Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

Well, the heavens opened early on Sunday morning with steady rain most of the day, so another cancelled market for us, the second in a row. It’s frustrating for Chris, John and Ang who spend so much time getting the markets organised only to see the rain ruin the day. Hopefully the weather for our March market will be fine and sunny with lots of stallholders and plenty of customers.

Last Wednesday, I along with six other members of the Club, attended a combined meeting at Moruya to mark Rotary’s birthday and to hand out cheques to the four surf clubs in the shire. It was a great night, especially as the three NYSF students sponsored by the three Eurobodalla Rotary Clubs also gave a presentation. Laurelle has more information elsewhere.

As mentioned last week, there is a change of plan for this week’s meeting. Unfortunately, the High School was not able to host us this week so instead this Thursday we will have a Club Assembly and normal meeting at the Golf Club.  At the Assembly we will discuss the feasibility of conducting the Renewable Energy Expo again this year. The Expo Committee met a couple of weeks ago to discuss options for 2018. Discussion focussed on the need to have more members nominate for the Expo Committee; many on the past committee indicated that they would not be able to help around that time this year because of other commitments. The bottom line is that if we are to run the Expo again this year we need some new faces on the team.

Our meeting at Narooma High will now be on 8 March. I am assuming that members who indicated they will attend the High School on 1 March will still be able to attend on the 8^th. Please let me know urgently if this is not the case.

A reminder our District Conference is at Mittagong 24-25 March. I know this clashes with our Market day; however, it would be great if some members could attend the Conference. For more details click here.

Have a great week

Out and about

Rotary races donate to Shire’s surf clubs

As Bob said, seven of us joined Moruya and Batemans Bay Rotarians in Moruya last Wednesday to celebrate the 113^th birthday of Rotary International and to make donations to the Shire’s four Surf Life Saving Clubs. The donations were the proceeds of the Rotary Christmas Race Day on 24 December.

Our Race Day Committee chairman David Ashford said this was the fifth Rotary Race Day, having in previous years supported the Oncology Unit at Moruya Hospital and installed 12 defibrillators across the shire. ‘This time we supported Batemans Bay, Broulee, Moruya Heads and Narooma Surf Clubs,’ he said. ‘Despite the handicap of the Christmas Eve date, thanks to the hard work of everyone, the success of the raffle and the generosity of Moruya Jockey Club we were able to present each Surf Club with $3,000, a total of $12,000.’

David paid tribute to Moruya Jockey Club, to the ongoing enthusiasm and hard work of the Race Day committee, to the willing Rotarians, partners and friends, and to volunteers from the surf clubs. He also thanked the raffle (Mitre 10 Moruya, Travel Team, Moruya Jockey Club and Bunnings) and race sponsors. He said it is not possible to hold these events without everyone’s help and support. 

Passionate science students praise NYSF experience

Three Eurobodalla students selected for the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) in Brisbane in January spoke at the combined Rotary meeting last week about their ‘life-changing’ experiences at this two-week residential programme. NYSF is designed to encourage young people in their passion for science.

To get to NYSF, they were first vetted by a panel from the three local Rotary Clubs and then by a District Board. Competition was strong. The three students –Nicholas Goddard, Chelsea Rowley and Matthew Henry, all from Moruya High – said NYSF’s visits, practical exercises, interactive teaching and social bonding were exceptional and have helped guide them towards future careers.

NYSF is expensive, but regarded as well worth it. This year the basic cost increased to $3,100 per student. The three Eurobodalla clubs had agreed to share the costs; however, Moruya President Mike Dent gained a Federal Government grant of  $4,500 to offset the cost, and Matthew Henry won a $1,000 NYSF Equity Scholarship to support his participation. The other two students each contributed $400, leaving the three clubs to pay $1,000 each.

