Mundaring Rotary Club Memories

Greetings to the Mundaring Rotarians - Western Australia,

How blessed I was to come and live among such fine Rotarians and their Rotary Anns, as they were known at that time, so long ago - 1975! The club was young then, but active and welcoming and dynamic. I was your first Exchange Student and couldn’t have wished for a more perfect fit than with the 28 men who each became my friend, my ‘uncle’, or even my father. I lived with 4 families over the course of that year and loved every one of them - the Chappells, the Trevillians, the Hills, and the Richmonds. Their homes were in Parkerville, Glen Forrest, and Chidlow. Our lives, my life, revolved around what was then the ‘small’ community of Mundaring and the trip ‘down the hill’ to Midland, where I attended Governor Sterling High School. Heather and Brian Hunt became my ‘counselors’ and dear friends. With the fear of forgetting names and leaving out special times with so many of the other fellows and their families, I must point out the generosity of several of the Rotarians who took me on family trips: The Lambs, The Marshalls, Henk Westoff and Pip Colburn. Someone from the club arranged for me to ride in a huge sheep carrying truck up to Moora, where the Rotary Club there took me to the ocean and fishing (see picture above!). The owner of MMA (the airlines at that time) was a Rotarian in Perth, who gave free flights to several of us exchange students around the state during that year, and I especially remember spending some time at Exmouth and Port Hedland. Frankly, I had more adventures than I did ‘schooling’ – and the better education for it, I do believe! I was lucky to cross the Nullabor by car (before it was completely paved) with Doug Hill and his son, Geoff (in picture above). Ted Marshall and his family took me down to the southern part of WA where I saw the amazing rock formations and climbed the Gloucester Tree (see above photo). Where better to turn 18 and celebrate one’s birthday than on Rottenest Island, an amazing week spent with the Trevillians and their darling Christy. My stay with the Richmonds on their goat farm and experiencing a vegetarian lifestyle was another fine lesson in the diversity of Australian home-life. I remember going to a big Rotary Conference in Geraldton, with Pip and Henk as my drivers, stopping at monasteries and other sites in the middle of ‘nowhere’ and being thrilled by the history (and if you were fortunate enough to have known those two men, you know it was quite the trip with much laughing, joking, and singing!). One final act of supreme kindness was the Mundaring Rotary Club arranging a train trip across Australia with two other exchange students during our last weeks in Australia. We were met at the train or bus stations by Rotarians and their families in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney – treated like royalty in their homes and states at every stop!
My year as an Exchange Student had a profound effect on shaping my life. I have family in Australia whom I consider as much ‘kin’ as my own family. I have made friends that have lasted a life time. Some of them have come to visit me here in the United States (Heather and Brian can tell you about their adventure staying in our little house on Lake Champlain in Vermont - what a fine time!). The Hill family brought me back to Australia for one of Doug and Olivia’s grandchild’s wedding a few years ago. Wow – it was real life deja-vu! The memories of 28 years ago came to life once again. In the recent picture above, I am beaming. I knew that I had come home again and was amongst true friends who had welcomed me into their lives and into their hearts all those years ago.... a shy West Virginia girl who had come waltzing to Australia and found the dance divine!