INNER WHEEL AUSTRALIA

MAGAZINE

International Inner Wheel

President Chris Kirby

Theme 2018 – 2019

Empower and Evolve

Conference Edition

Issue 104 November 2018

Celebrating our 50th

Annual Conference

2

Inner Wheel Australia

Executive Committee

President June Muller

Vice President Robyn Gillespie

Immediate Past President Karen Winters

Secretary Pam Lyons

Treasurer Helen Foley

Inner Wheel Australia

Elected Officers National Editor Cheryl Leddy

Inner Wheel Australia

Appointed Officers

Constitution Chairman Joan Beech-Jones

National Project Coordinator Barbara Mitchell

Merchandise Officer Elizabeth Tooke

Media Administrator Susan Chisholm

Directory Editor Ros Hall

Badge Officer Lorraine Costello

Head Teller Elizabeth Russ

Public Officer Rhonda Johns

National Membership Coordinator Meryl Usback

Events Photographer Judith Banks

International Inner Wheel

President Chris Kirby

International Inner Wheel

Board Director Marilyn Armstrong

National Representative Karen Winters

3

A Report from IWA

President June Muller

The conference has come and gone, and what a

conference it was. Being a mini-conference of two

days, it certainly was packed tight. As a memento of

the 50th Anniversary, every member attending

received a beautiful Golden Rose Brooch embossed

with the Inner Wheel Logo between the number 50.

This design will never be repeated so if you were an

attendee you have in your possession a real treasure.

Being a two-day Conference, the welcome dinner was

not included this year, and those who had arrived in

Canberra on Thursday took advantage of meeting up

as Districts for special reunions or arranged to meet

with friends for dinner.

A special event was sponsored by the Community

Link – Canberra on Thursday afternoon, “Ringing

The Peace Bell Ceremony”. This was an amazing

Ceremony conducted by Michael Rabey from the

Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin. It was a

most inspirational event that was enjoyed by all who

attended.

Friday evening was a full packed evening combining

the Opening Ceremony and the Gala Dinner. Three

Research Grants were awarded; the recipients being

Dr Alla Dolnikov, Dr Ashalyn Watt and Associate

Professor Michael Doran. The entertainment was “Hit

Parade” and the group of four entertainers was

excellent and very well received by those who tripped

the light fantastic to tunes of yesteryear.

Indeed, the registration of 353 persons at the

conference far exceeded the numbers expected, and

this caused a few hiccups on the Friendship Night for

which an apology has been made. However, be

assured those who saw the night out thoroughly

enjoyed themselves.

Treasurer Helen has sent the appeal money to “Buy A

Bale”- A total of $47,692 was raised through the appeal

for the Disaster Fund in drought stricken areas. Many

Clubs donated directly to District with monetary

donations, gift vouchers and packaged goods. Well

done to all who came forward and assisted.

The Conference Raffle raised a total of $1800.00 and

this money has been sent to The Royal Flying Doctors

Fund.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe

and blessed Christmas with your family and friends,

and may the coming year be filled with good health and

much happiness.

Yours in friendship,

June

.

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Inner Wheel Australia

50th Conference

Canberra 2018 Thursday 18th October

At the Canberra Nara Peace Park, Michael Rabey from the

Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin invited

International Inner Wheel President, Chris Kirby and Inner

Wheel Australia President, June Muller and members to

hold a Peace ceremonial “Ringing the Bell” to celebrate

our 50th Anniversary Conference.

The location of a World Peace Bell within the Canberra

Nara Peace Park provides a destination point within the

park and allows an expression of good will and peace

between the people of Canberra, Australia and the rest of

the World. Developed within Lennox Gardens, the

Canberra Nara Peace Park symbolizes the close friendship

between Canberra and its sister City, Nara, in Japan.

Friday 19th October

Registration totalled 353 delegates and partners. The

theme for the conference was “Friendship is Golden” to

celebrate our 50th conference. The Opening Ceremony and

Gala Dinner were held at the Hellenic Club which was

beautifully decorated with gold touches by the members of

the Canberra-Belconnen Inner Wheel Club. Many

members wore gold themed outfits. It was great that so

many Past IWA Presidents also attended.

Inner Wheel Australia Vice President and Conference

Coordinator, Robyn Gillespie, was MC. The Inner Wheel

President of Canberra-Belconnen Club, Margueritte

Sheppard lit the Flame of Friendship.

The District Chairmen proudly presented their District

Banners to IWA President June Muller and IIW President

Chris Kirby.

All Inner Wheel members received a wonderful memento

of a Gold Rose Brooch with the Inner Wheel emblem and

50 on it. This was instead of receiving a Conference Bag.

