Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

Once again, this week we will hold a Zoom meeting rather than a regular face to face meeting. It will be our last Rotary meeting of the 2019/20 year, and what a year it has been.

As previously decided four members of the Club agreed to share the president role, Charmaine started out, followed by Ange. My job was to fill in for January to March; however, I stayed put due to COVID -19 and Laurelle’s back problem.

The first half of the year was normal with our regular meetings with interesting guest speakers, our monthly markets and our 3^rd Renewable Energy Expo. The markets continued to earn a reliable income for us and the Renewable Energy Expo was a great success.

Of course, 2020 proved to be anything but normal. January began with terrible bushfires that threatened our community. Rotary was at the forefront of efforts to help out at the Evacuation Centre (at the Sport & Leisure Centre originally built by our Club) for the first three or four days of the crisis, along with Lions and other community groups. We fed hundreds if not thousands of people who had to call the Centre home while the fires raged.

After the fires we managed to visit Marine Rescue, Georgie’s Fine Jewellery and BlazeAid at Cobargo before COVID – 19 set in and our normal face to face meetings were cancelled due to the lockdown.

We managed to keep in touch using electronic means to conduct meetings; it was amazing to see members learn how to use Jitsi and Zoom as well as the protocols that form part of an electronic meeting – namely mute your microphone when not speaking.

The Board met for the last time for this Rotary year last week. We discussed the possibility of holding a market in June and decided against it as we are still waiting on advice from our insurers. We donated $1,500 to Australian Rotary Health to assist mental health research and we discussed options for a district grant to assist the bushfire recovery. The Board also accepted the resignation of Geoff Robin.

The Club will hold its Changeover on 9 July at the Golf Club. We will be limited to 28 participants so please let Rod know if you will be attending. Although the Changeover will be small, it is important we make it a great night for Rolf, our president for 2020/21. 

I will send you log in details for our Zoom meeting on Wednesday evening.

Have a great week. Bob

OUT AND ABOUT

From Batemans Bay Club

Bateman Bay club will celebrate its 60^th birthday this Thursday at its 7.30pm on Zoom and will have a drink at the ready to toast their history. Maybe we could also toast the Club at our earlier Zoom meeting.

A few weeks ago, the Happy Hub opened in Mogo, next door to Grumpy Sweethearts, with PDG Maureen Manning a driving force as part of the Bushfire Recovery effort. This is being run as a counselling centre for bush fire victims and is being well used by Mogo residents. At present the centre is open Tuesday to Thursday with an on-site counsellor and Internet access. Some bush fire victims do not have even a landline phone yet.

Batemans Bay Club has been exploring changes to the format of their meetings. President Elect Chris Watson reported in a recent newsletter that after a lot of discussion, the consensus was to change their meeting structure to a dinner meeting on alternate Thursday nights and to have flexible meetings such as Zoom or social evenings at a suitable venue (maybe the Community Centre), have fun nights such as trivia, poetry and plonk. The options are extensive. They will have guest speakers at some of dinner meetings and possible on Zoom meetings. The overall feeling though was to have some less formality and to get back together in person as soon as possible. She said as with all changes this would be reviewed to ensure the needs of the Club were met.

Some paraprosdokians

Many Moruya Rotarians were first introduced to paraprosdokians by PP Ken McLeod. Their last newsletter had a few more, courtesy of the Club.

• Where there’s a will, I want to be in it. 
• We never really grow up — we only learn how to act in public.
• War does not determine who is right, only who is left. 
• To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research. 
• I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you. 
• You’re never too old to learn something stupid. 

Bob’s Buzz

Hello everyone

Australia is slowly changing back to some normality with students returning to school and cafes and restaurants being allowed to cater for small groups. Hopefully we will see a few more visitors coming to town after intrastate travel restrictions are eased next week, giving a much needed boost to our local businesses.

I have been discussing with the Golf Club about when we might return to dinner meetings. With a bit of luck we may even be able to have our Changeover as planned on Thursday 25 June.

