Andrew’s Thoughts
Well, another ‘interesting’ week with the Board deciding to take advantage of an available grant (deadline 10 October) to fund the purchase of a new van. I have no doubt there will be interesting debates going forward and you can all be assured that as President I shall only ever act in the best interests of the Club.
Thursday sees a Club Assembly and I suggest that the ‘V’ word is banned! Let’s have a more convivial meeting and I suggest that the evening is filled with humorous personal anecdotes to lighten proceedings. I’ll start with car hire on Martha’s Vineyard!
Last week also saw the latest PCSG meeting with a really useful presentation from Dr Gundi. It’s interesting to see that we are developing a meeting nucleus.
Next week sees October’s Business Breakfast meeting with a last minute change of speaker. So as ever, it’s upwards and onwards mes amis!
THIS THURSDAY
Dinner Meeting – Club Assembly 6 for 6.30pm
The Week that Was
Board advances consideration of van’s future
Last week the Board received a report from six members who hope to move the whole discussion of a trailer/marquee, BBQ trailer and food van forward from the current impasse. That report has now been circulated to all Club members at the Board’s request. Other members might have other points they would like considered.
Probably all members acknowledge that concerns about the state of the current van have limited what the Club could undertake in the community in recent years wrt catering. The Club had prudently limited our van’s excursions to travel between Easts, NATA Oval and return. Bob Aston and Julie Hartley had both done excellent assessments of the existing food van that set some members thinking about issues they raised.
Bob’s and Julie’s reports acted as a springboard for the group to examine these issues at a brain storming session on Monday 3 October, issues they felt had not really been addressed by the Club to date in a systematic and logical way. At that meeting, our newest member Françoise Cleret pointed out there was a Bushfire associated grant through the Bendigo Bank that could possibly fund the entire cost of a new van, should we go that way. Only problem was applications closed 10 October.
That report, presented to the Board last Friday and since circulated to all members, examined:
- A key issue raised by Julie and touched on by Bob – What does the Club want to achieve by having a catering presence at the markets and elsewhere?
- It then looked at the benefits and disadvantages of an open trailer/marquee, a BBQ trailer and a food van.
Friday’s Board meeting unanimously agreed to go ahead with the grant application, a decision also supported by Mike Young and Ange Ulrichsen in absentia. It was felt it was too good an opportunity to miss. Lynn, Françoise and Laurelle then did the application on the Club’s behalf, ultimately approved by President Andrew.
Clarifying the van’s condition
Few would dispute the van is probably past its use-by-date, but the report also posed the question “can it get us safely through the December-January markets”. Some doubt had been raised by some members about the perceived safety of the van’s electrics, but a professional assessment was needed.
The Board last Friday also agreed to the group’s recommendations, viz get the electrics checked by a qualified electrician before the next market (if any concerns, that was it), do a deep clean before the next market (23rd), and check the temperatures of the bain-marie and fridge at the next market to ensure they still meet food regulation standards. David McInnes had given the clean a head start by giving the exterior an initial good clean at September’s market.
Baby Book Project
The Board also decided last Friday to continue to support the combined Moruya-Batemans Bay- Narooma Baby Book Project initiated in 2005-2006 by Moruya’s Steve and Jan Young during Steve’s year as President. Maternity Services for the whole shire had at that stage been centralised in Moruya so the plan was to present a small book to every child born in Moruya Hospital, the costs to be shared by the three Rotary Clubs. We’re now waiting on a Tax Invoice from Moruya, but it will be about $500.
An initial special deal saw 350 signed copies of Jackie French’s Diary of a Wombat launch the project. Seventeen years later and the project is still going strong. Steve and Jan reckon the project has so far donated 6,800 books. A number of different books have been used over the years; the most recent a series of Steve Parish booklets, each with a story by Rebecca Johnson. (Some information from a recent Moruya Rotary newsletter)
Out and About
Hat Night for Mental Health 27 October
Don’t forget our Hat night on Thursday 27 October to ‘Lift the Lid on Mental Health’. This will be a fundraiser. Our guest speaker is Dr David Arthur who will speak about ‘Integrative Mental Health Care in Rural Communities’.
Dr Arthur has worked in health care in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and the UK for over 45 years as a nurse, a counsellor, a researcher in mental health, and a health educator. He has published widely in areas related to post-natal depression and anxiety, schizophrenia and family management, as well as mindfulness stress management and meditation.
Returning to Australia just as the bushfires hit prompted him to join Bega Health and Eurobodalla Health as a mental health clinician and drug and alcohol counsellor in hospitals and the community. Through this experience and on through COVID, he became familiar with the stark differences in mental health care between urban and rural Australia. Concerned with the paucity of mental health care yet buoyed by a vision of community-centred multi-disciplinary low cost care, David will discuss some of his experiences in Asia and propose ideas which can benefit mental health in rural communities.
Should be a very interesting talk and don’t forget it’s a fundraiser for Mental Health. Please invite partners and friends and encourage them to wear a hat, anything from flamboyant, zany to just plain practical. Prizes given.
NEXT THURSDAY 20th
7am: Rotary Business Breakfast at Narooma Surf Club: Natalie Spencer of MEGT will talk about the range of Australian Government employer incentives and apprentice benefits available in priority occupations. These particularly target traditional trades but benefits are also available in other areas not on the Government’s priority list, including aged care and child care. It’s worthwhile employers coming along to discuss with Nat. We’re hoping to attract a number of employers especially tradies from around the area.
MEGT is a not-for-profit organisation that supports employers, apprentices, trainees, job seekers and students. Their local apprenticeship experts work across Australia helping businesses, apprentices and trainees get the most from the Australian Apprenticeships programme.