by Gail McCulloch

​It was a fantastic night at the Attadale Rotary Club meeting on Monday May 21.  President Colin McCulloch was delighted to welcome members, partners and such a great crowd. It was lovely to have Club member Carole Maxwell and her husband David attend as Carole has been on extended leave and she has been greatly missed.  It was also great to see Club Honorary members and many others from other Rotary and Probus clubs as well as many of the members' guests.

The Guest Speaker for the evening who drew the interest of this great attendance was the ex Western Australia Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan.  Karl was introduced to the meeting by President Elect Ian Pittaway who gave a brief history of Karl's background. Karl was born in the UK and arrived in Western Australia in 1970.  In January 1976 Karl graduated as Dux of his WA Police Academy class.  Since then he has served in numerous roles in a wide variety of places. He was promoted to Police Commissioner in 2004 where he served until 2017.  Karl O'Callaghan has been awarded the Australian Police Medal, the National Police Service Medal, the National Medal and the Western Australia Police Medal.  In 2006 he was made a ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PAUL HARRIS FELLOW for his work with communities in Western Australia.

Karl founded Bright Blue in 2011, with the aim of improving the lives of sick children both here and overseas.  It supports work to prevent and treat childhood illnesses, particularly ones linked to issues that police often see - drug and alcohol abuse and social disadvantage. Karl spoke about his years of service giving all present a great insight into the Western Australia Police Force.  He also shared a little of his personal life.  When the last of his four children left home he and his wife, a special needs teacher, realised they could make a difference to some children, who are in poor situations through no fault of their own.  They have cared for nine foster children, including two young brothers who have become a permanent fixture.

Music is another outlet for Karl.  He sings and plays guitar and keyboard with a rock band, despite only learning to play an instrument when he was in his 40's.  He is also a very knowledgeable and popular presenter on Curtin Radio as well as an accomplished and sought after public speaker.

Karl was an absolute delight to listen to.  We were very privileged to hear him talk on a wide range of both public and personal topics.  One of the visitors to the Club commented after the meeting that "Karl O'Callaghan is a very articulate and comfortable speaker.  He does it so effortlessly, like he is just having a chat with everyone.  Karl doesn't just talk the talk, but with his fostering and his charity work he walks the walk too". 

We especially thank him for making the time to also answer questions at the end of his talk and for staying for fellowship over coffee/tea/cake. 

Karl is pictured below.

Enjoying the evening are Astrid & Richard Gell, George & Anne Lewkowski and Elaine Bennett.  Jan & John Maiorana and Natalee & David Lawson and Garth Curran. Attadale Rotary Club President Colin McCulloch (or 'Batman' as he is often known), is pictured handing over a Microbat Box to David Lawson.  David is from Lawson's Tree and Garden Solutions and helps put up the bat boxes for the Attadale Rotary Club's Micro Bat project.

by Gail McCulloch

At the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Attadale on Monday, May 14, President Colin McCulloch welcomed guest speakers, Katja Webb and Kristin Bowtell as well as Bronwyn Carey. 

Katja Webb has Australian parents and was born in Germany.  After attending the University of WA where she studied statistics in German and at the same time did every Gilbert & Sullivan she possibly could as well as other musicals.  She then spent three years studying at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).  After spending six years auditioning for the WA Opera Company, she finally made it into the chorus.  It took another two years before she started singing Principal roles.  She also sang in choirs and concerts in Perth.  To further her career, Katja entered competitions and applied for scholarships. This resulted in studying and performing overseas for a number of years. She has performed in Australia, UK and Germany since 2006, in all genres of vocal music from musicals through operetta to opera. She is also able to sing in a number of languages.

Kristin Bowtell loved to sing as a child but was disappointed not to be selected in a choir at the age of eight. Kristin played the flute through his years studying for a Bachelor of Music at the University of WA and in his last year started singing lessons and 'caught the bug'. He stopped playing the flute and was singing in lots of choirs. It is insecure to be a professional singer, constantly going from contract to contract which involves a lot of travel, spending a lot of time away from home.  After returning from London to Perth Kristin started singing professionally. He is currently a conductor, chorus master, baritone and educator and also the Arts Administrator for the Academy of Performing Arts.

Attadale Rotary Club members were delighted to hear Katja and Kristin sing Edelwiess as a duet. This song was created for the 1959 Broadway production of 'The Sound of Music'.

It was also interesting to hear from Katja and Kristin just how difficult it can be financially to do the job you love, whilst living in Perth where there are few opportunities.

