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President's Message
Jan Emmett
President's Report No 34
ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS:_
BATON RELAY, SUNDAY MARCH 21st at 9am
ALL ROTARIANS TO MEET IN FRONT OF ‘FRONT BEACH CAFÉ’ AT 9AM TO WITNESS AND SUPPORT THE SEND OFF OF THE R100 CENTENARY BATON ON IT’S FIRST LEG AROUND THE PENINSULAR AND THEN FINISH AT CHRIST CHURCH IN GEELONG
Good Evening everyone,
How nice was it to be able to welcome a new member into the club face to face on Monday evening? I would like to extend a warm welcome to Michelle to the Rotary Club of Torquay and I hope your future with us, Michelle, will be spent getting to know your fellow Rotarians, making new friends, and enjoying your time as a serving Rotarian.
It's always hard to do a short intro about a person coming into the club, so we hope that Michelle will be able to give us some insight into her life, serving in many roles, as a Registered Nurse. Her travels to some very interesting places, the homes where she's lived including London and the outback, and the experiences she gained along the way and of course what she’s currently doing now that she’s back in Torquay.
Now that we're back to face to face again it will be a good opportunity for us to have a few more ‘Rotarians Behind the Badge’ especially our more recent members. This gives us an insight to the person we see on a regular basis, but not necessarily know about their lives and experiences.
As I mentioned last Monday John McDonald and I were invited to join the Combined Probus Club of Torquay and preside over the changeover of President David Hoskins to Incoming President Liz Fowler. John presented the club with a certificate in recognition of their 15th anniversary serving as a Probus Club. It must be that time of year for Probus to induct new Presidents as I have been invited to attend the Zeally Bay Probus club AGM and to induct their new incoming President, who is a foundation member of the club and just happens to be the wife of one of our long serving Rotarians, Bruce Smith. Julie Smith’s induction will take place on Wednesday 24th of March at 10:00 am, and I would hope that anyone who knows both Julie and Bruce would go along and attend and support Julie on this very exciting occasion.
Last weeks presentation by Ewen Urquhart from Donations in Kind (DIK) provided us on updates of Geelong’s involvement in collections of goods to go overseas. I was saddened to read a report by RAWCS recently that…
I quote:
“Shipping goods has become more challenging. Shipping is slowing down, and ports are being bypassed. Our standard booking time was 1-2 weeks to get space on a ship, it’s now 1-2 months. This has also affected the availability of containers. There is a world shortage of available containers and the purchase cost has risen considerably.”
It is obvious that there is still a lot to be done and like everything it all cost money and with Covid’s influence on the world there is an even more reason to support DIK.
BATON RELAY, BATON RELAY, BATON RELAY…. Don’t forget to put this date in your calendars or diaries, as this is a very special occasion and a lot of fun too. You will see in the next couple of weeks a lot of promotion on this and there will be no excuse to forget. As there is a Board Meeting on the Monday following, members will not be having a meeting that night so no reason why you cannot attend this event on the Sunday prior… So, don’t forget Sunday March 21st. Be a part of the celebrations for the day and follow the Baton...!!
Ewen Urquhart has been a member of the Geelong Rotary Club for 30 years. He is the current Director of International Service and Chair of Donations in Kind (DIK) for District 9780.
Ewen has in recent years made a huge personal donation to Rotary by providing a large warehouse (“the Shed”) in Roseneath Street, Geelong. His donation removed the threat of DIK being closed in this District after losing the use of the previous premises.
Ewen spoke to the Torquay Club members and provided a clear picture about the objectives and operations of DIK generally and in District 9780. Importantly his talk provided Torquay members with ideas for project co-operation with DIK.
DIK is an Australia wide Rotary volunteer organisation. All workers are volunteers, both Rotarians and others. DIK collects and redistributes goods, principally donated by companies, hospitals, educational institutions, community groups and Rotary Clubs’ collections. Many goods are saved from landfill and about 100 tonnes of items are recycled and repurposed for recipients needs each year from the Geelong Shed.
DIK has a national manager and operates under the auspices of Rotary Australia World Community Services (RAWCS). The organisational structure includes local management committees and overseas teams
.
It was formed to enable Rotary Districts, Clubs and individual Rotarians to assist disadvantaged communities in developing countries through humanitarian projects. Goods are distributed through Rotary club projects in recipient countries and the wider NGO network.
Our local DIK project based in Geelong, assists displaced people, populations affected by natural disasters and villages without amenities. It aims to improve health, water supplies, sanitation and education in affected communities.
Workers unload and check goods, sort books, re-birth computers, test electrical equipment, drills, sewing machines and wheelchairs etc and load containers for shipping.
