Charmaine’s Chat

A shame that Narooma Chamber of Commerce President Matt Deveson couldn’t join us last Thursday to talk about the Chamber’s ambitious project to create sustainable jobs here for the future. However Katherine Ratcliffe was a fine replacement.

Katherine lives and works in Tilba Tilba and has been busy with a Chamber of Commerce group working on new strategies and plans to boost our area. She spoke of the NAB staying in Narooma, the Chamber’s networking plans, expanding the effectiveness of our Tourism marketing, and plans for the continued growth of the Oyster Festival. Her talk led to some lively discussions.

It was good last week to again catch up with visiting Rotarian Jenni Lean from the Rotary Club of Port Moresby. 
Bob Aston did the international toast to the Rotary Club of St Andrews Scotland. 
Sunday’s markets were quiet, as you’d expect in July, but with a good atmosphere. Ange Ulrichsen sold Whale Raffle tickets; there are plenty of books to sell so don’t be shy and please grab a book from Ange. All proceeds will go to Monty’s Place towards the kitchen extensions. I will try to book a few days outside the IGA to sell raffle tickets; more on that on Thursday. The raffle will be drawn 7 September. 

THIS WEEK

5pm:  Renewable Energy Expo committee meeting – Narooma Golf Club

6pm for 6.30pm:      Weekly dinner meeting

THE WEEK THAT WAS

The Chamber and Narooma’s Strategic Plan

Kathryn Ratcliffe along with Matt Deveson, Di Riley, Jenny Munro, and NAB Narooma Branch Manager Cherie Cunninghame, form a working group tasked with  developing a plan to build community and business capacity in the Narooma district, make the economy more robust for the future, and create jobs. Support is coming from the NAB after its decision last year to keep the Narooma branch open, following strong community opposition when its closure was announced, and to use Narooma as a national test case.

Kathryn said it was only very early stages. They would be seeking information from the wider community as well as business people and are also working with the Tilba Chamber on this. Uppermost would be an appreciation of the clean green environment in which we live.

Kathryn said the Oyster Festival had virtually consumed Chamber committees in recent years. Now that will be run by a separate not-for-profit group still associated with the Chamber, the Chamber itself can refocus on more core Chamber business, like  having more of an advocacy role and this Community Economic Development Plan. She also mentioned Chamber Business Buzzes which encourage networking, tourism and business Expos at the Golf Club in September, and refreshing Narooma’s destination marketing. The Chamber is also after new members.

Kathryn is in the accommodation business at Tilba Tilba with a few farm cottages and ‘glamping tents’.

Bob’s St Andrews’ toast

Interesting that Bob, when toasting the RC of St Andrews in Scotland, said the Club meets at a nearby hotel for lunch each week, rather than at the St Andrews Golf Club. Each June the RC of St Andrews hosts an International Golf Week on ‘The Old Course’, when ‘some 300 visiting Rotarians from over 20 countries enjoy fellowship’ over a game of golf. Stay tuned for moves from our Narooma golfer members to check that out in coming years.

Out and About

Thanks to Easts who are celebrating

With John Doyle and Rolf Gimmel both away, it looked like we would be unable to tow the van to the Markets on Sunday. That’s when Lyn Field and her team at Easts kindly came to the rescue.

Narooma’s Easts team have been celebrating recently; the builders of their new indoor heated Splash Park and Spa won a major gong at the recent 2019 Southern Region’s Building Awards at Ulladulla. Bermagui’s Munckton Homes won the Excellence in Building Award for ‘Best Commercial – New $2 Million – $3 Million’ project for the splash park and spa project.

Moruya greets Danish Exchange Student

Moruya Rotarians last week welcomed Danish exchange student Josephine Drachmann. Josephine is 16 years old and comes from Randers in Denmark. Her sponsoring Club is Randers Vestre. She attends a Continuation school which is a Boarding School where she particularly studies  languages. She and her family have travelled extensively including to the USA, Singapore and Australia.

Good news re joint District Grant

Former DG Phil Armstrong, current District Grants Chair, has informed us that the joint application by Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma Clubs for a District Grant for 2019/20 has been approved.  The grant of AU$6,000 is towards the cost of a community bus for Yumaro and  Eurobodalla Meals on Wheels.

On another note – the last paraprosdokians

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

Hospitality: making your guests feel like they’re at home, even if you wish they were.

Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.

NEXT WEEK

6 for 6.30pm: A partners’ night for District Governor Peter Ford’s official visit. Please don’t forget to let Charmaine know if you are bringing guests.

Charmaine’s Chat

Was it a book launch or a Rotary meeting last week? We had 32 attendees, 26 of whom were guests invited by Laurelle, Chris and Ange. They came to hear about Jody Vassallo’s new recipe book called Farmer – Recipes and Stories. It was so inspiring to hear how handfeeding her eight sheep on her small property at Central Tilba led to her thinking of the difficulties farmers faced trying to feed thousands of sheep through the drought. This led to her mammoth undertaking of putting together a book to raise money for our farmers doing it very tough.  I had no idea so much planning and organising was involved in writing a recipe book. (Please see more below)
All our tertiary scholarship holders have done extremely well last semester. Congratulations to them all. 
Yes, the market is on this coming Sunday 28 July. 
Also, please mark in your diary that Thursday 8 August is the visit of our DG Peter Ford, so therefore a partners’ night. 
Rod Walker has kindly stepped up to be Treasurer while Lynn is away. 
Please remember to check the jobs’ roster for each meeting and please get a replacement to fill in if you are unavailable. 
See you this Thursday. Another top speaker.

