Charmaine’s Chat
Last week’s International Toast was to the Bahamas and all the work Rotary will be doing after the devastation caused by the recent hurricane.
Many guests associated with our whalewatching raffle came last week. The raffle raised $1,429 which was boosted to $1,500 by the Board which I presented to the President of Monty’s Place David Kelleher. He gave a brief overview of Monty’s and the Wednesday community lunches – more details below. I presented Norm Ingersoll of Narooma Charters with a certificate of appreciation for his kind donation of whale watching tickets over the years, and presented whale watching tickets to the lucky raffle ticket holder Darren Overton. Darren’s family Cheryl Davison and Cody and Thomas also attended. Cheryl has kindly offered to donate either a print of one of her famous artworks or a Sydney Swans Jersey (with her artwork design) for a future raffle.
Great to welcome Peter Bull back last week. He gave a brief talk about the 20 Rotary clubs he visited on the Gold Coast during his winter sojourn (See below). He has been busy!
I won’t be at this week’s meeting so Laurelle has kindly agreed to chair it.
We received a lovely postcard from Mauritius from John Rungen. He will be back mid-September which could possibly mean this Thursday…
THIS WEEK
Our guest speakers areCat Wilson and her husband Faouzi Saouli who will take us on a tour of the musical traditions of Morocco with Faouzi also playing his lute (Oud). Ange says Paul at the Golf Club will also get into the mood with some Moroccan offerings.
The week that was
As Charmaine mentioned, last week we welcomed back Peter Bull from his winter escape to the Gold Coast. It was also great to have our man from Dubbo, Gordon Bentley with us. Peter gave a short update on his time on the Gold Coast as well as the varied Rotary Clubs he visited whilst enjoying the warm winter sun (see below).
We also welcomed Norm Ingersoll from Narooma Charters, David Kelleher from Monty’s, and Darren Overton and his partner Cheryl and children Coby and Tom. The donation from the raffle to Monty’s Place is to assist with their kitchen expansion and renovation plans. David said Monty’s served a community meal each and every Wednesday in the Uniting Church hall. People from all walks of life attend. Its aim is to provide an opportunity for people to come together and enjoy each other’s company. There is seating for 48 in the hall and, combined with’ taker-aways’, between 60 and 80 people are served each week.
News from the Board Meeting
Our Board meeting last Thursday agreed to donate $500 to Australia Rotary Health to assist in Mental Health Research. It also agreed to delay consideration of instigating a breakfast club (similar to the one instigated by the Bega Club) until after the Expo.
The Board also discussed a possible location for the defibrillator returned to us by Woolworths. Several locations were suggested. Charmaine will follow up. The Board also agreed to host the Camera Club’s photo exhibition of the Busking Competition as a publicity event for next year’s Competition.
Peter Bull reports on Gold Coast Clubs
Peter gave a brief summary of some of the activities of Rotary Clubs on the Gold Coast where the population is increasing by 12,000 a year. The Passport Club has 40 members mainly under 45 who focus on humanitarian work; they meet once a month for one hour and function as an E-club.
There are many different formats working including breakfast, night, weekly, once a month, once a fortnight and club mergers. Some now have a bulletin only once a month.
Another club builds wheelchairs from old bicycles and sends them to the Pacific islands. Another manages 22 villas for homeless people.
Out and About
From Moruya Rotary
Shirley Cornish-Hayes and husband John from Moruya Rotary report continuing enquiries following their booth at the Hamburg Rotary International Convention promoting their Sexual Health Education programme in several developing nations. They spoke to us about this programme in August. Their next overseas venture will be to northern India to ‘Train the Trainers’.
Merimbula Rotary installing AEDs
Merimbula Rotary Club has funded the installation of defibrillators in Tura Beach’s shopping mall and at Merimbula McDonald’s. The defibrillators are accessible at all hours, securely installed and monitored on the outside of the buildings. Josh Stanton of Tura Beach was the driving force behind their installation following a near tragedy close to home and was delighted when Merimbula Rotary took on the project to fully fund the purchase and installation of the two defibrillators.
NEXT WEEK
Keith Mundy, owner of Tilba Nursery, will talk about Australian Native Plants for the Spring garden. Keith and partner Desiree have had the Tilba Nursery since 1999, initially at Foxglove Gardens but now around the corner at a standalone site. Keith has extensive qualifications and experience, writes the garden column in The Triangle, and has a popular monthly garden talk at La Galette Café at Tilba Tilba. This should be another great night at our Club. Bring your partners and friends.