Operational costs are considerable and financed through Global and District Grants, Rotary Club donations, corporate donors, recipient organisations and individuals. Recipients are encouraged to cover local transport costs where they can. For perspective, a shipping container of goods costs around $10 000 landed in one of the Pacific island nations. The Torquay Rotary Club has provided an annual donation towards shipping costs of approximately $1000 for several years.
The Shed in Geelong has approximately 30 volunteers and is open on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and has generated great camaraderie between workers. Many workers are Rotarians from several local Clubs and DIK is always looking for further volunteers.
DIK Geelong does not have a website, but the West Footscray DIK website is very informative. Its website is https://rotarydik.org/
2021: the year we celebrate the Centenary of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand!
SAVE THIS VERY IMPORTANT DATE SUNDAY 21st MARCH
In 1921 four Rotary Clubs were created in Melbourne, Auckland, Wellington and Sydney. from there, Rotary and Rotaract clubs were created everywhere across Australia and New Zealand. What a wonderful achievement for our organisation: an epic milestone and now districts, clubs and Rotarians from across our region and indeed Australia have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to commemorate 100 years of doing good in the community, both at home and abroad, and to lay the groundwork for a new era for Rotary ‘down under’ into the future.
The Centenary provides an ideal opportunity for us to raise our profile in the community and to bring local colour and culture to our centenary, through the R100 Baton Relay
This is an event that will connect all Rotary Clubs across Australia and NZ with their communities.
The Geelong Clubs Rotary Centenary Baton Relay will begin in Torquay then travel through the Bellarine Peninsular into Geelong , with a display and an afternoon of activities in the garden at Christ Church cnr Moorabool & McKillop Streets, Geelong.
District Governor Phil Beasley with the R100 Baton
We need members to see this event as an important Club commitment , and would like as many as possible to support this MILESTONE in Rotary Australia. You will be joining other Club members in Rotary apparel to carry the Rotary 100 Baton along Front Beach Esplanade, then hand the Baton over to President Jan at the
Rob Emmett Playground.
Jan will travel in a Harley Davidson from Torquay and take the R100 Baton to Barwon Heads, where she will hand the R100 Baton over to Ocean Grove Rotary , it will then travel onto Queenscliff, Drysdale, Geelong East and into Geelong .
At 4pm dignitaries, and all other Clubs will join in the celebrations in the Christ Church garden with our very own Trevor Pickles and the Shy Boys playing the music, we hope as many members will join us there to celebrate this momentous year in Rotary Down Under .
Please indicate to Secretary Maggie secretarytorquayrotary20@gmail.com 0412713102
if you and you family can attend this important event in the Club & Rotary Australia's History
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE - SUNDAY MARCH 21ST at FRONT BEACH TORQUAY
Please remember that there will be NO Regular Rotary Club Meeting on Monday 8th March due to the Labour Day Holiday.
The following week on the 15th March we will be meeting again at the Lions Village when Michelle van Liessum will speaking to us all about Rotary Foundation
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.
As some of you experienced, we had a very successful , fun face to face meeting back at the Lions Village and then with the most recent short lockdown we went back to ZOOM !
So depending on the restrictions and as we agreed at the AGM last year we hope to have face to meetings as well as a few social meetings - to ensure we continue with our important Rotary social connections.
Date
Chair
Meeting Details
Meeting Venue
Mon 8 March
NO MEETING LABOUR DAY HOLIDAY
Mon 15 March
Maggie Isom
Michelle Van Liessum Rotary Foundation
Lions Village
Sunday 21st March
Jan Emmett
ROTARY 100 BATON RELAY
FRONT BEACH 9AM
Mon 29 March
Neil Henderson
Happy Hour Thank you to Book Fair Volunteers & Sponsors
Lions Village
Mon 5th April
No Meeting - Easter Monday
Mon 12th April
Mon 19th April
Short Club Meeting - Followed by Board Meeting
TBC -
Sunday 25th April
Anzac Day Service
Await Govt advice re go ahead
Mon 26th April
No Meeting if Anzac Day Service and March goes ahead
Mon 3rd May
Mon 10th May
Mon 17th May
Short Club Meeting followed by Joint Board Meeting
Rotary International President for 2018-19 is Holger Knaack
Holger Knaack, a member of the Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany, has been selected to serve as president of Rotary International in 2020-21.
A Rotary member since 1992, Knaack has served Rotary as treasurer, director, moderator, member and chair of several committees, representative for the Council on Legislation, zone coordinator, training leader, and district governor. He is an endowment/major gifts adviser and co-chair of the Host Organization Committee for the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg. Knaack is the CEO of Knaack KG, a real estate company. He was previously a partner and general manager of Knaack Enterprises, a 125-year-old family business. He is a founding member of the Civic Foundation of the City of Ratzeburg and served as president of the Golf-Club Gut Grambek. Knaack is also the founder and chair of the Karl Adam Foundation. Knaack and his wife, Susanne, are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation and members of the Bequest Society.
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.
