Narooma Rotary Beacon 29 March 2018

Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

We survived a busy weekend with the markets on Sunday and RYDA on Monday.

With many of our regulars away over the weekend, it was great to see so many members and friends step up and take over key roles at the Markets. A special thank you to David and Rachel McInnes who organised and staffed the gate at the market in the absence of Chris and Laurelle; I understand there were no complaints from stall holders or potential shoppers. Lynn reports we took $685.00 at the gate, grossed $359.80 at the van and collected $101.15 from the wishing well.

On Monday, Ange Ulrichsen and Michael O’Connor, along with our regular visiting Rotarian Gordon Bentley, headed off to Moruya Racecourse for RYDA. Thank you for giving up your time I look forward to hearing how the day progressed.

On Monday I also attended Narooma Probus Club’s AGM. I can report that the Club had an interesting and varied year and a new team of office bearers are ready to the reins for the next 12 months.

Last Thursday we had 16 members and guests at our normal meeting. Our guest speaker was Jane Taylor from Bega who spoke about the ‘Teen Clinic’. Teen Clinic was set up in Bega and expanded to Narooma late last year. The Clinic operates out of the Lighthouse Surgery, it provides an informal drop in service for teenagers to discuss health issues that they may not wish to discuss with their parents or their GP. At the Clinic a nurse assesses that patient and either provides advice or if appropriate refers them to another health professional.  Although the Narooma Clinic has started out slowly with fewer turn-ups than expected, the Practice Nurse at the Surgery Chrissi Moody expects the service to pick up steam once it’s better known and understood within the community.

This Thursday: Don’t forget there is no meeting this Thursday evening at the Golf Club. Breakfast in the park has been cancelled. 

Next Thursday (5 April) we will start at the Narooma Plaza Pharmacy at 5.30pm where Anthony Whittle will tell us about the pharmacy and how it all works.

Have a wonderful Easter everyone. Enjoy the chocolate!

Receiving a certificate for being the school that had the 2,000th student to attend RYDA at Moruya were Narooma High teachers Rhys Kenna, Yvonne Adams, students Bradley O’Sullivan and Chloe Carlson, and teacher Dion Cafe (been to every RYDA).

Warm regards

Bob

Out and about

Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA)

Our Club was well represented at RYDA on Monday by Ang Ulrichsen, Michael O’Connor and our regular visiting Rotarian Gordon Bentley (Dubbo). They accompanied Narooma High students; our Club is paying for their bus.

The RYDA programme is run over two days each April at Moruya Racecourse by Batemans Bay Rotary in conjunction with Moruya and Narooma Clubs. Different schools go over the two days.

It targets pre-learner drivers from Eurobodalla Shire’s five high-schools. RYDA coordinator Neil Simpson (former Batemans Bay High Principal) said it’s an opportunity for students to learn and talk about how they will function as a driver or as a passenger. The theme of the day is ‘My Life, My Choices’ and covers  topics such as hazard perception, fatigue, stopping distances, vehicle safety and the opportunity to listen to and speak with a crash survivor. Ang said Narooma students stayed fully engaged the whole day.

This was RYDA’s 11th year in the Eurobodalla and in that time over 2,000 Year 11 students have been through the course; on Monday, a student from Narooma was the 2,000th student.

It is a significant youth project for our clubs and particularly involves Batemans Bay and Moruya members in the organisation and catering, as well as Council, Moruya Jockey Club and the Coastal Auto Group.

The RYDA programme is written and resourced by Road Safety Education Ltd  and is presented to students from 600 schools across Australia.

While enjoying the Ballarat Festival, Sandra Doyle tells Jock and the Drongoes about Narooma Busking Festival.

Busking at Ballarat

On Saturday, our intrepid Busking groupies Sandra and John Doyle were at the Ballarat Regional Final of the Australian National Busking Championships, hosted by the Rotary Club of Wendouree Breakfast. Like us, this was also Ballarat’s second year.

Heavy rain on Saturday put a dampener on the Festival’s first few hours, but the spirits of the 200 performers at the 39 Busking Hot Spots defied the deluge. ‘Buskers never give up,’ says Sandra. Sunshine soon followed and it turned out to be ‘a super day’.

Needless to say, Sandra kept very busy spreading the word among the buskers about the attractions of the Narooma festival; a few might well venture our way in May.