THIS WEEK

Our guest speaker is Narooma Chamber of Commerce President Matt Deveson who will speak about ‘Narooma Dreaming – Jobs for the Future’. He will outline developing a strategic plan for Narooma to benefit everyone, how they will engage with the business and wider community to produce it, collect data, and the process involved.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

What a fascinating presentation last week by Jody Vassallo who is a prolific recipe and cookbook writer and food stylist, now living at Central Tilba. It’s interesting that after working on River Cottage, she sold up in the Byron Bay area and moved to Tilba because she loved the area so much. (Interesting Kelly Eastwood of Eastwood’s Deli and Cooking School at Bermagui also moved to the area after working on River Cottage.)

This is Jody’s 40^th book but it’s very different to her previous projects. When she decided about a year ago she wanted to raise funds for farmers, she put something up on a food industry Facebook page and within 24 hours had over 200 expressions of interest in helping her.

To produce it required recipes, food stylists, photographers, writers, plate and equipment hire, someone to drive a social media campaign, marketing and PR people and a crowd funding page. She praised everyone involved 10 writers, 12 food editors, 15 photographers, stylists, and home economist most of whom gave their services free. Recipes were contributed by celebrity chefs as well as farmers featured in the book in stories about them and their families.

Jody was impressed with the resilience and optimism of the farmers she met – “one day it’s going to rain”. Farmers didn’t want her to focus on the problems but just wanted people to know what was going on. “Meanwhile,” she said, “the drought is not going away, if anything it’s getting worse. There’s just so much going on out there.”

She said crowd funding got off to a slow start but in January it started to take off, one impetus being an interview by ABC South East presenter Sophie Longden (also a farmer and former ABC rural reporter).

Given all that, it is remarkable that the book took only about a year from conception in her Tilba paddock to print. Jody wanted to print it in Australia because it was about Australian farmers, and so special arrangements were made with the printers.

She said producing this book has been “an absolute honour”, and in amongst all the stress it has brought her so much joy. Interesting Jody refers to all of her cook books as ‘she’. “She’s a big girl and she’s beautiful, with images by some of Australia’s best photographers,” she said.

All proceeds go to the Country Women’s Association, which she described as “the eyes and ears of the country”, to distribute to farming families in need across Australia in a way that tries to keep the money circulating in country towns. The book costs $30.

Out and About

Joint Baby Book Project at Moruya Hospital

Each year our Club contributes to a joint literacy project with Batemans Bay and Moruya Clubs to provide books to all babies born at Moruya Hospital. The project is managed by Moruya Club. Established in 2005 by then Moruya President Steve Young, this wonderful program is still going strong. About 300 babies are born at Moruya Hospital each year so that equates to a lot of books.

Centenary of Rotary Down Under 2021

In 2021 we will celebrate the centenary of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand. There’s a host of ideas being developed on both sides of the Tasman about how best to celebrate it, everything from tree plantings, to grand events with various dignitaries, to a Peace Building Symposium, to a baton relay.

This milestone is seen as a great opportunity to raise awareness of Rotary in our region and to showcase the work Rotary and each club does in our communities and around the world. Facebook is going gangbusters with updates, stories and videos; http://www.facebook.com/Rotary100downunder.

RI Pres Mark Maloney not visiting Narooma

RI President Mark Maloney and his wife Gay will visit Australia briefly in September following the Christchurch Zone 8 Conference. He will be in Sydney 23^rd September before flying to Melbourne on Tuesday 24^th. Rotarians are invited to attend a dinner with him at Woolwich (300 people maximum so you will need to book ASAP).

On a lighter note – more paraprosdokians

(Try saying that!)

• If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
• War does not determine who is right, only who is left.
• A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.
• You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

NEXT WEEK:

Renewable Energy Expo committee meeting at 5pm at the Golf Club followed by a dinner meeting

Charmaine’s Chat

Our first meeting was of 12 but who’s counting?  Great to get to see my brother Bern White and introduce him and his friend Sue Tredrea to my fellow Rotarians.

Our Board meeting sorted out the four Presidents for the year; a big thank you to all concerned for their help. We are all hoping for smooth sailing all year. Ange Ulrichsen will take over from me 1 October, Bob Aston from Ange Ulrichsen 1 Jan and Laurelle Pacey from 1 April. Rod Walker will take over from Laurelle as Vice President for that last quarter. Rolf Gimmel will then be President 2020-2021.

Last week Bob gave us a wonderful summary of some of his and Therese’s adventures during their ten weeks overseas.

We’ve heard from two of our three Tertiary Scholars with their results (see following).

The defibrillator we provided to Woolworths has been returned as all Woolworths are having the same brand of defibrillator installed in all stores across Australia. So if anyone can think of a new home for this defibrillator that would be great.

The Board also came up with some key dates for the coming year.  8 August:       D G visit – partners’ night           29 August:      Combined meeting with Bega at Cobargo Hotel (changed because of roadworks)            2 November: Renewable Energy Expo            20 March:      Cinders – TBC with Moruya Club            16 April:         Pride of Workmanship (TBC because of school holidays)  30 May:         National Busking Championships in Narooma

THIS WEEK

Our guest speaker is Tilba-based cookbook author and food stylist Jody Vassallo. She will talk about her latest cookbook venture, Farmer, to raise funds for drought-affected farmers. Jody enlisted the help of leading chefs and a team of people who also tell the stories of farmers and their families in this book. She crowd-funded the whole venture. This should interest a lot of people.

OTHER NEWS FROM LAST WEEK:

Tertiary Scholarship

Bob Aston has already spoken with about 12 Year 12 students at Narooma High about applying for our Rotary Tertiary Scholarship this year. The closing date for applications is a week after the end of the HSC with interviews 21 December.

MUNA

Our Club is sponsoring a team from Narooma High to the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) in Canberra 16-18 August, thanks to Ange Ulrichsen’ s initiative and Narooma High teacher Monique Wicks. MUNA is organised for D9710 each year by the RC of Canberra Sunrise.

Teams are made up of two or three Year 11 or 12 students, with each team representing a nation at a simulated Model United Nations Assembly. Narooma High is representing Syria, a huge task. Teams debate topics of international concern such as world peace, environmental issues and human rights over two days at the Museum of Australian Democracy (old Parliament House).

