It was a wonderful way to gather members, partners, friends of Rotary and distinguished guests to celebrate Christmas.

We held the dinner at the Kensington Hotel and were well looked after by Emma and Blaike. The room looked very festive and the food was delicious.

Highlight of the night was to induct Ken Cross into the Rotary club of Burnside. Ken has been a friend of Rotary, helping out many times at BBQs and the Community Wellness Hub. His lovely wife, Doreen has been a guest speaker at the Community Wellness Hub on her time with the United Nations. We are truly delighted to have Ken officially join the club.

We were also delighted to have Jack Batty MP join us for dinner. Jack has been a great supporter of the Rotary club of Burnside. We look forward to another productive year, helping the community through funds raised at the many BBQs we hold. BBQs are a great way to bring together members in fellowship and working toward a common goal.

On Saturday, 14 December 2024, I had the honour of attending the Centenary Ceremony for the Burnside District Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial in Rose Park, representing the Rotary Club of Burnside. This memorial stands as a profound cultural and spiritual landmark within the City of Burnside, established to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Great War.

At the original dedication ceremony in 1919, relatives of the fallen soldiers planted trees along Alexandra Avenue and Prescott Terrace in their honour. These trees now stand tall, a living testament to the memory and eternal sacrifice of those who gave their lives.

In 1920, funds raised by the Burnside Memorial Committee commissioned a bronze statue by renowned Australian sculptor Charles Web Gilbert (1867-1925). The statue, unveiled on 14 December 1924 by the Governor of South Australia, Lieutenant General Sir Tom Bridges KCB KCMG DSO, captures a profoundly evocative scene: a soldier climbing over the top of a trench and turning back to offer a helping hand to his mate.

Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, delivered a heartfelt keynote address that resonated deeply with all present. Additional thought-provoking speeches were given by Colonel Stephen Larkins OAM and Mayor Anne Monceaux.

The ceremony was attended by Cressida O’Hanlon MP, representing the Premier, and local member Jack Batty MP, representing the electorate of Bragg. Also present were Councilor’s from the City of Burnside, members of the RSL, the Burnside Historical Society, numerous volunteers, a local choir, Chaplain Carl Aiken OAM JP, and many current and former service personnel.

This memorial serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by those who came before us. It is a place to reflect on the struggles that have granted us the freedoms we enjoy today. By honouring these sacrifices and preserving their memory, we ensure that the lessons of the past are not forgotten. It is our collective responsibility to pass on this torch of remembrance to future generations, so that their sacrifices were not in vain and history is not unnecessarily repeated.

I highly encourage everyone to visit the memorial and take a moment to reflect.

Lest We Forget.

Dr. Andrew Bradley MIEAust CPEng NER APEC Engineer IntPE(Aus)

This past Sunday, our club hosted our largest community service event of the year—the Senior Citizens Christmas Luncheon at the Burnside Town Hall. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the Rotarians, volunteers, and the families and staff of Burnside Primary School who joined us. The seniors shared their delight in the children’s performance and truly enjoyed the festive atmosphere among friends. They asked me to convey their appreciation to everyone involved.

A special thanks also goes to our event sponsors, the City of Burnside, and Tony & Marks, and to our special guest speakers James Stevens MP, Mayor Anne Monceaux, and Stefano Tocci. Your support helped make this event a wonderful success!

I would also like to acknowledge the generous contributions made by seniors and volunteers to the Baptist Care Toy Donation effort. Your kindness will bring joy to those less fortunate this Christmas. Even a small donation can mean the world to someone in need—thank you for making a difference!

Dr Andrew Bradly President Rotary club of Burnside.

The Rotary club of Burnside was honoured to be invited to set up the BBQ trailer for Carols in the Park.

Christmas Carols in the Park – Hazelwood Park RC Burnside was invited to assist in conjunction with the local CFS team to run a BBQ at the Christmas Carols in the Park event! The event was a great success by the City of Burnside, with the park full of families and children playing, singing, and all around everyone full of Christmas holiday cheer. As John Rockliff reported, the BBQ team “smashed that one out of the park!”. Selling out twice, 812 snags cooked, and raised over $1,800 for the local CFS. Further, it was fantastic to see the team working so well with the CFS volunteers, rekindling our relationship with CFS in our very visible public supporting our local CFS brigade. I had an opportunity to talk with Mayor Anne Monceaux. She was very impressed with our collaboration with the CFS. Well done, team

Dr Andrew Bradley, President Rotary club of Burnside.

We were not expecting many people to attend due to the warm weather.

However, as with every month we were surprised to have forty-one people attend. Quite a morning for us but it all went very well. We had a group of twenty people all arrive at once which was overwhelming. However, they did bring their own lunch.

Our Guest Speaker was Marcus Booth-Remmers from Red Cacao, chocolate Café in Sterling. Marcus has a passion for making excellent quality chocolate. He spent 6 years in Europe learning all about chocolate making.

He set up his café in Sterling providing a chocolate experience for his customers.

He provided samples for the group which were enjoyed. Fortunately, he brought along different chocolates for purchase. Perfect Christmas present.

