson introduced and will mentor our youngest member Kimberley.
Absent on her 50th Wedding Anniversary holiday was Ros Sutton, but via co mentor Ann Richardson, she welcomed Paula to the group.
A special thank you goes to Rotarian and teacher Melissa Pascoe for organising along with Chef Mr Hamilton and Year 11 and 12 Students. This is a cooperative service that the school provides as part of student training and facilitates the Satellite group with delicious meals once a month.
Some of the introduction material follows:
LANCE ALTENA & MARILYN KLYSKENS
Lance & Marilyn were both born in small country towns in the Netherlands
Growing up, Lance started volunteering and youth leadership started early on when he was a scout for many years and helped with many local events such as the annual “Sinterklaas” parade, Christmas nativity scenes, clean-ups, etc.
Marilyn volunteered for a nursing home moving residents to and from their Sunday morning activities and having conversations with the residents to combat loneliness.
Before coming to Australia, Marilyn and Lance spent seven years in Toronto, Canada. They enjoyed the multicultural aspects of the city. Lance has built a career in IT, and now works as an Enterprise Architect, consulting for large companies. Marilyn is an Organisational Change Manager and supports the people side of change on large projects. Although Canada was a great place to live, they could not get used to the long, cold winters in Toronto and came to Australia in 2012.
Before moving to Stanthorpe, Lance and Marilyn lived in Brisbane for 8 years.
After a while, they got tired of the humidity and missed the community spirit and the different pace of life often found in the country.
And Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt have all the good things they were looking for. The wines, the scenic landscape, the big boulders, the friendly people, the community spirit... Especially if you like an active lifestyle, a slightly cooler climate does wonders!
They bought their dream home in the country in 2020 and have been enjoying Stanthorpe since.
Now that they have settled in Stanthorpe, they would like to contribute to our local community.
Nathan & Luke introduced them to our Stanthorpe Rotary, and the focus on supporting local youth was a big draw for them.
Some of their personal interests include their two dogs, Teddy & Henry, running and supporting the Stanthorpe Parkrun, and managing their guest house Merlot Mountain.
JAYMIE CROSS
Jaymie moved to Ballandean about 2.5 years ago and started contracting to Heritage Bank late last year, which is where we came to know each other. Jaymie heard along the ‘grapevine’ (no pun intended!) that I was a member of Rotary and she too was keen to get involved. Unbeknownst to me, Jaymie had had previous exposure to Rotary as she was an exchange student to Germany way back in 1997, sponsored by the Rockhampton South Rotary Club. Upon her return she made herself a promise that she would one day become a Rotarian after seeing firsthand what Rotary as an organisation provides back to community. So 25 years later, she’s finally fulfilled that promise. Better late than never she says!
Jaymie was born in Nanango and undertook her high schooling in Rockhampton. She was still only 16 when she finished grade 12 so whilst all of her friends either moved back to their family cattle properties or embarked on an adventure at university, Jaymie donned her backpack and went off to Germany on her 12 month Rotary exchange. She spent time with two host families, one in Niebull near the Danish border, and the second in Amelinghausen, a small town near Hamburg. Having done 7 years of Japanese at school, it was clearly evident upon arriving in Germany that this would be of no use! Her year away saw Jaymie travel extensively through Europe, create lifelong friendships and gain significant life skills that she believes has helped shape the individual she is today. It is for this experience that Jaymie is forever grateful to Rotary as it certainly helped set her up on a path to success.
Through this experience she also caught a bug, one that will be with her a lifetime, the ‘travel bug’! Since her Rotary adventure Jaymie has travelled to 52 countries and lived and worked in four. Whilst covid, a property and a 12 month old little girl, have set some constraints, she is certainly not finished with her list of places to visit.
From a work perspective, Jaymie grew up in family run businesses and has had experience in both public and private sector. She has a BBus (Management)/BA and a Masters of Commerce (Finance). The last 12 years has seen Jaymie work in Financial Services, across a range of different roles, most recently Executive Manager, IT Procurement & Asset Management with an APAC focus, and as Program Manager for several mergers and acquisitions. Outside of work Jaymie enjoys spending time with family and friends and tending to her small vineyard. There is intentions of one day swapping the corporate life for that of a viticulturist and winemaker but for the time being she is content continuing to learn the basics of the craft.
Jaymie is extremely grateful for the opportunity to be welcomed into the Rotary fold and very much looks forward to giving back to Rotary and contributing to our community.
Chair Jo Bell presents Jaymie Cross with her Rotary pack, badge and Rotary pin. Jaymie is wearing her 25 year old Rotary Exchange Student jacket for the occasion. A nice touch.
PAULA PASSI
Message relayed via Ann from Ros at Hayman Island Resort.
A few points about Paula
-Several years ago I started chatting to Paula when she came into our cafe to read her newspaper and have coffee. We have lots in common - country life, teaching etc, so conversations often lasted a couple of hours!!
-I like Paula's values and interest in community and young people
-She has so much knowledge and experience and will be a valuable addition to the diverse and vibrant group that makes up our Satellite Rotary group
-She is keen to support and work for various causes in our Stanthorpe and Granite Belt community
I'm sure you will have a great night. Just a pity I am missing it but couldn't miss the chance to celebrate 50 years of marriage on this lovely island, my apologies Ros.
KIMBERLEY HANSON-ROSS
Thank you for accepting Kim Hanson Ross into the Satellite Club
Kim arrived in Stanthorpe a year ago with a freshly completed Bachelor of Journalism and English Literature to work at the Daily Journal
Sadly, the Journal closed down a month after she started but , Kim made the decision to commit to her new home town and find a job…any job close by.
I asked Kim to describe herself and this is my condensed version of what she said.
"A 5 ft 3 party animal, aspiring writer, wishful ballerina, who chooses books as her party companions. Her drinking poison of choice is soft drink and milkshakes and while there is always a book in her hand, youtube has apparently become a constant distraction. She is also currently trying to unlearn her native language, the one she learnt from birth, known widely as Ipswich Bogan".
Kim made mention of honorable contributions in kind to the RSPCA, Little Theatre, Scouts, Snowflakes. A valued internship at the Courier Mail and a famed acting spot in a little known Independent horror film, which for some reason she didn’t name.
How I would describe Kim.
I met Kim at a job interview. The job she had taken after the Daily Journal was sorting Strawberry Runners on a farm in the region. I commend her on her ability to do what has to be done when things don’t go quite as planned.
Kim didn’t accept the job I was offering, but took on the full time role of systems coordinator at Australian Vinegar. We both saw what Kim offered. She is super intelligent and she is happy to work in a team
Earlier this year with no hesitation Kim accepted the offer of a place on Rotarys RYLA camp. She is happy to take on a challenge in face of the unknown, and I believe the camp, as for so many young adults has made many positive additions to Kims life.
As the youngest member, I believe her association with Rotary will be long and fruitful. We will be a network for her to rely on, an opportunity to give back to her community and a place to grow and tone her skills in communication and leadership over time.