At our last Board meeting we decided not to conduct a May or June Market. However, if restrictions continue to ease we may reconsider and have a small June market. If this is the case we will need to do a lot of work to relocate markers for stall holder sites. Even if we do have a market I don’t think we will be able to operate the van; the additional hygiene requirements we would need to put in place to serve food may be too difficult.

As we near the end of this Rotary Year we can look forward to an exciting new year with our new President Rolf and our new 9705 District. RI President 2020/21 Holger Knaack has chosen the theme ‘Rotary Opens Opportunities’ for the new Rotary Year. If we reflect back on Narooma Rotary over the years, we have created many opportunities both locally and abroad. I am sure 2020/21 will be no different.

Have a great week everyone, especially Peter Bull who turned 60 and 120 months on Friday (29th).

NEXT WEEK

We will have a Zoom meeting this coming Thursday. Bob will send you log in details closer to the time.

Out and About

Clubs ponder changeover possibilities

Like us, all Clubs are wondering how they might do their changeover this year with the uncertainty over what Covid 19 restrictions might be towards the end of the month. Moruya Club, for example, is considering several options for Wednesday 24 June:

• A small group to conduct the actual handover and a Zoom get together for the rest of members who wish to take part.
• Their usual venue, Moruya Golf Club, is probably not going to be suitable because of unknown numbers of the public present in the club at any time. However, the Club may be able to take advantage of the relaxed rules from 1 June when gatherings of 40 people are allowed.  It would be a Spartan affair – no partners, no VIPs.
• The Members’ room at the Race Course could be a possibility
• Hold a lunchtime gathering at Quarry Park with either attendees providing their own food and drink or hiring caterers.

District Bushfire Recovery Committee update

Committee Chair PDG Phil Armstrong reports they are receiving financial as well as emotional support from many overseas groups. To date it has:

• A commitment from Rotary International’s Britain & Ireland Disaster Recovery Trust for AU$20,000. This will go towards the construction of a Men’s Shed and Memory Garden in Batlow.  They have also indicated that they would look favourably at applications for money for other projects.
• A little over AU$27,000 from the Rotary Districts in Thailand.  This will be split between the Eurobodalla Botanic Gardens and the Mogo Wildlife Park animal hospital.  The Thai Rotarians want the money to assist with regeneration of flora and treatment of native animals.
• Received contact about the possibility of money coming from PNG
• Sri Lanka Rotary would like to work on a Global Grant for a bushfire recovery project.
• He has also heard from a Canberra Rotarian with friends in the UK and France who wish to contribute to the recovery.
• The Committee has also received money from Germany.

From Bega Rotary

• The Cobargo Hay Project is continuing with $49,000 still available.
• Three Bega Rotarians are now on the Sapphire Coast Bushfire Recovery Committee.
• Rotary Drought Fodder Project: RAWCS has received $1M to help a selected number of genuine cattle producers in NSW suffering from intense Drought and the lowest rainfall on record. Bega Rotary was one of several clubs selected in this Zone. They must select five cattle producers who meet the criteria in their area to receive a B-double of cereal hay to help them keep the last of their breeding herds.
• Sanitiser Project: The Bega Hand Sanitiser Project has been rolled out across south-east NSW to aid in controlling the Corona Virus. This project has been organised by Dr Duncan McKinnon, a member of the Bega Rotary Breakfast Group. This project now extends as far as Nowra with the help of other clubs and organisations. Dr McKinnon has a confirmed an order for 60 more stations, including the Eurobodalla, which includes 18 schools.  A delivery chain has been devised, using local Rotary contacts. Both Moruya and Batemans Bay Rotary clubs are contributing financially. A grant from the District Designated Fund is being sought.
• Bega Rotary’s Winter Book fair has been postponed until September due to the current restrictions.

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

 A belated Happy Mothers’ Day to all our mothers in our Narooma Rotary Family.

At last some restrictions imposed because of COVID -19 are starting to be removed. I am looking forward to a time when I can go out for a coffee and even a draught beer. Hopefully we can get back to face to face meetings before too much longer.

In the mean time I have organised another Zoom meeting for this Thursday. We will commence at 6:15pm because the Board will be meeting beforehand. I have even organised a surprise guest speaker, so that you don’t have to listen to me prattle on.  I will send out the details on Wednesday evening.

