Narooma Rotary Beacon 3 November 2016

OUTSIDE THE SQUARE:

The Rotary week began with a very successful joint meeting with Moruya, and Batesman Bay at the Moruya Jockey Club. We presented Brian Crowden a Paul Harris fellow, a true Friend of Rotary. Brian is the Secretary and Manager of the Moruya Jockey Club and in that role has helped our clubs to raise over $50,000 for the Oncology Unit at Moruya. Brian is continuing with his support and hopefully we can raise sufficient funds, together with a District Grant , to purchase 9 defribrillators for our region.

Thursday I was in Goulburn registering for the District Conference and setting up my stand at the House of Friendship. The Conference went from Friday to Sunday and with promoting the Expo, talking to Rotarians about our 1000km walk , some were incredulous where I raised $132-00 which I thought was excellent considering the competing demands for money that came from all directions.

Narooma Rotary attracted a lot of interest, as the Kenya jewellery I was selling made us stand out and I nearly sold out.

Exhausted by it all.

The Conference began with a fairly sad opening where there was a roll call of all the Rotarians in District 9710 who are no longer with us., including George and Jack. There was an excellent talk on Rotarians Against Malaria, a program that I would hope we can get behind in coming years. . This was followed by Greg North, a Bush poet and comedian, which gave us some light relief. There were many other interesting presentations and Australian Rotary Health Sport Initiative and Handup Congo were, for me, well worth attending the Conference.

Our District Governor Steve Hill put on an excellent Conference and I had a very enjoyable conference dinner sitting with our Bega Rotarians.

Next week I have a talk to give to Probus about our 1000km walk, a Race Day committee meeting on Wednesday and on Thursday we have our ASSEMBLY AT THE NAROOMA CLUB. Hope you can all make it as we have some significant matters to discuss.

Cheers

Pres. Michael

A thought before having a swim in the ocean this year:

“Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes or shark attacks. (So, watch your Ass! )”

EXPO FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN

There are three kinds of people – facebook junkies, facebook lurkers and facebook haters. Whatever category you feel you belong to, the team organising the expo needs your help.

If you are a FB lurker, we need you to set aside your natural inclination to avoid participation, and instead, you need to share, post, reshare, and “like” every expo post you see in the next few weeks.

For brevity, lets include everyone who doesn’t give a toss about facebook into the third category, the FB haters. I’m there. Somehow I feel disturbed enough by reality without the tunnel vision of a facebook feed. If you are, or know anyone, in this category, we have a solution for you – make sure you grab some flyers at the next meeting! Or if you want to send an electronic copy of the flyer, see our normal rotary website naroomarotary.org.au and click on “flyer” just under the Expo heading. Or click here:
naroomarotary.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Expo-Flyer4-1.pdf

The FB junkies are mostly aged less than 30 and suffer from a disease known as FOMO ( fear of missing out). Anyone who forgets to register for the Renewable Energy Expo buffet dinner will experience the symptoms of this debilitating disease when they miss out on a good feed and are turned away at the door. Fortunately there is an easy solution, and it doesn’t involve facebook. Simpy go to the website and register!
expo.naroomarotary.org.au

But YOU know about this event by reading the Beacon – what about all those thousands of potential attendees? Here is where YOU come in – share each and every expo facebook post. Mike has kicked off the ball into a rolling state:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154597944118784&set=a.10151486107223784.538243.781398783&type=3

Share it! image-1

Soon there will be a solar cat video (see above photo) on facebook – share that one too. Even better, make a funny comment.

Lets spread the message!

 

 

 

ROTARIANS-at-LARGE:

John and Sandra Doyle were among several Rotarians at the Quota Club Indian Dinner Fundraiser. John thought he was going to a Melbourne Cup calcutta but was pleased with the Calcutta Curried Chicken anyway!  Meanwhile PP Bob is on the last leg (or his last legs!) enjoying a wee dram in Scotland.

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Narooma Rotary Beacon 27 October 2016

OUTSIDE THE SQUARE

A busy week for all and particularly all those who were at the markets today ( Sunday). A wonderful effort to get the markets up and running with so many away, and then that awful wind to contend with.