As the Moruya Rotary bulletin put it this week, ‘NYSF is fertile ground for growing our scientists, technology buffs and engineers, the leaders of the future in fields which will shape all our futures’. Rotarians helped establish NYSF (then known as the National Science Summer School) 35 years ago, and continue to play a key role. Today, Rotary clubs around Australia continue to play a key role in supporting NYSF by conducting selections for the NYSF Year 12 Programme.

Update on global initiative to eradicate polio

The world is on the brink of eradicating polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that once paralysed hundreds of thousands of children each year. Significant strides have been made but it continues to be a threat in hard-to-reach areas and conflict zones. As long as one child has polio, all children are at risk, which underscores the need for continued funding and political commitment to eradication. Last year there were 22 confirmed cases of polio in the world; this year only three to date.

Rotary is giving $53.5m this year to support immunisation and surveillance activities led by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). More than half the funds will support efforts to end polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan where polio remains endemic. Further funding will support efforts to keep 10 vulnerable countries polio-free (The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Iraq, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria), research by the World Health Organization (WHO), and technical assistance in West and Central Africa.

Rotary has committed to raising $150m over the next three years which will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, yielding $450 million for polio eradication activities, including immunisation and surveillance.

Rotary started its polio eradication programme PolioPlus in 1985; in 1988 it became a partner in the GPEI with WHO, UNICEF, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation later became a partner. In that time, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9% from about 350,000 cases in 1988, protecting more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries from polio.

Some random thoughts, courtesy Peter Bull

• If you attempt to rob a bank you won’t have any trouble with rent/food bills for the next 10 years, whether or not you are successful.
• What if my dog only brings back my ball because he thinks I like throwing it?
• The letter W, in English, is called double U. Shouldn’t it be called double V?
• Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty.
• 100 years ago everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars. Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses.
• The doctors that told Stephen Hawking he had two years to live in 1963 are probably dead.
• If you rip a hole in a net, there are actually fewer holes in it than there were before.

 

 

 

 

 

Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

Rita Wagner our guest speaker at last week’s meeting gave a fascinating presentation on her life as an artist and writer. What made it even more interesting was the fact that her career path came about because of a horrific car accident that left her unable to continue to work as an executive with a hotel chain. I guess the message was clear – every cloud has a silver lining.

It was also pleasing to see many guests at the meeting, thanks to Ang. Please remember that guests are always welcome at our meetings – it is a good way of highlighting Rotary and its work. When inviting guests, please make sure you tell them about Rotary and encourage them to consider becoming part of our small but vital Club.

In this week’s edition of Rotary Weekly there is a wonderful story about Jimmy Carter and his vision for peace. I strongly encourage all members to have a read https://www.rotary.org/en/jimmy-carter-says-peace-must-be-fought.

This week: A reminder there is no meeting this Thursday. Instead, we’re off to Moruya Golf Club on Wednesday night (6.30 for 7pm) for a combined meeting with Moruya and Batemans Bay Clubs. It promises to be a big night. This meeting will distribute the $12,000 raised at the Rotary Race Day on 24 December to the Shire’s four surf clubs including Narooma’s. At this meeting, Chelsea Rowley will also talk about her experience at the last National Youth Science Forum.

Next week: Thursday 1 March : Please note a change of plan – Club Assembly at Narooma Golf Club (usual time)

The week after next – Thursday 8 March: We will be at Narooma High School.

Have a great week.

Bob

Around about

The ‘Accidental Artist’ Rita Wagner

Rita Wagner’s talk last week was truly inspirational. What resilience, determination and true grit to recover from near death after a horrific car accident, stay optimistic and persevere over the many months as surgeons rebuilt her smashed body, and then establish a whole new career as an artist and author.  Hence the term she used of being an ‘accidental artist’.

She discovered art when in search of something to stimulate her mind while spending over a year in a wheelchair, starting with interior design and moving on from there leaps at a time. She described herself as a mixed media artist influenced strongly by Japanese art. She has also written and illustrated several light-hearted books – Menopause Makes Mummy Mental! and two children’s books.

