Club History

LATROBE ROTARY CLUB Chartered 20-3 1957 

Sponsor Club Devonport. District Governor’s Special Representative P P Bert Freak.

Rotary International Charter granted 20-3-1957. Charter presented by D G Bill Burch at the Devonport High School 30-6-57.

Charter members - Vice President H L Coventry, Secretary W N Liddle, Treasurer J Minton-Connell, J C Paice, M M Johnstone,  H T Mackey, T H Cleary, G A Walpole, W G Gibbs, Rev E Hunken, V Perkins, R D Ferris,I H Wood, T W Stone, G M Waterhouse, J D Abey, R M Wells, W T Nichols & B Wilson.                                                                                

Inaugural Office Bearers - President R J Palmer, Secretary W Liddle, Treasurer J Minton-Connell, Directors L Coventry, M Johnstone, T Cleary and R Ferris. Sergeant-at-Arms H Mackey. First meeting place Royal Hotel Latrobe.

Club boundaries - Latrobe Municipality and Railton ward of Kentish Municipality. During the first year the following were elected to membership-J D White, C W Beveridge, M G Elliston, K L Perkins and G Dick.

 In the 1975-76 Rotary year membership numbers reached 40 for the first time and this has remained the average since. 

PRESIDENTS OF THE LATROBE ROTARY CLUB since its Charter.

1957-58	R J Palmer	1977-78	B M Thomas	1997-98	R Bramich
1958 -59	H L Coventry	1978-79	M N Hortle	1998-99	G Shannon
1959-60	R D Ferris	1979-80	I J Kirkwood	1999-00	R Radford
1960-61	G A Walpole	1980-81	J E Bennett	2000-01	A Loane
1961-62	M M Johnstone	1981-82	L B Addison	2001-02	M Skirving
1962-63	W G Gibbs	1982-83	M W Ford	2002-03	R Layton
1963-64	J D White	1983-84	R H Loane	2003-04	D Russell
1964-65	B Wilson	1984-85	A B Turnbull	2004-05	C Benbow
1965-66	R M Wells	1985-86	E R Mitchell	2005-06	H Sheppard
1966-67	M G Elliston	1986-87	M D Brown	2006-07	T Fist
1967-68	C W Bevridge	1987-88	P Pearton	2007-08	E Funk
1968-69	J R Stephenson	1988-89	T Mantach	2008-09	A Baker
1969-70	K L Perkins	1989-90	C Radford
1970-71	J Minton-Connell	1990-91	A Ryan
1971-72	E A Robertson	1991-92	D Williams
1972-73	G L Dye	1992-93	K Shadbolt
1973-74	E J Curtis	1993-94	L Peck
1974-75	J H Bevridge	1994-95	R Bevridge
1975-76	A J Brown	1995-96	B Richardson
1976-77	K M Renaldson	1996-97	D Jones

PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS:

The Latrobe Rotary Club has presented this award to Leigh Coventry, Bill Gibbs, Dick Ferris, Max Elliston, Jack Curtis, Geoff Dye, Kem Perkins, Helen Stephenson, Jack Sherriff, Ray Chandler, Charles Radford, Miles Ford, David Foster, Ron Loane PDG Geoff Haward, Quentin Hughes, Snow Thomas, Maurice Brown, Adrian Ryan, Kevin Shadbolt, Ray Bramich, Bruce Richardson, Reuben Radford, Dave Jones, Donald Addison, Tony Mantach and Max Skirving 

DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S REPRESENTATIVES:

P P John Bennett (Youth Exchange) 1974-77. P P Jack Curtis (District Historian) 1978-81, P P Charles Radford (Vocational Service) 1990-91 and P P Kevin Shadbolt Inbound Youth Exchange Co-ordinator 1995-98. Kevin was the 1998-01 Assistant District Governor for the Mersey region. David Russell was Assistant Governor 2004-05 and Heather Sheppard was assistant Govenor 2007-2008.

DISTRICT GOVERNOR: 

Kevin Shadbolt became the first club member to become District Govenor of District 9830 in 2003-4 and in the year 2007-8 due to the untimely passing of Bernie Charles 3 weeks into his term.   

PROBUS CLUBS:

These Clubs are for retired professional and business persons. The Latrobe Club sponsored the Mersey Men’s Club in 1982, the Ladies’ Probus Club of Devon in 1987 and the mixed Rubicon Probus Club in 1992. Later the name of the Ladies Probus Club of Devon was changed to Mersey to avoid confusion. The Kentish Probus Club was formed in 2008.

