Lesley McCarthy, Royce Abbey Award no. 417 was delighted to attend this year's dinner where the 500th Royce Abey Award was presented.
Held at Windy Hill, the room was filled with recipients, club and district representatives and member of Essendon Rotary including the very first Royce Abbey awardee Michael Moloney.
David Abbey gave a heartfelt tribute to his mother Jean who was a staunch supporter of Royce and the program.
The guest speaker PDG Murray Verso gave a Polio update which the good news that cases are again low and mainly restricted to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sadly he also reported on continued outbreaks of the Vaccine derived virus in a number of African countries.
The surprise of the night was the presentation of not 1, but 2 editions of badge number 500: 500A and 500B to .....
PDG Murray Verso and PDG Dennis Shore, a trustee of the Rotary Foundation.
Two very deserving recipients.