I thought the Zoom meeting we had a fortnight ago was great, it is always interesting to here how others are surviving the lockdown and David McInnes’ musical rendition was something very different, hopefully he will be in fine form again this week. It was also interesting to hear from Mike Young and how his far flung family is coping. The video he sent us of the Broome coast line was breathtaking, thanks Mike for sharing it with us.  Charmaine assures me that she will have her sound sorted by Thursday and Laurelle has managed to download the app so this week’s meeting should be informative and entertaining. 

One of the things we will be discussing at the Board meeting will be our Changeover. Do members have any innovative thoughts on how we might induct Rolf into his role as Narooma Rotary 2020/21 President?

The Club still has some bushfire recovery funds to distribute, your innovative ideas and suggestions on how we can spend these funds are always welcome.

 Have a great week .  Bob

THIS WEEK

5.15pm – Board meeting on Zoom

6.15pm: Our regular meeting, also via Zoom, with a surprise guest speaker.

OUT AND ABOUT

Check your Bowels before the end of May

Just a reminder that the test kits for the annual Rotary BowelCare programme are on sale at both Narooma pharmacies as well as Bermagui and Cobargo until the end of May.  This year the kit costs $20.00which includes pathology testing and the pre-paid envelope; both you and your nominated doctor are notified.

Our BowelCare coordinator John Rungen said the Club is proud to support this campaign each 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; it is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer.

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. This one simple and cheap test you do at home could save your life.

The new District 9705

The new Rotary District 9705 comes into being on 1 July. It will combine the old  District 9700and  District 9710,

In case you missed it… The first 9705 District Governor will be Dr Michael Moore AM PhD of the Rotary Club of Canberra

The District Governor Nominee Designate for the new District 9705 is Geraldine Rurenga of the Rotary Club of Murrumbidgee as the new District Governor Nominee Designate for District 9705.

Geraldine only  joined the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga Murrumbidgee in 2014 as a new teaching graduate, and  eventually became the President. It is a club new-age club that strives to do things differently. She had already had experience on management committees of a variety of non-profit organisations. Geraldine now works in tertiary education, designing university courses across disciplines and lecturing in teacher education.

Geraldine is passionate about Rotary because of the commitment Rotarians have to improving our world, and the opportunity to build capacity in our community – most importantly through investing in and developing our young leaders.

Rotary grants provide a major boost to Pacific vaccination project.

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

I have decided it’s time to again publish our Narooma Rotary Beacon. We will publish a Beacon every two weeks until normal Rotary activities can be resumed.

As you can guess with social isolation, not a great deal has been happening in the Rotary world, however, a few things keep ticking over, Rod has been doing a great job keeping us informed of what has been happening across the District and more broadly.

It is interesting to note that for those of you who receive a hard copy of Rotary Downunder, the subscription rate for 2020/21 will rise to $44.00 while those who receive an electronic version will see the rate fall to $34.00. If you currently receive a hard copy of the magazine and would like to go electronic please let Rod know so that he can update your details on the Rotary Downunder  website. 

The District has received $200,000.00 from the RAWCS National fundraising appeal and we are encouraged to apply for funding to help the bushfire recovery in our area. If you have an idea or suggestion please let me know. There is more information in the latest bulletin from the Rotary Bushfire Recovery Committee. The Committee has a dedicated website, you can access it by clicking here. 

As we struggle with COVID -19 we should remember that this week is ‘World Immunization Week’. Over the years Rotary has done a wonderful job helping to eradicate polio across the world. Each year, Rotary and our partners vaccinate more than 400 million children against polio, it is though the leadership of Rotary that we have almost achieved the goal of a polio fee world. If you want to know more click here 

THIS WEEK – a  Zoom meeting

I suggest that we hold another online meeting this Thursday @ 6:00pm. I would like to use Zoom this time as Jitsi seems to have a number of limitations. I understand there have been some privacy concerns with Zoom; however, I have been told that these have been addressed. A number of other Clubs and organisations have been using Zoom and report it works well. If you would like to attend the meeting please download the Zoom app and let me know you will be joining the meeting so I can send you the details of how to log in. 

