An article from Barbara Rafter, RC Keilor East
John Rafter has been a committed Rotarian for fifty years, following his purchase of a newsagency in the St Albans area. He joined the Rotary Club of St Albans, a small but active club in District 9800 which gave him the opportunity to serve in his local and international community.
He became Club President in 1993/94 and recruited 11 new members, including his wife Barbara who went on to help prepare a matching grant with their two Rotary sister clubs located in Shiroi, Japan, and Kishorenganj in Bangladesh to fund a toilet block and a medical /community centre in Bangladesh. In the same year, St Albans Club was renamed Brimbank Central, and Barbara assisted with the transition. She then became the first female Club President for 1999/2000.
Both John and Barbara have attended at least 12 Rotary International conventions following their first convention which was held in Melbourne. These have included Taipei in the next year and in 2005, celebrating the 100 years of Rotary in Chicago.
At the 2006 Copenhagen convention, delegates were urged to promote the Paul Harris Society in their Districts. On their return, John and Barbara asked then-D9800 Governor Bernie Walsh to form a Paul Harris Society (the first in Australia), and John was appointed administrator. As an example of his commitment to Rotary and its Foundation, John then made contact with other Zone 8 Governors resulting in six Paul Harris Societies being formed by the end of 2009.
It was a sad duty when Barbara oversaw the closure of Rotary Brimbank Central in 2018. However, most of the remaining members joined Rotary Keilor East. Both Barbara and John continued their Rotary involvement and remained vital members of the Paul Harris Society. Despite his disappointment at the closure of Brimbank Central, is happy to refer to Keilor East as “his club”.
At the club’s President’s Changeover at the end of June, in recognition of John’s contribution to Rotary over the 50 years, he received a number of honours including a message of congratulations from RI President, Francesco Arezzo, a Royce Abbey Award presented by then DG Peter Shepheard, a Certification of Appreciation from the Cambodian Rural Student Trust and a Certificate from District 9800.
Flowers were presented to Barbara to acknowledge her enormous support to John and to Rotary.
Congratulations John Rafter on achieving 50 years as a Rotarian.