District presents Paul Harris Fellow Recognitions 

All Rotarians donate their time and talent to their Club and various projects. 
 
Some Rotarians then take a step further and give service at a District level and some of these Rotarians were recognised at our District Changeover.
'Special Recognitions' were presented to:
 
PDG Murray Verso (Rotary Williamstown, 41 years as a Rotarian)
Murray is well known across the District for his tireless promotion of The Rotary Foundation culminating in his role as Chair of the District Foundation Committee for the last three years.  This included chairing the Committee which organised the very successful Peace Symposium in April 2021, sending out regular Foundation newsletters to circulate news about the Foundation to ensure it stays in the front of Clubs’ minds and constant liaison with the Clubs to ensure Club donations are made. 
 
Many clubs will know Murray as he has been a guest speaker at numerous club meetings along with much promotion of the Foundation at the recent District Conference. 
 
He was our District representative at the Council on Legislation earlier this year and kept us updated through his posts on Facebook.
 
Murray is a strong advocate for End Polio and a supporter of the End Polio Walk.  He will continue this strong support as he takes up the position of Zone Coordinator for End Polio commencing 1 July 2022.
 
PDG Peter Frueh (Rotary Balwyn, 15 plus years as a Rotarian)
Peter has been working on the project to look at the future of Rotary for the past three years as co-chair of the Regionalisation Pilot Project.  This has entailed an immense amount of work to bring it to the current stage of the pilot being approved by the RI Board.  Communication has been a key factor with weekly meetings spanning Districts in Australia and New Zealand, a new website and resources being developed for distribution to all Rotarians in the Zone.  Peter’s organisational skills are exemplary and have ensured the success of this initiative.
 
 
District Secretary Jane Pennington (Rotary North Balwyn, Rotarian for 28 years)
Many Rotarians in the District know Jane through her role as District Secretary in this Rotary along with two previous years.  She has also been the secretary for the Foundation Committee for the past three years and assisted with the organisation for the District Conference this year.  She has held various positions within North Balwyn including being President in 2015-16 and has worked in the field of youth for many years.
 
 
 
 
A Paul Harris Fellow Recognition plus four Sapphires was presented to Keiran Cromie  (Rotary Brighton Beach and Brighton, 27 plus years as a Rotarian)
 
Keiran was a charter member of the Rotary Club Brighton Beach in 1995 and transferred to Rotary Club of Brighton in 2017. During that time he held the roles of Charter Secretary, President, Treasurer and many other Board positions.  At a District level, Keiran has organised many GSE functions, the Adelaide Conference, and a number of other events.
 
Keiran was instrumental in the organisation of the District Conference with an eye for detail and a ‘can do’ attitude to solve any problems that arose.
 
 
A Paul Harris Fellow Recognition with two Sapphires was presented to Richard Blakeman (RC Glenferrie, Rotarian 8 years)
 
Richard has been a valuable member of Glenferrie and held various positions including President in 2017-18.  He has willingly used his expertise in the field of communications & public image which has enhanced the image of Glenferrie.  He has worked tirelessly as the Club’s Protection Officer along with mentoring Immediate Past President Mark Ellis over last two years. 
He has been a member of the Foundation Committee for the past three years and chaired the Global Grants Committee.  He has given countless hours to this task, always ready to talk to Rotarians and assist with the grants process while also keeping excellent records and liaising with RI.
 
 
Sandi Fulcher, (Rotary Chadstone/East Malvern, Rotarian 19 years) - A Paul Harris Fellow Recognition plus three rubies
Sandi is a highly valued member in her own club, Chadstone/East Malvern, as well as at the District level, where her can-do attitude has involved her in many projects.  In this Rotary year Sandi has been both the Club Service Chair along with Public Image and Communications, ensuring that Rotary’s image is consistent and current.  She was editor of the Networker, kept the website current, oversaw communications, organised the District Awards, carried out all the promotion and marketing for the District Conference and assisted with technology for many events.
Sandi has had enormous impact across clubs across the District. Thank you Sandi for your valuable contribution across the 64 Rotary Clubs in our District.
 