Thank you, Marcus, for a fascinating insight into the making of high-grade chocolate. I think a visit to Red Cacao in Sterling is on everyone’s list of places to visit.

Unfortunately, the Yoga Chair instructor was unable to conduct classes this month. But everyone was having a wonderful chat and enjoying the chocolates.

The light lunch of sandwiches from Tony and Mark’s was a big hit. To add to the lunch the wonderful team of volunteering prepared additional sandwiches on site.

Thank you to the wonderful volunteers for helping with the lunch and looking after our guests.

Thank you to Helen, Susan, Pam, Steph, Kate, and Trish.

Thank you to JC for setting up and collecting equipment for the event.

This was the final session for 2024, and we all look forward to meeting again on February 20^th, 2025.

Thank you to the City of Burnside for their ongoing support for this event, which is appreciated by all who attended.

It was a wonderful experience being part of this event and to see everyone enjoying the opportunity to meet new people, learn from the many guest speakers and participate in the chair exercises.

Margie Maloney OAM

Vocational visit to Haigh’s Chocolate Factory.

A good gathering of members and friends assembled at Haigh’s Chocolates on Greenhill Road and enjoyed a tour of the factory complete with free samples. Still a family-owned business it produces 20 tons of chocolate each week and a new factory at Elizabeth will increase this to 40 tons.

An incredible 250 different products are made at the factory with new lines being added all the time. The dexterity of those hand making these chocolates is truly amazing.

At the conclusion of the tour there were more samples before the party travelled to the nearby Cremorne Hotel on Unley Road and enjoyed an excellent lunch and convivial company.

Thanks go to Murray Rawinski for organising the day.

Hills Small Acreage Field Days – J. Rockliff

After a month of planning and anxiety, and barely averted technical mishaps, it was time – 6am on Saturday morning at the shed, Keith, JC, and JR loading up the BBQ trailer to head off to Echunga for our first taste of the Hills Small Acreage Field Days at Echunga. Under overcast skies we set up on the periphery of the main oval stuffed with exhibitors, and soon we were under way with bacon and egg sandwiches for the exhibitors and Field Day staff. As the morning progressed and public started filtering in, we could see people circulating through the exhibits or wandering past to go see working dogs herding sheep, but not too many finding their way to our BBQ. Brian and Pam arrived with our bread delivery and carried on till relieved by Brian Wall and Marshall, then we were joined by Des and Margie, allowing Keith and John Caddy to head off. We all took turns to wander through the exhibitors displays – lots of bright orange and green boys’ toys aka farm machinery, camper trailers (is it a camper trailer if it weighs 2.8tonne!!!), water tanks, cattle and sheep crushes and fencing, battery solutions, vibrating massage beds (apparently very relaxing, especially if you could tune out the sales lady)….Custom, not enormously brisk in the morning, dropped away in the afternoon, and by 3pm we decided to start winding it up for the day – knock down and load out, back to the shed for clean-up and restock.

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The Rotary Club of Burnside looks forward to providing a BBQ for the Christmas Pageant. This year was no exception and, although a very hectic day, we all had a fun time.

We sold 500 sausages and 80 Toffee Apples! But all our stock was sold, so no wastage. Where we were positioned we had a great view of the passing pageant but were so busy cooking sausages not easy to turn around and see all the floats.

Thank you to Bob Jane for again allowing us to park in their spot, greatly appreciated.

It was an early morning for all the Rotary club of Burnside volunteers, meeting at the Rotary shed at 06:30!!

The BBQ was set up at 07:00, perfect for the families who had found their spot from about 04:00.

Many thanks to all our volunteers, JR, Des, Murray, Susan, Marshall, Brian, David J and Margie.

The Rotary club of Burnside were invited by Bunnings at Mile End to man a station for Trick or Treaters.

Three of us were more than happy to volunteer and give out goodies to the children at Bunnings. The children had amazing costumes and elaborated face painting. The parents were also enjoying the occasion with their costumes.

The staff at Bunnings also got into the act with various costumes.

We all had a fun couple of hours getting into the spirit of Halloween. Thank you to Bunnings, Mile End for the invitation.

We look forward to next year.

A number of members of the Rotary club of Burnside attended the first release screening of the new film “Lee”. This night was hosted by the Rotary clubs of Norwood and Eastwood. A very powerful and confronting film on Lee Miller a photographer during World War two. Her images were all very graphic when published. However the impact of time in war zones took there toll. Her photos were only discovered after her death by her son and his wife. Many of her photographers were not actually published at the time Lee took them. They were considered too graphic in England but some were published in America.

Lee went on the suffer Post Traumatic stress and to become an alcoholic which is understandable.

But it was a film worth seeing and Kate Winslet portrayed Lee extremely well.

it was a night to raise funds for World Polio day which was on the same day as the fundraiser.

The Rotary club of Burnside donated a very generous donation to World Polio day as we all support this cause.

The Rotary clubs of Norwood and Eastwood put on an amazing evening with delicious sandwiches and wonderful raffle prizes, well done.

The Rotary club of Burnside were lucky to win prizes, Des, Susan and Margie.

It was a great night out supporting other Rotary clubs and we can all highly recommend this truly amazing film.