Hopefully we are over the worst of COVID – 19 and we can make tentative arrangements in the next month or so to meet face to face. 

Stay safe everyone and enjoy the serenity of isolation 

Cheers Bob

OUT AND ABOUT

From Moruya Rotary

Moruya Rotary President Marian Pearson is hard at work sorting out her own rural property after the bushfires. Fortunately her house was saved. It’s a big project involving the removal of trees (and cutting them up for firewood), removal and replacement of a large shed, water tank and fences. It will be another few weeks before she will be back to normal domestic arrangements.

From Batemans Bay Rotary

Dave Harding, one of Batemans Bay Club’s outstanding Rotarians, has died. He was President of the St Cecilia Music Scholarships for ten years and organised Royal Military College Band concerts.

More on Bushfire Recovery

The NSW Government has partnered with Minderoo Foundation’s Fire Fund to provide recovery pods” to people rebuilding after the disastrous bushfire season. The design was based on feedback from impacted people in rural and remote locations who need to stay on their properties and in their communities while working towards longer term rebuilding.

The 7.2m x 2.4m units pods are stand-alone temporary accommodation units with built-in electricity, water and ablution systems and would be provided to people for up to two years.

District Bushfire Recovery Committee Chair Phil Armstrong has asked us if we know of anyone in our community who may have fallen through the cracks and not been registered with Minderoo, to please let Bob know and he will in turn let Phil know.

On a lighter note

Reproduced from the April Rotary District 9710 newsletter – not to say our Zoom meeting on Thursday will be anything like this!

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

Welcome to the new normal. As all members are aware, all Club activities have been cancelled until further notice. Hopefully we will be able to meet again before the new Rotary year commences. However, at this stage it appears unlikely.

Laurelle has asked me to continue as president for the time being, which I am happy to do as I don’t think I will be required to make too many decisions. If a decision needs to be made I will consult with Board members by email. Rod will continue to forward messages from the District and RI for individual members’ information.  

To get the latest from Rotary International regarding COVID-19 click here.  It is interesting to note that Global Youth Exchange for 2020/21 and the 2020 Rotary International Conference have both been cancelled.

I propose to hold a virtual meeting this Thursday from 6:00pm if you would like to participate please let me know by Wednesday afternoon so I can send you the information about how to join. Please remember to bring a drink with you to the meeting!

Stay safe everyone and keep up the contact with other members, it is important to keep in touch.

Kind regards Bob

THIS WEEK

As Bob said, this Thursday we’re having a virtual meeting at 6pm. Have a glass of wine or whatever with you. Let Bob know please if you would like to join and he will send info. Your editor had no problems linking up so it’s obviously quite easy. Thanks Frank and Bob for exploring this.

Out and About

Rotary Youth Driver Awareness update

RYDA organiser Neil Simpson reports in the Bay Rotary newsletter that trying to hold RYDA later this year presents many challenges. These include securing the presenters and venue and fitting in with all school calendars.

Year 11 students do exams in late September and start their Year 12 HSC work in October. With schools closing, Neil predicts all face-to-face learning time will be very precious. So, once the coronavirus bans are lifted, there is not much opportunity to get it running for this year.

RYDA is a joint youth project of Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma Rotary Clubs. It is a wonderful programme that gives students an extensive introduction to road safety from understanding how personality impacts risk, to the impacts of a crash, to how to buy and maintain a safe car. In the RYDA workshop, students work with their peers to come up with strategies to be better prepared and make good decisions, both as drivers and as highly influential passengers.

MUNA 2020 postponed

MUNA organisers, the Rotary Club of Canberra Sunrise (RCCS), have announced the postponement of MUNA 2020. Although it is impossible to say what the situation will be on 7-9 August, the dates originally scheduled, current restrictions make it impossible for schools, Rotary clubs and Districts to properly prepare for the event, particularly where they wish to organise run-off competitions. As the situation becomes clearer, they will work with all those interested to identify a date later in the year.

Narooma High teacher Monique Weeks says they are still keen to participate should it go ahead, so we as a Club need to register our interest in sponsoring a team at a later date should that be the case. Something for this Thursday’s meeting perhaps.