District Conference

Unfortunately no one from our Club could attend the District Conference in Mittagong, but we can glean a few insights from Moruya President Mike Dent’s comprehensive report in their bulletin this week. Seven Moruya Club representatives went. Mike mentioned several inspirational speakers:

  • Libby Weir who has volunteered in Natal, South Africa for three months a year over 13 years. Originally she worked in an AIDS orphanage and more recently has been engaged in the wider community training women to sew, people to build and weld, and teaching computer skills to school children. She has raised funds to build a house, equip a library and school football teams.
  • Former Governor General Michael Jeffery, now 81 years old,  talked about eliminating trachoma in isolated Aboriginal communities and coordinating the Soils for Life program that promotes long term farm sustainability practices. He is very passionate about the programs for which he is Patron (19 separate organisations!)
  • Seb Cox, a trainee teacher from the University of Canberra, was coaxed to help for three months at St Jude’s school in Tanzania. He stayed two years, setting up a Rotaract Club, Interact Club and an Earlyact club at the school.
  • Aminata Conteh-Biger was kidnapped from her father and spent six months as a sex slave in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Eventually she escaped and was saved by UNHCR and sent to Australia (she thought it was Austria!). She has established the Aminata Maternal Foundation to reduce the rate of maternal and child mortality rates. Her story can be found on the SBS program: Daughter of Sierra Leone.

RI Director Noel Trevaskis, well known to many of us, suggested:

  • to ensure each club’s survival we need to embrace new members and try to break down any cliques that may exist within a club. He suggested we should sit with someone different each week.
  • we need to encourage and promote attendance at Conferences so we all appreciate the wonderful work Rotary is doing throughout the world.
  • we need to promote what we do in the community and not concentrate on fundraising AND we need to engage in fun activities rather that just attend meetings. So when someone asks, ‘What does Rotary do?’, you can talk about the wide range of programs Rotary provides to enhance opportunities for our young people (RYDA, RYLA, MUNA, RYPEN, Tertiary Scholarships), our vocational support (Pride of Workmanship), and all of our community support (books for new babies, ShelterBox, defibrillators, Surf Club, VRA, Oncology Unit  etc).

Thanks Mike.

Cheers

Laurelle

A few aphorisms*, courtesy Peter Bull

The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.
Money will buy a fine dog but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
If you don’t have a sense of humour you probably don’t have any sense at all.
Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.
A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you’re in deep water.
Why is it that at school reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?
No one ever says ‘It’s only a game’ when their team is winning.

                                                                                                                       * Look it up!

 


Narooma Rotary Beacon 22 March 2018

Hello Everyone

Grahame Holland is presented with a Narooma Rotary Banner

On Sunday evening we became aware of the terrible fire that had ripped through the Tathra community destroying many homes and businesses, fortunately no lives were lost. I have left a message with the President of Bega Rotary, offering our assistance if needed. Our thoughts are with our friends in Tathra at this difficult time.

Last Thursday we had 11 Rotarians and 12 guests at our meeting including Grahame Holland and his wife from the Rotary Club of Southport in the UK. We were able to present Grahame with a Club banner in recognition of his visit. Grahame said that he found our meeting to be most enjoyable and a lot of fun.

On Thursday we inducted our newest member, Geoff Robin to our Club,

Welcome to our newest member, Geoff Robin. Geoff with Sandra Doyle, Ange Ulrichsen and President Bob.

welcome Geoff and thank you to Ange and Sandra who introduced him. No doubt we will find out a little more about Geoff in the weeks to come.

We also heard from our guest speaker, Paul Payten. Paul spoke about the South-East Forests and the need to preserve them. Paul is passionate about preserving the beauty of our forests and stopping logging.

The Board also met on Thursday evening. Major decisions included;

  • That we cater at the Oyster Festival on Friday 4 May provided the Festival Committee indicate that our assistance is required and certain OH&S conditions are met.
  • That we assist Georgina Poyner attend a course at the University of Tasmania
  • Not to hold a Renewable Expo in 2018. We also decided to consider conducting an Expo in 2019 if a member of the Club was willing to act as a coordinator
  • That we donate $1000.00 to the Dalmeny RFS
  • That we cater for the Kidney Car Rally on 5 August

I also advised the Board that the old donut machine and fryer had been sold. At this time we are not able to purchase a new machine that addresses safety requirements.

Lynn Hardingham reported that the balance of the administration account was $ 6244.02 and the balance of the charity account was $ 19075.89, this includes approximately $ 7000.00 in busking funds.

