Once more our Club organised our annual fundraiser as a garden party with afternoon tea for members and friends.
The garden setting was really beautiful, the afternoon tea was delicious and the music was delightful.
Our club also organsied a raffle and one lucky lady won a beautiful orchid. Thanks to everyone’s generosity, the Club was able to make a donation of $340.00 to the Amelia Earhart Fellowships Fund of the Foundation for Women.
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This was a time to celebrate the commitment and achievements of many past and present members who had contributed to local and global communities since 1978. Members and friends enjoyed a snapshot of local service projects drawn from Clubs around the world whose aims aligned with ours – to build a better world for women and girls, and in so doing, create a more sustainable environment for families to survive and thrive. Our snapshot featured favourite local Service Projects carried out between 1998 and 2000. Described as A Footprint of Service, this concept culminated in an Avenue of Service showcased at the Zonta International Convention in Hawaii in the year 2000. The footprint revealed that members in clubs like ours raised over 10.8 million US Dollars on just one local project in that time. The presentation was drawn from archival photo-documentation compiled by Val Sarah, Charter President of the Club in 1978 and International President for the biennium 1998-2000. In Val’s absence on the evening, Secretary Carmel McCormick presented the program, offering a special welcome to two Past Presidents of the Club who had attended the Convention in Hawaii with Val, Pam Davies and Stella Coffey. As has become a custom with our special events, the desserts were cupcakes decorated for the occasion, delivered by former member Sandy Harbison. It’s sobering to think that in the very near future, we will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary!
Each year, our Club has sponsored two awards at Royal South Street Society Ballarat Eisteddfod. These awards are the Zonta Club of Ballarat Maureen Christie Memorial Prize for Speech and Drama and the Encouragement Award Under 16 Years was awarded to Idaho Jenkins; the Under 14 Years Award went to Sylvia Andrews. In the Debating category, Best Debater Years 11 and 12 was awarded to Amber McCarthy and Best Debater for Years 5 and 6 was awarded to Edith Oakland. In 2024, Royal South Street had over 5060 entries, over 9050 performers on the stage, over 10,000 audience, over 100 volunteers over a four-month period. This year, the organisers are looking forward with great excitement to returning to their home at Her Majesty’s Theatre (after several years of renovations) bringing more performing arts to the heart of Ballarat. And again, our Club will keep this tradition alive sponsoring these same awards.
The Club has always been active in this campaign and organised walks around 27th November. This year we were invited to join a Committee set up by representatives of community organisations and the City of Ballarat to organise a number of functions for the 16 days. This resulted in a number of activities including speakers and art exhibitions, culminating in the walk. This year it started on the block of Lydiard Street, near the Art Gallery led by Aboriginal dancers, along Sturt Street, turning into Camp Street and concluding in Alfred Deakin Place, where a huge crowd gathered to hear a panel of speakers. A review meeting held after the function agreed that the Committee should reform to organise a walk with other activities for 2025, and it is expected to be called together shortly.