Andrew’s Thoughts
Last week I wrote my column at noon on Sunday and therefore before an amazing Pre-PETS Zoom on Sunday afternoon with our incoming District Governor Geraldine Rurenga and our Area Governor Adam de Totth.
There will be changes in what we do and how we do it, hence why my attendance at PETS was non-negotiable! Geraldine is 31 years of age (yes 31!) and she is the youngest District Governor in the history of Rotary International. She clearly has some real modernising ideas both in our operations and in our marketing. I look forward to meeting her at PETS in Cooma in March and working with her and Adam going forward.
On Tuesday, Mike and I went up to Batemans Bay and met Jim Lloyd who is the chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia’s (PCFA) National Support Groups. It was a really good meeting and clearly there are some amazing tools which PCFA has and which we need to pass on to our local members. I was inclined to re-schedule our next speaker, a mental health counsellor, but the last words spoken to me the previous Tuesday were “I was suicidal for two to three years”. That hit home.
Last Wednesday was our Board Meeting day followed by our Club Night of Thursday where we duly reported back. The good news is that we raised $1,750 by rattling the bucket for Tonga, and the Club is doubling this, so we shall be sending $3,500 to RAWCS for relief funds. The Club night was really good, seeing some new faces and some old, and it was lively! Some great ideas and initiatives were raised and the Board and I shall reflect and get back to the Club in due course.
This Thursday will see the 2022 launch of the Business Breakfasts with Paul West. At the time of writing, we expect a record attendance of almost 40 people. This week the Men’s Health Educational Rural Van (MHERV) is in Narooma on Friday at Narooma Plaza car park (see below). We shall man it throughout the day. Mike and Julie will also be there waving the PCSG banner.
Don’t forget the 27th is the next Markets and so, as ever, it will be all hands to the pump. The roster will be issued soon, and thanks in advance to John and Mike for offering to meet Bob on the Friday to mark out, and to members of the Men’s Shed who have volunteered to pull in the van.
The upcoming Club meeting on 3rd March is very important as we shall have our annual DG visit. As Leo Farrelly is indisposed, we are likely to be visited by Michael Moore, last year’s DG who is deputising. So, we need a very good attendance (a three line whip!), with best pressed clothes and polished shoes!
All in all, some important and exciting times ahead. So as ever, it’s onwards and upwards mes amis!
THIS WEEK
Thursday 17 February
Business Breakfast at Narooma Surf Club 7-8am. Cost $10 per person. Bookings with President Andrew essential. Paul is a chef and a passionate advocate of real food, community, regional living and sustainable agriculture. He hosted ‘River Cottage Australia’ from Central Tilba for several years and now lives at Bermagui. He regularly hosts cooking demonstrations at food festivals around Australia and is an occasional guest presenter on ‘Gardening Australia’, ‘Back Roads’ and ‘Catalyst’. He is also the Ambassador for Narooma Oyster Festival.
Friday 18 February
We are hosting the Narooma visit of the Men’s Health Educational Rural Van (MHERV) in Narooma Plaza car park (upper level) this Friday 18 February. MHERV is a Rotary initiative to try to improve men’s health by overcoming the reluctance of many men to visit their GP.
MHERV Project Coordinator Graeme Hooper estimates that MHERV has saved over a staggering 10,000 men’s lives since the project started in 2017. “That’s from the 4% of men checked in that time who showed signs of acute health issues and were told to visit their GP as soon as possible,” he said.
Bill Powers is the registered nurse who takes MHERV through rural and regional areas providing a mobile, accessible check-up and information service staffed by. Checks include blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels. MERV is travelling along the far south coast this week with stops at Batemans Bay and Moruya (Wednesday) before Narooma (Friday), and Bega and Tathra to follow.
Many thanks to Chris O’Brien for coordinating our Club’s efforts. If you can, please join Bill, his wife, Chris and Mike Young at the Golf Club on the Thursday 17th for dinner.
NEXT THURSDAY 24 Feb Cobargo
We finally catch up with Bega Rotarians at Cobargo Hotel on Thursday 24 February at 6pm. Bega is our ‘mother club’ and over the years we have tried to make this an annual event. It has obviously been delayed due to Covid. Hope you can make it. Numbers to John please by the end of this week.