by Dale McIntyre
Defying the Drift was staged for the 11th time in 2021, after a recess in 2020. We were very fortunate to find a very small window of opportunity to run the Defying the Drift youth program, be it with some very stringent rules and regulations.
The program consisted of a residential component at Longerenong Ag College Horsham, from Monday December 13th to Wednesday December 15th.
In 2021, all but one participant lived within the boundaries of District 9780 with the other students coming from Melbourne. Program participants included twenty one females and seven males from nineteen schools and twenty two Rotary Clubs.
Longerenong Ag College were again happy to host the program and were prepared to rent their facilities, including dormitory and catering services, to Rotary and provided great administrative assistance.
Longerenong Ag College offered financial support for the program by way of sponsorship and reduced charges for the use of the facilities. All this was under the guidance of the new CEO Avril Hogan, who was a very informative and entertaining guest speaker on the Tuesday evening. Jessica Grimble from “Wimmera Development Association” and “Leadership Wimmera” informed and entertained us with her career path and tips on public speaking.
The fee to attend was set at $300 with a reduced price of $250 for early-bird payments. This was a great initiative, as the program was completely filled for the first time prior to the closing date. Generally, students are asked to pay $50 and the sponsoring Rotary Clubs pay the balance. In cases of hardship, Rotary Clubs may elect to pay the full amount on behalf of the student. The change in timing meant that some students were unable to attend due to family and work commitments. As a result of the changed hosting arrangements due to COVID-19, we were unable to have parents and guests attend.
Fiona Chambers was contracted to prepare and deliver the curriculum and continues to be a huge asset to the program with her deep knowledge of the Agricultural sector.
The high quality of content and presentation of the program was maintained under the guidance of Fiona Chambers. Students received the same level of classroom content as in previous years and benefitted from a well-structured series of property and business visits that complemented classroom content. Special thanks to Geoff Eagle for his tireless effort in arranging the visits. Mrs. Deb Bain assisted Fiona with her immense knowledge of the rural industry and her special way with the students.
A final part of the program is a presentation from each student to their sponsoring Rotary Club. This would normally follow in the next month however, this will happen during 2022 due to the late timing of the program.
Donna Winfield, Careers and Development, Longerenong Ag College, again provided advice and assistance to Fiona and the DtD Committee. Many thanks to Kym Bateson, Residential Manager, for her preparation of the DtD folders, room allocations, preparation of the conference room and all the other facilities we needed to run the program. The catering staff Chelsie and Wayne provided a fantastic array of meals and I cannot speak too highly of their service!
A special thanks to the DtD Team for all the time and effort over the last two years in keeping this program alive and in all Rotarians minds. Thanks to Christine Dufty for stepping in as a chaperone and helping implement all the COVID-19 rules and regulations. Most importantly, the 2021 DtD Program would not have been possible without our Secretary Kevin Stuart, who put in many hours of work to get it up and running.
We are extremely grateful to our sponsors without whom we would not be able to run such a successful program.
Financial Sponsors:
Major sponsor: Longerenong College
Gold Sponsors: Stockyard Wind Farm, Rural Bank, Pyrenees Shire, Ararat City, Horsham Rural City, Alfredton Rotary, MASH Rotary, Beaufort Rotary and Horsham East Rotary
500 Club: Kardinia Rotary
Participating Rotary Clubs: Torquay, Ararat, Horsham, Casterton, Nhill, Swan Hill, Hamilton, Wendouree, Camberwell, Kerang, Warrnambool, Mitchell Riverina, Portland
Bay, Stawell, Colac and Colac west, Ballarat West, Myrtleford, Lara District and Maryborough
Defying the Drift Committee:
Dale McIntyre, Chair, Rotary Club of Belmont
Kevin Stuart Secretary, Rotary Club of Belmont
Peter Oddie, Treasurer, Rotary Club of Ararat
Deb Robertson, Rotary Club of Alfredton
George Kirsanovs, Rotary Club of Beaufort
Tony Sutherland, Rotary Club of Beaufort
Geoff Eagle, Rotary Club of Horsham East
Helen Teakle, Rotary Club of Nhill
Jim Burrel, Dairy Industry Representative