Rotary recently celebrated 100 years in Australia. Norm Mollica is one of few who can claim to have been a Rotarian for half of that time, having been inducted into Rotary Essendon on 16 November 1971.Born in 1935 in Italy, Norm was sent to live in Australia as a very young boy shortly after the end of WW2. Coincidentally, he was born in the same year that Rotary Essendon was chartered.
Following his induction into Rotary, Norm quickly got to work helping raise thousands of dollars and being part of his local Essendon community. From organising fundraising days at the local clay target shooting club and golf clubs to running annual Melbourne Cup sweeps, walking in the annual Relay for Life as a cancer survivor, to hosting fun events at his own home with his wife Gwen – their hospitality is legendary - Norm has ensured that thousands of people in Australia and overseas have better lives.
Norm has ably represented Australia at many Rotary International golf tournaments, a highlight being winning trophies at the Pinehurst Golf Club in South Carolina USA where the US Open has been played. According to Norm, “Representing our club overseas was a marvelous experience”. His gregarious nature, his ability to chat and put people at ease, and his polite and gentle behaviour made him a wonderful representative of both Rotary and our nation. Any Rotarian from another country who had never met an Australian before would go away with a very positive impression of Australia and Australians. We are certainly not all like Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin!He has supported 50 club Presidents, including his brother Morrie who joined Rotary the same day as Norm, and his own daughter Lisa who followed in Norm’s footsteps and became a member at Rotary Essendon in 2005, the first father/daughter members. Lisa was president in 2014-15. Norm has served on all committees in the club and is always ready with a smile, a joke, a laugh, a handshake, and a word of encouragement. You can always rely on Norm to be there when needed.
In 1980 Norm was awarded Life Membership of F.A.I.M. the “Fourth Avenue in Motion” which was the precursor to RAWCS. On the anniversary of his 50 years in Rotary, he was presented with a Sapphire Paul Harris Recognition from District Governor 9800 Dale Hoy. Norm celebrated this important milestone with his friends at Rotary Essendon where he was presented with a number of congratulatory letters on his commitment to the community including one from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and one from RI President Shekhar Mehta. On this special occasion, Norm surprised attendees by announcing that he was making a donation of $10,000.00 to Rotary Essendon to be used to further research into mental illness. The club has formed a committee to not only manage the donation but to add to it to enable the funding of research scholarships in the coming years. Norm has been a great supporter of Australian Rotary Health research into mental health.Congratulations and thank you Norm. You are an inspiration.