Rita now lives at Mystery Bay, previously  Canberra.

New Rotary District update

Our Club will become part of the new Rotary District 9705 on 1 Jul 2020. DG Steve Hill says at this stage the only confirmed details about the new district are:

• its number ,
• the District’s outer borders (see map)
• and that the new positions of Area Governors will replace the current system of Assistant Governors; they will also have extended roles within their areas.

Still at draft stage is what clubs will be in which areas. At the moment, the proposal is for Narooma to be in Area 6, along with 14 other clubs in the Eurobodalla, Shoalhaven, Bega Valley and Wingecarribee (Bowral-Mittagong, Moss Vale and Berrima District) Shires. Area 6 has the largest number of clubs.

DG Steve is keen to hear from anyone who has any thoughts on which clubs should be in particular groupings, as well as any other thoughts you may have about the new District. He would like to hear those thoughts fairly soon.

Cheers

Laurelle

Trumped, courtesy Peter Bull

Obama, Clinton and Trump are standing at the throne of Heaven. 

God looks at them and says, ‘Before granting you a place at my side I must ask you what you have learned, what you believe in.’ He asks Obama first: ‘What do you believe?’

He thinks long and hard, and says, ‘I believe in hard work and in staying true to family and friends.  I believe in giving.  I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my countrymen.’

God sees Obama’s essential goodness and offers him a seat to his left.

Then God turns to Clinton and says, ‘What do you believe?’

She says, ‘I believe passion, discipline, courage and honour are the fundamentals of life.  Like Obama I believe in hard work.  I, too, have been lucky, but I’ve always tried to be a true patriot.’

God is greatly moved and offers her a seat to his right.

Finally, God turns to Trump and says, ‘And what do you believe?’

Trump replies, ‘I believe you’re in my seat.’

 

Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

David Ashford from Batemans Bay Rotary has finalised funds raised at the Eurobodalla Rotary Clubs’ Christmas Race Day. In all, $12,000 was raised. A great effort. The funds will be divided between the four surf clubs in the Shire; this means Narooma Surf Club will collect $3,000 to help them purchase much needed resources. The funds will be presented at a combined Rotary Dinner at Moruya on 21 February. It would be great to have a strong turn out from our Club at the dinner – see a separate email for more information.

Last Thursday we held our annual Youth Night where we introduced Alicia Bate our 2018 Narooma Rotary Scholar. Alicia will be having a gap year this year before commencing her studies in Animal Science at Charles Sturt University. Alicia hopes to transfer to Vet Science if her marks are up to scratch. Whilst on her gap year, Alicia intends to travel to Texas to study animal husbandry. Alicia’s mum, Sharon also came along to the meeting.

We also welcomed Tahlia Arnold to our meeting. Tahlia was interviewed for our Rotary Scholarship last year. The panel was very impressed with her desire to do well at university and decided to award her a one-off scholarship for 2018. Tahlia intends to study Psychology at the University of Wollongong. Tahlia’s mum, Michelle also attended the meeting.

Carl McEvoy our 2015 Scholar was also present. Carl has just about completed his degree and has developed a strong interest in film making. He is currently looking for jobs and hopes to get an internship with the ABC.

Last Thursday was fairly busy with our first Board Meeting for 2018 before the main meeting. The Board agreed to:

• Participate in Clean Up Australia on Sunday 4 March – about six volunteers are needs to help clean up around Mill Bay and the Board Walk to the Apex Park boat ramp.
• Donate $500 to the Surf Club in recognition of their assistance with the Duck Race.
• Donate $500 to Bermagui CRABS (Cancer Research Advocate Bikers) in recognition of their assistance with the Duck Race – we borrow their ducks.
• Purchase some Fluoro vests so that we stand out better at events such as the Busking Competition
• Form a 60^th anniversary committee consisting of Bob Aston, Rod Walker, Sandra Doyle and Laurelle Pacey.