A reminder that we have a busy time ahead. Our monthly markets are on this weekend (let’s hope it doesn’t rain). Next Monday Ange and Michael O’Connor head off to Moruya Race Course to help out at RYDA, we are catering for Relay for Life on Sunday 8 April and our annual Pride of Workmanship dinner will be held on 12 April.

We won’t have a dinner meeting on Thursday 29 March as it is the Thursday before Easter, instead we will have a relaxed breakfast at Rotary Park commencing at 7:45am. On Thursday 5 April Anthony will take us on a tour of the Narooma Plaza Pharmacy as a part of our Rotarian Presents Program.

Does the Eurobodalla have a drug and Alcohol Problem? Moruya Rotary with the assistance of our Club and Batemans Bay Rotary will be holding a forum at St Mary’s Performing Arts Centre on Monday 9 April. The guest speaker is  Professor Gordian Fulde from St Vincent’s Hospital – please support this event if you can.

Have a great week.

 

 

Narooma Rotary Beacon 15 March 2018

Bob’s Blog

Narooma High Hospitality staff member Alanna Harris, left. Hospitality students Bessie Musumeci, Jack Watts, Zak Anderson, Narooma High Relieving Principal John Melville, with Rotary President Bob Aston behind. Marion Bell was involved in all the preparation but was unable to be there on the night.

Last Thursday Narooma High School’s Hospitality Class catered for us at the school.  Under the watchful eye of their teachers, students prepared a most enjoyable meal for us all. We were also joined by Relieving Principal John Melville and five Student Representative Council Leaders.

The students answered our questions with authority and enthusiasm and we had an opportunity to tell them a little about the work of Rotary. Hopefully we got the message across about the range of youth programs Rotary offers. Profits from the dinner will go towards the purchase of equipment for the Hospitality Class. The hours put in by the students preparing and serving the meal will count towards their mandatory ‘on the job’ hours.

Our next Market is on Sunday 25 March. Rod Walker is managing the roster because John and Sandra will be away for the weekend. We still need a volunteer of two, so if you can help out please check the roster by clicking here.

Does the Eurobodalla have a drug and alcohol problem? Moruya Rotary, with the assistance of our Club and Batemans Bay Rotary, will hold a Drug and Alcohol Forum at St Mary’s Performing Arts Centre on Monday 9 April. Guest speaker will be  Professor Gordian Fulde from St Vincent’s Hospital. Please support this event if you can.

This week, our guest speaker is Paul Payten. Paul is a dedicated conservationist who will talk to us about preserving our wonderful forests and national parks.

Have a good week

Bob

Out and about

Mal Gray, left, Jude Gray, Karen Bull and Jennifer Walker at last week’s dinner at Narooma High.

International Women’s Day

At our top night last week at Narooma High’s Hospitality dinner, President Bob proposed a toast to women and International Women’s Day (IWD), as well as providing a potted history of women’s suffrage around the world and women in Rotary, especially our Club. The reason for this was that our meeting coincided with IWD (always 8 March), a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political divisions. Interestingly Bob reported that the day originated in socialist and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations. Narooma Rotary’s first female member, and then our first female President was Georgina Staley.

 First DG for new District has been selected

The District Governor Nominating Committee has selected PP Michael Moore AM from the Rotary Club of Canberra as the first District Governor of our new District 9705 for 2020-21.

Applicants were interviewed by the Committee on 10 March. That committee comprised current District Governors, District Governor Elects, and District Governor Nominees from Districts 9700 and 9710, and was chaired by PDG Stephen Humphreys from District 9675. Should anyone wish to challenge the committee’s decision, they have until 26 March to lodge their objection to District Governor Steve Hill.

District 9710 Conference

The District Conference is at Mittagong 25-27 March. Conference registrations close this Sunday at 9pm. The link on the District Website will then be removed and no further bookings can be accepted.

Have a say on Health Service planning in Eurobodalla

Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD) is developing a Clinical Services Plan (CSP) to provide direction and priorities for clinical services in the Eurobodalla over the next 10 years. They have invited our Club to have some input. They would like a Club representative to attend their care planning sessions, ideally someone to each session but not necessarily the same person.

