This will be the last Narooma Beacon until mid-January. However we will be quite busy in the interim.
The Week that Was
President Rod as well as several others were away last Thursday; we had 14 members with Vice President Laurelle in the chair.
Our newest Rotarian Robyn Miller gave her first international toast which was to Rotary’s impressive contribution over many years to the eradication of polio worldwide. [Ang is working on having another film night at the Kinema as a polio eradication fundraiser, probably mid-2019.]
Laurelle organised two rounds of Trivia – one was a ‘Who’s who’, the second round was a combination of local historical and Christmas trivia. Chris O’Brien was the winner, with Lynda Ord a close second.
We combined some happy moments e.g. Mike’s diversion to Young on a recent road trip to pick up some baseball caps emblazoned with ‘Young’ (guess what’s in the family’s Christmas stockings this year) with hearing about one of the many highlights of Ang’s recent European trip – a visit to the wonderful Mont St Michel. Meanwhile Charmaine was busy enlisting the help of members to sell duck tickets (proceeds will top up our scholarship fund).
This Thursday night is our AGM
During the AGM, former President Bob Aston will present his annual report for 2017-2018 which was a very successful year. We will then try and finalise our Board for 2019-2020. At the stage of going to press we still had no nomination for President.
Tahlia Arnold completes first year Uni
You may remember that last December the Club awarded Alicia Bate the 2018 Tertiary Scholarship; she’s been on a gap year this year. The panel was also so impressed with another candidate Tahlia Arnold and her desire to do well at university, they awarded her a one-off scholarship of $3,000 for 2018.
Tahlia has now completed her first year studying Psychology at the University of Wollongong with fantastic results. During this week, Lynda Ord received this wonderful note from Tahlia.
Dear Lynda,
I hope you have been well. I’ve been studying really hard this semester, with 5 subjects and 5 exams (and little time for breaks!) I got my results back just the other day and Ithought you’d like to hear them: ENGL131 82/D, INDS130 83/D, PHIL151 82/D, PSYC12274/C, and PSYC123 89/HD
My family and myself are very proud of my marks, especially my stats result (a HD!). I’ve been taking some Indigenous Studies electives, and hopefully, I will soon be able to claim a minor in either Indigenous Studies or Australian Studies. I think that will be a nice bonus to my Psychology major.
I’ve made quite a few friends at International House, and I’m pleased to say that some will be staying at iHouse again next year, so I’ll have a good group of friends to hang out with again. Some have even invited me to stay at their homes in Japan! One day in the future, I’ll take them up on their kind offer.
Finally, I’d like to say that none of this would have been possible if you and the kind people at Rotary hadn’t considered me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! First year of uni complete!! 🙂
A wonderful outcome and big smiles all around! The Board decided this week to award Tahlia an additional $1,000 in recognition of her outstanding results. Hopefully she can join us at our Youth Night in February.
Drought Relief Appeals
The Drought Relief Appeal launched by Rotary Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation and Channel 9 in August raised over $10m to support drought-stricken farmers. The appeal closed at the end of September. The donations were administered by Rotary Australia and distributed to farmers in need with the help of the National Farmers’ Federation.
Funds were distributed through the CWA, Rotary districts, the Salvation Army and Drought Angels and were used to purchase fodder and stock water, assist with household expenses and also support mental health services.
Moruya Rotarians meanwhile raised $6,000 in their own Drought Relief Project which was distributed to 20 farming families in the West Wyalong area known to be doing it tough, with the assistance of West Wyalong Rotary. Each family received a $300 gift certificate purchased in the West Wyalong business area. Not only did Moruya Club help the farmers but they were also supporting local business.
Coming Up
This Friday, Christmas Carols on NATA Oval
Thank you to those who volunteered to man the van at Narooma’s Christmas Carols this Friday evening 6.30-9.30pm – John Doyle, Lynn Hastings, John Rungen, Mike Young and Aish Stanley. Should be good.
Scholarship interviews this Saturday
This Saturday, our three-member panel which includes President Rod will interview the seven students from Narooma High who have applied for the 2019 Rotary Tertiary Scholarship. Then it’s on to the party!
Club Christmas Party this Saturday night
The Christmas party at Casey’s Café this Saturday night gets underway at 6.30pm. If you haven’t already paid, please pay online before Saturday night; it just makes the night a lot easier. Some wine will be provided by the Club; if you want beer or spirits, please bring your own.
The Club then goes into recess for a few weeks with no formal meetings until 7 February but we will still be out and about in our community.
Markets Friday 27 December
Our Markets Manager Chris O’Brien reports bumper bookings for the holiday markets on Friday 27h December, with a variety of stalls including many new ones. Everyone who will be around has put their names down for the roster; we should be very busy. We will also push our Australia Day Duck Race tickets.
Sunset, fish and chips Thursday 17 January
Our first get-together in 2019 will be in Quota Park for nibbles from 6pm Thursday 17 January and then take-away fish and chips from The Inlet. Best bring a chair and maybe throw in a small fold-up table just in case it’s needed.
This will be chance to finalise arrangements for the Duck Race on Saturday 26th and the roster for the markets the following day.
Back to the Golfie
Our first meeting back at the Golf Club in 2019 will be our Youth Night on Thursday 7 February when we will hopefully get to meet our 2019 Rotary Tertiary Scholar. We’re hoping we might also have as guests some of our previous scholarship winners (depends on work commitments and return to uni arrangements).
