Lynn’s Lines
Last weekend I came down with Covid, so did not do much for the first four days when it hit me. Started feeling better on Thursday but still tested positive until Sunday. I therefore had to stay away for our Club Assembly which Laurelle ran marvellously from all reports. Covered everything. On Friday I sent in the Club’s consensus for the regionalisation questionnaire. It was also reported the food and venue at Club Narooma were also a good backup to have when needed, like last Thursday. Nomination forms for the 2024/25 Board were also circulated at the Assembly; please get them back to John at least a week before the AGM in December.
Our Treasurer is sending out payments to the two schools for their Awards Presentations coming up soon. Each year we give funds for the High School’s Narooma Rotary Club Citizenship Award and the two dux prizes at Narooma Public School, where a Cub representative presents the awards on the Club’s behalf. At the High School we also present the Jack and Joy Ings Art Prize on behalf of the Ings family. The Club administers a Trust fund for the family for this award.
Applications for our 2024 Narooma Rotary Tertiary Scholarship are beginning to come in to David.
Ange has headed to Sydney for her Nepal trip with heavy bags full of goodies, some from Katungul. She flies out Wednesday morning. What amazing experiences she will have being a part of this wonderful RAWCS team.
I hope to be able to meet with local Police this week to organise a stall for them at our November market to raise awareness of Domestic Violence and the importance of respectful relationships. More details to come.
Publicity is now underway for our Film Fundraiser at the Kinema Fly Everest and Ken Hutt himself will be joining us at the Kinema. Thanks to Susanna for doing the flyer and the big poster in the Kinema foyer. I believe it looks stunning. The flyer has been sent to the five neighbouring Rotary clubs, as well as to the hanggliding and paragliding association.
Hope to see you at the Business Breakfast this Thursday.
THIS THURSDAY 16th – Business Breakfast
This Narooma Rotary Business Networking Breakfast will feature a panel of five local business people who will talk about how they see the coming tourism season shaping up, anticipated challenges, how they might meet them etc. It is a strong panel and promises lots of discussion.
Our panel consists of Teaghan Abbott of Easts Holiday Park, Tash Clutterbuck of Oyster Farmer’s Daughter, Karen McLellan of Oakleigh Farm Cottage, Jo Major of Tilba Sweet Spot (also VP Tilba Chamber of Commerce) and Annemarie Narraway of Narooma Chamber committee. It will be chaired by David McInnes.
Please book by noon Tuesday 13th November at the latest by emailing Laurelle at pacey@paceymedia.com.au. Should you want breakfast, it’s $10. She will assume you will want breakfast and coffee/tea unless you say otherwise. The Narooma Business Breakfast is at Narooma Surf Club (upstairs) 7am sharp.
Please note the Business Breakfasts will break over December and January, resuming Thursday 15th February.
The Week that was
Our Club Assembly
John Rungen’s toast last week was to Rotary and ShelterBox. He pointed out that more than 100 million people around the world are currently homeless because of natural disaster and conflict. Rotary is working to give some of them shelter. ShelterBox has helped more than 37,000 people affected by the war in Ukraine so far, both within Ukraine and refugees who crossed the border into Moldova. They’re now working with NNLPD, ReliefAid and Green Chernobyl to support over 30,000 more with essential items and emergency shelter repair kits to help them survive the bitter winter months.
David and Rachel McInnes treated us with a replay of a travel documentary on SBS on great places to visit for mountain biking. Best Narooma promotion seen for ages. Thanks David and Rachel.
On Regionalisation
Last week’s Club Assembly was largely taken up with consideration of responses from members to come up with the Club’s consensus, which is as follows:
Our Clubs biggest strengths:
- Friendly, energetic, enthusiastic and community minded members with a wide range of life experience.
- Enjoys a good reputation in the community as being people who care about our community.
- Has close connections with other Narooma service clubs and neighbouring Rotary Clubs.
Our Club’s biggest challenges:
- Increasing active membership, particularly of younger working members with better gender balance. Need to increase awareness looking particularly to working people as potential members.
- Cost of membership
- Too much administration, too many emails. Needs rationalisation.
Our Club favoured geographic grouping of Clubs over a relatively short distance, meeting once or twice a year… (which we already do…). As to possible achievements from such groupings… These included encouraging coordinated group and stronger media coverage of major projects e.g. BowelCare, ‘Say Yes to Respectful Relationships’, making better strategic use of existing Rotary marketing material (much of it available online), lifting our Club’s visible public profile and that of Rotary, approaching more people who come within the Club’s orbit to see if they might be interested in joining Narooma Rotary. As to secondary groupings, members thought ‘Yes’ but at a later stage.
There was a note of caution – we need to concentrate on certain agreed projects and do them well; only doing what is possible with the members we have.
Out and About
From the Bay Rotary Club
Batemans Bay Rotary’s Christmas party at the Soldiers’ Club on Saturday 16th December for dinner promises “some unforgettable entertainment to get you in the Christmas spirit”. Just what that might be was suggested by an adjoining piece… “If I have tapped you on the shoulder and, for your sins, you are in the Christmas Pantomime, a rehearsal will be at Nicole’s home …” Sounds like fun!
The Bay recently held their Pride of Workmanship Awards Presentation when six nominees were rewarded for their efforts with a certificate and a kangaroo paw plant.
Coming up
Bring your friends to Fly from Everest
Climbing the world’s highest mountain and then paragliding down is the dream of only a few, but such a dream drove Berry adventurer and Rotarian Ken Hutt. Ken is looking forward to joining us for the screening of his film Fly from Everest at the Kinema on Thursday 30 November. The film is our fundraiser for the global ‘End Polio Now’ campaign; 6.30 for nibbles with 7pm screening. All tickets $20. Please book through the Kinema 4476 2352. Dress-ups encouraged but please leave paragliders at home.
Last year 62 year-old Ken Hutt hoped to become the oldest man to achieve that feat, but illness on Everest thwarted him. His other major aim was to raise awareness and funds to continue the global fight to eliminate the paralyzing disease polio. He returned in July this year with fellow paraglider Marcus Loane and legally flew from Lobuche Peak near Everest to complete filming for this movie by Joe Carter.
They received publicity and support from around the world. “Our main aim was to get the polio message out there that and we achieved that,” he said. Ken is immensely proud of his team’s efforts; they also raised $300,000 for the cause with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Many thanks to Ange Ulrichsen for organising this with Ken Hutt and Joe Carter.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday 21 November: Joint Dinner Meeting with Moruya and Bay Clubs re Carers’ Accommodation and guest speaker Walter Bock. The chance to be inspired by outstanding Rotarian Walter Bock and get an update on our Carers’ Accommodation project for the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital (CAERH) from Chair Cr Rob Pollock. $25pp. Moruya Golf Club is insisting on one week’s notice for meal numbers, so we have to have our final meal numbers to Steve Young at Moruya by 14th November at the latest.
Thursday – Dinner Meeting 23 November: Please invite family and friends. Five speakers on their experiences on Rotary youth exchanges. This will be a great night. We hear from five previous Exchange students as a forerunner to Lachie’s exchange to Japan hosted by the Rotary Club of Ogaki in Nagoya. All are all very excited to talk with us about their experiences. They are Vicki Abbott (Narooma Rotary’s first exchange student), Fiona Kotvyos, Meredith Macpherson and Susanna Chung plus Sally Hearder (the E- Rotarian who will be helping out with hosting our outbound next year).