IF RESIDENTS noticed Leeton looking a little more busy over the weekend, the Rotary District Conference was to thank.
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The conference attracted a swathe of visitors and all one had to do was be in the CBD area over Saturday and Sunday to discover this was true.
With Leeton hosting this year’s event thanks to district governor George Weston, the conference focused on getting clubs together from throughout the region.
However, it wasn’t all socialising and catching up, with some serious issues on the table.
The theme for the event was “water”.
“We take 'clean water’ for granted, but after travelling to Timor-Leste and other Asian countries, and seeing and hearing about the struggle to survive without basic clean water, I felt the need to highlight the importance of clean water,” Mr Weston explained.
“Also because our district is located in a very dry part of Australia, we have a significant dependence on water for irrigation.”
Matching in with the theme was one of the guest speaker – His Excellency Abel Guterres, who is the Timor-Leste Ambassador to Australia.
Mr Guterres has been to the shire before and is an advocate of the strong relationship between the East Timor town of Luro and Leeton.
Rotary Club of Leeton president Monique Owen was thrilled with the quality of the guest speakers throughout the weekend. “They were very engaging and had everyone talking,” she said. “It was fantastic to see.”
Others speaking throughout the conference included award-winning sports broadcaster Peter Wilkins, who also entertained with a song or two, Sarah Brown from The Purple House and Brendan Farrell from the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners.
The conference was open to residents to attend, with Mrs Owen reporting the shire’s economy received a boost over the weekend.
“The attendees were definitely spending there money here over the weekend, which is great,” she said. “Everyone had great things to say about our town and we’ve had nothing but positive comments about the weekend.” Next year’s conference will be held in Griffith.