The benefits for students are that they develop an awareness of the working of the United Nations and of the country that they are representing. They have an opportunity to practice and develop their public speaking and debating skills, and gain a better understanding of the international positions of other countries.

Ange is looking forward to our members meeting the team soon.

OUT AND ABOUT

Our Tertiary Scholars

Great results from our tertiary scholars Sabine Kildea and Cassie Kerr. Sabine Kildea is doing an Arts degree at ANU. She received three credits in the first semester and is now off to the United States for the next phase of her course. Bob Aston is her counsellor.

Cassidy is doing a double degree in Law and Psychology at the University of Wollongong. She wrote to her counsellor Rod Walker:

I received my exam results yesterday and I’m very pleased with the results, I received 3 Credits and 1 Pass, which are results I am super proud of as the first semester of law was indeed challenging! 

I just wanted to update you and thank you again for the scholarship. Your contribution and my youth allowance payments have allowed me to focus completely on my studies as with this budget I have been able to live comfortably without a job thus far, which has played a huge part in the results I received. So, thank you so much again I cannot stress how grateful I am, I look forward to continuing my studies later this month and I will most definitely continue to keep you updated. 

Best wishes, Cassidy 

Our other current tertiary scholar is Alicia Bate; she is studying for a Bachelor of Animal Science at Charles Sturt University.

Moruya Rotarians host Small Farm Field Days

Moruya Rotary is organising Small Farm Field Days 20-21 March at Moruya Showground which will require a big effort by all Moruya Rotarians. They hope for up to 100 stallholders providing products and information for small landholders as well as giving local producers an opportunity to showcase and sell their wares.

Money will come from exhibitors’ fees, sponsorships and gate entry fees. They hope to have some stallholders from last year’s Renewable Energy Expo which was held at Moruya because power alternatives are a big deal for small land holders, especially if they live well out of town. The event will also include a program of speakers on topics relevant to small farms, and possibly a petting zoo for children.

RI and ShelterBox renew partnership

Rotary International announced last month it had renewed a three-year partnership with its disaster relief project partner, ShelterBox. For almost 20 years, this unique humanitarian alliance has supported families with a place to call home after disaster. ShelterBox provides emergency shelters and other essential items to support families who have lost their homes in disaster.

What began as a local connection with one Cornish Rotary Club has led to an international movement that’s provided 140,000 ShelterBox family tents or 390,000 ShelterKits worldwide to date (a value of over £54 million).

NEXT WEEK:

Our guest speaker will be Matt Deveson from Narooma Chamber of Commerce who will speak about ‘Narooma Dreaming – Jobs for the Future’. He will outline the development of a strategic plan for Narooma to benefit everyone.

On a lighter note

Winston Churchill apparently loved these, and of course there is a word for it. ‘paraprosdokians’ (!). They are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected and frequently humorous. Here are a few:

• Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
• Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good evening’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
• Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
• Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars but check when you say the paint is wet?

Charmaine’s Chat

The next 12 months will be a time of adventure in uncharted waters with our four ‘captains’ steering our Club. As you know, this is a new course for our Club because no one person was available to take the helm for the whole year. Each of our four ‘captains’, all Past Presidents, will do a three-month stint as President and all be on this year’s Board. This will also help Rolf Gimmel prepare for his term as president the following year.

All of us are committed to continue our major projects: our monthly markets, the Renewable Energy Expo in November, the Busking Championships as well as our Rotary youth programmes.

The Rotary International theme for this year is ‘Rotary connects the World’. So let’s hoist the flag, anchors aweigh, set the sails, and all be aboard to ‘connect the World’ by continuing to help our local community and Rotary International.

THIS WEEK

Board Meeting at 5pm at the Golf Club followed by Club Assembly and fellowship.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Last Thursday we celebrated the end of a good year under President Rod and the start of ‘a rotating presidency’ through 2019-2020. Past District Governor Maureen Manning in replying to Bob Aston’s toast to Rotary International, said our Club was “the epitome of what Rotary International is about”.

Rod said his theme for his year was “Steady as she goes” with the Club continuing to punch well above its weight in terms of fundraising and community activities. “We also enjoyed some fascinating guest speakers through the year who attracted many visitors to our meetings,” he said.

Incoming first President Charmaine White continued the nautical theme, referring to the next 12 months as “a year of adventure in uncharted waters” (see above).

Over the past 12 months our Club provided over $28,000 to local and international causes over the past year, of which about $10,000 went to local youth programmes and tertiary scholarship recipients, $4,756 to the Rotary Foundation including the polio eradication campaign, and $3,000 to Rotary Health Australia for medical and mental health research.

Rod said highlights included the 60^th birthday celebrations last August, the recent Busking Championships, the Australia Day Duck Race, the Pride of Workmanship Awards, youth programmes, the Tertiary Scholarship Awards as well as monthly markets.

John Rungen, Sandra and Lynn had earlier been recognised as Paul Harris Fellows, with John Rungen also being named the the club’s Rotarian of the Year by outgoing President Rod. President Elect Rolf received his second Paul Harris Sapphire Pin on the night.

Guests at the Changeover included the Rotary District Governor’s representative Past District Governor Maureen Manning of the Batemans Bay Rotary Club, Past District Governor Phil Armstrong and his wife Kim, and representatives from Moruya Rotary Club, Narooma Lions, Quota, CWA and other local volunteer organisations.

OUT AND ABOUT

Congratulations to Nadine

John and Sandra Doyle’s daughter Nadine Holland, our wonderful Busking concert MC, was inducted into the Rotary Club of Cooma at the Club’s Changeover by DG Margaret Hassall, also a member of the Cooma Club.

Alas, we lost Cinders…

Moruya Rotary won the recent annual Cinders Trophy trivia night.  This fun night between our two Clubs sometimes sees some fierce competition but always in a spirit of fun.  Our numbers were well down with so many members away so a good reason to lock in the date early in 2020 before people start travelling, maybe March/April.