This week we welcome well-known mixed media artist and author Rita Wagner as our guest speaker. Rita lives in Mystery Bay. Her entertaining books include ‘Menopause Makes Mummy Mental’. It should be a fun night so please invite partners and friends along.

Have a great week.

Around about

Narooma Scouts re-form and occupy Rotary project

Good news in Narooma News online that Narooma Scouts will soon start up again after a break of a number of years. Narooma Scout Hall on Taylor Lane, behind Bill Smyth Oval, was our Club’s first major project; it was built by our members in 1959/1960 re-using timber from renovations to Hyland’s Hotel. Narooma has not had a Scout troop for several years so the Hall has been neglected and looks somewhat sad with a fair amount of graffiti.

The new Scout leader Ross Tornabene asked parents and children aged between 10 and 15 to come along for a free ‘Try Scouting’ night on Wednesday this week, so hopefully he gets a good response. Mr Tornabene has a wealth of Scouting experience, most recently with the combined Moruya/Batemans Bay troop; for the last two years has been a Venturer Scout leader working with youngsters 14-18 years of age. He lives in Narooma so jumped at the chance to be a Scout leader here. He was also a member of the Volunteer Rescue Association back in the days when Neville Gough was leader.

Busking Festival Report

Organisation for the Busking Festival on Saturday 26 May is well underway. Festival coordinator Sandra Doyle reports Chris O’Brien has done an excellent job with almost all the Prize Sponsors filled ($8,000 worth) and many of the Busker Spots as well. We are also using NATA Oval as a site for some of our remote businesses to host a busker.

Registration forms have been sent to all schools up and down the coast and to all buskers on the Australian National Busking Championship database. Already some buskers have registered. All Service Clubs have been invited to again assist and all emergency services have been alerted to the date.

It’s all in the name, courtesy of Peter Bull

A tourist was walking through San Francisco’s Chinatown enjoying the artistry of the Chinese shops and signs. Then he saw a sign: ‘Moishe Plotnik’s Laundry’. He was intrigued.

He walked into the shop and saw a fairly standard dry cleaners, although it was obvious the proprietors were clearly aware of the uniqueness of the name with baseball hats, T-shirts and coffee mugs emblazoned with ‘Moishe Plotnik’s Chinese Laundry’ for sale. The tourist selected a mug and went up to the smiling old Chinese gentleman behind the counter who thanked him for his purchase. The tourist asked about the name. The old man answered, ‘Ah, eveebody ask me dat. It name of owner.’

Looking around, the tourist asked, ‘Is he here now?’

‘It me, me him!’ replied the old man.

‘Really? You’re Chinese. How did you ever get a Jewish name like Moishe Plotnik?’

‘It simple,’ said the old man. ‘Many year ago I come to this country. I standing in line at Immiglation. Man in front of me was from Poland. Lady at counter say to him, ‘What you name?’ He (Polish man) say to her, ‘Moishe Plotnik.’

Then she look at me and say, ‘What your name?’ I say, ‘Sam Ting.’

 

 

 

 

Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

Well it was back into the swing with our first dinner meeting for 2018. To start the year off Laurelle took us on a tour along the Mill Bay Boardwalk before we arrived at the Golf Club. Laurelle provided us with an informative talk about Narooma and its sawmilling, maritime, tourist and Aboriginal past. Thank you Laurelle for an excellent presentation.

This Thursday we start with a Board meeting at 5:00pm followed by our Youth night. We will meet our 2018 Scholar Alicia Bate as well as Tahlia Arnold. The Board has agreed to provide Tahlia with a one-off scholarship for 2018 only.

Don’t forget that the District Conference will be held 24-25 March at Mittagong. Speakers include the former Governor General Michael Jeffrey and Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of Adelaide Michael Sawyer. If you want to find out more about the conference click here. It would be great to have a good representation from our Club at the conference.

Have a good week everyone.

