Rod’s Ramble
Hi all
We held a successful Assembly last week where it was decided that because we had no nomination for President in 2019-20, we would rotate former Presidents for periods of three months. The four Presidents would also be members of the Board for 12 months.
Charmaine volunteered to take the first three months from July to September and Laurelle and Ange agreed to take one of the other three month periods . That leaves one three month period to be filled.
Under the circumstances, this is a good result. Two factors impacted on this situation. Firstly a number of members are away for lengthy periods in 2019-2020 and we have some members dealing with serious health issues. Hopefully 2020-2021 will be better. We already have a President Elect in Rolf so that is a great start.
We were also without a Secretary for 2019-20. Sandra Doyle has agreed to be Correspondence Secretary while I have agreed to be Minutes Secretary, with the understanding that others would need to relieve us from time to time. I encourage all members able to assist by stepping up to these roles when needed.
Our next event is the Busking Championship on Saturday 25 May followed by the Markets on Sunday 26 May. All hands available will need to be on deck to help with running these events; hope you can help.
Also please keep in mind our Changeover on Thursday 27 June. Rod
The Week that Was
Last week
Our Club Assembly last week particularly focussed on how the Club would deal with having no nomination for president next year (see Rod’s Ramble). The outcome reflects everyone’s determination to ensure the Club’s survival and being able ‘to continue to do good in the world’ and in our own community.
Charmaine White raised the possibility of the Club assisting an exsiting solar power programme at an orphanage she visited during her time earlier this year on a dental aid project. This will be discussed further by the Board this week.
We also welcomed visiting Rotarian Lindsay Jones from the Rotary Club of Balwyn, a very active club of more than 70 members in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Lindsay said he found it very rewarding being a member of Balwyn Club. Their main fundraiser is their weekly Sunday Camberwell markets, going for over 40 years, which raises about $900,000(! surely there’s a nought too many!) a year to fund a wide range of charitable causes. They usually have about 400 stalls at $60 per stall, and the markets require about 20 people to run. He also mentioned the Club’s involvement with the Box Hill Miniature Steam Railway once a month
Lynn Hastings’ son Todd Hardingham also graced our table. He was visiting en route to Merimbula to do a gig as a professional photographer.
Laurelle gave the International Toast last week to all 61 Rotary Clubs of Sri Lanka, particularly the Rotary Club of Colombo Central, in the wake of the tragic bombings of three Christian churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka just days before. The only reference Laurelle could find on Club web sites to the bombings was this:
The Rotary Club of Colombo Central stands together and strong with the rest of Sri Lankans at this very difficult period. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost their loved ones. Once full verification is done to the current situation we will initiate projects to rebuild churches and assist families of the victims.
Our thoughts are with them.
Narooma Oyster Festival
Our Club decided it was not in a position to take the food van to the Oyster Festival’s Friday concert, largely because of the difficulty with manning it. That decision freed up some members to just enjoy Friday’s music and fireworks, with Charmaine’s daughter Lizzie fronting headline nine-piece powerhouse party band Big Boss Groove from Canberra. Fantastic.
Next week:
Our guest speaker Julie Kirk will talk about Red Cross services that are available on the South Coast. The range of services they provide these days is extraordinary so that will be particularly interesting. We will also be joined by our Assistant Governor Alan Russell of Batemans Bay.
Just a reminder May is Youth Services Month.
On another note:
Physicist Albert Einstein was not only a renowned physicist but also famous for some of his inspirational quotes, like these…..
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.”
.