Congratulations to our neighbours

DG Margaret Hassall’s presented her District 9710 Awards at our District Changeover on 30 June with several recipients being our neighbouring Rotarians.

Moruya Rotary Club won the International Service Award for the Storage Facility and Intensive Farming Project on Arturo Island in Timor Leste. This project provided storage to ensure that rice provided by the Timorese Government each year under the School Feeding Program is properly stored and protected, while the intensive farming project provided training and protection for the intensive farming of vegetables and animals to benefit the local community. This project was supported by a District Foundation Grant.

Shirley Hayes-Cornish of Moruya Rotary was awarded the District’s Excellence in International Service Award. Shirl is the driving force behind Moruya’s projects in Timor Leste, particularly the storage facility and intensive farming project. She has also become active in the Mindanao Poverty Relief Action in the Philippines with her husband John, and as the lead presentation in a training program ‘Awareness of Sexual Health´ which aims to reduce teenage pregnancies.

Bega Rotary won the Vocational Service Award for their Bega Rotary Business Breakfast initiative which Noel Trevaskis has previously outlined to us. This initiative brings Bega’s business community and other organisations together with Bega Rotarians and provides a valuable source of membership for Bega Rotary while simultaneously addressing the needs of the group and community organisations.

Maureen Manning from Batemans Bay Rotary was awarded the Excellence in Youth Service recognising her service to RYPEN and over 2,000 students over the last 17 years.  Through the RYPEN camps, Maureen has assisted many young people reach their potential by her enthusiasm, organisation, devotion to the wellbeing of others and through her care and compassion.

Our 9710 District Governor is Peter Ford from the Rotary Club of Aurora Gungahlin.

In case you missed it

Outgoing RI President Barry Rassin wrote last month that Rotary International had incorporated environmental sustainability into each of Rotary’s six areas of focus. This was due to the actions of the Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group in partnership with UN Environment.

Those six areas of focus are: Peace and Conflict Resolution, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Water and Sanitation, Maternal and Child Health, Basic Education and Literacy, Economic and Community Development. Rotary will work to ensure projects in these six areas preserve the ability for the environment to renew itself and continue to support human well-being, thereby supplying life-sustaining benefits to communities.

Both Rassin and new RI President Mark Maloney hope Clubs find ways to implement these suggestions. Sounds like our Renewable Energy Expo is right on RI’s target.

Rod’s Ramble

Hi

This will be my last Ramble for my Presidency. Not much to report in this last week unless our depleted Cinders team can come home with the trophy.

Cinders is on this Wednesday (12^th) at Moruya so there is no regular meeting this Thursday (13^th). I am away now until the end of June, as is VP Laurelle,  so Charmaine will warm the chair from 20^th June. As this is my last Ramble, I would like to thank all members for allowing me to be your President in 2018-19.

There were some notable achievements in the year and we distributed $27,749 to local and international charities, our Tertiary Scholarship holders, and funding other youth activities. I will single out a few for my gratitude as without them we would not have pulled off the fundraising and community events we did. The list indicates the breadth of our activities and how well we do with a small membership. They are in no particular order:

• Laurelle Pacey for her counsel as Vice-President, our vocational awards night and the Beacon
• Bob Aston for his work as Secretary and his work promoting our Tertiary Scholarship
• Sandra Doyle as assistant secretary and general dogsbody. She was everywhere.
• Lynn Hastings our ever vigilant Treasurer
• Chris O’Brien for managing the Markets (and those who worked on the markets).
• Angie Ulrichsen for our speakers, film night, the Whale Watching raffle, RYPEN, RYDA and van purchases.
• John Doyle for market logistics and caravan management
• John Rungen for heading the Busking Championship committee (and everyone on that Committee) and the Bowel Cancer program
• Charmaine White for the Australia Day Duck Race and her work in Timor Leste
• Peter Bull for assisting with the selection of our Tertiary Scholarship recipient and the occasional good joke
• Frank Eden for managing the web site
• Rolf Gimmel for caravan duties and his consistent work as Sergeant-at-Arms
• Every other member for contributing when and where they could to the markets, raffle selling, 60^th birthday celebrations, busking and barbecues.
• AND to Michael O’Connor raffle seller extraordinaire

We are trialing a new form of leadership for 2019-2020. Let’s get behind our ‘Presidents Four’ and have another great year contributing to our community. All the best to Charmaine and her Board for 2019-20. Rod

THIS WEEK: Our Cinders Trivia Trophy

This Wednesday (12 June) we join our friends at Moruya Rotary to battle over trivia for the much coveted Cinders Trophy. It’s always a lot of fun. This year we are playing on their home turf at Moruya Golf Club, commencing 6.30 for 7pm. Cost is $17 pp. What we will lack in numbers  we are sure to make up for in quality.

There will therefore be no meeting this Thursday 13 June.

The Week that Was

Last week was a fairly laid back meeting with many away but still lots of chat, a slide show of the Busking Championships.

PP and PE Charmaine White gave the International Toast to the Rotary Club of Dili in Timor Leste, a club she is associated with through the dental project in Timor Leste.  The Rotary Club of Dili was chartered in 2002 with 32 Members.

Meanwhile, our travelling correspondent PP Bob Aston spotted a redundant phone box in Wales that has been-re-purposed to house a defibrillator… alas Frank and John, any redundant phone-boxes in our area seem to have already been removed.

Out and About

Moruya and Bay Rotary Changeovers

We have been invited to attend Moruya’s Changeover on Wednesday 26^th  and Batemans Bay’s on Thursday 27^th June. If you would like to attend one or other, please contact President Rod Changeovers .