Our International Inner Wheel President Chris Kirby

toasted International Inner Wheel and delivered an

“empowering” address saying that despite Inner Wheel

being unheralded it makes a big difference with over

108,000 members in all the countries it exists around the

world. Women’s words and works are alive and powerful.

Three grants of $65,000 each were presented to research

scientists doing Cord Blood Research. To date, 48 Grants

of around $65,000 have been awarded by us for Cord

Blood Research. The recipients this year included -

Associate Professor Michael Doran from the Stem Cell

Therapies Laboratory at the Princess Alexander Hospital

Brisbane. Cont’d Page 5

Margueritte Sheppard

Lighting the Flame of

Friendship

IIW President

Christine Kirby

giving a toast to

IIW

Vice President Robyn

Gillespie with the

1WA Banner

President Margueritte Sheppard

with the Non-District Banner of

Canberra Belconnen

5

Dr Doran explained to us the research

his team is doing using placenta-derived

mesenchynnal stem/stromal cells to

repair non-union bone fractures.

Dr Alla Dolnikov, Project leader in the

Blood and Marrow Transplant Research

Laboratory at Sydney Children’s

Hospital was the second recipient. Her project is

Development of Novel Immunotherapies from Cord

Blood. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it to Canberra.

The third recipient, Dr Ashalyn Watt

from the Hudson Institute of Medical

Research Facility at Clayton, Victoria told

us some of the break-throughs that have

been made in the research with the

Umbilical Cord Blood cell miRNA in

promoting survival, maturation and

myelinain ligodendrocytes in perinatal white matter brain

injury. White matter injury is commonly observed in

cerebral palsy the most common cause of childhood

disability.

The Gala Dinner was a fabulous night, catching up with

old friends and meeting new ones. There was good food, a

great band the “Hit parade” and lots of dancing.

A40

Joan

Cheng

A50

Maria

Bargwanna

A52

Sue

Arthur

A51

Lesley

Byrne

A53

Gloria

Allison

A54

Jan

Munro

A55

Alison

Banks

A60

Marlene

Sullivan

A61

Glen

Harding

A62

Christine

Wickes

A70

Christine

Houlson

A76

Sharon

Whitchurch

A77

Margaret

Treston

A80

Anne

Shadbolt

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Saturday 20th October

50th Annual Conference Meeting

The Annual General Meeting and Business Session were

held at The Hellenic Club of Canberra. ACT.

IWA President June Muller opened the meeting and

welcomed us. In her report she advised that $43,000 (This

has since increased considerably) had been raised for the

President’s Appeal “Buy A Bale” for Drought Relief in

stricken areas.

Susan Chisholm, Media Administrator, gave a very

touching power point presentation of our members who

have passed away during the last 12 months in, “Moments

of Remembrance”. This is a very moving ceremony as a

member of their respective Club, places a Red Rose in a

vase which is beautifully displayed.

Registration Numbers for the

Conference - Lesley Johnston

Registrar

Registration 353

Gala Dinner 334

Business Session 239

Friendship Dinner 322

Three motions were put to the meeting for ratification. All

were passed, with one most important being that insurance

premiums will be increased by 50 cents per member in

July 2019.

The General Motion submitted by the District A55,

National Promotional Campaign was withdrawn.

IIW President Chris Kirby gave her address stating, “It is

definitely in our interest to continue to work hard to ensure

that Inner Wheel blossoms and reaches more women,

more communities. A turtle has to stick its neck out in

order to move forward and so it is for Inner Wheel. Our

job is to Empower members to stick their necks out like

the turtle to ensure Inner Wheel advances. You are

working together from right across Australia, use your

position to work with District Executives, encourage

Clubs and Districts to mix with other Clubs and exchange

ideas, build interest, work together, beyond your Club and

don’t be a stranger, be a supportive friend and encourage

others to follow suit. Make Inner Wheel fun - Live this

year’s International theme - Empower and Evolve”.

IIW President Chris Kirby, then presented IWA President

June with her banner for the year. President June then

presented IIW President Chris, with a gift from all the

members of Inner Wheel Australia.

The Convention Committee for Melbourne - Val Corva,

Margaret Sansom, Anne McGill, Lorraine Hyde and Pam

Watkins were presented with Honoured Active Badges by

National Representative Karen Winters, on behalf of

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IWA members, for their commitment and dedication to

the success of the IIW Conference in Melbourne in April.

Vice President Robyn Gillespie advised the 2019

Changeover will be held on 15th – 16th June at the Wagga

Wagga Rules Club.

It was confirmed that Cairns will be the venue for the 51st

Conference from 9th – 12th October 2019. IWA President

June presented the Convention banner to Cairns

Conference Coordinator, Helen Crossley.

The meeting closed with the Extinguishing the Flame of

Friendship by Robyn Metcalf Council Member for

District A40.