Monday saw me having a meeting with Frank, Sandra and Rod at Rod’s home, where we think we have solved the issues with the model Constitution and By-Laws for our club. I am sure most would agree that we can put our time to better use than trying to draft a meaningful document out of the ( interrupted – called out to a structure fire at home besides Ange’s. Fortunately not serious and so stood down as the town firies had it under control) gump they gave us.

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District Governor Steve Hill expressed his delight at meeting the Board at our home and then all the club members at the Golf Club for dinner. I think it would be safe to say that we all enjoyed his visit and the venue and the food appeared to please most members. In fact I did not hear any complaint and I did thank them the next day.

Sunday, today, was the markets and unfortunately the weather was not kind and so it was exceedingly quiet, but alas the work that needs to be done remains the same. A great effort.

Remember that this Wednesday we are meeting at the Moruya Jockey club and there is NO MEETING AT WHALE THIS THURSDAY and Thursday 3rd November we are meeting at the Narooma Club and NOT DALMENY as previously advised.

Pres. Michael

Last Week:

Attendance: 15 members, 7 guests, 2 visiting Rotarians

Wheel: Eggs – DG Steve Hill (20); Bread – Sharlie Young (5); Port – Rod Walker; White Wine – Rolf Grimmel; Red Wine – DG Steve (20); Crafted Biro Pen (courtesy John Doyle) – Enid Holmes (6)

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Club Guest: Rory Sturgeon & his mother Alison. Youth Director Sandra Doyle introduced Rory, our student participant to the NYSF ConocoPhillips Summer Science School held recently at the ANU. Rory was an outstanding participant who spoke so confidently and with such enthusiasm it was hard to realise that he is just 14-years of age. I am sure he is destined for great things in the future. He was a credit to his family and the Club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rotarians-at-Large: PP Bob Aston may well have reached the ultimate goal in his endless quest to promote peace and well-being to the world.

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Narooma Rotary Beacon 20 October 2016

OUTSIDE THE SQUARE:

You may have noticed in the Narooma News that a new stall will be at the Narooma Rotary Club Inc markets and hopefully this weeks News will have an article about our 1000km walk.

World Polio day is the 24th October so I hope to launch our public fundraising awareness for our 1000km walk at the new stall at the markets on the 23rd. given that we are collecting for END POLIO and Friends of Rang’I library project. It would be wonderful if members when attending the market pop by and garner support from the public.

Thanks to Charmaine we should have posters/flyers for the walk ready and after the EXPO on 26/27 November we can really push the fundraising. Charmaine gave up her lunchtime to photograph me down on the flats with my backpack on so she could then design our posters.

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What a wonderful and inspiring talk by Allan Spencer on the National Busking competition. I think I can safely say we were all blown away by the concept and what they have achieved in such a short space of time. Many thanks to Sandra for sowing the seed as it were by bringing the busking competition to our attention, her ambition for us to consider as a club and giving Chris our program organiser the details so she could invite Allan. What a fantastic contribution from a new member and if we do run with the idea her enthusiasm and knowledge for the project will augur well for success.

I hope to visit Cooma as does Sandra and John for their busking competition and I would encourage other members to consider making an effort to see it in operation, as it is only with knowledge and experience that we can make a considered decision about whether we can hold such a competition in Narooma. It would not be necessary to see it from start to finish, if you can only drive up and back on the day, to get a understanding of the operation and the work involved.

Starter my longer walks ago to get in motion for our 1000km walk and after Mr Murphy had his constitutional walk of 4km I set out to Dalmeny and back , between 26 and 27 km and along the way saw whales frolicking in the water.

Saturday saw me at Mogo wearing one of my other hats, training to be a village firefighter.

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Finally, remember the DG visit at the Narooma Golf Club this Thursday 6.00pm for 6.30pm with the Board welcome to come to my place at 4.00pm to meet the DG.

LAST WEEK:

Attendance: 14 members, 6 guests & 2 visiting Rotarians

Wheel: Eggs – Peter Hartley & Mike Young; Bread: Chris O’Brien; Wine – Iris Domerier; Port – Rod Walker; Chocolates – Chris O’Brien; Rotary Cap – donated & won by Colin Holmes, then auctioned for $5 to Pres Michael; The Busking CD & T-shirt donated by guest speaker Allen Spencer – Rod Walker.

International Toast: John Rungen proposed a toast to the RC of Bombay in recognition of their work in public health.