Bega Rotary Winter Book Fair

Bega Rotary’s Book Fair is on next month from Friday 5^th to Sunday 7^th July in the Bega Showground Pavilion. This is a mammoth undertaking by the Bega Club

They are expecting to have over 30,000 fiction and non-fiction books ready for sale. With storage space at a premium, they only accept books in quality condition and do not accept Encyclopaedias or Readers Digest which do not sell, They will be moving storage facility before the next book fair.

Bega and Monaro RYDA   

Over 300 Bega Valley and Monaro Year 11 students recently attended the Bega RYDA at Frog’s Hollow Go Kart Track south of Bega. Bega Rotary has coordinated the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Program since 2007, catering for 5,000 students. Narooma High students’ first RYDA was at Bega (and possibly the second) before they started going to Moruya. Schools that participated this year were Bega High, Eden Marine High, Bombala High, Lumen Christi Catholic College, South Coast Anglican College, Monaro High and Jindabyne Central with a small group from Moruya.

NEXT WEEK (20th):

Retired Narooma engineer Jeff Lean will talk about the social and economic drivers of climate change, subjects he has studied closely. Jeff feels considerable confusion and misinformation by government, financially interested parties and well-meaning but ill-informed green groups have clouded the issues and delayed working towards solutions.  He will also discuss meaningful community and individual actions.  

FOLLOWING WEEK (27TH):

Our guest speaker will be the new Principal of Narooma High Fiona Jackson.

THIS WEEK:  

First a Board meeting at 5pm, followed by an evening of fellowship to enjoy each other’s company, with some photos from our wonderfully successful Busking Festival.

LAST WEEK

President Rod was full of surprises last week by presenting several awards that we would normally see presented at Changeover. His reason for going early? Most recipients would not be here for the changeover.

He named three members as Paul Harris Fellows – Lynn Hastings, John Rungen and Sandra Doyle, and presented John Rungen with the Club’s Rotarian of the Year Award. Congratulation to all recipients; their recognition is well deserved.

President Rod also promoted his President’s raffle of a lovely quilt made by his wife Jennifer. Books of 25 tickets are available from Rod – $2 each or three for $5. He will draw the raffle at our Changeover which is now on Thursday 4^th July, instead of 27 June as is published on the tickets. All proceeds will go to local charities.

For our International Toast last week, Frank Eden toasted the Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Chartered in 2000, it is the only English speaking club in Rwanda. It has given birth to four Rotaract and three Interact Clubs around Kigali. Their flagship project is the Kigali Public Library. Kigali has about one million people; it lost a significant proportion of its people in the 1994 genocide. It’s reported to be the cleanest city in Africa. Just over the border in Congo is North Kivu where 1900 cases of Ebola have been reported; of those, 1250 died, 490 were cured… presumably the rest are still sick. Frank said there is now a vaccine against Ebola but ignorance, misinformation and fear are frustrating containment.

Other News

Congratulations to Batemans Bay Rotarian PDG Maureen Manning who has been elected as our District’s Delegate to the Zone Nominating Committee for the 2020 Rotary International Convention in Honolulu.  We will see Maureen in a month; she will be the DG’s representative at our Club Changeover on Thursday 4^th July.

By the way, if you were interested in going to the Honolulu Convention 6-10 June 2020, the early bird price of $395 ends 5 June.

Rotary Convention in Hamburg wraps up

Rotary International’s biggest event of the year ended in Hamburg this Wednesday. More than 24,000 Rotary members from 170 countries have been attending the 110th annual Rotary International Convention.

During the convention:

•  Pressing world issues were discussed like polio eradication, pollution, refugee migration, disease prevention, and literacy.
• An inspiring range of speakers from all over the world addressed the Convention
• Delegates also had the opportunity to enhance their skills in areas like fellowship, integrity, diversity, service, and fellowship.

The next RI Convention in Australia will be in Melbourne in 2023.The convention is the most valuable conference ever won by Victoria. It is expected to attract 20,000 Rotary members from more than 200 countries and regions worldwide and to inject over $88 million into the Victorian economy.

NEXT WEEK:  Our annual Cinders

Next Wednesday (12 June) we head to Moruya to ‘battle’ with Moruya Rotarians for the coveted annual Cinders trophy. It’s always a lot of fun. This year we are playing on their home turf at Moruya Golf Club, commencing 6.30 for 7pm. Cost is $17 pp.

This Thursday we are finalising numbers so hopefully you have gathered some knowledgeable friends to make up for so many of our members who are away. The trophy last year was shared between the two clubs, and is currently in Moruya’s safe keeping. We shall try to organise car-pooling on Thursday for those who want it.

There will therefore be no meeting on Thursday 13 June.

Rod’s Ramble

What a weekend! Blessed with beautiful weather we successfully delivered the Busking National Championship and our monthly Market thanks to a small but hard working crew. Congratulations and thanks to all those involved. The vibe on both days was fantastic and I have never see as many people on the Flat and around NATA Oval as there were on Saturday.

We are now rolling towards the end of another Rotary Year but there are still a few important activities we need to complete. Firstly we have Cinders on 12^th June, the Market on 23^rd June and finally Changeover on 4^th July. Between now and then, I will be running my President’s Raffle which is a quilt made by Jennifer to be raffled over the next six weeks and drawn at our Changeover. I will have the Quilt and tickets available this week.

With so many members either travelling (6) or incapacitated (3) over June, it will be challenging to participate in all those events so please help where you can. See you Thursday. Rod

THIS WEEK: Fellowship where we can just relax and enjoy each other’s company

The Week that Was

Busking fills our town with music

What a wonderfully successful Busking Championships on Saturday with the town buzzing from the Flat to the Plaza and, as Rod said, beautiful weather. This was Narooma Rotary’s third Narooma Championships, part of the Australian National Busking Championships (ANBC) and a significant event in Eurobodalla’s River of Art Festival.

At the awards presentation at the Golf Club Saturday evening, President Rod paid tribute to everyone who made the event possible – the many wonderful sponsors, Rotary’s hard working committee, the 48 buskers who took part from a wide geographical area, the 50 volunteers who helped on the day, and the community who turned out in force to enjoy the day.

