(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
President's Message 24th August 2024
Bruce Turner
Greetings and welcome. Thank you for joining our online news and updates.
Another positive and heartwarming week as a member of the Rotary Club of Torquay.
It was a pleasure to welcome our District Governor, and Torquay Rotary Club member, Lesley Shedden and Rob to our club meeting for the official District Governor’s visit. This was a great opportunity for us to learn a little more about Lesley’s background, even though she doesn’t like speaking about herself, along with a brief account of what is happening within our District and current areas of focus.
As an official DG visit this also provided the opportunity to give appropriate recognition to two local volunteers with DG Lesley presenting Lucy Loco and Ned McLarnon. Thank You Certificates and Letters of Appreciation on behalf of RAWCs for the work on the Lese Oalai project in PNG.
The heartwarming aspect of the week has been twofold. Firstly, it was fantastic to have such a great number in attendance, including a number of our past members, for our meeting and secondly our participation in the Landcare project which was another huge success (short report in Community Service article).
Thank you to those who enthusiastically participated in our TV Auction. The donation of the TV by the Cairn’s Family resulted in $260 raised for Rob’s DG partner project “RAM”. Well done all, the TV has been safely delivered and is now the hands of winning bidder Amanda Hough.
Save the date Saturday 5th October: Rotary Club of Grovedale/Waurn Ponds. A Night of Hypnotic Fun. Buy tickets at: https://www.trybooking.com/CUECS $50 includes the show and supper. Drinks are available at bar prices. It would be great to see other Rotary Clubs or service clubs grab a table of 8.
Rotary Geelong East would like to extend to you and your members and friends, an invitation to join us on Tuesday 17th September for Footy Colours fundraising night. It doesn't matter which type of football you follow or which team, this is a fun night with entertaining speakers, quiz and prizes. Wear your footy gear (scarfs, caps, guernsey, sox etc.) - you could win a prize!!
Save the date Friday 22nd November: Bayside Geelong RC Trivia Night, venue Christchurch Geelong Hall, tables of 6-8 people, BYO drinks and food, cost and more information to follow.
Rotary District Conference will be held from March 21-23 beginning at the 13th Beach Golf Club and culminating at The Sands Resort in Torquay. The conference program will include a social golf event at 13th Beach course, nationally regarded Keynote speakers, and explore a range of topics of concern to Rotarians including the environment and sustainability, disease prevention, especially polio and malaria, health and wellbeing, especially mental health and saying no to family violence.
Torquay Rotary Business Awards
The Torquay Rotary Business Awards began as a Torquay Rotary Vocational Service project in 2022, and this year have grown into a larger and more ambitious event with awards celebrating excellence across seven categories and a gala awards night to be held at the Sands Resort on 18 November 2024.
Being a Rotarian can be busy and a bit hectic at times, giving a chance to contribute in some way to global or national impact projects or to focus energy on projects to benefit local Surf Coast people.
The second of our Landcare BBQs was held on Wednesday 21st August at Lake Modewarre. On this occasion, we supplied and prepared lunch for a number of volunteer families, 30 grade 4 students from Moriac Primary School and 12 young people from AllAboard. This was another amazingly successful day with 565 trees being planted. Thank you to our volunteers Rhonda Anchen (who coordinates our involvement in these projects), Gail Birchall (food ordering), Martin Duke, Richard Hawker, Garth Symington and Bruce Turner. If you who have not had the opportunity to participate in these events, I encourage you to do so as the opportunity to do so is extremely rewarding and heart-warming. Keep your eyes and ears open for future opportunities.
BBQ Rosters for upcoming BBQs:
Sunday 15th September – Cowrie Market:
At least 4 volunteers are required for each session. Trading hours are now 9:00 – 2:00;
