M
arg Lucas was our chairperson for today's club meeting at Cilantro. Nicky Chung and Gary Ramage were visitors, and Charles joined via Zoom.
arg Lucas was our chairperson for today's club meeting at Cilantro. Nicky Chung and Gary Ramage were visitors, and Charles joined via Zoom.CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Monday 25/8 - RYDA event at Sandown Greyhound Racetrack. Ron is still seeking volunteers to help out at the RYDA event for Cheltenham Secondary College. Tasks involve shepherding students to the correct location at the racetrack for their training sessions. Ian and Grant advise the task is simple, and rewarding, with training going a long way to improve driving outcomes for students planning to get their driver's licence.
Friday 15/8 - Pizza, Pasta and Poetry fellowship event. Linda is still taking numbers for this event. Attendees are requested to bring along a poem with a prize for the 'winning' presenter.
Thursday evening 21/8 - is the date for our next club meeting at Cilantro, in place of the usual Wednesday meeting, with SES Moorabbin Branch as our guest speakers.
GUEST SPEAKER - Club Member Bert d'Unienville - Member Behind the Badge
Bert's full name is Joseph Jacque Bertrand Marrier d'Unienville. He was born in Mauritius in 1952 and moved to South Africa with his family when he was 3 years old. He grew up in Durban where there are a lot of Mauritians and attended Durban High School. As military service is compulsory in South Africa, Bert served a year in the Air Force in 1972 where he had hoped to commence training as a pilot. Unfortunately this didn't occur, and he spent time working in the mess kitchens where he learnt a lot of kitchen skills - a bonus of which provided attendance at events that included very high level dignitaries. He also spent a lot of time in the mess gym, and he displayed a local picture book titled Arend Van Die Oerwoud (Eagle of the Bush) where he was the main character depicted in the book. Following military service, he joined Dulux where he studied for his MBA. He worked with Dulux for 32 years as a manager with postings that included Swaziland, Botswana and Mauritius - adding he enjoyed any posting that allowed him to participate in a favourite pastime - golf. During his time as manager, he was recognised with a Dulux Excellence Award which was a world wide award within the Dulux corporation. One proud and rewarding recollection of his time in Swaziland was when Dulux repaired and repainted a 'special home' for homeless women with children coming from abusive relationships. Local retailers also became involved and pitched in with buying groceries and other necessities for the house. After finishing at Dulux, Bert went into semi-retirement working with a coatings company that utilized his knowledge and expertise obtained during his time at Dulux. Bert moved to Australia in 2023, following his son and daughter who had moved to Australia through work. Bert finished with answering questions from the floor, that included describing aspects of life in Durban and South Africa where safety and security is an issue, with many people living in gated communities for security. Thank you Bert for your very informative presentation and providing a fascinating insight to life in South Africa.
MEETING CLOSE - Marg thanked the team at Cilantro for the morning breakfast before closing the meeting.
