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President's Message
Gaynor Schols
President's Report No 42
Monday 23rd April, 2018
This week it was my great pleasure to induct Ben Featherstone into our club. Ben is a local audiologist with a young family. Ben will be mentored by Dr John Oswald and is interested in joining the Youth committee. Welcome Ben and family!
We had a timely presentation from our guest speaker, Gordon Traill, on Victoria Cross veterans, just prior to ANZAC day. After returning from Iraq Gordon suffered PTSD but has since been the lead photographer for the book “The Victoria Cross - Australia Remembers” by Michael Madden.
Members were reminded that we all need Working with Children Cards and to sign the Child-Safe Code of Conduct. Without these records our club may not be fully insured.
Linda thanked all members for contribution of toiletries. The final load of shoe boxes will be distributed to bush fire victims soon.
On ANZAC day I was honoured to lay the Rotary wreath on behalf of our club. Many thanks to all our members who got up by 4am to help make the Torquay dawn service such a success.
On 28th April the Bunnings BBQ will be staffed by Trevor Hall, Peter Bollen, Mike Reed, Jan Emmett, John McDonald and Vernon D’Souza.
On 29th April seven board members for 2018/19 will attend the District 9780 Training Assembly in Ararat. Another early morning to get there by 9.30am!
A few points from the Board Meeting:
John McDonald has been nominated as Treasurer for 2018/19.
Kelly Binyon will apply to represent our club at BNI (Business Network International).
Rhonda Anchen will investigate what the Scouts need so we can make a presentation to Desley on 14th May to thank them for their contributions to our Book Fair (venue) and Motor Show (tents).
The board agreed to make donations to Shelter Box, Polio Plus and Torquay Fire Brigade. Funds will also be set aside for the Global Grant application, for a prosthetist in Tonga, and the District Grant to refurbish our BBQ trailer.
Michael Reed will organise working bees to sort and move books from Storage King to the Bellbrae container.
All 2018/19 board members are invited to join current board members for the next meeting on 21st May, before PE Trevor Pickles departs for Spain.
Monday 30th April
Our guest speaker will be John Birt, a two-time premiership player with Essendon, a duel Best & Fairest winner, former senior coach, football administrator, school teacher and cancer survivor.
John is bound to have some very interesting stories to tell!
Yesterday Maggie, John, Gaynor & Rudi, Chris Sims, along with Lois & Graham Gill visited Mary to celebrate her 85th Birthday. Thanks to you all for representing the Club marking this significant occasion with Mary.
Please remember......
Our darling Mary is now residing in the Residential section of Star of the Sea Horseshoe Bend Road Torquay
The place is lovely, but Mary is still adjusting to being somewhere unfamiliar and would love to see her friends from Rotary
She is still very thin & the staff are encouraging her to eat more
She would love any ice cream ! if you wanted to take her anything
When I visited her on Thursday, she was so glad to see me
She is in room 95 on the first floor
Go up in the lift & put this code into the keypad to enter
We're turning 30 and would like to invite the extended family of the Rotary Club of Torquay to join with past and present members to celebrate this occasion at Bellbrae Estate. CLICK HERE for more details and to RSVP
Date : Saturday 5 May
Time : 6.30pm -9.00pm
VENUE: Bellbrae Estate Winery, 520 Great Ocean Road
Karen and I are halfway through our French holiday and having the time of our lives.
We loved every minute of our 8 days in Paris and are now into day 4 of our river cruise through the south of France. At the moment, we are somewhere on the Sâone River between Mâcon and Lyon where we dock tonight for the next 2 nights.
Highlights so far have been Arc de Triomphe, Shakespeare and Company bookshop, Musée D'Orsay, Versailles, Paris Opera's production of Romeo et Juliette, Sacre Coeur Cathedral and every moment of our river cruise.
I look forward to telling you all about when we return.
A further update from the Chooks on the Run in Roma We’ve been ripped off twice, maybe three times. Not a welcoming city. Very poor we’re told. But today I got up early at 8am (!) and caught a cab to the ANZAC service at the Rome War Cemetery. Toni didn’t come-SHE slept in.... Met lots of lovely Aussies and a few men & women in uniform, then, as one does, retired to the Australian Embassy for a feast of iconic Australian dishes:- Anzac biscuits Sausage rolls Ham cheese or egg n lettuce sandwiches Lamingtons Pavlova Tim Tams Plus drinks. In a diplomatic coup I introduced an American Envoy and a British Attaché to sausage rolls, telling them to use all their military tactics to secure as many as possible. Mission accomplished-trade treaty made!
We then went to St Maggiore church - if Jesus walked into that ornate and gilded building what would he say?
Then to the Colosseum which was just bloody hard work - looking at a place where people enjoyed watching pain, torture, fear and death.
We are now fully operational with our new system for registering for our weekly dinner meetings. Called Whoozin, this program is used by other local Rotary Clubs with great success.
To make it easy for everyone I have prepared a Whoozin User Manual which is stored on Clubrunner under "Club Documents" that you will be able to print off if you wish.
In Summary the way it will work is:-
You will receive an initial email invitation each Monday for the following week's meeting.
You can immediately accept or decline, leave until later.
You will receive a reminder email on the Friday Prior
You will have until Midnight Sunday to register your RSVP and can change your decision right up until the closing time.
You can register up to 5 guests
You can specify any Special Dietary requirements
Please Note that if you do not register your intentions you will be charged for the dinner fee.
If you have any problems please free to contact myself Greg Plumridge 0418521321 or Michael Reed 0418524315 for details on how to work the program.
If you cannot meet one of your assigned duties, Please contact Bruce Smith to advise.
The duty team should arrive no later than 6:00 p.m. Besides the below duties, the assigned team is responsible for Room Setup, Greeting Members and Guests, and Room Tidy at the end of our meeting - see checklist in storeroom or click here .
Notifying someone about changes to your meeting attendance is your responsibility!
Our meetings have catered dinners, so if you are unable to attend a meeting, or if your partner is unable
to attend a designated Partner's Night, YOU MUST ADVISE us of your or your partner’s absence.
This also applies if you are attending the meeting but not dining.
How to Book in for our Dinner Meeting?
For Members, Partners and guests of Members
you will receive email invitations to each meeting via Whoozin.
It will be your responsibility to RSVP using Whoozin by Midnight on the day prior to the meeting.
The only exception to this will be if you are expecting to be out of internet connectivity for an extended period.
In this instance you can notify Richard Mierzejewski at LET Surfcoast on03-5261 2777 by 4.00pm on the Saturday prior to the Monday Meeting.
Please Note there is NO Answering Service on this number.
Remember if you are bringing guests or your partner (to a non-partner night) you need to RSVP for the extra number of person/s who will be attending.
If no RSVP is registered as per the above process, the absentee member will be issued with an invoice to pay the Club the usual dinner fee of $25 for your non-attendance, and/or that of your partner if it is an official Partner's Night.
For Visitors to the Club
Any Visitors not being registered as a guest of a Member must call Richard Mierzejewski at LET Surfcoast on03-5261 2777 to Book in. RSVP's must be made no later than 4.00PM on the Saturday prior to the Meeting
Please Note there is NO Answering Service on this number.