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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-09-20 Daily Xml
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Light Electorate

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:25): Thank you for the opportunity to raise a few matters pertaining to my electorate of Light. The first thing I would like to bring to the attention of the house is the 30th birthday of one of the sporting organisations in the electorate, the Bluejays Softball Club. The Bluejays Softball Club was the brainchild of the late Helen Milics, who wanted to play social softball with a group of women her own age. As a result of her activity, the Bluejays club was formed.

The idea of starting the club was promoted through school newsletters and word of mouth. Before long, there were 16 people who were keen to play. The inaugural coach of the team was Tony Bayliss, who was playing men's softball and baseball at the time. The very first meeting of the Bluejays club was held at Helen Milics's house. When they were thinking of a name for the club, Helen's husband, Talley, who was formerly a teacher at Trinity College, and at Gawler High School when I was a student there, thought of the name 'Bluejays' after recently coming back from Canada where he watched the Toronto Bluejays play, and so the Bluejays Softball Club was born.

Over the years, the Bluejays have won four A-grade, six B-grade, four C-grade, five under-16 and five under-15 grand finals, and they have had a very distinguished career. They have also re-established the junior program, and last season they entered a T-ball and junior team into the Gawler and Districts Softball Association Competition. At the celebrations, it was quite clear that the Bluejays were more than just a softball club; they were also a very strong family. During the evening, they acknowledged those members who are no longer with us, and also provided life memberships to those who made a huge contribution to the club. I wish them a happy 30th birthday.

The other matter I would like to mention to the house is service clubs. We all have service clubs in our communities and they provide wonderful work and support for our communities. The funds they raise go to very important community clubs. The Roseworthy-Hewett Kiwanis Club, which is one of two Kiwanis clubs in my electorate, was given the opportunity to host this year's national convention of Kiwanis clubs.

At the convention, over 150 delegates from across Australia and overseas gathered at the Sage Hotel in Adelaide to hear reports on the work of various clubs and districts and to listen to a range of guest speakers, including the Governor of South Australia and the Commissioner of Police. The work of service clubs in our community is often underestimated or not properly understood by the general community. For example, last year, the Kiwanis performed 18 million hours of voluntary work worldwide and invested over $US107 million in various community projects.

In my own community, Kiwanis have a number of projects where they support reading and other children's programs in the community. The ethos of the Kiwanis programs is that they have a 'one child one community at a time' model, where they try to change their communities by supporting children in those communities one at a time. I am happy to partner with the Gawler Kiwanis Club and to support one of the schools in their program, the Terrific Kids Program, to purchase books for local schools. The Roseworthy-Hewett club was formed quite recently.

I would also like to mention the 10th birthday celebrations of the women's health group. The Gawler and Surrounds Women's Health Action Group celebrated their 10th anniversary in the middle of August with an event at the Gawler Women's Health Centre. The group's core aims include caring for the health and wellbeing of women accessing the Women's Health Centre using the skills and knowledge of various health professionals and a team of committed volunteers.

Gaye Harden, who was one of the founding members of the group, spoke about the achievements that the group has celebrated over the 10 years and, in particular, the establishment of the Gawler Women's Health Centre. It has been a long journey for this group of women in establishing the centre. On that occasion, the contribution of the Gawler Health Service and the government, through some funding, and a number of other people—including the Gawler Health Foundation—was also recognised.

Time expired.

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