What’s also interesting is that RCCS is considering options to run online MUNA-style events while Covid-19 restrictions are in place, to provide an opportunity for students to participate in a positive activity during this difficult time. The format of these would be determined in consultation with schools involved; at this stage we believe that costs to participate, if any, would be minimal.

Rotary Youth Exchange suspended

Rotary District 9705 (a combination of previous Districts 9700 and 9710) has suspended its Youth Exchange Program for the foreseeable future because of the corona virus pandemic

This means students will not be arriving from overseas  in the middle of the year, selection of Australian students to go overseas in early 2021 has been cancelled, and some students currently here on exchange have already headed home. All other students here are being supported in discussion with their parents.

 The program is designed to promote peace and understanding globally as well as to build individual leadership skills in through the exchange program. Organisers look forward to the time when the program can recommence; meanwhile Rotarians will be working hard through the ‘stand down’ time to evaluate the program and determine how to improve it.

On a lighter note

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

We had a great time last Thursday preparing and serving meals for all the volunteers at BlazeAid, Cobargo. I was very impressed with the organisation of the BlazeAid camp site and their food preparation areas. When we arrived, John Rungen, Rolf, Therese and I started cooking the meat and vegetarian skewers whilst Angie and Lynn Hastings finalised the salad preparation along with buttering the bread kindly donated by our local bakers.

At 6:30 we started serving the much needed food which was greatly appreciated by all volunteers. In fact we got lots of very positive comments about our culinary skills, some saying it was even better than food prepared by top class chiefs a few weeks ago!

Thanks to John and Sandra Doyle and Charmaine who prepared salads, to Angie, John Doyle and Rolf for organising meat, other food and utensils required on the night. Also thank you to Lynn Hastings, John Rungen, Angie and Therese who also prepared salads and Rolf who won over many with his delicious slice.  

The BlazeAid crew is doing a wonderful job repairing and replacing hundreds of kilometres of fencing in and around Cobargo. At this stage they plan to be in the area until at least Christmas. No doubt we will be called upon again to help feed the crew.

As you are all aware, we live in strange times with COVID–19 now infecting more than 1000 people across Australia. We need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones at this time. Please stay safe.

The NSW Government has closed down all non-essential activities. Because of this I have decided to cancel Thursday’s meeting and all meetings at least until the end of May. We may look at holding some virtual meetings using Zoom or some other video conferencing system. I will email all members later in the week when we have more information.

Regards Bob

THIS WEEK

Regrettably this week’s meeting at the Golf Club is cancelled, as are all meetings for the foreseeable future. Tim Burke was to have been our speaker this week; Tim might run a virtual talk on Thursday; details through the week if that is the case.

We will continue to publish the Beacon but maybe only every few weeks or when there is something to report. All contributions gratefully received.

The Week that Was – Out and About

Thank You Ange

Ange Ulrichsen puts so much thought and effort into finding fascinating guest speakers for our meetings. She had organised a wonderful line-up through to June. Hopefully we will be able to catch up with them when we are through all this.

Pride of Workmanship

Already we have received some worthy nominations for this year’s Pride of Workmanship Awards. These have been postponed to later in the year.

Only a Week Ago

How rapidly things can change. Only a week ago, VP Laurelle Pacey represented our Club (last Monday) at the ‘meet and greet’ with Premier Gladys Berejiklian and some NSW Cabinet members at Club Narooma. Many people were there from Bega Valley and Eurobodalla Shire Councils, the various fire authorities including the Rural Fire service, Police and a multitude of community groups. The idea was to thank everyone for their work through the bushfires and to try to reassure everyone that the recovery would continue even through this Covid-19 crisis.

The Batemans Bay Rotary newsletter reminded your editor of some good advice our Member for Bega Andrew Constance gave last Monday. He said during the fires our community proved to the world what true resilience and kindness is about. He said we now need to dig deep and care for our neighbours, our seniors and our local community and businesses. Our bushfire recovery cannot stop because of the virus and whilst we all face the disappointment of cancelled community events and gatherings, we must maintain our spirit. Please ensure everyone follows the health advice and let’s look after each other.

