The 1998 District 9700 Conference at Griffith on 27 - 29 March was a great success. Wollundry Rotary Club had 22 representatives at the conference and had a most enjoyable weekend.

Wollundry members attending were all dressed up for the International ball on Saturday night. Attending were Rick and Margret Priest, Paul and Carolyn Murray , Alan and Ann Larcombe, John and Denise Flockton, David and Cherie Benn, Ken Cook, Eric Morton, John and Norma Gray, Kevin and Lyndal Watts, Colin and Faith Butt and Craig and Maggie Couzens. Also Jamie and Linda Suszek were visiting from Oak Forest, Illinois, and Kari Ann and Koy, our exchange students were dressed to kill.

To start the evening, Kari Ann sang the American National Anthem and Koy performed a traditional Thai dance. We were very proud of them both.

One of the most powerful presentations of the conference was the ROMAC (Rotary Overseas Medical Aid for Children) presentation by its Founder - Barrie Cooper ( a rotatian) and Plastic Surgeon - Mr Murray Stapleton, F.R.A.C. and Television Personality, Collette Mann. It was a special presentation of the operation to separate the Papua New Guinea Siamese twins and other critical operations performed in Papua New Guinea. The talks given by each presenter were exceptional and most emoutional. The slides presented by Mr Murray Stapleton of severe plastic surgery on New Guinea children were most shocking. After the presentation $4,700 was donated by the audience to support the program.

John Gray was awarded District Rotarian of the Year for 1998. For perhaps the first time, John was speechless. John has contributed a tremendous amount of his time to Rotary and is well deserving of this award.