Lynn’s Lines

Last week’s business breakfast was very successful with good attendance. The information available to local businesses via Council’s Teresa Lever sounds very helpful for making better informed business planning decisions. (Please see report below.)

On Saturday, six of us explored the Rotary Ringland’s Walk; for some of us it was the first time. The track meandered mostly along the foreshore in the shade with a gentle breeze. It was a magic feeling being in nature and the bush, and yet so close to town. There were a few issues that need some attention, but for the most part the track is in good condition. Issues include the small bridge, a little clearing in one place, and re-stumping a seat.

Creating the track was a Rotary project in 1995/96 and it has been maintained over the years thanks to occasional Rotary working bees, occasional Council work crews, Dalmeny Narooma Bushwalkers and some neighbouring residents.  

I look forward to seeing you this Thursday to hear our guest speaker Anne Comery talk about View Clubs.

THIS WEEK

Thursday 22 February

Dinner meeting 6 for 6.30pm at Narooma Golf Club.  Guest Speaker is View Club Zone Councillor Anne Comery who will talk about View Clubs – ‘Voices, Interests, and Education of Women’. Anne has held many positions in Eden View Club over the last 20 years, and been Zone Councillor for four years. Numbers to John please by midday Tuesday.

Sunday 25 February

February Market – All hands on deck please!

The Week that Was

Our Business Breakfast

What a great Business Networking Breakfast last Thursday with Teresa Lever as guest speaker. Teresa is Council’s Manager Economic Development and Place Activation and a staunch supporter of our Business Breakfasts. She can provide businesses with a host of information that can assist with their business planning.

There’s the ID Profile based on census figures, but information from Localis provides real time data with accurate information about the numbers of visitors in the area and where they’re from, where they are spending, and what they are spending money it on.

She stressed that no one set of information is perfect but it is way ahead of what businesses had before which was of dubious value and based on a small sample size. Teresa can prepare a report for a business based on what is required. For example, part of the Narooma Oyster Festival detailed reports is generated from Localis information.

Some interesting points based just on central Narooma (not including Kianga and Dalmeny):

• 48% of Narooma’s population is over 60. She said a number of projects are underway that should attract younger families to the area
• 72% of Narooma’s population is in the lower/lower middle income bracket. This highlights the importance of the visitor economy and “Thank God for the bike tracks”
• 32% of Narooma residential properties are owned by non-residents
• 38.2% of households in Naroomna are ‘lone person’
• Visitors are mostly coming from Canberra, but there’s increasing interest from Nowra and Sydney areas.

Teresa said mountain bike tracks will be huge for the local business economy, attracting visitors throughout the year. It also positions Eurobodalla as a desirable location for a younger generation to live.

If you don’t already receive it, Teresa publishes a very informative online monthly newsletter for businesses called ‘Business Update’.

Robotics teacher awarded scholarship

Narooma High Science teacher Gayle Allison has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship for professional development in STEM subjects (Science, technology, engineering and maths). She is looking primarily to robotics and 3D printing. The Toyota Community Trust STEM Teachers Scholarship, one of only nine awarded across Australia, recognises her outstanding work in education including with Narooma High’s robotics team the RoboRebels and their ongoing development.

Out and About

From Batemans Bay Club

Batemans Bay Rotary recently donated $10,000 to a new school in Timor at Sulilaran.

Interesting figures reported in the Bay’s Rotary Bulletin. Since 2017, when the Men’s Health Educational Rural Van (MHERV) began in regional NSW providing free health checks primarily for men, 12,236 people have been checked. Of those, 5,891 were found to be in need of treatment and 441 were in immediate danger of a stroke or heart attack. These were not necessarily older men; some were in their 30s. The MHERV will be at Narooma Plaza 28-29 February.

Interesting Batemans Bay Rotary has transferred their meeting transferred from Thursday 7^th to attend dinner on the Friday with Rotarians from across the District attending the Combined PETS & Learning & Development weekend at the Soldiers Club.

COMING WEEKS

Thursday 29 February: No Meeting

Wednesday 6 March: Prostate Cancer Support Group

Thursday 7 March: No Meeting

Friday 8-10 March: District 9705 combined President Elect Training and Learning and Development seminar at Batemans Bay Soldiers Club

Thursday 14 March: Club Assembly with Guest Speaker D9705 Governor Nominee on Rotary Membership in D9705. Robert is currently a member of Batemans Bay Rotary Club, and previously a member of Dubbo Club. He brings a wealth of knowledge and is passionate about Membership.

Thursday 21 March: Business Networking Breakfast with guest speaker Kelly Eastwood of Eastwood’s Bermagui on how she has pivoted her business to meet the challenges of recent years. Kelly has worked as a private chef to Royalty, Russian Oligarchs and other on the Forbes list, and then worked as a Home Economist and TV Food Producer for many shows. It was River Cottage Australia that brought Kelly to our region. When RCA finished she started up her own business in Bermagui.

