I hope you've all had a great week and enjoying getting out and about a bit more now that some of the restrictions have relaxed.
Big thanks to Grace Ramirez & the other Team Members from the Rotary International South Pacific & the Philippines office in Paramatta for their presentation at last weeks ZOOM meeting. I hope that you found out some "New" Rotary info, I know I did.
At this week's meeting we have Melinda Gill presenting on the 'Survivors to Thrivers' program that our club has supported in the Philippines. It will be very interesting and well worth jumping onto our zoom meeting at 7 pm tomorrow night.
The Board is working on our Changeover and hope to have more details in the coming week on how that is going to look. Can all Directors please be sure to get their Annual Reports to Secretary Lesley ASAP so she can compile the Club Annual Report.
Finally a big thank you to Neil Henderson for running "Jokers Wild" over the last weeks. The final draw had us on the edge of our seats hoping our name would be drawn but the eventual winner was Greg 'Plugga' Plumridge!
I look forward to seeing you all online tomorrow night.
Anton was inducted as a member of the Rotary Club of Geelong on 23 May 1999 and it was exactly 21 years later to the day, on 23 May 2020, that he passed away. Anton was President of the club in 2008/09 and spent many years as a member of the International Committee, chairing it in 2004/05. He received a Paul Harris Fellow recognition in 2004 and in 2011, he received “The Avenues of Service Citation” which is the highest a club can make to a member. In January 2015, Anton received an Order of Australia Medal for service to the community of Geelong. Anton’s great passion was Papua New Guinea and he started leading teams to the Oro Bay area in 2001 and over several years succeeded in putting on a water supply and water treatment system to St Margaret’s Hospital in Oro Bay. For example, following Cyclone Guba in 2007, Anton was instrumental in developing and implementing a plan to relocate and rebuild Sariri Village near Popondetta in PNG, after it was demolished by the cyclone. This was a multiyear project which continued for well over 10 years. Anton took annual teams to PNG many times to assist in the construction of a new school, cyclone-proof houses, water and sanitation systems and solar power to the village. Anton also helped coordinate the purchase of a portable sawmill with the help of several clubs in the District to enable the village to establish a timber cutting and milling business to support the project. Anton also sourced a playground from the City of Greater Geelong and relocated it to the school and facilitated setting up a village committee to manage the business. In 2005, following the devastating Tsunami in South-East Asia, a committee of local business leaders in Geelong (InterAct) was set up, chaired by Anton, which coordinated and funded a new medical centre in Vilankulam in Sri Lanka, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Trincomalee. In addition, water and sanitation facilities were provided to the village and a container of medical equipment was sent from DIK for the centre. Anton went to Sri Lanka to undertake the preliminary project appraisal and then followed up with a final inspection. Anton also participated in many local Rotary projects in Geelong. The major project he coordinated was the building of the White Cottages at the McKellar Centre. Stage 1 of the project was initiated in 2008 and involved the development of two self-contained one and two-bedroom residential units with disability access for visiting families at the McKellar Centre facility (palliative care). It was completed in 2012. In 2013, Stage 2 of the project was initiated to design and build two motel style units from three unused rooms located behind Units 1 and 2, specifically designed for Doctors’ overnight stays at the McKellar Centre. This was completed and handed over to Barwon Health on 1 July 2014. Anton was a member of DIK Geelong for over 20 years and was District DIK Chair in 2008/09 and 2013/14. He was D9780 RAWCS representative from 2007/08 and was District Chair in 2008/09 and 2013/14. He was instrumental in the shipping of containers of donated goods to many Pacific Island countries as well as Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, and many other countries. Since its beginning, DIK Geelong has sent more than 340 containers to many varied destinations with all goods being shipped as requested by the recipients. The above are just a few examples of the great work Anton undertook in his time in Rotary. Anton was passionate about his work as a Rotarian, always committed to helping others, and particularly our neighbours in developing countries, with his tireless work through DIK. A truly extraordinary man, who will be sadly missed.
Following a review of the Aqua Box project by the Rotary Club of Eltham, it has been decided to wind up Aqua Box Australia.