SCHOOL AWARDS:

The Tom Cleary Memorial Academic Award has been presented to a student at the Latrobe Primary School since 1960. The Latrobe High Academic Award has been made since 1966 and the Dedication and Perserverance award was first made in 1971. All these awards are still made as well as the Primary Schools Wesley Vale, Moriarty, Sassafras and the Catholic Primary since 2000.

ELLISTON AWARD:

For an outstanding young Citizen, has been an annual Award since 1987. This award became available through the generosity of the Elliston family.

OTHER AWARDS:

Citizenship, Courtesy, Pride of Workmanship and Industry Achievement are made annually.

ROTARY KIOSK:

One of the first projects was the provision of a kiosk to be used for fund-raising by organisations in the Municipality. The kiosk was erected on railway land next to Wells and Sons in Gilbert Street. Club President of that time Jack White handed over the building to Warden Les Brown in 1964. The kiosk was later demolished and replaced by a caravan painted to resemble a train with the Latrobe 7307 postcode on the side.

LATROBE & DISTRICTS YOUTH CENTRE:

The Club played a significant role in the establishment of a youth centre in the Town. Members were involved in the planning and fundraising for the project. At the time of the opening by the Premier Eric Reece M H A, Rtn Ken Lamprey was President of the management committee. In 1976 the Club received an Outstanding Achievement Award for its involvement in the project.

ELDERLY CITIZENS CLUB:

In the early seventies the Club saw the need for the Senior Citizens of Latrobe to have somewhere to meet. A meeting was called and interest in the concept developed. Money was made available through a Federal Government Grant and together with community funds a building was erected in Hamilton Street on the site of the former tennis courts. This has proved to be an excellent facility for the elderly citizens of Latrobe. 

ELDERLY PERSONS UNITS:

In 1975 as a result of a survey by the Club’s Community Service Committee a need for adequate housing for the elderly was identified. After determining local support the three tiers of Government were approached with regard to funding. The Club pledged $7000 to the project. After much lobbying approval was receivedfrom the Federal Government to assist with finance for six units in 1982-83. With 57 units now completed it has been decided not to continue further construction. 

BACK TO NORTHDOWN:

In Commemoration of the Thomas family’s sesquicentenary on the Northdown Estate was shared with the whole club in 1977. They again allowed the use of their property for a Back-to-Northdown day in 1983 to assist with club funds. 

BELL’S PARADE BICENTENARY PROJECT:

At a meeting called by the Warden Miles Ford the Club submitted a plan to have the Bell’s Parade wharf reconstructed. The Club offered $25000 in donations and kind to support the project. There was an additional $34000 dollar-for-dollar community grant received. The development became the major Latrobe Bicentenary Project. Noted sculptor Stephen Walker was commissioned to prepare bronze plaques commemorating the wharf and pioneers of the area. This worthwhile project has became a major tourist attraction for the Town. 

TREE PARK:

In 1989 the Club undertook the development of a tree plantation on Council land bordering the Bass Highway 500 metres east of the Latrobe Hospital roundabout. Over 1200 trees comprising 40 native species were planted. Club members gave over 1000 man hours in the developing  and maintenance of the Park before it was handed back to the Latrobe Council in June 1995.  The Project received an award in the Tidy Towns Competition as well as a Greening Australia Tree Care Award. 

DISTRICT 9830 CONFERENCE:

The Latrobe Club was the host Club in1989 with the Latrobe Memorial Hall the main venue. This was a most successful Conference with record attendance. The Latrobe Club utilised the Abel Tasman for the main Saturday evening dinner as well as the accommodation for the night. The Sunday morning programme was conducted at Bell’s Parade. In 2004 with our first Club member as District governor Kevin Shadbolt our Club hosted the 9830 district Conference. The theme was “The Rotary Adventure”.  The main venue was the Reece high School for all of the plenary sessions with the Conference beginning with a train journey along the Coast to Penguin and return. The Axeman’s Hall of Fame utilised for the Conference dinner on the Saturday evening. 

WORLD VETERAN CAR RALLY:

The Club was the host of the rally over four days in 1993 when over 400 veteran cars were in our region. A bush dance was held at the Latrobe Memorial Hall following the completion of the rally. 

SHERWOOD HALL:

The Club assisted with the relocation of Sherwood Hall to Bell’s Parade. An Abel Tasman commemorative dinner was held  at the Latrobe Memorial Hall following the completion of the rally with over $2500 raised.  