Bob

Out and about

Our 2015 Tertiary Scholar Carl McEvoy joins us this Thursday

It will be wonderful to be joined on Thursday by Carl McEvoy whose scholarship finished in 2017. He still has another year to complete his degree. Carl reported recently to his counsellor Angie Ulrichsen:

I will finish uni at the end of this year; however I’ve applied for an internship at both the ABC and Channel 7 in their television department. I’m very likely to get it with the ABC as they are in partnership with UTS. It directly ties to my degree and I will hopefully have an interview by the time I get back to Sydney. The internship lasts eight weeks and there is a likelihood of an offer to stay on at the end of it.  I would also like to stay on at university. I have been chatting with UTS Careers and a few of my tutors and would be interested in staying on and becoming a tutor. This would add an additional two years to my course, done part time.

I also have a film script in an online ‘prestigious’ script review company called The Blacklist, that marks and reviews film scripts. The scripts are compiled and marked by people in the industry then returned to you with notes and ways to market the script for sale. If your script is good it is passed on to agents. At the end of the year, the best film scripts are compiled into a list and released on ‘The Blacklist’. Over 300 Black List screenplays have been made as feature films. Those films have earned over $26 billion in worldwide box office and have been nominated for 264 Academy Awards. So it’s a good thing to be a part of.

So there are a few things going on; trying to chip away at the Australian film industry, remaining hopeful, and most of all really enjoying myself.

A call for RYDA volunteers

Narooma’s day at RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) is Monday 26 March at Moruya Racecourse, the week before Easter.  Our Youth Director Lynda needs two volunteers from the Club to host about 50 students from Narooma High for the day.

Lynda says it’s a fascinating day with presentations from local police officers, road accident survivors or family and other presenters.  ‘Given the terrible spate of road crashes over the holiday period, this program I think is one of the most valuable for all Year 11 students at our local schools,’ she said. If you can volunteer for the day please contact Lynda.

This Rotary Month and the Peace Bell in Canberra

February is Rotary International’s peace and conflict prevention / resolution month. It is very appropriate then that the Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin’s Peace Bell project will be launched at 10.30am on 23 February in the Nara Peace Park in Flynn Drive, Yarralumla ACT. Everyone is invited.

The Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin partnered with the World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) to raise funds and work towards placing the 23rd World Peace Bell in Canberra. Funds were raised to erect an architect designed pavilion to house the bell on the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin. The pavilion was designed by University of Canberra architect student Lauren Kasparek and her father Fred, a local architect. The design is based on a Japanese Fan and is made from core ten steel and RHJ girders.

This is Australia’s second peace bell, with the first being in Cowra. The Bell, made from donated melted coins of United Nations member countries, is a significant symbol of peace and has been installed in cities around the world. The WPBA is a Japanese organisation which attempts to raise awareness of the World peace movement by casting and installing Japanese temple bells in locations around the world. It was begun in 1954 by Chiyoji Nakagawa, with the goal of providing peace bells to every country in the world

A few bloopers from the US, courtesy Peter

‘I’ve never had knee surgery done on any other part of my body.’ Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

‘Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.’ Brooke Shields during an interview to become spokesperson for Federal anti-smoking campaign

‘Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice you passed away. May God bless you. You should reapply if there is any change in your circumstances.’ Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina.

Bob’s Blog

Hello Everyone

Well what a week!

It started last Thursday evening with the Narooma Australia Day Awards. It was great to see a good turnout of Rotarians at the function. Rotary was recognised for its contribution to the community as well as the Busking Championship and Renewable Energy Expo.  It was pleasing to see Laurelle recognised for her contribution to many community organisations, especially Narooma School of Arts and Rotary.

On Friday morning we awoke to the news that a former member and Past President, Terry Irvine received an OAM in the Australia Day Honours Awards. A wonderful achievement for Terry and justified recognition for his contribution to pharmacy over many years. It was also pleasing to note that Marg Saker, a former Narooma resident and active member of Quota, also received an OAM.