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About Rotary Club Of Bombay –

The Rotary Club of Bombay is one of the pioneers in India of the rotary movement, devoted to the ideal of Fellowship through service. It was founded on March 19, 1929. The Club meets every Tuesday at 1.15 p.m. at the Taj Mahal Hotel, the very place where the founders had their first get-together. The first president of the club was Rtn. Charles N. Moberley. Sir Phiroze Sethna, one of India’s most illustrious sons, was the only Indian among the other European founder members and the first Board consisted of only eight members. Most clubs in Dist 3140 can trace their roots to the Rotary Club of Bombay.

Reading the list of subsequent presidents is like scanning the ‘Who’s who’ of Bombay of the time, bearing names of personalities who even to this day have left their mark on the multifaceted life of this great Metropolis. Amongst the first few presidents of the Club we have had names like Sir Shapoorjee Billimoria, Sir Sultan Chinoy, Sir Jamshedji Duggan, Sir Vithal Chandavarkar, Sir Francis Low, Sir Behram Karanjia and many others.

The membership of the Club has grown from 38 in 1929 to around 350 today. The unique single classification concept of Rotary allows the Rotary Club of Bombay a membership compromising a high performance cross-section of Bombay’s successful business and professional men and women, all accomplishers in their own field ranging from doctors to architects, legal luminaries to bankers, entrepreneurs to educationalists and merchandisers to communicators. The Club offers a stimulating fellowship based on a fascinating diversity of interests in business, arts, sciences and the professional expertise of its members.
This Club has inspired the incorporation of 26 Interact clubs, with about 750 school children as members, and 6 Rotaract clubs with a membership of about 200 college students. There is also a very active Inner Wheel Club.

From the very beginning the pulse of Rotary has been and always will be Community Service. Today the Rotary Club of Bombay has diversified its activities through the work of over fifty committees constituted to look after the various avenues of service. Of these, over 20 contribute to community service. The Club has been able to attempt a number of service programmes only because of generous donations of time and money by the members.

The prayer in silence with faith for love is service in peace. – Mahatma Gandhi

Rotarian-at-large:

PP Bob Aston again working hard on his endless world trip to promote Rotary.

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GOLD, GOLD, GOLD! 

Rolf’s son, Bob Sheriden-Gimmel, won the gold medal at the recent World Skills Australia finals in Melbourne. Plumbing competitors are required to complete tasks including the design and fabrication of a basic bathroom and laundry with hydronic underfloor heating, which may include cold, tempered, hot water, gas, heating, hydronic, waste and rainwater harvesting.  Congratulations Bob!                                        10646933_10155497459465343_2023972288922243934_n     image

 

Narooma Rotary Beacon 13 October 2016

OUTSIDE THE SQUARE

I am back outside.

This week saw us selling Race Day tickets at Narooma and Dalmeny and so thanks to Ang, Bob, Chris and Lynn for their help. Unfortunately, the weather defeated Ang and Peter last Saturday, but we have sold more than a third already so we are well on our way to achieving our goal of sell 1000 tickets. Question why do we seem to think in multiples of 1000, tickets, walking, donations etc.

On 5th Bob and I attended Moruya for a race day meeting and so please put 18th December a day that you can come to Moruya to help race funds and have a great day.

Given that I have little to no interest in horses your President has been given the task of being one of two judges selecting the best fashion on the field. I am still laughing at their decision and Donna is to say the least amused.

Another date is the 15th December to keep free as provisionally that is our Christmas Party.

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On Thursday we had what I hope everyone thought was a productive Assembly and thank you for participating in Chris’ idea that we should wear hats for Australian Rotary Health fundraiser for mental health. I know we have collected more than $100 and our happy moments for the rest of the month will add to that sum so that we can make a good donation to the cause. I think the idea that happy moments we have helps to fund research/services on mental health is a nice link.

Saturday saw Bob and I attend Bega for our meeting of fellow franchisees discussing club development.

In thinking about Rotary International (RI), Districts and Clubs and the edits of the Council on Legislation this week I came to the view that we are franchisees and RI is the franchisor. Surprisingly that view did not evoke shock / horror. In fact it was later mentioned as a description of our relationship with RI.

The day did get me thinking on many things and this week we are having a special Board meeting to recap and reorganise for the rest of our Rotary year. We all need to be adaptive and willing to change and that is why I like being outside the square.