On a lighter note

This is what social distancing would have looked like in the 1960s…

There are many tools available to help work out social distancing…

Look after yourselves. Cheers Laurelle

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

We had a great start to last Thursday’s meeting with a tour of the workshop at Georgie’s Fine Jewellery. Georgie and Dave showed us the many processes used to make a piece of jewellery.

We were amazed to learn that they use finely crafted tools, presses, laser welders, microscopes, high tech computer design programs and 3D printers. Georgie and Dave have invested heavily to ensure that the far south coast has the best available jewellery. And of course, they employ award winning jewellers to make it all happen.

We were delighted to welcome Fred and Pam Falk to our vocational tour and the meeting that followed. Fred, the District Chair of ShelterBox, presented the Club with a certificate recognising our commitment to ShelterBox.  He also updated us on his quest to collect old or unused hospital equipment for distribution to those in need.

This Thursday we are off to Cobargo with the evening meal for BlazeAid so no formal meeting at the Golf Club.

All members are aware of the devastating hold Covid-19 is having across the world. I don’t think any of us would have thought that cities and countries would be locked down, sporting and cultural events cancelled, and international flights all but stopped. However, this is the world we now live in. Let’s hope the virus is quickly controlled and we can get back on with our lives.

Our job as Rotarians is to help those in need, so please do not hesitate to help others who may be more adversely impacted by Covid-19 than us. Please ensure that you read the email sent to all members by RI President, Mark Maloney and RI President Elect, Holger Knaack.

Advice from PDG Peter Kaye, Chair Zone Insurance and Protection Committee is that Rotary markets and events should be suspended. Based on this advice and advice from the Board, I have decided to cancel our markets set down for this Sunday. A determination about the April markets will be made at a later time.

THIS WEEK

There is no meeting at the Golf Club this week. Our Rotary team will be providing dinner for the BlazeAid team based at Cobargo. The team (either preparing salads, getting supplies or serving out) consists of Bob Aston, Sandra Doyle, Rolf Gimmel, John Rungen, Ange Ulrichsen, Lynn Hastings and possibly Rod Walker. You do us proud.

The Week that Was

Busking Championships cancelled

Our Busking Championships committee decided on Monday to cancel the 2020 event to avoid the possible spread of COVID-19.

Committee chair Di Riley said it was sad such a decision was necessary. In the media release, she noted how much the organisers appreciated the support of the event’s loyal sponsors and buskers, and that any funds already paid would be refunded.

“Everyone was looking forward to it to help in the recovery from the summer’s bushfire emergency, but our main concern has to be public safety,” she said. “Our committee looks forward to a bigger and more vibrant event in 2021.”

The 2020 Narooma Busking Championships was being organised by Narooma Rotarians with the assistance of a number of community volunteers.

On ShelterBox

During Fred Falk’s visit last week, we heard that 33% of ShelterBox Australia money comes from D9710 and the three adjoining Districts, possibly largely influenced by Fred’s hard work on behalf of ShelterBox.

Out and About

Moruya cancels meetings while Bay continues

Moruya Rotary Club has cancelled meetings until further notice, while Batemans Bay Rotary Club continues.

The Batemans Bay bulletin this week reports: “The future is uncertain meetings will continue as planned until we are advised to do otherwise.. If you are feeling at all unwell do not come along to meetings. If there is a change to the situation and meetings are cancelled you will be advised by email.”

RYDA postponed

The respective school systems have banned all student excursions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore RYDA will not go ahead at Moruya on 30/31 March 2020 as planned.

Eurobodalla RYDA Organiser Neil Simpson said if the situation improves after winter he will look for another date September/ October and see if they can get it up and running for this year.

BlazeAid Moruya

Several Moruya Rotarians are active in this volunteer organisation which is likely to be ongoing for many months. Phil Armstrong is part of the Management Team and others are involved in the fencing teams and administration tasks including catering. Depending on the day’s program, up to ten fencing teams may go out.