Thursday 28 March: Dinner Meeting: to hear from our two RYDA students TBC

The next edition of the Beacon will be in early April.

Lynn’s Lines

Wednesday night was our monthly meeting of the Prostate Cancer Support Group which Julie Hartley held at Narooma Golf Club. Great to see Mike Young back home and involved again. Julie and Andrew Lawson are also helping the Bega Valley group.

Thursday was our Club Assembly. A few members were away so we met in the First Hole after ordering from the bistro. We talked about the many decisions made at the recent Board meeting.  These included:

• Should anyone be available to help out at the Men’s Health Van Feb 28-29 which Lions is organising this year (two hour shifts), please contact Tony Fahey 0414 419 986.
• Possibly co-hosting a Narooma Community Forum on the latest on the Eurobodalla Regional Hospital… either 30 April or 1, 2 May TBA.
• For those interested… checking out the Rotary Ringlands Walk this Saturday 17th. Meeting 8:30am on the road into Ringlands. If you would like to go, please ring Laurelle.
• The Club will cater a BBQ dinner for 20 Volunteers from Sydney on 11 March
• The Pride of Workmanship is n Thursday 18 April (same day as our Business Breakfast at Club Dalmeny. Cost $52.
• Changeover is on 27 June
• Gentlemen’s Distinguished Bike Ride Sunday 19 May. More information soon.
• RYDA date for Narooma has changed to 11 April
• New Van is being fitted out and finishing touches added. Old Van to register, clean out, and find a new home!

This Thursday 15 February

Our Business Networking Breakfast’s guest speaker will talk about using readily available data to grow your business. Teresa Lever, Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Manager Economic Development and Place Activation, says a lot of data readily available to local businesses can track the local economy, spend days, and the mobility of customers and so assist with business planning. Should be interesting. 7am sharp Narooma Surf Club. Bookings are essential via Laurelle

The Week that was

Lachie’s Club in Japan

Susanna Chung proposed an international toast to Lachie Penglase’s host club Ogaki Rotary. It meets Wednesdays for lunch at the Ogaki Forum hotel. Other Rotary and Lions clubs also meet here, such as the club of Ogaki west. The club has about 70 members, all of whom are businessmen. Lachie says everyone has the same meal and when you sit down a meal is already set on your table, which is very large and fancy. The club also has a pianist who plays music throughout the entire meeting! Lachie has sent a photo of the Ogaki Rotary’s banner with four colour panels.

More from Lachie

Japan honestly feels like a different planet compared to Australia! Everything here is so unique and different. It’s also really beautiful, especially at sunset. I was also really lucky to witness snow within my first week of being in Japan. The one thing I love most about Japan so far is the food! I haven’t had a single complaint so far, it’s all so perfect.

In school, you almost never move to another classroom for any subject. You just stay in the same classroom all day. You even eat lunch in your classroom (they don’t have recess). The only time I move to another room is when we do calligraphy, which is basically writing Japanese characters onto paper with ink. School finishes at 4:20pm on some days, which isn’t counting any clubs in which I’ve noticed a majority seem to participate.

Stop Press on RYPEN

Narooma High has nominated two Year 9 students to go the RYPEN Camp at Wagga Wagga  in March – Michael Amey and Macy Dudgeon, thanks to our Youth Director Ange Ulrichsen’s encouragement. Our Club will sponsor the two students. RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) is a 3 day camp and programme for Year 9 high school students. The aim is to communicate to these young people a series of ideas, problems and social experiences which will assist them in forming their own values and moral standards, and also broaden their horizons culturally, socially and academically.

Out and About

Distinguished Gentleman’s Bike Ride Sunday 19 May

Narooma Rotary Club is calling all folk interested in dressing dapper and taking the time to join us on the Distinguished Gentleman’s ride on Sunday 19 May AM. Should be great fun and hopefully attract riders from across the south coast.

Traditionally it’s an excuse to take your (motor) bike for a ride while raising funds and awareness for men’s mental health and prostate cancer research, but we are happy to include anyone wanting to take their car for an outing. ‘Frock up’ and come on a tour for a great cause. More details to come. Will need lots of assistance. Françoise Cleret is our Club’s inspiration for this venture.

Next Week

Thursday 22 February

Dinner meeting 6 for 6.30pm at Narooma Golf Club.  Guest Speaker is View Club Zone Councillor Anne Comery who will talk about View Clubs – ‘Voices, Interests, and Education of Women’. Anne has held many positions in Eden View Club over the last 20 years, and been Zone Councillor for four years.

Sunday 25 February

February Market – All hands on deck please!

