Julie’s Jots
We’re all really looking forward to the arrival of our Finnish exchange student Hilma Koskiniemi; we hope she has an absolutely wonderful year with us. Hilma arrives on the 25th July, the same day as our annual Cinders Trivia Challenge.
Last Thursday was my first Board meeting as President and we achieved a lot. Discussion about what’s planned for the next 12 months points to another really fulfilling year for our Club. Plans include sponsoring a three-student team from Narooma High to the Model United Nations Assembly in Canberra next month (more details below) plus two students from Narooma High to the Engineering Summer School in December (more details next week). Sponsoring students to the week-long Engineering school is something our Club has supported in the past.
This Tuesday (8th) a few of us are cooking sausages for a PCYC event organised for NAIDOC Week in the Sport and Leisure Centre. PCYC is supplying the food; we’re just cooking using the Centre’s kitchen. We’re gathering there abut 11.30, ready to serve up about 12.30. If anyone would like to assist (no idea how busy we will be), just turn up.
The great Cinders Trivia Challenge with Moruya Rotary Club is on the 25th. Please invite family and friends to join us in the fun and to contribute to our Narooma Trivia ‘brains trust’.
Hilma says “Hi!”
Greetings from the Arctic Circle! My name is Hilma and I am a 16 year old girl from northern Finland. The exciting news is that in just a couple of weeks, I will become an exchange student and start a new life in Narooma! That’s something I am very excited, but also a little nervous about.
Here in Finland I live in Lapland in a city called Rovaniemi. I think that Finland is maybe best known for its winters and white snow. Rovaniemi is no exception. Although it can be beautiful out here, the long winter also means almost constant darkness for at least five months of the year. That’s one of the reasons why I am really happy to travel to the other side of the world and finally see the sun!!
Besides the different weather, there are also plenty of reasons why I wanted to become an exchange student and come to Australia. I think that I am naturally a very adventurous and curious person. Maybe that’s why I think that a year spent so far away from home seems like a unique and fun chance for me, rather than something super scary. Australia as my final destination is truly a dream come true.
I said earlier that I am 16. In Finland it means that I have just finished my first year of high school. I am currently in the middle of my summer holidays. During school term, I spend my evenings either swimming or in volleyball practice. Swimming and volleyball have been my hobbies since elementary school. I really hope to have a chance to do those things while I am in Narooma too! More than anything, I am looking forward to trying as many new things as I can and gaining special, once in a lifetime experiences!
All in all, I am very excited to get to know all of you, when I am finally coming at the end of July!
THIS THURSDAY 11TH July
6 for 6.30pm at the Golf Club: Club Dinner – previously called Club Assembly, and very briefly ‘This is Us’. We wil be hearing a bit about her life from one of our new members Ann Hegerty. Please make sure you tell Gero by noon Tuesday if you are coming or not (it affects which room we have).
The Week that Was
We inspire Narooma High students
Narooma Rotary will again sponsor a team of three Narooma High students to the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) in Canberra next month with teacher Monique Wicks. Director Ange Ulrichsen reported at the Board meeting she recently met the team of Harmony Cannon Yr 11, Ruben Smithers Yr 10 and Bethany Owen-Roberts Yr 10.
MUNA is a competitive project where senior students participate in a UN Assembly-style debate in the Museum of Democracy (Old Parliament House) with teams from other schools across NSW and the ACT. They debate resolutions from the point of view of the country they were allocated. It’s an invaluable experience promoting international understanding and goodwill.
In past years NHS has been allocated a country in the Middle East which has been particularly challenging; this year the team has been allocated the United Kingdom which may also prove to be just as challenging following the upheaval in British politics with the elections.
MUNA is on 16-18 August. The students and Monique will report back to us on their MUNA experience the following Thursday (22nd August). It is always an inspiring night so please invite partners and friends.