At 9 on Friday morning we headed to Narooma Bridge for our annual duck race. Despite all the changes to the start time because of the president’s inability to read a tide chart, we had an excellent crowd turn out to watch the launch and race. I must say it was one of the best contested races I have seen with most ducks sticking to the main channel rather than taking detours under the boardwalk. The winner was from Safety Beach in Victoria and the last place went to a Wagga resident here on holidays.

Saturday saw Narooma Motors’ Fourth Annual Car Show on NATA Oval. A large variety of fancy cars were on show and a wonderful crowd turned out to check them out. Congratulations to Narooma Motors on a great event. The food van did a roaring trade feeding the crowd with sausages, steaks and bacon and egg rolls. Lynn reports that we took $1199.00 on the day.

Sunday saw us front up again at NATA Oval, this time for our January market. We had an excellent roll up of stallholders and all looked good for a bumper market. Unfortunately the rain started to tumble down about 8:30am dumping approximately 40mm on the oval, causing us to call the market off at around 10:00am. Of course, the sun came out about an hour later and those stallholders who stuck it out seemed to do well. We took $1,575 at the gate and ended up with $159.80 in the van after some of the food was paid for out of the till. Unfortunately we had a lot of food wastage. We will offer some stallholders a credit towards our February market.

Thank you to everyone who helped out during the week. There are too many to mention here, however please be aware your commitment to Rotary is appreciated.

Don’t forget it’s back to our meeting schedule this week with our normal ‘Rotarian Presents’ night followed by our dinner meeting at the Club.  Laurelle will start us off at Mill Bay at 5:30pm with a short stroll along the Boardwalk looking at some of our local history along the way. We will then move to the Club for dinner at 6:30pm.

Have a great week.

Bob

The Week that Was

Tertiary Scholarship

Alicia Bate has been awarded the 2018 Narooma Rotary Tertiary Scholarship. In announcing the award at the Australia Day presentations last Thursday, President Bob spoke about the bequest that makes the $9,000 scholarship to a student from Narooma High possible. Alicia is the 28th student from Narooma High who has benefited from this bequest, assistance that now totals almost $240,000.

Alicia has deferred her studies in Animal and Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University for a year so she can undertake a bovine embryo transferring course in the USA.  Lynda Ord said the interviewing panel was particularly impressed with the fact that she organised the course, her accommodation and work experience at a vet clinic through a number of contacts in Australia. Next year she will start a Bachelor of Animal Science and then hopes to transfer to a Bachelor of Veterinary Science/Veterinary Biology.  She was unable to defer a Veterinary Science course so accepted a place in Animal Science instead.

The Duck Race

The winning duck 208 was held by Melanie Reid of Safety Beach in Melbourne, who won $1,000. The last duck was 543, held by Tamara Prowse of Wagga Wagga who won $100. President Bob presented the cheques at Narooma Motors’ Car Show on Saturday. Proceeds from the race will go towards Australian Rotary Health and the Club’s Tertiary Scholarship fund for students from Narooma High. Donations will also be made to Narooma Surf Club in appreciation of their assistance and to Bermagui CRABS (Cancer Research Advocate Bikers) who lend us the ducks.

This Thursday

Please meet at the Mill Bay end of the Boardwalk ready for a 5.30pm start. Some of you might like to organise a car at the netted beach car park, rather than walk back to Mill Bay.  The walk will end at the netted beach. I am looking forward to sharing with you some aspects of Narooma’s fascinating history.

Cheers

Laurelle

A few bloopers, courtesy Peter

‘It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.’ Al Gore, former US Vice President

‘We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?’ Lee Iacocca, former  American automobile executive (best known for spearheading the development of the Mustang and Pinto cars while at Ford  in the 1960s, and then reviving the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO in the 1980s. He was a passionate advocate of U.S. business exports during the 1980s.)

