Among the entertainment will be a re-enactment of the first meeting of the Bendigo Rotary Club by the Bendigo Historical Society. 

Among the original charter members of the club were two famous mayors of Bendigo, Michael Gabriel Guidice and Ernest Morton Vains. Their portraits are in Bendigo’s magnificent Town Hall. Historian and genealogist Betty Jackman has provided the following material.

Michael Guidice was a native born Bendigonian who attended Marist Brothers’ College and went into the auctioneers, stock and station business of A.E. Wallis, where his ability was quickly noticed and he was admitted as a partner. In 1915 he started his own business and was involved in a large number of enterprises such as Bendigo United Breweries, the Sun newspaper and the motion picture industry. The new Lyric Theatre was opened in 1913 under his supervision.

Guidice was elected to Council in 1917 and became Mayor in 1922 at the age of 39, being one of the youngest mayors to occupy that office. To mark his installation, he entertained 350 guests to a dinner at the Bendigo Town Hall, one of the guests being the Federal member for Bendigo and Prime Minister of Australia, Billy Hughes.

Guidice was full of grit, energy and enthusiasm. When the new P&O liner ‘Bendigo’ arrived at Port Melbourne, Cr Guidice presented the Captain with a silver shield bearing statistics of Bendigo. He formed the Shakespearean Reading and Literary Society and was a charter member of Bendigo Rotary and president in 1926.

Ernest Morton Vains was born in Kerang and came to Bendigo in 1897, also working for A. E. Wallis, but soon started his own business, E M Vains & Co. His knowledge of the land led him to invest in extensive grazing pursuits at Ravenswood, Dingee and Marong. He entered Bendigo Council in the year Guidice was Mayor, saying he trusted every action he and his wife made would meet with the approval of the councillors and citizens. Cr Vains was a director of the Bendigo Sun and played a prominent role in the formation of the Bendigo Rotary Club in 1925.

Notices: Bendigo Historical Society will hold its AGM on Friday, August 7, in the Bendigo TAFE Theatrette at 2pm. Address by Cr Peter Cox, Mayor City of Greater Bendigo. Tickets available from Capital Box Office or at www.gotix.com.au