Bob’s Blog
Hello Everyone
Well it’s been another hectic week for our Club.
Last Thursday we had an outstanding speaker in Fiona McCuaig. Fiona has had some fascinating experiences as a warrior for the environment, especially as a member of the Sea Shepherd crew. It was also great to see so many visitors come to listen to Fiona; hopefully some of our visitors will consider becoming members of our Club. We missed Frank last week but hope the doctors are resolving his health ‘issues’.
Last Saturday’s Busking Festival was an outstanding success. I am told the vibe around town was fantastic lots of visitors checking out the performers and voting for their favourites. A BIG thank you to Sandra and her dream team who organised the day; the Club owes you a great debt of gratitude.
Don’t forget Cinders this Thursday, I am sure we will give Moruya a run for their money. At dinner we will have mixed tables of Moruya and Narooma members so we can share some great fellowship. After dinner we will separate ready for ‘battle’.
Out and About
Busking Festival
What a wonderful and huge community day. Such a good buzz around town, from the Plaza to the Flat. There were many compliments on the day and since about the excellent organisation. Well done Sandra, John and team; all your planning and preparation paid off. Well done too to all those Rotarians and partners who put in a long day on Saturday selling busker votes, providing information and working in Festival HQ at Easts, and then turned up to help at the markets the next day. Great effort.
Festival co-ordinator Sandra understandably was ‘absolutely thrilled’ with the response from the community. At the presentation ceremony at Narooma Golf Club that night, she was effusive with her appreciation thanking spectators (even more than last year), our 55 buskers, our major sponsors Narooma Golf Club, Club Narooma and Narooma Easts Holiday Park, as well as the many businesses and organisations that sponsored prizes and the 35 busker hot spots.
Sandra also thanked the other volunteers without whom it would not have happened – Lions, Quota, Probus, View, CWA and many others – and the four judges – Alan Spencer, long time busker and John and Sandra’s granddaughter Shelby Holland, Cr Lindsay Brown and Fiona Brown of Slightly Twisted Productions. The judges made 22 awards, all sponsored by local businesses or organisations, and there were nine People’s Choice Awards.
Sandra and John’s daughter Nadine did a great job as MC of the presentations, with Tim Bourke and Wayne Redman doing sound and lighting. The presentation ceremony ran seamlessly, preceded by an hour-long concert by buskers organised by Nadine.
At the presentation, ANBC instigator Alan Spencer of Cooma praised Sandra and her team for ‘showing the way’ with running regional championships. ‘Narooma has introduced a lot of innovation as well as showing how to involve the media, the community and small businesses in the event,’ he said. One innovation this year was combining a car display on NATA Oval with four busking hot spots sponsored by businesses away from the centre of town; a huge success.
The programme on the webpage worked a treat, thanks to John’s expertise. John says it was one of the products that came from an online data entry system he wrote last year. It holds all busker details (details finances, emergency contacts etc.). It then provided an environment for Sandra to schedule in the buskers’ timetables, creates tables of output and feeds the website. That programme now belongs to Narooma Rotary.
Markets
The atmosphere continued at Sunday’s markets which were bigger than a normal May market and quite vibrant complete with buskers (including Selby). The markets coincided with a Canberra long weekend which had escaped most of us except some marketers who booked at the last minute. We had steady business throughout the morning and sold all we had in the van. Great work everyone.
Last week
Fiona McCuaig, our guest speaker last week, attracted a lot of interest and with good reason. She spoke of her extensive background in conservation and her passion for marine conservation. Some of her talk focussed on her time with Greenpeace’s vessel Sea Shepherd in Antarctica in its campaign to stop whaling there, the ramming of one of its vessel and her being the person whose job it was to dive in and check for survivors, a task she was relieved not to have to perform once all crew were accounted for. She called for support to protect our marine parks, noting the harmful bycatch from some commercial fishing methods, and fearing an apparent watering down of the existing marine park system.
Canberra Rotary celebrates 90 years
The Rotary Club of Canberra celebrates its 90 years with the ringing of the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell on 16 June at 11am and we are all invited. It will be a great celebration of peace and fellowship as part of their birthday celebrations. The Bell is in Nara Park, Flynn Drive, Yarralumla. If you would like to go, please book via email to Meredith Hayes – mhayes@ozemail.com.au
This week is our annual battle for Cinders
We welcome over 30 from Moruya Rotary for our annual battle for the Cinders Trophy, currently held by Moruya. Should be a great fun night. They reckon, as stated in the Moruya bulletin this week, ‘surely by weight of numbers we should be a force to overwhelm them and on their home turf!’ President Bob has told them differently. They have been in training: when their speaker had to withdraw at short notice last week, Keith Armstong stepped in with some Cinders’ training. Members were divided ‘into raucous teams, much given to useless disputations, all adding up to a thoroughly enjoyable meeting’.
They will be coming by bus and, they assure us, with the trophy (not like us when we forgot to take it with us last year).
On a lighter note, courtesy Peter Bull
The biggest lie I tell myself is, ‘’I don’t need to write that down, I will remember it’.
If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.
Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice.