Dear Members,

You learn about a club, its teams and its members in times of adversity, both on & off the field. Over the past few weeks I have never been more proud to be a member of our great club and am honoured to be the president. The many messages of support, offers of assistance and general sense of community was overwhelming and most appreciated. A reminder that all teams are requested to wear black arm bands this weekend to honour Anne Marie-Halewood, our Tackers teams will also be wearing their indigenous socks both as a tribute and to celebrate NAIDOC week. Tape will be available at the canteen.

Social News

Sportsman’s Lunch is next Friday 17th July – if you are able to attend please purchase your tickets this weekend. Tickets can be purchased at the canteen or from behind the bar on Sunday, via http://www.trybooking.com/141067, or by contacting Glen Costello (0407 987 939) or Ray Johnson (0457 620 844). Last year was a fantastic day – if you can’t get a full table together, that’s fine we will be able to accommodate you in any numbers.

Dinner Dance / Gala Ball – is on Friday 7th August, at Emerald Receptions in Thomastown. The Gala is an long standing tradition at St Marys, where we can socialise with our team and wider St Marys community and celebrate both our achievements for the season and pay tribute to our top age colts in their final year of junior football. This is always a fantastic night and is one of the many things that sets our club apart from others, however it does it require member support for its continued success. Your team manager will be actively taking bookings this weekend, so please let them know you would like to attend.

This Sunday sees another special day on our calendar as we celebrate our Colts age group both on the field during the afternoon and back at the club afterwards. In what is quickly becoming a tradition, both Colts sides will wear a special design Heritage Jumper which honours the original St Marys jumper worn in our first game, 43 years ago. The jumper also features the names of all of our 2015 Colts players in the design, so serves as a fantastic keepsake of their time at St Marys. If you have some free time on Sunday afternoon I encourage all members to get down to Whatmough Park and a have a look at our Colts boys in action – for our younger boys & girls this is an excellent opportunity to see where your football can lead.

Colts 1: 3:00 PM v Park Orchards
Colts 2: 1:00 PM v McLeod

Works at Whatmough Oval and Greensborough Park.
Over the break the council have done some work to both of our grounds. At Whatmough they have cut in sand slits through the area on the far wing and pocket that always stays wet, they believe this should allow the water to run off and not pool. This area was also top dressed after the slits where completed.
The area in front of Greensborough park pavilion has also been worked on. Drainage has been installed, screenings laid down and water diversion has been completed to try to prevent the area from getting so muddy. This is only a temporary measure to see if it works ok, a permanent solution which may include raising the concrete area is being investigated.

On Sunday night we have a very special guest, Marcus Bontempelli from the Western Bulldogs. Marcus is a local boy, who was drafted at No 4 in 2013 and was runner up in the 2014 Rising Star Award, providing he pulls up OK from his game in Cairns Saturday night, we look forward to hearing the story of Marcus’ rise from junior football to becoming a genuine star of the AFL.

Speeches 6:00 PM – Marcus Bontempelli and our Colts coaches from 6:00 PM sharp
Kids Food – a bit of a change up this week – no pizzas, but we will have a selection of wedges, dim sims, party pies & sasusage rolls free of charge for the kids.
Adult Meals – we will be firing up the Gioffre Deep Fryer and serving plates of wedges & dim sims for $5
Raffles – Drawn 7 PM: a magnificent seafood platter donated by Fishi Business at Greensborough Plaza and the opportunity to win $250 cash in our joker jackpot.
Lucky balls – a number will be drawn out of the box and one player in attendance who wears that guernsey number this year will walk away with a $25 Rebel Sport voucher.

Next Sunday Night 11th July will focus on the Under 10 & 11 age group.

*** Seeking an Electricians Apprenticeship ***

James Girolami is a fine young man, former Gerry O’Hara medal winner and is from a very good St Mary’s Family. He is currently seeking a 1st year electricians apprenticeship – if anyone can help or has contacts in this area please let James know on 0458 727 067 or via jimbo.g@hotmail.com. Please see message from James below:

Greetings St Mary’s family, I am James Girolami. I played all my junior football at this great club and now I am a member of the senior football club where I have played the last two seasons. A couple of months ago I completed a pre-apprenticeship in Electrotechnology at NMIT Heidelberg and am currently looking for a first year apprenticeship as an Electrician. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone in the St Mary’s community would be able to provide me with that opportunity. Yours truly, James Girolami. Go Burra!

Team Sponsors of the week:

St Marys Senior Football Club (Tackers Teal)– our senior club are the proud sponsors of our Tackers Teal team this year. Rumour has it that some of the tackers teal boys have already been signed up to long term contracts and will be representing the seniors in 2028. This Saturday the seniors are back at home against Watsonia – go along for a great family day out & to support our guys & community football.

Especially for Kids (Tackers Black) – have amazing quality wooden toys available for purchase via their website: http://especiallyforkids.com.au. If you are looking for an ideal gift for a small child you could do no better than the quality products from Especially for Kids. Thank you Melissa for your support.

GT Skips (10 Red) – for your domestic bins, industrial & commercial skips please give GT Skips a call on 1800 487 547 or check them out at http://www.gtskips.com.au. GT Skips prides itself on its reputation for fast reliable & friendly service and we thank them for their sponsorship.

Best of luck to all teams this weekend – Go Burra

Regards,

Evan Butterworth
President
0413 266 484
butterworthbookkeeping@tpg.com.au