Our District Governor Steve Hill will be visiting us on the 20th. It is a partners evening and I would like as many as possible to attend and give him a warm welcome.

Finally, a good news story is that our Club will soon be forwarding $2000 to Shelterbox to assist in the latest crisis to hit Haiti .

Pres. Michael

LAST WEEK’S MEETING:

Guests: Anne Colquit (from Hatsavvy), Lachlan Riley (NHS teacher & MUNA co-ordinator), Shania Woodward (MUNA participant). image-1

Wheel: Eggs – Lynn Hastings (1); Bread – Sandra Doyle (34); Rocky Road – Rod Walker (12); Port – Lynn Hastings & Wine – Bob Antill (43).

 

 

 

 

 

International Toast: Chris O’Brien proposed a toast to to the Rotary Club of Tours, Loire Valley, France.

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Hat day at Rotary

You don’t have to be mad to wear a silly hat but sometimes it helps! Narooma Rotarians donned a variety of hats on Thursday night to help raise money for Mental Health.

October is Mental Health awareness month and Rotary Health will be the recipient of the money raised during October. Hat Savvy Anne (Anne Colquit) attended the meeting to talk about her wonderful Hat and a brief history of the trade.

Getting into the spirit of the evening were Narooma High School teacher Lachlan Reilly and student Shania Woodard and Shania’s dad Glenn . Lachlan and Shania recently attended the Model United Nations debates in Canberra with the assistance of Narooma Rotary and were keen to let the members know of their experiences.

President Michael O’Connor was able to announce that we have now purchased two more Shelter Boxes through our recent “Whale watching raffle”. This is timely as Hurricane Matthew has devastated countries in the Caribbean and help including teams from ShelterBox are on the way. It is good to know that when there is a disaster and people are in desperate need that we in Narooma are part of the help program.

Rotarians-at-Large: Further correspondence from PP Bob on yet another gruelling leg of his World Rotary Fact Finding Tour. (“Of all the bars in all the World, he had to walk into …”)

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Narooma Rotary Beacon 6 October 2016

IN & OUT OF THE SQUARE:

 

No, it is not one of Peter’s deliberate mistakes, but with an Assembly next Thursday 6th I thought it would be an opportune time to reflect on what we have done so far this year and what we should be doing in the remainder of our Rotary year.

It seems for many of us that there is little time to consider where we are at and where as a Club we want to be. What with Whale, Race Day and Duck raffles, requests at the last moment to put on BBQ’s for Aqua Aerobics, Craft Fair and the significant commitments some members have with the Renewable Expo , Constitution/ By-Laws we should take the opportunity over the next few months to consider what we really want to do as a club.

Possibly a good place to start is the September issue of Rotary Down Under as it gives some useful tips on how other clubs have changed with very positive results.

Think for a moment, with a club of approximately 20 members paying approximately $1000 to $2000 per year to be an active member ( $20k to $40k per annum – approximately what we raise each year), do you think you are getting a happy and productive return on your investment.

Maybe just go OUTSIDE THE SQUARE FOR A MOMENT if you think you could get a better deal for yourself and reflect on how we as a Club we can do that for you.

This is what the Assembly is for and hopefully we can get a positive debate going.

Just one idea, and not one I am necessarily advocating, could be -: Do we really need to consider at a Club and Board level every expenditure for the Youth program, or should we look at what is the range of money we have spent on MUNA, RYPEN RYDA etc and unless the cost is going to be outside the parameters we set at the beginning of the year let the Youth team get on with it. I mention team as I feel our Youth Program is our great strength and what I am sure many of you would like us to be remembered by and not the demise ( however temporary) of donuts and maybe we should add members so the burden can be shared more evenly, such as one member doing MUNA, another RYPEN etc. Again there are other programs that could be treated the same way particularly in terms of expenditure.

Another thought that was raised with me, was why do we not select a project that might take 3 or 4 years to complete so that we can our teeth stuck into something substantial. Great idea.

As a Club we do a number of significant activities with major commitments from some members, such as the markets, and so we will need to be careful that we do not over extend ourselves which we seem to do at times. So are there some things we do that could be cut out or reduced? I simply don’t know so again suggestions discussion and positive options are the order of the day.