Past National President Val Gibson, gave a very

informative presentation on “Migraine”.

Saturday Night the Friendship night was a great

opportunity to mingle with old and new friends for a

cocktail night at the Hellenic Club. Wandering around the

crowd creating mystery, Majura the Magician entertained

us with his magic tricks.

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A Report from

National Project Coordinator

Barbara Mitchell

Three Research Grants of $65,000 were awarded at the Inner Wheel Australia National Conference in

Canberra at the Gala Dinner. The three recipients were:

Associate Professor Michael Doran, Queensland University of Technology at the Translational Research,

project title – Using placenta-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (pMSC) to repair non-union bone

fractures.

Dr Ashalyn Watt, from Hudson Institute of Medical Research. Project title Umbilical cord blood cell miRNA in

promoting survival, maturation and myelination in oligodendrocytes in perinatal white matter brain injury.

Dr Alla Dolinikov, Blood & Marrow Transplant Facility, Kids Cancer Centre Sydney Children’s Hospital.

School of Women’s and Children's Health, University of New South Wales – project title Development of novel

immunotherapies from cord blood.

A great fundraiser was organized by Past District Chairman of District A77 Zelma Hanley. Inspired by a

wonderful idea of their District Secretary Sandra Cormack, Zelma paid for the publication of Lynda Downing’s

book “Cordelia and the Deep Sleep”. Lynda Downing, a published children’s author works with Sandra, and

learning of the great work Inner Wheel is doing to support Cord Blood Research, she was inspired to write the

book featuring Cordelia the Bear. The book tells the story of Cordelia, who with the help of her friends,

overcomes her fears and becomes courageous to help save the life of her younger sister, Lola. It is educational

and entertaining and captures the hearts of all who read it. This is a most generous donation from Zelma Hanley

to have the books published with 100% profit going to Cord Blood Research. Books are still available for

purchase. It’s a great gift idea for a stocking filler.

Read the Red, July to September 2018 amount that has been received is $24,155,26. This brings the total to

$2,689,259.92.

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Inner Wheel Australia 51st Annual

Conference

9th-12th October 2019

Pullman Cairns International Hotel

Pullman Cairns International

17 Abbott Street Cairns Q 4870

PH (07) 4031 1300

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Inner Wheel Australia Presidents 1968 – 1999

Kath Armstrong Gwen Davies Letty Pearce Maude Genders Rose Manches Aimee Bennett

1968 – 1970 1970 – 1971 1971 – 1972 1972 – 1973 1973 – 1974 1974 – 1975

Georgia Laws Marjorie Hart Helen Irvine Irene Johnson Yvonne Bellizia Peggy Jones

1975 – 1976 1976 – 1977 1977 –1978 1978 – 1979 1979 – 1980 1980 – 1981

Ruth Towle Phyl Hines Gladys Potter Olga Bennett Barbara Healey Vi Johnson

1981 – 1982 1982 –1983 1983 – 1984 1984 –1985 1985 – 1986 1986 –1987

Marjorie Allen Gwen Bowman Margaret Levecke Judy Christensen Audrey Jones Margaret Roberts

1987 – 1988 1988 – 1989 1989 – 1990 1990 – 1991 1991 – 1992 1992 – 1993

Lovise Richardson Carole Buchanan Fay Cox Jane Green Margaret Sansom Yvonne Cavazz

1993 – 1994 1994 – 1995 1995 – 1996 1996 – 1997 1997 – 1998 1998 – 1999

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Inner Wheel Australia Presidents 1999 – 2018

Jo Weekes Anne McGill Vivienne Anderson Robyn Murray Robyn White Hilary Gardner

1999 –2000 2000 – 2001 2001 –2002 2002 – 2003 2003 –2004 2004 –2005

Carolyn Brown Val Corva Liz Ralston Joan Beech Jones Lorraine Hyde Pam Watkins

2005 – 2006 2006 – 2007 2007- 2008 2008 – 2009 2009 –2010 2010 –2011

Val Gibson Margaret Whitchurch Chris Kirby Bev Crowe Kay Morland Marilyn Armstrong

2011 – 2012 2012 - 2013 2013 – 2014 2014 – 2015 2015 – 2016 2016 – 2017

Karen Winters June Muller

2017 – 2018 2018 – 2019

Below

IWA President June Muller

2018 – 2019

with the previous IWA Presidents

present at the 50th Anniversary

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L-R

Boonah Members

Bev Ward,

Jennie Ross,

L-R

Brisbane North

Members Anne-

Marie Joyner,

Pres. Annette

Nielsen and

Jenny Tinworth

Margaret Buchanan

and Rosemary Larson

June Martin

Inner Wheel Australia Districts

www.innerwheelaustralia.org.au