Lynn’s Lines

 What a fantastic start to the year with so many of our youth from the many youth programmes we sponsor at our meeting last week. David McInnes our enthusiastic chair just made the night that much more enjoyable for everyone.

We all met and learned more about our newest scholarship winner Nico Van Delft-Twyford. Milaina Cafe updated us on her coming year and a few changes to accommodation, courses etc. Raichel Brodie was on a bus and could not join us in person. So she sent us a message updating us on how she’s doing.

Also joining us was Ella Marshall who attended MUNA last year and  Harmony Canon from the school’s Robotics team who spoke about the school’s future programme.

A big thank you to Chris O’Brien’s friends Neil and Gloria Jenkins from Melbourne for their generous $1,000 donation to our Tertiary Scholarship Fund.

Our Club is now the very proud owners of a flash new food van. Some sorting out is needed and best storage methods determined, as well as signage done.. A huge thank you to Françoise and John for driving to Sydney to pick it up for us.

Our Board meeting on Friday covered lots of items which we will go over at the Club Assembly this week. Many stayed back to help clear out our stuff stored at the Golf Club and rationalise what we keep. Didn’t finish until after 7! Look forward to seeing you on Thursday at Club Assembly.

THIS WEEK

Wednesday, 7 February 6.30pm: ProstateCancer Support Group, Narooma Golf Club

Thursday, 8 February 6pm: DINNER MEETING – CLUB ASSEMBLY – 6 for 6.30pm

The Week that Was

More on our Youth Night

Celebrating Narooma’s youth and the many Rotary programmes to support them was a great start for Narooma Rotary’s year last Thursday. David McInnes’ passion for the opportunities the Club provides for Narooma High students was evident throughout his time chairing the meeting.

The three-year Tertiary Scholarship to a student from Narooma High each year is a major Club programme. “Selecting that student is such an uplifting experience,” he said. David is trying to make contact with all Narooma Rotary scholarship winners from over more than 30 years; our ‘Alumni’.

Our 2024 Tertiary Scholar Nico Van Delft-Twyford of Bermagui said the scholarship will allow him to focus much more on his studies; his course through the University of Wollongong and TAFE will lead him to a career in cyber security.

Our 2023 Scholar Melaina Cafe is doing a double degree at the Australian National University, her favourite subjects last year being philosophy and ethics. A message from 2022 Scholar Raichel Brodie was read out during the evening.

The Club’s Rotary Exchange student Lachie Penglase has now started school in Japan and his father Tony shared Lachie’s news.

Teacher Dion Cafe praised the “wonderful” Rotary Youth Driver Awareness  (RYDA) programme for Year 11 students across the Shire. He has coordinated Narooma High students to RYDA for 16 years; “students get so much from it”, he would like attendance to be compulsory. 

The Club also caught up with Ella Marshall, part of Narooma High’s team to the Model United Nation Assembly in Canberra last year, and Harmony Canon from the school’s Robotics team.

Youth Director Ange Ulrichsen read out a message from Narooma High Principal Fiona Jackson who could not attend. Ms Jackson said Narooma High’s year had started “with great excitement after the fabulous 2023 HSC results, and…  this has laid the foundation along with their sporting success to start an extremely first term.”

Out and About

From Moruya Rotary

Moruya IPP Shirl Cornish has a new role as joint Chair of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) District. Last week at Moruya she spoke of some of the 34 active projects supported by clubs in D9705.

In January, Shirl spent two weeks on a School Immersion Mission (SIMS) in Cambodia to three villages of remote subsistence farmers, (1½ hours rough travel into the jungles from Siem Reip) on Sexual Health Education by Pictures (SHEP).  She provided all teaching material for her SHEP classes including 80 booklets.

Her next project is in April to join a large company in the Philippines. She will be one of ten trainers. She is off to a RACS Conference in Port Macquarie this week.

PETS and Club Assembly in the Bay

The combined  Presidents Elect Training and Learning and Development (used to be called Club assembly) weekend for incoming Presidents, board members and  new members is on at Batemans By Soldiers Club from Friday evening 8, Saturday 9, Sunday morning 10 March 

One great part of these weekends is the camaraderie and support gained  from other Presidents and Club members from the District.  These weekends are for all club members including new members.  This will help build team spirit and also all will gain a greater understanding of Rotary. Registration is necessary to ensure correct catering details.

NEXT THURSDAY (15^th)  Business Breakfast

At Surf Club 7-8am. Our guest speaker will talk about using readily available data to grow your business. Teresa Lever, Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Manager Economic Development and Place Activation, says a lot of data available to local businesses can track the  local economy, spend days, and the mobility of customers and so assist with business planning. Should be interesting. Bookings are essential via Laurelle. Breakfast costs $10 – please say if you don’t want breakfast otherwise you willbe charged.