by Paulette Steele
I like my club because it’s given me the opportunity to engage with and become a part of the community here in Maleny. When I arrived two years ago, I didn’t know a single soul. Living on my own and running my business from home, didn’t exactly make it easy to meet people either, other than my wonderful neighbours. It was a conversation with a friend which led me to contact the Rotary Club of Maleny and make enquires about joining. When I was first invited along to a dinner meeting, here was this group of 25 or so people with not a familiar face amongst them. I must admit to thinking “Is this something I really want to do?” However, with a sense of potential friendships to be made, I went back to the next dinner and so the story goes. Never one to just sit back and merely socialize, it wasn’t long before I became more involved in Rotary’s activities. As the Youth Director on the current board, I get to be involved with the various schools and youth activities and through this, I’ve met some great people who are doing some wondrous things for the youth in our community. Last year, through the Rotary Club, I had the opportunity to help with the Maleny Christmas Street Carnival. As a lover of Christmas festivities, I jumped aboard and took on running the Christmas Raffle with the help of a couple of my Rotary friends. Through this, I met an abundance of people including those from other service clubs and local businesses. It’s because of the Rotary Club of Maleny, that my life feels a lot fuller and even though I’m still basically a newcomer, I can often stop and have a chat with someone in town.
