PITCHING IN FOR ROTARY

Metro Rail were keeping the customers satisfied in January during the temporary closure of the Blackburn and Heatherdale stations due to the removal of the boom gates and lowering of the line.
Forest Hill Rotary were asked to cook for the commuters on the replacement buses and travellers were treated to free sausages and veggie burgers. This raised money for Rotary Forest Hill providing some compensation for being unable to run the regular Blackburn Market during the construction time.

Dee Ryall MP and I volunteered our time as they were short of members and we received a lovely acknowledgement for our efforts in the Rotary Forest Hill newsletter that you can read below. We both worked hard alongside these other amazing people but enjoyed the friendship and fun and it felt great to see the smiles on the faces of everyone.

Barbara Williams ,Dee Ryall and Sharon Partridge prepare to feed the multitudes.

RINGWOOD STATION BBQ 25 JANUARY 2017
.... Metro Rail were very pleased with our Ringwood Station BBQ where we gave out 800 cooked sausages and 100 vegie burgers in just under 2 hours after the first lot were ready. That’s nearly 8 items per minute we cooked and gave out. No wonder we were tired! We worked like a well- oiled machine (and maybe smelt like one at the end?) Thanks to all our hard workers, John Mc, Bob L, Ray, Stuart, Bill, Barbara and Bob W along with Dee Ryall MP and Sharon Partridge WFHF (Wonderful Forest Hill Friend) from Mitcham Rotary club who both volunteered to help us and we certainly needed their support. Two of my grandchildren, Indigo and Ryan also helped out, both with packing the 6 car fridges at my place and then initially helping to get the goodies out to the hungry Ringwood travellers, until their mum could come and collect them. Sara had organised five people from Metro Rail to also help. Additional to the $500 Metro Rail will donate to us as well as funding all our costs, we also raised nearly $200 in donations from grateful sausage and vegie burger- eating travellers so this helps to offset a little of our much lower Blackburn Station market income over much of last year, due to the rail works there. Our next Metro Rail engagement is the 1st February at Blackburn station when our vegie burger cooking will be upped to 200, plus the 800 sausages, 55 loaves of bread and 10kg of onions.

The Forest Hill guys cooking up a storm.