The committee consisted of John Rungen (chair), Sandra and John Doyle, Lynda Ord, Chris O’Brien, Heather Ferguson, Jen French and Laurelle Pacey.

River of Art Festival co-chair Di Jay has thanked Rotary on behalf of the River of Art committee. “Well done Rotary with the busking champs,” she said. “Totally amazing day in Narooma. A pleasure to be collaborating with and promoting your event under the Festival umbrella.”

ANBC instigator Alan Spencer of Cooma praised our event. “Narooma’s regional championships are first class, one of the best in Australia,” he said. “Each year it’s becoming more professional both in the way it’s run and in the standard of performers. A lot of these buskers even in high school are now getting gigs and that’s showing in their growing professionalism.”

NATA Oval, behind the Visitors’ Centre, again had four busking hot spots sponsored by businesses away from the centre of town as well as a display of classic cars from the Combined Eurobodalla Classic Cars and new cars from the AMH Motor Group in Moruya.

A free shuttle bus, courtesy of Symons, ferried spectators between venues while the Golf Club’s bus ferried those buskers who needed transport around town.

MC Nadine Howard (Sandra and John’s daughter) noted at the presentations the extraordinary number of local businesses sponsoring prizes this year, reflecting the fantastic support of this Busking festival by the community. E

The five judges (Sandra and John’s granddaughter and long time busker Shelby Holland , Alan Spencer of ANBC, Ian Campbell of AboutRegional and RiotACT, Cr Lindsay Brown, and Fiona Brown of Slightly Twisted Productions) caught up with all acts through the day and made 27 awards. All are listed on Facebook and in the media.

The major award of Open Champion was awarded to local duo Stitch consisting of Bev Long and Zoey Pepper. The major  People’s Choice award (receiving the most Busker Votes) was Potent Soap of Batemans Bay (Jordan Young, Jack Gallen, Caeden Devane and Brendon Barnes).

Narooma’s major winners will be invited to compete in the ANBC National Grand Final in Cooma in November.

Last Week’s meeting

What a fascinating meeting last week with a large number of guests, not surprisingly many of them dog lovers. Chris had her good friends visiting from Victoria, Club regulars Gloria and Neil.

First though, John Rungen gave the international toast to the Rotary Club of Binghamton in New York State. It’s an old club established in 1912, has 41 members, and meets for lunch on Tuesdays. Their sub-committees often meet over breakfast. Their main focus over the last two years is tackling the opiate epidemic which includes driving public awareness towards the proper disposal of medication.

We welcomed Narooma High student Breeanna Glass, fresh from the RYPEN Camp at Mogo. She delivered an engaging talk in quite a confident way about her initial feeling of boredom, thinking she would rather not be there; by the end of the weekend she had made two new close friends and realised that being a teenager is not boring. She has been invited to be a leader at a future RYPEN Camp. Many thanks to Ang for making this happen and giving Breeanna this opportunity.

Then of course it was over to our guest speaker Angela Keogh who spoke about dog behaviour, and by necessity dog owner behaviour. Her presentation was very entertaining, encouraging us to try and interpret what a dog’s body language might be indicating about how they were feeling. Angela is highly qualified , very experienced and obviously highly respected by all those who have used her services.

More on the new District 9705

On 1 July 2020, District 9710 joins District 9700 to become the new District 9705. Membership of 9700 had fallen below 1000, hence the RI decision. A transition team of past District Governors is sorting out the many administrative matters involved.

Michael Moore is nominated as the first Governor of the new District for Rotary Year 2020/21. Because of the number of clubs and the distances involved, he will have six Area Governors, replacing but having greater duties than the present Assistant Governors. Each will have no more than 15 clubs, plus Rotaract and Interact Clubs. Our area will extend from Bowral to the Victorian border. Within the planning task, PDG Phil Armstrong is heading a focus team looking at District programs in the vocational, international and community area.

Rotary fills Narooma with music

We have a huge weekend ahead of us with the Busking Festival all Saturday plus the markets to follow on Sunday. Hopefully we are ready for it, thanks to a lot of work by the core Busking team. There is mounting excitement among those in our community who have been before and enjoyed it immensely.

Our Festival is a regional championship of the Australian National Busking Championships (ANBC) with the final in Cooma in November. It’s also one of the major events in Eurobodalla’s River of Art Festival which concludes this weekend.

On Saturday, we have 50 buskers who will perform at three or four of the 32 busker hot spots between 9 and 3. There’s a map in our two-page feature in this week’s Narooma News. Busking HQ will again be in a cabin in Easts Riverside Park, manned by our incredible admin team headed by Sandra, Lynda and John R. All buskers register there as well as volunteers; volunteers return with money and votes. John Doyle is overall site manager and chief ‘fixer’.

Narooma business owners have sponsored spots in front of their businesses while some businesses in outlying areas have spots on NATA Oval where there will also be large displays of collectors’ and new cars. A free bus with Chris on board will take people between venues. A programme showing hot spots with a busker timetable will be available online and on the day from information stalls opposite the Ice Creamery on the Flat and on NATA Oval, and from roving Busker Vote sellers wearing a Rotary vest.

Buskers are competing for $10,000 in prize money. Narooma’s five judges determine most prizes, including the $1,000 prize for the overall winner. Our judges this year are ANBC coordinator Alan Spencer, Shelby Grace, Lindsay Brown, Fiona Brown, and Ian Campbell of About Regional.

Everyone can vote for their favourite busker for the People’s Choice prize of $1,000 by buying a busker vote from our sellers for $1. The busker gets 10 cents from each $1 vote. If the purchaser writes their name on the back of each vote, they enter a lucky draw. Buskers keep any money they collect. Any profits go towards enhancing music and performance education in our area.

