Julie’s Jots
The Narooma Prostate Cancer Support Group earlier this month trialled meeting during the day instead of the evening. It was well attended; it looks like we will change to daytime after another trial next month.
It’s lovely that PP Charmaine White has re-joined our club. She leaves next month on a Rotary project to Uganda where her skills as a dentist will be in great demand. It should be an extraordinary experience.
Narooma High student Jenna Jewell Harkness gave a very animated talk about her experiences at the RYPEN weekend in Canberra. It was good to also have her grandmother Bronwyn Jewell and Narooma High Deputy Principal Joe Harper along to hear her roundup of the weekend.
THIS THURSDAY 18 SEPTEMBER
We resume our Narooma Rotary Business Networking Breakfasts (BB) this Thursday after our two-month winter break. Our guest speaker is our BB regular Karen McLellan of The Job Shop. She will talk about employment across Eurobodalla Shire, the challenges, why Eurobodalla Shire Council initiated the Job Shop, and its success to date. Will be interesting.
Please let Laurelle know by COB Monday 14 September if you are coming. Bookings are essential. She will assume you will want breakfast ($10) unless she hears otherwise. Our Business Breakfasts start at 7am sharp at Narooma Surf Club finishing at 8.
The Week that Was
Jenna Jewell Harkness thoroughly enjoyed her RYPEN experience and will highly recommend it for other students. She was initially anxious about meeting so many new people, but that did not last long once she got to know some of the other girls. They were sorted into groups and the ‘Ice-Breaker’ activities were good. The Camp at Sutton had a playground, a beach volleyball court and a putt-putt course which Jenna loved.
Jenna particularly enjoyed one of the speakers Sally Lean, a life coach from Lean In to Succeed. Jenna took away some of her mantras such as ‘Recognise your qualities and be prepared to build on them’, ‘Acknowledge your strengths’ and ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’. Sally told them not to compare themselves with others who have different goals.
Jenna said there were also mock interviews, which really made them think about possible future careers, and there were debates, such as ‘Is a cereal a soup or a salad?’. Each night they played card games and on the last night there was karaoke. Jenna will keep in touch with some of the girls she met.
Narooma High Deputy Principal Joe Harper also gave us a snapshot of what is happening at the school, including four students last week being at the NSW State Athletics Championships in Sydney, Lula Blyde winning a Little Sellars Art Prize, and Year 12 students finalising their major HSC Woodcraft projects. Also the Agricultural Show Team has just won the Oatley School Steer Award in Blayney and there are various Cultural Programmes in progress as well. Thank you to Chris O’Brien for notes and photos from last Thursday.
Out and About
Batemans Bay launches Business Breakfast
The Bay Rotary Club has watched our Rotary Business Breakfasts with interest and decided to give it a go Their first BB will be on October 1st at a local café. As we have adapted the Bega model to suit us, the Bay will also evolve a model that suits them based on feedback and direction from participants. Two Bay Rotarians will join us on Thursday to see how we do it and discuss with us what they have planned.
September is RI’s ‘Basic Education and Literacy Month’
Rotary International’s goal is to empower communities to support basic education and Literacy, reduce gender disparity in education and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults. More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17% of the world’s adult population. The Rotary Foundation supports education through scholarships, donations, and service projects around the world.
NEXT THURSDAY 25th September
In a first for Narooma Rotary, our Club is supporting this year’s River of Art Festival by hosting a Literary Event as part of the Festival. We welcome Kirsten Nixon who will talk about her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. She will share the challenges, triumphs, and the bold choice to self-publish ‘Voices of Entrepreneurial Women: Inspiring Stories of Small Business Owners.’ She will also share the stories of these 17 Australian women who turned their dreams into successful businesses.
Please spread the word and bring your friends. It’s 6 for 6.30pm at Narooma Golf Club. Please book with Gero by noon Tuesday 23rd. Order dinner from the Golf Club Bistro.