‘We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.’ Colonel Gerald Wellman, Instructor with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC is a group of college and university-based officer training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces)

‘Traditionally, most of Australia ‘s imports come from overseas.’ Kep Enderbery, a judge and a former Cabinet Minister in the Whitlam Government (and a lifelong champion of human rights, civil liberties and the underdog)

 

Bob’s Blog

Hello everyone

We had a great evening on Saturday. It was wonderful to see so many people attend our cocktail night; attire ranged from the very formal to the relaxed coastal style. We welcomed Gordon Bentley, his wife Di and son Scott as well as Neil and Gloria Jenkins and their daughter, Andrea as guests.

Di Bentley won the lucky door prize, taking away a door that is sure to bring her luck during 2018. Other raffle prize winners included Neil Jenkins who won a Santa biscuit barrel, a couple of bottles of beer and a pair of scissors. Rolf won a wonderful leather chair that he refused to take home; Frank won a ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ DVD and John Doyle won an empty box. Thank you to Therese, our daughter Jen and to Therese’s sister Ruth who kept the food and cocktails flowing, without their help the night would have been pretty dull.

As members know we have a busy week ahead with the Australia Day Awards on Thursday evening.  We are in the running for the community event of the year and we will also announce our 2018 Tertiary Scholarship winner.

On Friday the Great Annual Duck Race will take place with ducks racing from the bridge to Apex Boat Ramp. We have decided to start the race at 9:15am due to the tides, so please come along and help out if you can. All tickets have been sold, thank you to all who helped selling tickets, especially, Michael and Ang who sold the bulk of the tickets.

Please don’t forget the Narooma Motors’ Car Show on Saturday and the Markets on Sunday. I understand  John Doyle has most roster spots covered; however, additional helpers are always needed.

Our normal meetings start again on 1 February with Laurelle Pacey taking us on a history tour of the Boardwalk. Please be at the Mill Bay end of the Boardwalk at 5:30pm, after the talk we will head to the Golf Club for our normal meeting. We will hold our Annual Youth Night on 8 February.

Have a great week.

Bob

Taking stock 

Australia Day Ceremony  25 January

Lynda Ord encourages as many Rotarians as possible to come along and support the Australia Day Award presentations on Thursday 25^th at Club Narooma at 6pm (Note change of venue and time). It is a prestigious time for ourClub what with the announcement of our Tertiary Scholar and a possible Australia Day Award. Some members will also be singing in the Community Choir.

Change in starting time for Annual Duck Race

Race organiser John Doyle and President Bob have changed the start of the Duck Race to about 9.15am to fit in with the tides. All the markets posters have a bit about the Duck Race at the bottom, so if you see one around town please change it to 9.15am.

The ducks will be launched from the bridge at about 9.15am on the 26^th and then proceed downstream towards the finish line at Apex Park boat ramp. The first duck across the finishing line wins $1,000. The last duck wins $100. Proceeds will go towards Australian Rotary Health and the Club’s Tertiary Scholarship fund for students from Narooma High. Donations will also be made to Narooma Surf Club in appreciation of their assistance in recovery of the ducks and to Bermagui CRABS (Cancer Research Advocate Bikers) who lend us the ducks each year.

Saturday – Narooma Motors Fourth Annual Car Show

Narooma Motors will host its Annual Car Show on Saturday 27^th on NATA Oval. We will be helping out with the food van.

Cars will be coming from many car clubs. The gates open to entrants from 7am. For non-entrants the gates open from 9am. 2EC will broadcast from 10am. Entrants close at 12.30 so judging can be completed by 1.30. Prizes will be handed out before 2EC’s Kimmy Saker departs at 2pm – 10 trophies and cash prizes. There will be face-painting, balloons and a jumping castle for the kids, prizes and giveaways.

Holiday Weekend Markets

The Markets this Sunday 28^th promise to be even bigger than the December markets.

Cheers

Laurelle

 

 

Bob’s Blog

Hello everyone

Welcome to 2018!  I hope each and every one of you had a great Christmas and a relaxing start to the New Year.

