Andrew’s Thoughts
All in all, last week was both enlightening and also important.
Firstly, at the Board on Wednesday we discussed the format for Changeover and also this year’s disbursements. I am delighted that, in addition to many of the past recipients, we’ll be increasing our Scholarship Fund to match further incoming donations, we shall make a substantial donation to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia for research, and we’re extending our geographical reach by making an award to Marine Rescue in Bermagui. These three initiatives reflect our revised focus and objectives for 2021/22. More about Changeover in a week or two; suffice it to say, this is THE night of our Rotary year.
Thursday was also very significant as we had our official Governor’s visit from Area Governor Adam de Totth. He has always been a great supporter of Narooma but on this occasion his comments clearly met with a mixed reception. For my part, I made it clear we’re proud that our Club is totally inclusive. He mentioned there will be Constitutional change for our Region of Rotary International and we look forward to understanding what those will be, and how we’ll be impacted. Special congratulations to John Rungen who engaged with John and Francoise at the last market and invited them along last week. Hopefully we’ll see more of them.
I look forward to finalising the Board and the Executive Team for 2022/2023 with the Board at our upcoming meeting.
This week we take a breather but we meet again at our usual Club Night next Thursday after next week’s Board meeting. So, as we bring 2021/2022 to a close, let’s continue onwards and upwards mes amis!
THIS WEEK
Thursday 2 June: No Meeting
PCSG: Normally first Tuesday in the month, postponed until August.
The Week that Was
NYSF applications are now open
Our Club needs to promote the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) to the High School and wider. It’s a while since anyone from Narooma High has gone to NYSF and our Science students are missing out.
Rotary is the Founding Partner of the NYSF and every year Rotarians continue to support the NYSF Year 12 Program by promoting the opportunity in local communities, managing applications and selection of students and assisting with funding or fund-raising for student fees to attend. Rotarians also volunteer during the NYSF Program in January. NYSF estimates that Rotarians contribute more than 20,000 volunteer hours to the program every year.
The involvement of local clubs has changed from the past. Students no longer have to be endorsed or sponsored by a Rotary Club to apply to NYSF and District selections are now online.
Polio message reaches Everest Summit
A serious chest infection at Camp 2 forced Berry Rotarian Ken Hutt off Everest last week without achieving his dream of paragliding off the mountain. However, the Polio message did make it to the summit, thanks to three members of his experienced support team.
Ken travelled to Everest intending to fly a paraglider from as high a possible so creating history in the name of Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign. Before leaving Australia, Ken said the success of this mission is not the summiting of the mountain, nor the paragliding from the mountain. “It’s what we can achieve for Polio Eradication, both financially and awareness that Polio still exists… The Fly from Everest Project is merely the conduit for advancing our commitment to the world.”
Ken’s Everest expedition has already raised more than $250,000 for polio, including $500 from our Club, and certainly raised awareness of the End Polio Now campaign. All expedition members made it safely off the mountain. We can look forward to seeing the documentary by QUT filmmaker Joe Carter.
From Nepal, Ken thanked our club for our support. “If given the opportunity in the near future I would like to visit and convey the thanks from our team in person. Please stay in touch.” For the full story, please check out either Facebook.com/flyfromeverest or Flyfromeverest.org.
Out and About
Story behind the 22/23 RI Theme logo
The new RI presidential logo created some discussion at our last Board meeting. ‘Imagine Rotary’ is the theme selected by RI President-elect Jennifer Jones and its origin and that of the logo was explained in an interesting article by Gundula Miethke in Rotary Voices.
PE Jennifer asks Rotary members to dream big and take action. “We all have dreams, but acting on them is a choice,” she said. “Imagine a world that deserves our best, where we get up each day knowing we can make a difference.”
The logo was designed by Australian Aboriginal artist and graphic designer Riki Salam who has also created the logo for the 2023 Rotary International Convention to be held in Melbourne, hence the link. Each design element has meaning. The circle in Aboriginal culture signifies our connections to one another. The dots around it represent people; seven for Rotary´s areas of focus. Together they become a navigation star – our guiding light. The solid line underneath represents a digging stick. Gundula explains the artist sees Rotarians as people of action, so it represents a tool for getting things done.
The colours green, purple, and white are not connected to Aboriginal culture and can be interpreted in several ways. Purple, for example, stands for polio eradication, green for the environment (the newest addition to our areas of focus), and white for peace, our core mission. Together, they are the colours of the women’s Suffragette movement and a subtle nod to this history as PE Jennifer will be the first female RI president. Understanding the design certainly gives a much greater appreciation.
From the Bay Rotary
Batemans Bay Rotarians recently welcomed Florin and Cynthia Naguit from the Philippines. The Bay Club had been working with them on a water sanitisation project over the last couple of years. The project had quite a few delays due to Covid, so it was nice that they could come and visit Australia on the finalisation of the project and enjoy a dinner with our club, who helped make this project happen. Florin presented the Bay club with the Dr Jose Rizal Ilustre Award. These national Memorial Awards are for Community Leadership, Government Service, Academe, Clinical Practice, and Research.
NEXT WEEK
Wednesday 8 June 4pm: Combined meeting of the 2021/2222 and 2022/2023 Boards at Lynn Hasting’s home.
Thursday 9 June: 6 for 6.30pm: ClubDinner meeting at Narooma Golf Club.