Lynn’s Lines
Last Thursday we had a lovely evening celebrating Christmas together in the old dining room at Bodalla Pub. Most members and many friends of Rotary were there. We officially presented our Exchange Student Lachie Penglase with his Exchange Jacket and the new improved Narooma Rotary banners organised by Susanna Chung. The banners are fantastic and include a scan code (thank you Rachel) to connect to our website. Lachie’s family also joined us for the evening. The food and company was excellent and a fun night was had by all. Thank you again to Chris O’Brien for organising everything. Donations of $150 were collected for OZ harvest to help some of our local families with food for Christmas.
On Saturday Julie Hartley, Gordon Bentley and myself interviewed 13 applicants for our 2024 Narooma Rotary Tertiary Scholarship and David McInnes’ expert help kept things on track and moving in the right order. The decision was close and required some debate before our panel reached its final decision
Normally we announce our Scholarship winner at Narooma’s special Australia Day ceremony, but it seems that ceremony is not going ahead in 2024. Instead we might officially announce the winner at our Markets on 28th.
THIS WEEK
This Tuesday 19 December 9.30am: Van cleaning at Van Village If anyone can help, please join us. More hands less work. Please bring your own cleaning stuff and gloves.
Thursday 21 December – NO DINNER MEETING – (next meeting at Narooma Golf Club is Thursday 1 February – Our Youth Night)
The Week that Was
As President Lynn has already said, we had a great Christmas celebration at Bodalla on Thursday. It was the last time too that most of our members would see Lachie before he leaves for Japan next month. Just to remind everyone of what is happening…
Lachie Penglase of Bermagui, who has just finished Year 9 at Narooma High, is off to Japan in January for a most extraordinary year as a Rotary Exchange Student sponsored by Narooma Rotary. His Narooma counsellors are Susanna Chung and Gordon Bentley. He will be hosted by the Rotary Club of Ogaki in Nagoya and attend Ogaki Kita High School which is much larger than Narooma High.
Lachie chose to be an exchange student because he wanted to do something completely different to anything he had done before; he particularly wanted to go to Japan because he is intrigued by its unique culture and lifestyle. He has been studying the Japanese language here and looks forward to expanding his knowledge and fluency as well as a learning more about Japanese culture. Since first meeting Lachie, Narooma Rotarians have been impressed with how much confidence he has gained just in the past six months. We all wish him well.
Here are a few more photos from last Thursday’s Christmas dinner at Bodalla.
From Moruya Rotary Club
At Moruya Rotary’s Christmas Party last week, President Derek Anderson presented IPP Shirley Ann Cornish with a Paul Harris Fellowship for her outstanding contribution to Rotary and Humanity. He was also able to finally present Alan Shephard with his Distinguished Service Award from ShelterBox. They also heard from their four Tertiary Scholars – one awarded last year, the others this year.
Out and About
Duck Race Raffle Tickets
A reminder we have 1,000 raffle tickets to sell before 26 January, so we will be making a mighty push over the next few weeks including at the Markets on Thursday 28th. Ange will sell at the Plaza (near Aldi) – mornings ofWednesday 13th, Saturday 16th, and Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st. Laurelle will make bookings with Council to sell outside Narooma IGA in early January (now that she has found the contact details!). Lynn has the books of tickets.
COMING UP – Dates for your diary
Thursday 28 December – December Rotary Holiday Markets. John has circulated the roster. Please help where you can.
Sunday 14 January from 5.30pm – Barbecue at Lynn’s place (cooking by 7pm). Please bring something to share, something for the barbecue and whatever you want to drink.
Friday 26 January – Time TBA – The Great Narooma Rotary Australia Day Duck Race. All hands on deck please.
Sunday 28 January – January Narooma Holiday Markets