Currently, the program is concentrating on securing the boundary fences of the affected properties. Teams work under the guidance of an experienced team leader to strip damaged fencing out and replace it with a system agreed to by the farmer concerned,.

NEXT WEEK

Tim Burke is our scheduled speaker to talk about ‘Never Judge a Book without a cover’. It promises to be a fascinating talk about his accidental step into the health care industry and how he operates a business within it, complete with some great stories and examples of the amazing work produced by some of his clients.

At this stage we are scheduled to meet in the Golf Club’s Board Room. A decision about whether or not to proceed with this meeting will be made at the weekend.

On a lighter note…

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone

We had a great night last Thursday with our annual Cinders Trivia Competition against our friendly rivals, Moruya Rotary. The food was excellent and Peter and Karen Bull were excellent in their roles of quiz master and assistant. The only down side of the night was we didn’t answer enough questions correctly and Moruya once again walked away with the Trophy, congratulations to the Moruya crew on an excellent effort.

This Thursday we start out at Georgie’s Fine Jewellery for a tour of the workshop before dinner at the Golf Club.  Please meet in front of Georgie’s at 6:00pm sharp. Dinner afterwards will be in the 1^st Hole Room.

On 19 March we are due to cook dinner for BlazeAid at Cobargo. I think it is very important that as a service club we strongly support BlazeAid volunteers who are doing a wonderful job helping farmers get back on their feet after the bushfires. Cooking dinner is one simple and practical way we can help.  We will discuss the details at our meeting on Thursday.

There is an excellent article in the Rotarian / Rotary Down Under about President Elect of Rotary International Holger Knaack. Holger is the first President Elect from Germany and he has some excellent ideas about how to grow Rotary in our community. You can read the article by clicking here.

Thank you to Ange and John Rungen who have offered to represent the Club by helping out in the wonderful Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) programme on 30 March.

Have a great week. Bob

THIS WEEK

This Thursday we start in front of Georgie’s Fine Jewellery at 6pm sharp for a tour of the workshop before dinner at the Golf Club’s 1^st Hole Room. Should be a fascinating insight into this wonderful business.

The Week that Was

What a great Cinders evening

Thanks to great work by President Bob and quiz master extraordinaire Peter Bull and his assistant Karen, plus top food from Paul’s kitchen, this year’s Cinders was a great evening enjoyed by all.

We had a lovely note from John Spencer on behalf of Moruya Club thanking us for “a thoroughly entertaining night”. John asked Bob to convey their thanks to the kitchen “for the delicious meal and your members for been such excellent hosts”. He added that they “look forward to hosting next year’s battle and retaining our trophy”. Now there’s a challenge! As John mentioned on the night, it used to be regularly won by Narooma with Micki and Ian Thomlinson mentioned as key factors in Narooma’s previous success. With the Moruya contingent was their Danish exchange student Josefine.

More from this week’s Moruya bulletin: Despite Narooma’s attempt to soften our acuity by the warmth of their welcome and the sheer size and quality of their enormous dinners, we (not to put too fine a point on the outcome) won – two teams (Moruya) against three (Narooma). It was good to have Peter Bull back again as quizmaster – a fine range of questions, including three pictorial sheets and a delivery spiced with humour. Our Team 1 scored 65 and our Team 3 scored 64 – scores would have been equal had your Editor on Team 3 not insisted that a sonnet always has 12 lines. So thank you Narooma for a great night of friendship and laughter.

Out and About

Pride of Workmanship Awards

These annual awards which give employers the opportunity to recognise employees who take great pride in the work they do and go ‘the extra mile’, are on Thursday 16 April. Letters have gone out this week to about 50 employers inviting nominations. This is a prestigious Club event. The cost for a two-course meal will be $35 a head).

Rotary helps again at Nerrigundah

The Bay Rotary newsletter reports that tradesmen and their friends from Sydney have been helping the Mogo and Nerrigundah communities in their recovery, volunteering their time. At Nerrigundah, they have been helping turn the disused NSW Department of Education Field Study Centre that miraculously survived the recent bushfire into the new community hall for the district. The former hall, the Agricultural Bureau, was totally destroyed in the fire. They have installed a new kitchen, new water tanks, and showers and generally assisted the community. Rotary has donated to the project by supplying building materials, presumably Moruya or the Bay Clubs. Our Club contributed to the secure storage container on site for tools and other donated goods.

