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APPLAUSE rang out in Gaby’s Restaurant on High Street on Wednesday for outgoing Killarney Rotary Club president Angela O’Connor who completed a highly successful year at the helm of the club. Rotarians welcomed Angela's successor, Eduard Schmidt-Zorner as he accepted the chain of office.

The year’s calendar of events includes the hugely popular Evening of Wine & Art, the Rotary Youth Leadership programme, the annual Afternoon Tea at The Malton fundraiser and the Young Musician of the Year competition and concert.

Originally from Dortmund in Germany and based in Milltown for the past 25 years, Eduard describes himself as “an adopted Kerry man”. “My main objective for the club this year is to have fun and to seek out opportunities for service - to increase recognition of our club both in the Rotary community, national and international and in our community at large, to identify new charities, to keep close contact with responsible people in Killarney, with the cultural scene and to visit our neighbouring clubs,” said the new president.

Eduard, who is an artist and writer, joined Killarney Rotary after retiring from Liebherr Container Cranes Ltd, Killarney. “My way into Rotary would not have materialised without the support and advice from Killarney Rotarian Barry Murphy. Years before I joined Rotary we were in contact and when he asked me one day whether I was interested to join the Killarney club. I was still working and had no free time to attend the lunch meetings but when I retired I took up his offer and I am very grateful to Barry because it opened a new aspect of life for me and I found an outstanding group of nice, inspiring, dedicated and committed women and men and I enjoyed every meeting and event and I look very much forward to the time ahead.”

Eduard added: “When I look back into the history of our club, I am the first president of foreign origin, though I am an Irish citizen now and proud of it, and I am the oldest to go into the chair,” he said.

“We are part of this community and we are respected and we are proud to help so many organisations in our area and all this combined with high level events which thousands of people in our community are marking in their diaries every year.”
 

 
Above: Eduard Schmidt-Zorner accepts the chain of office from outgoing president Angela O'Connor.