 
Three Rotarians were recognised who were not present at the Changeover being:
 
Melissa McIntosh (Rotary Carlton, Rotarian of 18 years)
 
Melissa was inducted into Carlton Rotary in May 2004 and had some family Leave around 2009 when the first of her 3 children was born.
She is married to Martin, lives in the heart of Carlton and now has 3 children.
She was an invaluable Treasurer for the District 9800 Conference held in Melbourne at the MCEC in March 2012.
Melissa was  President of the Club in  2018-19 and over the last two years has just completed a term as District 9800 Treasurer as well as being an outstanding Community Services Chair for Rotary Carlton during 2021-22 and 2020-21 and looked after the club Website and Club Bulletin for the last 2 years as well.
 
At District level, Melissa’s contribution to the financial accounting of the District for the last two years has been highly valued together with her timely advice on my District financial issues.  Thank you Melissa for your service to the clubs of District 9800.
 
Warwick Cavell (Rotary Central Melbourne, 7 years Rotarian)
Warwick has had a substantial impact on District 9800 in his role as Learning and Development and Vocational Services Chairs as well as his enormous impact within the Rotary Club of Central Melbourne.
 
Warwick had a huge input into the MentorMatch project, resulting in the successful Government grant received to implement this project. In the L&D field Warwick has developed and run an Assistant Governor Facilitation Skills Workshop, Mental Health First Aid training and worked with Belonging Matters to introduce this to Clubs. Warwick has provided strategic planning for a number of Rotary Clubs and service projects including Afri-Auscare, WERN, DIK, Fitzroy Learning Network and Australian Youth Affairs Coalition.
 
He is always happy to assist clubs and willingly runs planning sessions and workshops.
 
Des O’Shanassy (Rotary Hoppers Crossing, 32 years Rotarian)
Des has been passionately working on youth projects for many years, especially with Interact and Wynspeak, a public speaking competition which he founded in 2003 and now involves over forty colleges. This concept has spread to other areas within the District.
 
His work with Interact started in 2014 when he initiated the introduction of Baden Powell P9 College Interact club.  In 2017 he was Chair of Multi District Interact Conference Committee, running a successful Conference at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
 
This year he was appointed District Interact Chair, establishing a District Interact Committee comprising all sponsor club Interact Liaison officers, is a member of the District ACTS committee, which was introduced to grow Earlyact, Interact and Rotaract in District 9800, a member of the Multi-District Interact Conference Planning committee and established Rotary Club of Hoppers  Crossing Youth Project alumni, a networking group of young people 18-25 who have participated in Rotary endorsed Youth Programs.  
 
 
Two Rotarians from other Districts were recognised for the assistance they have given to District 9800:
 
Howard Randall (Rotary District 9780, Rotary Torquay,  30 plus years as a Rotarian)
 
Past President Howard Randall joined Rotary and Rotary Club of Torquay ( District 9780  on 1 June 1989 – 33 years. Howard is married to Jill with two children
Recognised by Torquay with Paul Harris Fellow in 1996.
Awarded the Four Avenues of Service citation in 2009.
Howard was instrumental in the introduction of RLI into Australia along with PDG Kathy Roth and PP Warren Norton.
Howard introduced Microsoft 365 to District 9870 in 2016 and his technical knowledge and support was invaluable in introducing the platform to  District 9800 in 2021/22.This platform is the basis of all administrative functions now in District 9800  including document management.
Howard also developed and introduced the District Learning Centre for District 9780 and in 2021/22 District 9800.
Howard has a wealth of knowledge in the technical and training areas which he is always willing to share beyond his own District 9870 with District 9800 being the beneficiary over the last 18 months.
Thank you Howard for your valuable contribution to District 9800.
 
 
Ingrid Waugh (District 9920, New Zealand, Rotary Parnell, Rotarian for 27 plus years)
Ingrid has been working with Peter Frueh as the Co-Chair of the Regionalisation Pilot Project Committee for the past three years and has done an immense amount of work to bring the project to its current position.  She has held many positions within Rotary and has devoted a huge amount of time and energy to this project.