Yearly Archives: 2021

Wayne Stevens JP was born in 1947 here in Adelaide and grew up in the Kilburn area. After leaving school he started work at the Royal Insurance Company, where the “Black Stump”  is now in 1963. At the same time as was common he applied for several other positions including the Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA).

Starting working in the Motor Insurance Endorsement section of the Royal was particularly boring, however I found two work mates who enjoyed beating me at billiards which saw my income disappear regularly.

Later in 1963 he received a call from the CBA staff department wondering whether he would consider an interview to commence work with them at the Hindmarsh Branch.

He went to the Bordertown Branch as “Teller One” in 1966 and that’s where he became a Jaycees (Junior Chamber International) member and did various volunteer activities over the next few years. From 1969 to 1983 he worked numerous positions at CBA, including the Branch Inspection Team and the Personal Department recruiting for SA, NT and PNG.

In 1996 Wayne saw the restructure of CBA and most National Banks. Area mangers were established and over time these teams grew to encompass business banking, retail lending and financial service staff. In his new expanded role he headed up the region in Eastern Adelaide; then by the year 2000 he was based at the Salisbury Branch and was covering an area that went from Modbury to Broken Hill to Port Lincoln.

During that 10 year period out at Salisbury Wayne won at least 3 Top National Awards.

I was recognised by the Managing Director on three occasions for National Awards, one was several weeks before I commenced chemo at the Central District Hospital in 2001 & 2002.

It was important for Wayne to mention that the North Region also achieved Top Area on 4 occasions over that same period.

After retiring from CBA in 2010 he commenced as the CEO of the SA Bookmakers League. Wayne has casually worked for the bookmakers over the course of 40 years on Saturdays and Public Holidays. But this only lasted 18 months as managing Bookmakers was very taxing, so then he moved on to other endeavors to keep busy.

Wayne actually obtained a chauffeurs licence but he then secured a casual position as a General Inspector (parking) for Port Adelaide, Gawler and the Marion Council.

A best friend of mine from CBA days was now CEO of Homestart Finance. He suggested I get a “proper job” and I assisted the setting up their Hardship Assessment Program and endeavoring to reduce arrears at that time (this job reduced to filling staff gaps etc.) Later they offered me a more secure role but I was getting too old by then. The enjoyment of being a casual had spoilt me. I finish up there in 2017.

Wayne Stevens joined Rotary in 2013 and is a very active and valued member of the MGG club and we appreciate him sharing his history tonight.

Join with Rotary as we raise awareness of our work to #EndPolio and show that #VaccinesWork.

In today’s interconnected world, an outbreak anywhere is a threat everywhere. Vaccination is one of the best tools we have to improve people’s health and well-being. Even as COVID-19 vaccination efforts take place, vaccinations for other preventable diseases, such as polio and measles, need to continue in order to protect vulnerable children.

According to the World Health Organization, immunizations save up to 3 million lives per year. Thanks to the work of Rotary and our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, more than 19 million people who would otherwise have been paralyzed by polio can walk today.

Because #VaccinesWork, @Rotary & partners have reduced polio cases by 99.9% worldwide since 1988. @EndPolioNow won’t stop until we end the disease for good. Donate to support #EndPolio

Join with Rotary in reminding everyone that our progress in the fight to end polio is proof that vaccines work.

Thank You Varun, who through his work at the Post Office at Clover Crest, requested sponsorship and presented a cheque to the club matching our last BBQ fundraising profits! This amazing support will go to furthering our club projects in the community!

Tonight we had Sara Belkner from King’s Baptist Grammar present on her recent attendance of the National Youth Science Forum in January.

This year, due to the COVID situation, the NYSF program was run online and each day the students engaged in several web based talks & presentations.

Most in which we just listened to however a few were interactive.  I was able to extract DNA from a strawberry in my bedroom which was pretty cool and a few nights a week we had small groups where we did little activities together. These small groups contained NYSFers from all around Australia and this was the only interaction we had with people outside our state.

NYSF 2021 also consisted of 3 in-person STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) visits. These STEM visits allowed Sara to make close relationships with like minded people from all over South Australia.

I was able to make a few really close friends which i am very grateful for. My favourite in person visit was at the University campus at Roseworthy. Te day was full of activities and I learnt an endless amount of information on a range of animal activity, nature and animal fertility which was extremely interesting.

Unfortunately, Sara had to report that she personally, and many other applicants she met, found the online courses difficult to connect with and irrelevant from their personal interests.This is a shame to hear, as previous years the main draw of the NYSF program was to connect students with others around Australia and immerse them in a variety of professions, businesses and institutions. To give them real-life experiences and open them up to new possibilities.

Nevertheless, I certainly learnt many new things and discovered topics that I never knew existed. Therefore this experience was certainly very beneficial and I am extremely grateful for your help and support.

Our club enjoys supporting students like Sara and believe its a important opportunity for them in furthering their education & future careers.