Julie’s Jots
What a great night last Thursday! First we heard from Rory Spurgeon, our 2020 Rotary Tertiary Scholar on his next academic adventure which will be 12 months at Oxford University! Rory has been a delight since receiving his Scholarship, keeping us up to date with his studies and interests. We wish him all the best for the future.
Our next guest speaker was our delightful exchange student Hilma Koskiniemi from Rovaniemi in Finland. Hilma met those members of the Club she had not yet met and gave a wonderful presentation about her family, interests and her homeland. We also celebrated her 17th birthday. I am sure she will have a wonderful year with us.
This coming Thursday we’ll have a relaxed get-together in the Dining Room in Lynch’s Pub. Please let Gero know by Monday night if you are attending or not. Thank you.
On Saturday I will be going to Canberra to attend a training and orientation weekend for inbound and outbound exchange students and parents.
THIS WEEK
This Thursday 15 August – Lynch’s Restaurant 6.30pm booking.
Everyone invited. Order off the menu; please contact Gero by noon Tuesday at the very latest to say whether or not you are coming and whether you are bringing any guests.
Friday 16-18 August: MUNA
Narooma High’s three-member debating team is off this weekend to the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) at the Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House) in Canberra. Our Club is again sponsoring a team from Narooma High – Harmony Cannon Yr 11, Ruben Smithers Yr 10 and Bethany Owen-Roberts Yr 10 – with their teacher Monique Wicks. They will represent the United Kingdom.
Ange Ulrichsen says if you have never been to watch, it is well worth going. Our students will report back to us the following Thursday, on 22August. It is always a great evening.
The Week that Was
Last Thursday
As President Julie has said, last Thursday was a top night. It was so good for all of us to finally meet Hilma Koskiniemi after looking forward to her arrival for so long. Hilma’s wonderful presentation gave us a great introduction to her family, her community, her city of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle (the ‘Gateway to Lapland’ and the rest of the Arctic area’) with 60,000 people, and the extremes of Finland’s seasons. Santa Claus Village is located in Rovaniemi, the official hometown of Santa Claus; loved that Hilma worked as a Post Office Elf in the Village.
Where Hilma and her family live couldn’t be more different to here. In summer (June-August) with the long school holidays, there’s only a couple of hours of darkness (11pm-1am), while winter has only a couple of hours of light, the Northern Lights and temperatures of -30 ºC but photos showed a winter wonderland. Needless to say, our winter doesn’t feel like winter to her and she’s looking forward to our summer and light, sun and surfing. Loves skiing, volleyball and boating with her family. She speaks Spanish as well as English.
Hilma explained that Finland is a republic, a member of the European Union and recently became a member of NATO. Languages are Finnish and Swedish. It’s a land of lakes and forests as well as climatic extremes. She spoke of the indigenous people the Sami who inhabit an area across northern Finland, Sweden, Norway and part of Russia and have their own unique languages.
Despite the winters, the Finnish people were recently found to be ‘the happiest people in the world”. Part of the reason she suggested was that opportunities are the same for everyone, rich or poor.
Hilma thanked Susanna (as do we all!) for all her work that has resulted in her being here. It was also lovely to welcome the new Narooma High Principal Tracy Scobie last Thursday who has been most helpful in assisting Hilma into the school. We all know Hilma will have a wonderful and rewarding year with us.
Rory Spurgeon has made the absolute most of his time at the ANU, doing brilliantly academically graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) majoring in Physics and Chemistry while at the same time having a great time on campus socially and with sports. His last year at ANU was spent on a research project in the Chemistry labs but brought in his Physics with modelling what was happening. No surprise then that he is now off to Oxford University to do his Masters. We all wish him well.
Prostate Cancer Support Group
Spring is in the air! Monthly get-togethers of the Prostate Cancer Support Group resumed last Wednesday (7/8) after a two month winter break. President Julie was pleased with the turnout, five men including one new face, as well as Mike Young and her. The next get-together is Wednesday 4 September 6.30pm at Narooma Golf Club.
Out and About
Registration is open for District Conference
The District 9705 Conference is in Mittagong, 25-27 October. Our District has 73 Rotary Clubs, 4 Rotaract Clubs and several Interact and EarlyAct Clubs.
NEXT WEEK
THURSDAY 22nd August 6 for 6.30pm: Narooma High’s team to the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) will report back on their MUNA experience. Please invite partners and friends to what is always an uplifting evening, and please ensure you book with Gero by noon Monday 19th.
SUNDAY 25th August – our August Market David will circulate the roster over the coming week; hope you can