The two Narooma sessions are:

Wednesday, 21 March 9.00am – 1.00pm: Rehabilitation / Aged Care Model of Care development –  Narooma Community Health Centre Meeting Room

Wednesday, 21 March 1.00pm – 5.00pm: Surgical Services Model of Care development – Narooma Community Health Centre Meeting room

Other sessions are at Batemans Bay Community Health Centre on the Thursday and Friday – Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Model of Care development, Critical Care Services Model of Care development, Medical Care Services Model of Care development and Child and Family Services Model of Care development. If you are interested in going to any of these, please email your details to susan.walsh3@health.nsw.gov.au along with any special dietary requirements; lunch will be provided at all sessions (RSVP by 19 March).

They are also looking for general community feedback. Survey forms are available at Narooma Community Health Centre or online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Eurocommunity

Be kind to yourself – check your bowels

This year’s BowelCare campaign lasts from 1 April to 31 May with kits available from local pharmacies during that time for $15.00 each. This price covers pathology testing and notification of results to both the participant and their nominated Doctor.

It is recommended that ALL men and women over 40 have a BowelCare test every year. Australia has the world’s highest incidence of bowel cancer with 1 in 12 men and women diagnosed with bowel cancer by the age 85. Age is an important factor. The risk begins at age 40, doubling every 5 years and more rapidly as the person gets older. Statistics show 90% of bowel cancers can be successfully cured if detected at an early stage. Early detection leads to an improved prognosis and less severe treatment.

BowelCare is a not-for-profit Rotary community service which commenced with the view of providing the public with an affordable annual bowel screening program. Interestingly the involvement of individual Rotary Clubs in the BowelCare program has changed from a very ‘hands on’ approach to distributing kits and publicity, to last year’s head office not encouraging any local involvement. Maybe that was partly the reason for fewer kits being sold. This year we might resume our normal BowelCare publicity to encourage greater participation.

Cheers

Laurelle

 

Narooma Rotary Beacon 8 March 2018

 

Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

Last week we had our first Club Assembly for the year. We had open and respectful discussion about a range of things from the Renewable Energy Expo to the Oyster Festival; thank you to all members for your input. The Board will consider the Assembly’s views when it makes a final decision about both projects when the Board meets next week.

President Bob, Past President Charmaine and President Elect Rod are delighted at Charmaine’s involvement with a dental project in Timor-Leste.

This Thursday we meet at the High School  (6 for 6.30pm $25 a head) where I’m sure the hospitality class will delight us with an excellent meal that demonstrates the skills they have learnt in class.

Rotaract celebrates 50 years of service this year. I remember being in Rotaract many, many years ago as a first year out teacher in Lake Cargelligo. We had great fun raising money and supporting the local community, engaging in debating competitions with other clubs, running dances and barbecues and at times upsetting some Rotarians who tried to keep us on the straight and narrow. In all, it was a great way to get to know others in the community. If you want to know more about Rotaract, I recommend an article in this week’s Rotary News, click here to read it.

Have a great week everyone.

Out and about

Last week’s Assembly

We had quite a productive Club Assembly last week. Clearly we would be stretched to put on the Renewable Energy Expo this year with several key people unavailable to assist in the critical lead up, particularly Frank. No doubt our directors have taken on board members thoughts so it’s over to the Board to take this forward. Frank shared his excitement with members that a large solar farm will be built at Moruya.

Great news from Charmaine White that she will join three other Australian dentists going to Timor-Leste for two weeks during Rod’s term of president. She said it is ‘a well-run’ joint Rotary RAWCS/Lions/Carmelite nuns project. Interestingly, she also explained the relationship between toothache, chewing betel nut to relieve the pain, and that betel nut can cause cancer of the mouth and oesophagus. So eliminate toothache will reduce the risk of oral cancers.

President Elect Rod Walker reported back from PETS, introducing members to RI President-elect Barry Rassin’s theme for 2018-19Be the Inspiration.  Barry asks Rotarians to inspire change in the world and in each other. ‘I ask all of you to Be the Inspiration to help Rotary move from reaction to action — to take a hard look at the environmental issues that affect health and welfare around the world and do what we can to help.’

Relay for Life

The Club has made a commitment to assist at the Cancer Council’s Relay for Life in the Eurobodalla on Bill Smyth Oval on 7-8 April. More details to come.

Relay for Life runs over the Saturday night and raises funds for the Cancer Council’s research, prevention, information and support services to help save more lives. It’s also a chance to recognise and celebrate local cancer survivors, patients and their carers, and to honour and remember those lost to cancer.

Dates for your Diary

The District Conference is at Mittagong 25-27 March,

The District Assembly at Batemans Bay 5-6 May.