OUTDOORS TAS:

This was held in the 1996 School September holidays the Latrobe High School being the venue. This was combined with a healthy living expo with over 80 exhibitors. 

FARM TOURS:

A farm tour was conducted in early December 1997. At this time of the year the large variety of crops grown in the Latrobe municipality look very impressive with the Poppy and Pyrethrum crops in full bloom. Rural Club members acted as guides to those who attended. The tours are intended to be ongoing with funds raised to assist the Strathdevon Nursing Home in acquiring a bus for their residents.  

GAZEBO:

A gazebo was built by Club members for the use of Strathdevon residents during the first half of 1998. The materials were supplied by Mitre Ten Devonport Store. 

LANDCARE:

Rotary Club members and their partners support the Latrobe Landcare group by having a BBQ meeting at the Myrtle Hole early each year. All money raised goes to the group to assist with their ongoing work. 

TARGA TASMANIA:

Club members have given assistance in our local area each year since the rally began. This year Club members provided a midday meal for special guests.  

INTERNATIONAL ROTARY FOUNDATION:

The Latrobe Club has been a strong supporter of the Foundation. Our Club contributed significantly to Polio Plus and the South African Literacy programme.

ROTARY FOUNDATION SCHOLARS:

In 1976 Geoff Squibb was a successful nomination to a College in Massachusetts USA. The Rev Graham Doyle was another awardee to attend Oxford University in the UK in1982-83. 

GROUP STUDY:

Over recent years our Club has nominated many candidates for Group Study teams. The lucky ones have been Geoff Cockerill to the UK, Geoff Redman to the USA, Steven Foster to the USA, Rick Mitchell-Collins to Denmark, Jeremy Rockliff to Norway and Glenn Halley to Brazil. The Club has hosted many incoming GSE teams. 

FAIM:

Latrobe was the first Club in the then District 283 to support FAIM 100%. 

EXCHANGE STUDENTS FROM OVERSEAS:

Joanne Morris was the first (from Canada) in 1977-78, George Eastward (Canada) and Denise Glazner (USA) 1978-79, Polly Grasenz (USA) 1980-81, Laura O’Neill (Canada) 1982-83, Patricia Peterson (Denmark) 1985-86, Noriko Hirosi (Japan) 1987-88, Saartje Klaykens (Belgium) 1996-97 and Tuula Vuorenhela (Finland) 98-99, Claire (Gaudron) France 200-01, Antonio Merana (Austria) 2003-04, Juul Jansen (Netherlands) 2006-07 & Sophie Grevenbrock (Germany) 2007-08.

EXCHANGE STUDENTS OVERSEAS:

Margaret M’Kenzie to (Canada) 1976-77, Gilles Konier to (Canada) 1978-79, Andrew Arnott to (Japan) 1978-79, Sharon Davenport to (USA) 1979-80, Ian Jones to (Canada) 1983-84, Zara Greenhill to (Japan) 1987-88, Shannon How (Denmark) 1997, Sophie Shannon (Denmark) 2002-03, Jessie Sutton (Switzerland) 2004-05, Nick Easton )Turkey) 2005-06 and Theresa Purcell (France) 2008-09. 

TWIN EXCHANGE TO NEW ZEALAND:

Yvonne Dutton 1976, Trudy Wooley 1978, Jan Badcock 1980, Nigel Richardson 1990 and Rosalie Mathews1993.

YOUTH:

The Latrobe Rotary Club sponsored the local Girl Guides in1958 and the Boy Scouts in 1960. As well the Club obtained a hall for the troop in 1962. 

RYLA:

Our Club supported these seminars for many years and was the host Club in 1980 when the seminar was held at Camp Banksia Port Sorell.

RYPEN and MUNA:

Students from Latrobe High School and Sheffield District School have had the opportunity to attend these seminars through our Club’s sponsorship.

MOCK JOB INTERVIEWS:

This very effective Vocational Service activity has been offered to all Latrobe High School grade ten students for many years. Club members regard this as very important.

SIEMENS SUMMER SCIENCE SCHOOL: Supported each year since the beginning.

FATHER SON AND DAUGHTER NIGHTS:

These nights were extremely  popular when they began in the sixties with notable speakers sought on these occasions.  

