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Rotary Club of Cobram hands out awards and welcomes new president

By Contributed

Jul 10, 2023

Changing of the guard: Outgoing Rotary Club of Cobram president Lindon Mellier congratulates his successor, John Crawford. Photo by Contributed

The Rotary Club of Cobram has held its final event for the financial year, where awards were presented to recognise outstanding work in our community.

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The club also celebrated the year’s achievements at the June 29 gathering, and inducted a new president.

Outgoing president Lindon Mellier handed the reins to John Crawford, who accepted the role for the next 12 months.

Mr Crawford said he was honoured to be back in the role and was looking forward to a busy year working on local community projects that make a difference to the environment, our youth and enhancing this wonderful region.

There were many nominations received for this year’s Community Service Awards, and it was a difficult job for the committee to select a winner in each of the three categories.

The first award, the Trevor Noonan Memorial Citizen of Distinction, was presented to Helena Logan, who has recently retired after 14 years as a volunteer at Cobram Hospital and Irvin House.

In 2015, Ms Logan was nominated for the Victorian Minister for Health Volunteer Awards.

The Customer Service Award went to Gemma Parlevliet, who works at Subway Cobram.

Ms Parlevliet completed VCE and graduated from Wangaratta High School in 2018.

At graduation she was presented with a Charles Sturt University award for completing VCE and Year 12 while experiencing hardship.

Ms Parlevliet started working at Subway in 2020 during COVID-19. At the end of 2022 she stepped up to assistant manager, a position she has held since.

This year’s RJ Cornish Memorial Apprentice/Trainee of the Year award went to Recopak Machinery’s Jake Thompson.

Mr Thompson is 24 and lives in Tocumwal with his partner and two young children.

Mr Thompson is attending Shepparton GOTAFE in blocks of one week each month to complete a Certificate III in Engineering/Mechanical Trade plus advanced modules in complex lathe and milling machine operation.