Falling donations and significant increase in the cost of a premises to assemble and store the boxes have made the project unviable.
The Rotary Club has been supporting this project for some time. Whilst there are still a number of boxes assembled, ready for despatch, these will be distributed as the need arises, they are no longer accepting donations.
RAWCS have been informed and the project has been closed on their books. It is intended to contact donor clubs in the near future.
The Rotary Club of Eltham wish to extend their thanks for the support they have received from D9780 clubs.
Draw 1: Rob Harris - but no Joker. Wine won by Mal Slater and Alan Anderson
Draw 2: Mike Reid - again no Joker. Wine went to Gerard again (3 bottles in last 3 weeks!) and Simon Egan
Final Draw for $300 Jackpot: All names including those listed above went back into the barrel. Name upon name was then drawn until the Joker was eventually uncovered by Greg Plumridge. Congratulations Greg!
Thanks to Grace Ramirez & other staff from the Rotary International South Pacific & the Philippines office who really entered into the spirit of the game making selections for Rotarians who were not online for the draw, and they all stayed to the end. I hope everyone enjoyed playing. We'll give the game a rest for now, and will look to give JW or something else a run In the new Rotary Year.
The closing session for this year’s Assembly is scheduled for Thursday 4th June @ 7pm. Keep your eye out for the invitation which will sent out shortly. Following this meeting we will be seeking your formal feedback on this Assembly so we can improve for next year.
While this is the formal end of the Assembly, the Learning Resources will remain available online via the District Website.
Thank you to all,
Philip Beasley
DG 2020-21
Please follow the links below to view full details of the program and to register. Should you require further information please contact President Elect Jan Emmett.
If you are unable to participate in any of the District Assembly programs or have not yet had a look at the Learning Centre at rotary.org I can highly recommend that you complete a 15 minute session that will show you how to navigate your way around the "Learning Centre"
Torquay Rotary are now meeting online every Monday (excluding public holidays) at 7:00pm. All Members are invited to participate and we have resumed a program including Guest speakers and some fun activities.
Visitors and Guests are very welcome. If you would like to join us please
Here's a challenge for everyone...….in these "different" times in which we are living there are more and more Clubs now holding on-line meetings so now it's easier than it's ever been to do a make-up.
You can do them from the comfort of your own home and you don't even have to get dressed up.
Let's have a club challenge to see who can do a make up form the most interesting city. Be sure to grab a screen shot of your meeting and send to me for the bulletin.
What a great way to meet other Rotarians from around the world and to find out how they are living through the COVID-19 lockdowns.
To make it easy the Rotary Club of Mount Lawley in WA have begun compiling a list of Clubs who are now holding On-Line Meetings to view the list click the link below.
Whilst we all are dealing with the COVID 19 Virus and the restrictions this has placed on our Club Meetings and all of us personally, future meetings will held through the ZOOM Platform.
All details for how to log into the Zoom Meetings can be found in the article elsewhere in the Bulletin, on the Club Website & Facebook pages. remember that Guests are also available.
Club Members and friends come together over the airwaves to meet and chat socially .
There are a few more interesting speakers arranged , so I hope you can join in & enjoy the connection
Date
Presenter
Meeting
Host
details
Mon 1st Jun
Melinda Gill
Robyn O'Loughlin
Renewsyia Foundation - vulnerable employees in the Philippines
To read DG Rosanne Kava's latest District 9780 eNewsletter CLICK HERE
Rotary Down Under April 2020 Edition 626 CLICK HERE
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION 2023
Melbourne has been announced as the host city for the 2023 Rotary International Convention, the largest conference secured this century for Victoria.
Melbourne is a Big Events City! Set to deliver over $88 million to the Victorian economy, the Convention is the most valuable conference ever won for the state, with the four-day event anticipated to attract more than 20,000 Rotarians from around the world. The global spotlight will be on Melbourne and how we present ourselves to the world.
The Convention will take place 27-31 May 2023 using Rod Laver Arena and the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre for functions.
Watch this Space for further news as it comes to hand.