Community benefits from expanded Whale Watching Raffle
Our dynamo David McInnes, also Chamber of Commerce Secretary, has expanded Narooma Rotary’s annual Whale Watching Raffle into a community raffle with the theme ‘Experience Narooma’. “We’re giving this community concept a go,” David said with enthusiasm plus. Reports to last week’s Board meeting suggest it certainly will be ‘a goer’.
Thanks to the generosity of local businesses there is a substantial first prize – winner takes all. It also offers various community groups the opportunity to benefit by selling tickets in the raffle, retaining 80% of proceeds. The balance will go to Narooma Rotary to cover costs and to contribute to the Carers’ Accommodation project at the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital (CAERH). Benefits include sparing organisations the task of soliciting raffle prizes and it possibly reduces the number of raffle requests to local businesses.
Prizes are:
- A whale watching tour for two (Narooma Charters)
- Two nights accommodation waterfront cabin (Easts Holiday Parks Narooma)
- 2 x 4hr E-Bike Hire with Gourmet Picnic (Southbound Escapes)
- 2 x $70 Meal Voucher (Club Narooma/ Club Dalmeny)
- $30 voucher (Montague Coffee, Narooma)
The Chamber of Commerce has contributed to printing costs. Several organisations have already taken tickets, for example Tilba Public School’s P & C to sell at the Tilba Festival. Our Club will also sell tickets at the July and August Narooma Markets. It will be drawn 7th September.
We embrace ‘People of Action’
Our Club is embracing Rotary International’s dynamic ‘People of Action’ campaign to more accurately describe the extraordinary work Rotary Clubs do. It is designed to help each club tell its story of local impact. You will see our branding as ‘People of Action’ gradually roll out in coming months.
It strives to bring Rotary to life for those who don’t know us by showing the difference Clubs like ours make in our communities. It also ensures that no matter where you are in the world, Rotary’s message is the same. Rotary unites leaders around the globe behind one goal: to do more good, to work together in their communities to inspire, transform, connect and celebrate what’s possible.
Out and About
Donation to Cobargo Scouts
The Club has received a lovely note of appreciation from 1st Cobargo Scouts for our $500 donation towards the cost of sending their large contingent to the Next Australian Jamboree in January. It came with this photo. A similar amount was donated by Bega Rotary. We wish them well.
1st Cobargo Scouts includes young people from Narooma to Bega. Over 20 intend going on what should be a fabulous experience. They have been working hard for some months with raffles to raise funds for their travel and accommodation. They will send us photos from the Jamboree.
From Batemans Bay Club
The Bay Club has a long association with medical students from the ANU Rural Medical School while they’re on a year’s rural placement in the Eurobodalla as part of their training. The Club also awards two scholarships each year to the Year 3 students.
Last week the Bay’s guest speaker was the School’s Associate Professor Karen Flegg who spoke about one aspect of the student’s rural year – their time in the Outback. Usually, only one of the medical students based at the Bay selects to experience this form of rural medicine, but this year all four have gone.
They fly to Alice Springs for orientation and then are disbursed to remote areas. Associate Professor Flegg spoke about the experience they will have, such as at Yuendumu which is over 3 hours NW from Alice Springs, a town of 1000 people. There is no mobile coverage, the Big Shop and the Little Shop, a very strong Arts community and football is an important part of town life. The Medical Centre has an in-house Pharmacy with basic medications. Doctors are in town on four days each week, but most medical centres are run and organised by nurses. On the students’ return, they share their experiences with Bay Rotarians which is a highlight of the Club’s year.
Invitation to Batemans Bay Changeover
RC Batemans Bay Changeover or ‘Rollover’ will be on Thursday 18 July at the Soldiers Club 6 for 6.30pm. Secretary Neil Simpson needs to know by 11 July. District Governor Rob Uhl will be attending. There are dress guidelines… “This is collar and tie event gentlemen. Rotary honours are to be worn.”
NEXT THURSDAY 18th
No Business Breakfast. They resume in September after a winter break.
6.30pm: Social Dinner at Food Mantra by Wildlfire Restaurant (just near the bottom pub). We need firm numbers beforehand.