Now INSIDE THE SQUARE AGAIN, this last week was a fairly busy week.

Last weekend I attended a very intensive planning weekend for Friends of Rang’I at Lake Macquarie, conducted by the Chairperson of our Board , Rachel, who is an event and fundraiser for a large charity. It gave me a number of interesting takes on fund raising, and ideas for Narooma Rotary’s 1000km walk in April.

On Monday I went to Canberra to find out that I am seriously allergic to Red Meat ( that includes Pork and Whale meat – mammals) and gelatin . What I did not know was only 3% of allergies are to Red Meat and the reaction does not happen each time you eat red meat. What a LOTTERY to participate in.

On Tuesday Donna and I attended a volunteers Meals on Wheels lunch at the Fishing Club in Narooma and while I attended as a volunteer, Rotary obviously came up in the conversations we had over a long lunch.

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Thursday saw Donna step-in as our speaker as our scheduled speaker had to suddenly go to Sydney. Donna spoke on The Official Visitors Program to mental health facilities and services in NSW. It appears not too many had heard of the program, even those who have had to deal with the providers of mental health services but it has been in existence since 1865. I suspect it came as a shock for some members to learn that resident psychiatrists in rural areas are a thing of past in many, even quite large, rural areas.

On Friday I attended the 40th anniversary of Probus commencing in Australia at Moruya. Moruya and Batemans Bay Rotary Clubs were also represented and our District Governor Steve Hill was also in attendance. A picture should appear shortly on our Facebook page. Not putting one here so to get you to have a look at the work Charmaine does for us on Facebook.

Saturday saw me at the Newsagency for over 4 hours selling Race Day Tickets. It was bitterly cold at times and believe it or not this time last year the temperature reached 37 degrees. See what useless information you get reading this column . I sold 177 tickets and met and chatted to a lot of people about what you all do for the community in Narooma.

Sunday nothing but composing this, which you no doubt think how he wastes a lot of time .

Next week looks quieter

Cheers,

Pres. Michael

LAST WEEK’S MEETING:

Attendance: 11 members and 1 guest (Donna Anderson)

Wheel: Eggs – Mike Young (29); Fruit Platter of Irish Mandarins – Peter Bull (4) & Chris O’Brien (42); Chocolates – Sandra Doyle (1); Bread – Sandra Doyle (45); Port – Mike Young (29) & Wine – John Rungen (11)

International Toast: John Rungen proposed a toast to the Rotary Club of Grand Baie, one of five clubs in Mauritius District 9220 & Chartered in 1981.

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Rotarians Abroad: Further correspondence by way of photographs has been received from editor-at-large, Bob Astin, on another gruelling leg of his World Rotary Fact Finding trip.

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PDG Jack Ings AM: Past President Narooma & Past District Governor and Honorary Member of Narooma Rotary Club has sent a note regarding his Rotary activities as he approaches his 91-st year (excerpt below):

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Each year I send Narooma High School my cheque to enable them to make the Art prize in my late wife’s name and as I am now resident in Melbourne and handicapped I cannot accept their invitation to attend the ceremony and make the presentation. Therefore I ask each year, if you would be willing to nominate a Rotary member to make the presentation on my behalf. Joy and I worked in many roles to assist the children at the School and she was an artist who worked using the Chinese Brush painting technique and was a foundation member of the Narooma Art and Craft Society. Although she was a Quotarian while we lived in Narooma she was made a PHF by our club and later when we went to live in Shoalhaven Heads, became a Rotarian with me in Gerringong. I have informed the Principal of the High school of my request, as per attached. Please pass my good wishes on to all the club members. I am still in Rotary and will shortly be 91. I am able to do so through the miracle of the computer and am a member of the Eclub of Melbourne. I am still on the Board, write the bulletin and am Program Director. All the best. I hope to eventually be able to bequeath a sum to Narooma Rotary to make the award in perpetuity. I miss the rough and tumble of a conventional Rotary meeting but it is interesting to be working in with much younger, more savvy, techno members from all over. One member of our club is a resident of Mumbai in India and this week’s speaker will be talking to us from Cambodia and probably we’ll have at least one other overseas participant, probably from the U.S or France. I am their showpiece (old fogey!!!) that they trot out on a huge banner every time there is a Conference or Assembly.