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President's Message
Michael Reed
President's Report No 43
We had 33 members, partners and guests join us for dinner on Monday, along with 5 people ‘online’. It was terrific to welcome our Business Award Recipients, Presenters and Sponsors.
We had Garth Symington; a visiting Rotarian from North Balwyn Rotary Club join us too.
Chrissie read us the invocation and made the toast to Rotary International and our Club. Thanks Chrissie.
I have received sad news of the passing of our Treasurer Malcolm Slaters father. Our thoughts and very best wishes are with Mal, Debbie, and the Slater family.
We received a Thank you card from the friends of Pt Addis, thanking us for the donation enabling them to purchase a sign to advise people of and to warn those with dogs to keep well away from the Hooded Plover Breeding Area.
On Saturday 28th May, Rhonda is arranging a working bee at a farm in Paraparap. This will take place during the morning, with everything (except manpower!) provided. Secretary Allan circulated an email advising of this event. Please call Rhonda for any further details.
John McDonald has moved into his new residence. John now resides at Lions Village. From the couple of photos, I saw on Monday, John looks like he has a very comfortable place. From all reports, John has already had several visitors! All the best with settling into your new abode John.
Don’t forget if you wish to have an article published in our club’s annual report – you must have all the information to Lesley Shedden, by email, before Wednesday 1st June.
District Changeover is on Sunday 3rd July, in Ballarat. If you are looking at attending, please book in, as numbers are limited.
Last Monday, we had an online meeting with some of the members of the Rotary Club of Rizal West, discussing a ‘Sisterhood’ arrangement between our two clubs. With the collaboration between our clubs, we can be more aware of what each club is involved with, partake in online meetings and activities, and look at some joint ventures in the future. We are looking forward to meeting some of the members of the Rotary Club of Rizal West when they come to Melbourne for the International Convention next year.
Then it was over to Trevor Hall. Trevor and his team have put a lot of work into and done a fantastic job with the business awards.
We welcomed the very happy recipients and presented them with their award and a gift voucher. Thank you to our sponsors, to Trevor and his team …. And congratulations to the award recipients.
District Assembly was launched online Tuesday evening. It was great to see some members from the club join in online. District Assembly continues for around 10 days, with many articles and presentations for everyone in Rotary. All recordings of the presentations are available to view – so if you missed a presentation, you may have been interested in, you will be able to log on and watch it through the District 9780 Learning Centre, you all have access to.
Monday 16th May we have an online meeting. This will be followed by our monthly board meeting. The board meeting will be a joint meeting, involving members of this year’s board and next year’s board members.
The team from Great Ocean Road Nursery won the Retail Award
Customer Jack Hannan for Modest Folk Cafe accepted the Cafe award on their behalf
Rachel Parker from Ocean Mind, Winner of Community Service Award
Award winners with President Michael Reed and Sponsor Warwick Brown from The Times News Group
Last Monday, 9th May, night saw the culmination of the Vocational Service sub committees Business Excellence Awards project with the presentations to the winners for 2022.
The evening commenced by thanking the board and club members for their assistance in helping establish this new initiative.
Many Thanks to the Sponsors of the awards, Surf Coast Times who provided advertising for the winner of the Café /Restaurant category and Rip Curl who provided two $500 gift vouchers for the Retail and Community Service categories.
The first award winner in the Café / Restaurant category was the Café Honest Folk. This trophy was presented to Jack Hannan by Warwick Brown Managing Director of Times News Group.
Mike Reed then presented the Community Service category winner to Rachael Parker from Ocean Mind, followed by the Retail category winner to Great Ocean Road Nursery, accepting this award were Brian, David and Lauren Brennan.
The evening concluded with photos of the winners in preparation for an editorial article in this week’s Surf Coast Times.
To view a video of the Awards Presentation CLICK HERE
“Would all those embarking on Club Leadership in the 2022 – 23 Rotary year, please book their place at the District Assembly Departure Gate now!”
District Assembly 2022 will be a virtual / online event commencing with the launch on Tuesday 10 May 2022 at 7:30pm (Vic time) online via Teams. The Assembly continues through to 26 May with a range of live and recorded training and information content for all areas of Rotary service, with the online District Learning Centre being the central platform for this training.
All Rotarians are invited to attend. This training is especially important for your 2022 - 2023 club leadership team. Registering for the launch ensures you have access to the District Learning Centre.
We have been invited by Landcare to assist local farmers who have reimagined their farms using regenerative farming practices. This is so fabulous for micro ecosystems and farming in general.
One of our local farmers has adopted regenerative practices to support ecosystems and biodiversity on her farm. Saturday 28/5 we have been invited to help a planting workshop on this property I attended last week.
I encourage all members to assist in this wonderful project so if you are interested in participation in this Farm Visit please contact Rhonda 0488388115 for enquires or registering your involvement.
Registrations are now open for The Push-Up Challenge 2022, so jump in! We'd love to have you be a part of it.
Join the amazing online community for The Push-Up Challenge as we stay connected, get fit, learn about mental health and have a bit of fun along the way.
All the while supporting Lifeline Geelong & South West Victoria.
In 2017, The Push-Up Challenge was created as a way to make a positive difference to mental health in Australia.
This year, we’re going to push big,
we’re going to push-up, and we’re going to push
for better mental health
We would like to give people across Australian like you, the chance to get fit for tomorrow’s challenges and show your support for mental health in Australia. 💪
If you think you have what it takes, go solo or grab some mates and challenge yourself to 3,139 push-ups over 24 days in June.
