A word from the Chairman – May 31, 2018

Another autumn is about to draw to a close and within the week winter will be officially upon us. A great time of the year in Lorne; different to the Lorne that our summer lovers enjoy, but nonetheless a beautiful place for different reasons. To be the only footprints in the sand on your morning walk, the smell of the bush brought to life by the rain or regularly communicating with and acknowledging other locals, reinforces how special this this time of the year is. It is also a time when many will head to different parts of the country and the world for their winter getaway to recharge after a busy period.

Earlier this week, I was fortunate to be attending the Australian Real Estate Conference over two days at the Gold Coast Convention Centre along with 4500 other estate agents from Australasia and beyond. With over 30 speakers, many of whom were International, you may be surprised to hear that it was a lady with a non-real estate story that commanded the undivided attention of every delegate in the auditorium.

Amanda Lindhout delivered an address under the banner of “Freedom in Forgiveness” that carried a message as powerful as any I had ever heard. Raised by a single mother, Amanda escaped the violence of her childhood by imagining herself in the pages of a National Geographic Magazine. Working as a journalist in Somalia, Amanda and her Australian colleague Nigel Brennan, were abducted by a group of masked men and spent the next 460 days as hostages, surviving on strategy, fortitude and hope.

The experiences that unfolded as she emotionally shared the treatment and trauma, had to be heard to believed and to hear a pin drop with 4500 estate agents in one space was a rare feat not normally encountered. It is certainly no surprise that Amanda is such a sought after speaker and New York Times best-selling author. A House in the Sky is being developed into a Hollywood motion picture by heavy weight production company Annapurna, with 2X Oscar nominated actress Rooney Mara playing Amanda. If you get a chance have a read!

I couldn’t complete my article this week without reinforcing the comments made last week by our vice chairman Peter Spring as to the outstanding commitment made by Cynthia Wynhoven (CW) over the past five years to the production of our Community Profile column. We are still urgently seeking someone to continue on from the outstanding legacy that has been created by Cynthia and would love to hear from anyone who would like to be involved.

Our community luncheon on Friday week, June 8, will see Damien Smith, Chairman of the Board of the Lorne Community Hospital and Kate Gillan, CEO of the hospital providing an update on activities and plans for the future of our great Community asset. Please RSVP to [email protected].

Ian Stewart
Chairman – Committee for Lorne