Rotary first to offer help

PORT Ward councillor Stuart Halligan said he remembered the Rotary Club of Kooweerup Lang Lang most for the way club members moved into action to help rebuild the Catani sports pavilion when it was burnt down in 2001.
I lived at Catani for most of my young life and like Stuart felt a special hurt when the old pavilion was destroyed by fire.
I certainly don’t recall a state of the art pavilion, but a humble old building that, probably even in my sporting days, was well past its use-by date.
But it was special and housed many treasures and memories.
So what Stuart had to say brought home to me and I guess others the importance of community organisations such as Rotary.
He was speaking to guests at the club’s 2009 changeover dinner held at the Wings and Fins Restaurant Tooradin on Wednesday 24 June.
He said he was a policeman in the area at the time and lived at Catani when an arsonist destroyed the pavilion. “We were devastated. But the first phone call I received was from the Rotary Club of Kooweerup Lang Lang and it was offering to help us rebuild.
“The second phone call I received was from Rotary Club of Kooweerup Lang Lang members asking if they could join a committee working to rebuild our pavilion. And Rotary organised the first fund-raiser.
“I can recall feeling that we were on our way to building a bigger and better sports pavilion. I can say that the Catani community really appreciated the contribution made by this club,” he said.
Cr Halligan also took the opportunity to commend Rotary for many hours of voluntary work contributed to the bushfire rehabilitation effort.