OTHER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND ASSISTANCE:

Senior Citizens Outings: These outings were very popular for many years.Geriatric Patients: Have been given Christmas gifts every year at Devon House now Strathdevon.Melaleuca Home For The Aged: A substantial donation was given at the opening in 1980-81.Disabled People: Two electric wheelchairs were donated to the Mersey Hospital and one to Val Mosley.Meals On Wheels: The ladies of the Club have been involved since the service began.Meals-On-Wheels Van: The Club shared in the cost of the van with other service Clubs.Roland Boys Home: The Home was supported with an annual visit and donation every year.Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal: Many members have assisted with this annual appeal till 2003.CYSS Building: Financial assistance for this building in Noone Street Latrobe.  Memorial Hall: Suppled fittings for the Hall, the Car Park and Mersey Heights Special School

Dolly Dalrymple Memorial: On Railton Road. State Emergency Service: Donations of a variety of equipment.

Donations To Fire Relief Funds: To Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.Donations to flood relief in Queensland and to Tasmanian Spastics Association.Jacki Artis: Team member on Rotary-organised disabled person’s visit to U S A.Bus Shelter: A shelter provided for students waiting for buses and a Fernery at Bell’s Parade.Latrobe Mini League: Support given to the Latrobe teams and to Canteen: Teenage cancer society. Headbands: Organised by the Rosetta Rotary Club. Assistance to refugees in Croatia and Bosnia.Orana Respite Centre: Financial support and the provision of vegetables.Hand-Surgery Project: A Rotary Project. Rebecca Campbell: Study in Indonesia.Tommy Greens House: Painted by Latrobe members. Tommy was an amputee.Leroy Court: Financial support for Leroy to go to Atlanta disabled Games.Blazers: For Group Study team members and Exchange Students going overseas. 

FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES:

Arts and Craft fairs. Auctions, Barbeques, Car raffles, Casserole evenings with keynote speakers, Champagne Breakfasts,

Chicken sales, Cattle run by farm members, Colt raffle, Christmas stockings, Coffee mornings, Cottage industry fairs, Display homes, Film evenings, Food stalls at the LBRC, Fowl manure- bagging and sales, Industry visits, Pea straw sales, Golf days, Garden fetes, Mannequin parades, Museum visits, Outdoor-living Expo, Plum-pudding sales, Progressive dinners, President’s BBQ, Raffles on election days, Ted Egan concert at the Memorial Hall, Trolley-dash at Wells, World Rowing Championships, Veteran car rally, Vintage car displays, Steptoe and son and Back to Northdown, Wedding Expo & Taste of harvest.

BULLETIN:                                                                                                                                                                    The original bulletin layout was set out by PP Bill Gibbs and this remained for many years with royal blue edging. The outside cover remained the same for thirty years till it was changed to a light blue with the years theme on the front cover. The next major change was the 1989-90 year when the bi-centenary photo of Bells Parade was super imposed on the cover. This was the first year that a two sheet bulletin was produced to allow for more information to be presented to members. This was a major improvement and has remained so ever since. Our current bulletin has a colour photo of Latrobe and surrounding areas on the cover and the back has advertisements to defray the cost of producing the weekly bulletin.

MEMBERSHIP:

Apart from Latrobe our members reside in Devonport, East Devonport, Spreyton in the Devonport municipality. Latrobe district includes Moriarty, Northdown, Wesley Vale, Sassafras, Harford, New Ground, Pardoe and Tarleton. Other members reside at Shearwater, Hawley and Port Sorrell as well as Wilmot in the Kentish municipality and Turners Beach. In 1996 our first lady member Ann Costello was inducted followed by Cheryl Williams in 1997.

LADIES OF THE CLUB:

The importance of the support given by our ladies in the various projects undertaken has long been  recognised by members. Over the years most of the board and committee meetings have been held in members homes with our ladies providing suppers. Other events they have assisted with are Casserole evenings, Champagne Breakfasts, Coffee Mornings, Christmas Stocking raffles, Garden fetes, Mannequin parades, Progressive dinners and the President’s BBQ. They are just some of the activities that our ladies have supported. 

FELLOWSHIP:

Since its charter members have regarded fellowship as a high priority as part of their membership. The lively fine sessions are part of our history. The annual President’s BBQ followed by a light hearted auction held early in the new year are always great nights. In earlier years there were annual golf days in the Mersey Valley region against the Lions Clubs. Games nights against the Latrobe Apex, Latrobe and Port Sorrell Lions Clubs have continued for many years. There has always been a strong commitment to service by members of the Latrobe Rotary.