The Festival culminates with a free busker concert at Narooma Golf Club from 4pm followed by prize presentation (activity in HQ 3-5 is frantic, counting votes and sorting out prizes!).

Then it’s the markets on Sunday! Hope everyone is feeling fit. Then we can relax… Great work everyone.

THIS WEEK:

Our guest speaker is Angela Keogh who works as a canine behaviour consultant and professional dog (and owner!) trainer. Her subject will be ‘Real help at both ends of the leash’.

We also welcome our Narooma High student Breeanna Glass who we sponsored to the three-day Rotary Youth Programme of Enrichment (RYPEN) at Mogo. She will be talking briefly about her RYPEN experience.

The Week that Was

With both President Rod and VP Laurelle away last week, Rolf Gimmel ably chaired the meeting. Our speaker was Julie Kirk, the Regional Operations Manager for Red Cross’ Central Region. Julie explained how Red Cross supports the health and wellbeing of local communities through a range of programmes. She explained the various programmes including the Community Visitors Scheme, Learner Driver Programme, Save-a-Mate, Community Development and Emergency. Robyn Miller thanked Julie on behalf of the club.

Other news

Check your Bowels

Rotary’s annual bowel cancer awareness campaign ends soon. Age is an important factor in bowel cancer. The risk begins at age 40, doubling every five years and more rapidly as the person gets older. Bowel cancer is one of the most curable cancers if detected early. BowelCare kits cost $15 and are available from local pharmacies until the end of May.

Cinders battle for Trivia crown

On Wednesday 12 June, we ‘battle’ Moruya Rotarians for the coveted annual Cinders trophy. The trophy last year was shared between the two clubs, and is currently in Moruya’s safe keeping. This year we play on their home turf at Moruya Golf Club, commencing 6.30 for 7pm. Cost is $17 pp.

Hopefully you are coming with lots of very knowledgeable friends to make up for so many of our members who will be away. If you haven’t already done so, please fill in the attendance sheet for Cinders. We need final numbers by 5 June. Car-pooling is suggested.

Moruya Rotarians head to RI Convention

Moruya Rotarians John and Shirley Hayes will have a Moruya Rotary Club booth in the House of Friendship at the Rotary International Convention in Hamburg 1-5 June.

Shirl and John are managers of the Moruya RAWCS Sexual Health Education by Pictures Project. In February this year they travelled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines as part of joint RAWCS, Mindanao Poverty Relief Action team and Department of Education to deliver this much needed information to both female and male students.  Over three weeks, Shirl, John and the team from Mindanao Poverty Relief Action team visited 14 high schools and gave three- hour lectures to over 3,000 students and staff.  Teachers were concerned at the high rate of young teenage pregnancies and the lack of knowledge of sex and its outcomes. 

They were so inspired by the success of this project and the positive comments they received, Shirl and John have taken a stand in the House of Friendship to talk about this project to the Convention’s 24,000 delegates. 

Keep 8 August free for Bega Rotarians

Ange has organised with Bega President Margaret Taylor to have a combined meeting on 8 August, 6 for 6.30pm, at Cobargo Hotel. Ange reminds us this was initiated by the interest shown by our Club in Noel Trevaskis’ talk to us last year and the Business Breakfast Club started so successfully by Bega. We wanted to know more about the Breakfast Club so here’s our chance. Already about 15 Bega Rotarians have expressed interest in attending.

NEXT WEEK: Fellowship where we can just relax and enjoy each other’s company

Rod’s Ramble

While we had low numbers last week, there was a good vibe at the meeting. I think when the numbers are low the big table format we used last week works best; when there is a guest speaker separate tables of eight probably work best.

At the Board meeting, we agreed in principal to run the Renewable Energy Expo again in early November. Frank will lead the charge but he needs a group of willing assistants. We will put together a committee in July so if you can help out please volunteer. 

Frank also has suggested we need to do some succession planning for maintenance of the web site. We need someone with a basic knowledge of and confidence with computers to be mentored by Frank. If we can’t find someone in the Club maybe you know someone else who could help out? If interested, please let me know.

We will have a lot of people away over the next three months so we need everyone available for the Busking and the Markets in May as well as the Markets in June. Please try and be available on those days. Spouses, partners and friends also most welcome.

The Board is in the process of finalising our charitable distributions for 2018-19. We have already distributed over $17,000 and have about $5,000 available. If you have a local charity/service group you think we should support let me know.

I have just been offered a large body of work which means I will miss the meetings on 16 and 23 May and 13 and 27 June. This also means we will have to move the Changeover date to 4 July. Rod

THIS WEEK:

Our guest speaker is Julie Kirk who will talk about Red Cross services available on the South Coast. The range of services they provide these days is extraordinary so Julie’s talk will be particularly informative.

The Week that Was

It was great to welcome Peter Bull back. He gave an entertaining and interesting talk about Karen’s and his experiences on their recent Ghan expedition. The train was 1km long and passengers were taken to their carriages in golf carts!

Presidents x four for 2019-2020

It was with a sense of great relief that members at the Club Assembly supported the Board’s recommendation to have four presidents through 2019-2020, one every three months. Charmaine White will do the first three months, Ange Ulrichsen the second, and Bob Aston and Rod Walker will share the first six months of 2020. Laurelle offered to stay in the role of vice president through the year to give some continuity, if that works out best for the Club, rather than do one three month term as president.

BowelCare

Our BowelCare coordinator John Rungen drew everyone’s attention to the fact that Rotary’s annual bowel cancer awareness campaign is underway.
BowelCare kits cost $15 from local pharmacies and are available until the end of May.

Age is an important factor in bowel cancer. The risk begins at age 40, doubling every five years and more rapidly as the person gets older. bowel cancer is one of the most curable cancers if detected early.” John made an interesting point that this programme is available for everybody regardless of age, whereas the free National Bowel Cancer Screening Program is only provided to those aged 50-74.