WHAT'S DIFFERENT THIS YEAR?
• This year your target is 3,139 push-ups. To represent the number of lives lost in Australia to suicide in 2020.
• Our event app has a few new, funky features up its sleeve
• A whole lot of new, surprising and insightful mental health facts to get you thinking
• We have some sweet, new merch for you to push-up in style
• You will be able to support Lifeline Geelong & South West Victoria and our local community.
You will be able to aim for 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of each day's target. As always, alternatives to push-ups are welcomed and encouraged.
Please click on the above image to read the article from the latest edition of Rotary Down Under for details of how you can assist the citizens of Ukraine through the Rotary network.
The Rotary Australia World Community Service website at https://directory.rawcs.com.au/41-2021-22 is our donor page, still being worked on, but with the completion of the business case, we will start our fundraising from March 1.
As an aside, Lucy received the following message re our project from the Governor of the Gulf Province Chris Haiveta
Thank you, Sis, for your tireless efforts to Assist our village over the years through the foundation.
I am committed to supporting you and the foundation as you prepare to widen your coverage on critical issues.
We are working with a couple NGOs in the Province already and can provide you the letter of support.
I suggest that we formalize the support and collaboration through an MOU.
In the meantime it would be much better to send a profile and EOI from the foundation to me aa head of the Provincial Government so that we can commence to formalize the relationship.
As a club president, you play a critical role in keeping members informed about the Rotary Peace Centers programs. Encourage club members to use their professional and social contacts to find potential candidates. They can also support the program by coaching candidates through the application process and connecting them to districts that can endorse their applications, a required step in the application process.
These resources can help you and your members recruit candidates for 2023 Rotary Peace Fellowships:
Take the All About the Rotary Peace Fellowships course to learn about qualification requirements, eligibility restrictions, the application process, and more.
Use our referral form to tell us about potential candidates, and we’ll follow up with them.
As we grow our certificate program, we are particularly seeking qualified candidates for our peace centers at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) and Makerere University (Uganda). The one-year program is intended for working professionals and requires 11 weeks of on-site participation. We are looking for candidates with a minimum of five years of relevant work experience (the average age for this program is 42). Graduates receive a post-graduate diploma in peace studies upon completion of the program.
Candidates have until 15 May to submit applications to The Rotary Foundation. Trained Rotary endorsers have until 1 July to submit endorsed applications to The Rotary Foundation.
Send any questions about the fellowship program to rotarypeacecenters@rotary.org. Thank you for your dedication to the Rotary Peace Centers and your help educating Rotary members and your community about the fellowships.
Sincerely, Rotary Peace Centers
Rotary Peace Centers are made possible by the generosity of donors.
WHAT WE ARE COLLECTING AND WHERE TO DROP OFF ITEMS
Bottle Top Lids
Cause:- Lids4Kids is a nationwide 100% volunteer project to rescue plastic bottle lids
from landfill to benefit the environment and kids. Lids4Kids hopes to rescue eligible lids from landfill for projects that benefit all Australian kids in need.
So if you could collect milk bottle tops for recycling to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill., you will contribute to Torquay Rotary’s Environment Project
Just remove the yellow, blue or red plastic top from milk bottles, wash clean & pop into a container .
Maggie Isom will let us know when we can drop off to a bin at Coles Supermarket 41 Bristol Rd Torquay
Cause :- Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, who collect them, sell them to recyclers and turn the cash into wheelchairs for people who can’t afford them.
Cause :- Recycle for Sight Australia a joint effort with Torquay Lions Club to send old prescription glasses to overseas communities where people cannot afford them.
Cause :- A Rotary "Donations in Kind" joint exercise with the Rotary Club of Boroko to disperse to needing schools in PNG. They need books that are used in Australian schools from Grades Prep to 8. Plus story books for younger children for grades Prep to 3.
Shekhar and Rashi Mehta at their home in Kolkata. Rashi painted the picture Mother and Child, behind her.
When I met Shekhar almost 20 years ago, he was busily manning a booth at the Rotary International Convention. His enthusiasm and energy in showcasing his club’s projects were infectious. A project man myself, I was inspired by the work exhibited at the booth. That casual encounter developed into a strong friendship.
Shekhar is a visionary leader. He always sees things others can’t. He envisaged a way to eradicate illiteracy in India by 2025 and designed the TEACH program (which stands for Teacher support, E-learning, Adult literacy, Child development, Happy school). He started the Shelter Kit project that now is in the vanguard of disaster relief in India. His Saving Little Hearts project, which provides heart surgeries to thousands of children, along with the more than 15 eye hospitals he helped establish, which have served hundreds of thousands, speaks to the scope of his dreams.
Ravi Vadlamani
Rotary Club of Guntur, India 2001-02 governor of District 3150
He has an exceptional talent for building teams and driving them to achieve their goals. Shekhar’s programs and ideas may seem larger than life, but he always walks the extra mile to make Rotarians feel at home.
His power of dreaming big is backed up by planning, perseverance, and patience. He’s an excellent communicator who connects with his audience instantly and can motivate people to move mountains. He is also a family man, ably supported by his spouse, Rashi.
Shekhar’s X factor as a leader? Nobody is able to say no to him when he asks for something.
District 9780 Governor for 2021-22 is John Clue from Rotary Club of Port Fairy
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.
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