Katja Webb and Kristin Bowtell are pictured with Attadale Rotarian Patricia Robertson

by Gail McCulloch
Rotary Club of Attadale 
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At the Club meeting on Monday, 7th May, Attadale Rotary Club President Colin McCulloch welcomed the Guest Speaker for the evening Darren Lomman and his assistant Chloe Atkins as well as guests Ann Kennedy and Benjamin Khoo.

Darren Lomman was introduced by Rotarian John Sharp who said that Darren was the founder of Dreamfit which makes dreams possible for people with disabilities through innovative equipment and product solutions. Darren has now moved on to another project that resulted from him hearing on television 'that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish'. This so shocked Darren that he did his own research and found the statement was actually backed by international research. This led him to look at the recycling system he had grown up with in Perth. To his amazement he was unable to find a single waste plastic reprocessing facility. Instead, he found that most of our plastic bottles placed in recycling bins were being sold on the international market. This resulted in Darren establishing a new social enterprise in 2017, Greenbatch. He plans to build WA's first waste plastic processing facility in Shenton Park. The first product planned is 3D plastic filament made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic beverage bottles, that are marked with the number 1 on the packaging. 3D printing is being used all around the world over a wide range of products and industries. Schools are now getting into using 3D printers. Greenbatch is partnering with schools which will have collection bins at the school. The bottles will be collected, taken to the factory, turned into the 3D printer filament and then given back to the schools. Darren has received numerous accolades and awards, including Young Australian of the Year WA and Australian Young Biomedical Engineer of the Year, to name just two. Darren was a very interesting and enthusiastic speaker, informing everyone of a way to overcome a massive, worldwide problem. To learn more visit the GreenBatch Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com>thegreenbatch or their website on https://www.greenbatch.com 

Darren Lomman is pictured with his assistant Chloe Atkins and Attadale Rotarian John Sharp, Guest Benjamin Khoo with Attadale Rotarian Jeff Spickett and Club President Colin McCulloch with Guest Ann Kennedy and Rotarian Winston Marsh. Also pictured is Attadale Rotarian Gillian Bakersurrounded by raffle prizes at the Club Movie Fundraiser at the Cygnet Theatre on Sunday May 6th. Congratulations Gillian for all your hard work and achieving such a successful result.

by PN Gail McCulloch

"WA Disability Support Awards 2018 Celebrating 10 Years." -- This was advertised in a four-page lift out in The West Australian on Monday April 30th, so the visit on that date to the Attadale Rotary Club from the Justinian Group was very topical and timely.

President Colin McCulloch welcomed the guest speakers from the Justinian Group, Eileen, Joshua, Jessica, Christopher, Simon and Amanda the House Mother. He also was pleased to welcome guest Michael Feeney as well as the Murdoch Student Emerging Leaders (MSEL) Team, Thomas Stewart, Varun Gandhi, Louise Dinnie and Alex.

Amanda Turner's role is the Justinian House Senior, but she is affectionally known as the 'House Mother'. Amanda helped each of the guests share information about themselves to the meeting. She did it in such a way that each one gained in confidence and enjoyed the experience. 

Colin was delighted to tell Amanda that the people who look after the old, the young and those with special needs are very special and valued members of the community.

Amanda wrote a lovely email to the club to say thanks for inviting the Justinian Group to the meeting. They all had a ball as everyone was so welcoming and showed interest. The best part for Amanda was to see the community inclusion for people with disabilities. Club members enjoyed having one of the guests at each table as they shared a meal together. Amanda's role as House Senior is to ensure the smooth running of the household and to make sure all the individuals who reside at Justinian House have all their needs met in every aspect of their life. This includes, social, medical, financial etc.They have regular housemate meetings where all individuals can discuss anything that is important to them.

Thomas Stewart of the Murdoch Student Emerging Leaders told the meeting how he left school at the end of year ten and took the first job available. No one taught him how to write a resume or told him what opportunities were available to him. He eventually went to university and realises the need and value of the project the team from Murdoch are working on for the Rotary Club of Attadale, that is how to write a resume, interview skills and general employability skills. Varun, one of the team, explained that they would like to develop the project so that it can be introduced into other schools. 

President Colin McCulloch is pictured with Justinian Group 'House Mother' Amanda Turner and Eileen. Simon, Jessica, Eileen, Joshua and Christopher of Justinian Group with Amanda Turner and Attadale Rotarian Patricia Robertson. 
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Also pictured are Louise, Varun, Alex and Thomas from the Murdoch Student Emerging Leaders Team with Attadale Rotarians Bev Moffat and Martin Houchin and Bruce Robinson being presented a Microbat Roosting Box by a delighted Club President (and our very own Batman) Colin McCulloch. Bruce was well prepared with a sign saying 'Early Check In'.