Peter and Laurelle spoke about how Rotarians used to be more involved in distributing the kits, which thankfully we don’t have to do today.

RYPEN

Ange told last week’s meeting she is delighted that two Narooma High Aboriginal students will attend RYPEN this weekend at Old Mogo Town – Breanna Glass and Layton Moore. We hope to hear back from them in coming weeks about their RYPEN experience.

RYPEN (Rotary Youth Programme of Enrichment) is an intensive three-day program of plenary sessions, workshops, and sport and entertainment activities. Participants are given the opportunity to hear from people who have achieved in business, sport and entertainment. Those presenters will share their experiences with students while emphasizing the need to work hard and stay focused. Participants interact with peers from different backgrounds and improve their team working and leadership skills, and all in an informal atmosphere.

Appropriate too that this is taking part in May which is Rotary International’s Youth Service Month.

Changeover dates changed

In view of Rod Walker’s work commitments, our Club changeover has been moved from Thursday 27 June to Thursday 4 July. Hopefully more people will be able to participate at that time in this important event. Rod and incoming president (for three months) Charmaine White will work out the details. It will be two courses at $35 per person. Partners and Guests welcome.

Other news

Cinders’ battle for Trivia crown

On Wednesday 12 June, we go ‘into battle’ with Moruya for the coveted annual Cinders Trophy. This year we are playing on Moruya’s home turf at Moruya Golf Club, commencing 6.30 for 7pm. Cost is $17 pp. John Doyle will circulate an attendance list for Cinders over the next two weeks.

This is a great fun night. The trophy last year was shared between the two clubs and is currently in Moruya’s safe keeping. Car-pooling is suggested. Guests of Rotarians are particularly encouraged, President Rod adds particularly if they are knowledgeable about all things ‘trivial’. We need final numbers by 5 June.

Our Mother Club Bega

Ange has organised with BegaRotary President Margaret Taylor to have a combined Narooma-Bega meeting on 8 August 6 for 6.30pm. The tentative venue is Cobargo Hotel where we have met many times over the years. It will be great to catch up with Bega Rotarians again.

D9710’s last conference

The last District 9710 Conference will be held at Ulladulla on 8 March 2020. The following year D9710 will disappear as a district and amalgamate with D9700 to become the much larger D9705.

Next week:

Our guest speaker will be Angela Keogh who works as a canine behaviour consultant and professional dog (and owner!) trainer. Her subject will be ‘Real help at both ends of the leash’.

Rod’s Ramble

Hi all

We held a successful Assembly last week where it was decided that because we had no nomination for President in 2019-20, we would rotate former Presidents for periods of three months. The four Presidents would also be members of the Board for 12 months.

Charmaine volunteered to take the first three months from July to September and Laurelle and Ange agreed to take one of the other three month periods . That leaves one three month period to be filled.

Under the circumstances, this is a good result. Two factors impacted on this situation. Firstly a number of members are away for lengthy periods in 2019-2020 and  we have some members dealing with serious health issues. Hopefully 2020-2021 will be better. We already have a President Elect in Rolf so that is a great start.

We were also without a Secretary for 2019-20. Sandra Doyle has agreed to be Correspondence Secretary while I have agreed to be Minutes Secretary, with the understanding that others would need to relieve us from time to time. I encourage all members able to assist by stepping up to these roles when needed.

Our next event is the Busking Championship on Saturday 25 May followed by the Markets on Sunday 26 May. All hands available will need to be on deck to help with running these events; hope you can help.

Also please keep in mind our Changeover on Thursday 27 June. Rod

The Week that Was

Last week

Our Club Assembly last week particularly focussed on how the Club would deal with having no nomination for president next year (see Rod’s Ramble). The outcome reflects everyone’s determination to ensure the Club’s survival and being able ‘to continue to do good in the world’ and in our own community.

Charmaine White raised the possibility of the Club assisting an exsiting solar power programme at an orphanage she visited during her time earlier this year on a dental aid project. This will be discussed further by the Board this week.

We also welcomed visiting Rotarian Lindsay Jones from the Rotary Club of Balwyn, a very active club of more than 70 members in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Lindsay said he found it very rewarding being a member of Balwyn Club. Their main fundraiser is their weekly Sunday Camberwell markets, going for over 40 years, which raises about $900,000(! surely there’s a nought too many!) a year to fund a wide range of charitable causes. They usually have about 400 stalls at $60 per stall, and the markets require about 20 people to run. He also mentioned the Club’s involvement with the Box Hill Miniature Steam Railway once a month

Lynn Hastings’ son Todd Hardingham also graced our table. He was visiting en route to Merimbula to do a gig as a professional photographer.

Laurelle gave the International Toast last week to all 61 Rotary Clubs of Sri Lanka, particularly the Rotary Club of Colombo Central, in the wake of the tragic bombings of three Christian churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka just days before. The only reference Laurelle could find on Club web sites to the bombings was this:

The Rotary Club of Colombo Central stands together and strong with the rest of Sri Lankans at this very difficult period. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost their loved ones. Once full verification is done to the current situation we will initiate projects to rebuild churches and assist families of the victims.

Our thoughts are with them.

Narooma Oyster Festival

Our Club decided it was not in a position to take the food van to the Oyster Festival’s Friday concert, largely because of the difficulty with manning it. That decision freed up some members to just enjoy Friday’s music and fireworks, with Charmaine’s daughter Lizzie fronting headline nine-piece powerhouse party band Big Boss Groove from Canberra. Fantastic.

Next week:

Our guest speaker Julie Kirk will talk about Red Cross services that are available on the South Coast. The range of services they provide these days is extraordinary so that will be particularly interesting. We will also be joined by our Assistant Governor Alan Russell of Batemans Bay.

Just a reminder May is Youth Services Month.

On another note:

Physicist Albert Einstein was not only a renowned physicist but also famous for some of his inspirational quotes, like these…..

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.”

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