NEXT WEEK 19 March

Instead of our weekly meeting, we will be cooking dinner for BlazeAid at Cobargo. Ange is taking the lead on this, having already been assisting down there .Thank you to all who have offered to help but more are needed. More discussion this Thursday.

Bob’s Buzz

Hello Everyone.

This week’s meeting is one of the biggest on our Narooma Rotary calendar – the annual Cinders Trivia night with our friends from Moruya Rotary.  For many years we were unbeatable, however in recent times Moruya have honed their skills and thrashed us on a few occasions. No doubt this week’s competition will be tough, yet fair to all concerned. Please ensure you let Charmaine know numbers by Tuesday, we need to know exact numbers as the Golf Club will charge based on the final numbers we submit on Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you to Laurelle for chairing last week’s meeting in my absence, I understand that Phil Armstrong provided members with some good up-to-date information on Rotary’s bushfire relief efforts on the far south coast.

Thank you also to Lynda Ord and Ashley who dropped into the Leisure Centre on Saturday to meet up crew from Sydney overseeing ‘Mattress for a Mate ‘ project (please see story below). 

We still need a member of the Club to assist Angie at RYDA on 30 March. Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) is a great project that informs learner drivers about the dos and don’ts of driving. The feedback from students and teachers over the years has been excellent and it saves lives, so if you can help out please let me know as soon as possible.

Have a great week everyone, Bob

THIS WEEK IS CINDERS

We are back at Narooma Golf Club to welcome our Moruya Rotary friends for the annual battle for the greatly coveted Cinders Trophy. Please bring your partners and all your friends (particularly if they are trivia buffs!) to the Golf Club for our annual Cinders Trivia challenge with Moruya Rotary Club. Moruya currently holds the much coveted Cinders trophy and competition will be keen on the night. As Bob said, please book in any extras with Charmaine. Cost is $32 per person for a two-course meal (entrée and main, two-drop). See you then.

The Week that Was

Phil’s Visit

With the Seahorse Room at the Golf Club still being used for the Disaster Recovery Centre last week, our alternative venue of the School of Arts’ Studios worked out well with take-aways from the Inlet.

Our guest speaker PDG Phil Armstrong from Moruya was, as always, really interesting. His main thrust was to say there is a lot of Rotary funding available to assist in the bushfire recovery and as usual we can quickly build on funds, viz we put up so much as a club which can be matched by district and also from Rotary International. The first thing is to identify where in the community that money could best be spent and what that community really needs. Phil is also closely involved with BlazeAid at Moruya.

Clean Up Australia Day

We had three helpers on Clean Up Australia Day on Sunday – Ange Ulrichsen, Steve Deck and Laurelle Pacey. President Bob had to pull out due to a heavy head cold, courtesy of catching up with old friends from Nyngan days. A key observation from the clean-up was again the marked absence of bottles and cans compared with several years ago, testament to the success of the introduction of cash for returnables.

Mattress-for-a-Mate

Narooma Rotarians Lynn Hastings, Ange Ulrichsen and Lynda Ord were ready to lend a hand on Saturday and Sunday, if needed, with the distribution in Narooma of new mattresses to people from Cobargo and Quaama to Batemans Bay who lost their homes due the recent bushfires.

Lynda dropped by to see if they were needed, having already spotted a number of burley blokes there. They weren’t but Lynda was very impressed with the whole project.

The project was coordinated by Sarah Richards from Kurrajong/North Richmond Club in conjunction with The Women for Western Sydney. About 700 mattresses donated by manufacturer AH Beard are being delivered to fire impacted areas across NSW.   People had to register with the project to receive the mattresses.

NEXT WEEK

We have another vocational visit, this time to Georgie Staley and Dave O’Brien’s Georgie’s Fine Jewellery. Meet at 6pm at Georgie’s, with dinner at 7 at the Golf Club after. Please ensure you let Charmaine know by next Tuesday if you are an apology and any extras you might like to bring.