As always seems to be the case, the year ahead looks to be a busy one for Narooma Rotary. Take January for example, with Australia Day Ceremonies, the Duck Race, Narooma Motors Car Rally and our monthly markets all to take place over the long weekend – please help if you can.

To ensure that we have a bit of fun to get us in the mood for a good 2018, don’t forget this week’s cocktail party at our place this Saturday from 6pm. It will be a great night with interesting cocktails, mouth-watering’ mocktails’ for the non-alcoholic drinkers, beer and wine, and top class entertainment. I encourage you to dress in bright cocktail wear. The cost will be $20 per head and will include drinks and finger food (there is no need to bring any food).

Therese and I are looking forward to seeing you. Please let me know if you, your partner and friends will be coming by this Thursday.
Please bring your sold and unsold Duck Race tickets so that we can finalise the Duck Race.
Have a great week. 

Taking stock 

December Holiday Markets

The December market on Thursday 28 December was the biggest ever. Chris reckoned it was an all-time record for the gate, never having topped $2,000 before. We had 112 sites occupied by 77 stallholders. It was a huge effort by Chris and the team who marked out, purchased and organised food, staffed the gate, did the barbecue and sold great tucker from the van. A special thank you to the Doyle family who also helped out in many ways.

We also had a very successful day selling duck race tickets. Michael and Ang with great moral support from Mal & Judy, and Peter & Julie Hartley sold more than $1,000 worth of tickets; a wonderful achievement.

Narooma ceremony on 25 January

Lynda Ord encourages as many Rotarians as possible to come along and support the Australia Day Award presentations on Thursday 25^th at Club Narooma at 6pm. This is a new venue and time for Narooma’s celebrations. It is also a prestigious time for the Club because at the ceremony President Bob will publicly present the 2018 Rotary Tertiary Scholarship to Alicia Bate. Some of our members will also be singing in the Community Choir.

 Friday’s Duck Race is fair to all

Our race judges have now declared all 1,000 ducks fit and ready for racing in our annual Australia Day Duck Race. This is a great relief to all Rotarians who all uphold the Four Way Test, especially ‘Is it fair to all concerned’. After the judges’ scrutiny, we can definitely say ‘yes’.

Race organiser John Doyle said the 1,000 ducks will be launched from the bridge about 10 on the 26^th and then proceed downstream towards the finish line at Apex Park boat ramp where judges and stewards will have taken up position.  ^‘We’re hoping for perfect weather, good crowds and a quick race,’ he said. The first duck across the finishing line wins $1,000. The last duck wins $100.

Proceeds will go towards Australian Rotary Health and the Club’s Tertiary Scholarship fund for students from Narooma High. Donations will also be made to Narooma Surf Club in appreciation of their assistance and to Bermagui CRABS (Cancer Research Advocate Bikers) who lend us the ducks each year.

Saturday – Narooma Motors Fourth Annual Car Show

Narooma Motors will again host its Annual Car Show on Saturday 27^th, this time on NATA Oval. We will be helping out with the food van.

Peter and the Narooma Motors crew have invited as many car clubs as they could and entry is free. The gates open to entrants from 7am. For non-entrants the gates open from 9am. 2EC will broadcast from 10am. Entrants close at 12.30 so judging can be completed by 1.30. Prizes will be handed out before 2EC’s Kimmy Saker departs at 2pm – 10 trophies and cash prizes. There will be face-painting, balloons and a jumping castle for the kids, prizes and giveaways. The last hoorah will be a ‘supercruise’ around town, on a route yet to be finalised, for those who wish to take part.

Holiday Weekend Sunday Markets

Chris O’Brien reports the Markets on Sunday 28^th, the last Sunday in the school holidays, promises to be even bigger than the December markets. John is ensuring we have all hands on deck so will be doing a ring-around for the few empty roster slots.

Cheers

Laurelle