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President's Message
Ben Featherston
President's Report No 10
A celebration of experienced Rotarians and fresh-faced Rotaractors was had on Monday.
Thank you to Maggie for talking to us about her 30 years as a member of the Rotary Club of Torquay. The activities, people she has helped, and places that she has been over this time was inspiring. It was a pleasure to acknowledge her great experience and service.
A big thank-you also to Lekha and Sruthi, who joined us from the Rotaract Club of Djilang (Geelong). It was a great opportunity for them to introduce their club to our membership. It is motivational to see a club of active and enthusiastic young members, and we look forward to collaborating with them on future endeavors that our clubs are involved with.
John Weber, who is visiting us from RC Southern Mitchell, was also kind enough to give us a brief insight into his club and their activities. Thank you, John, we always enjoy hearing from visiting Rotarians to the club whenever we can.
A shout out to those members who manned the BBQ for the school children’s Landcare tree planting event on Friday. All members please be prepared to volunteer some time on the BBQ over coming months, as plenty of opportunities will arise.
A special note for your diaries, there will be no regular meeting on Monday 26th September. Instead, in lieu of our planned social evening, I am keen to have as many members of our club attend the Rotary Club of Geelong East's planned Social Night at the Movies, screening Baz Luhrmann’s ‘ELVIS’ on Tuesday 27 Sept at Pivot Cinema, 6pm.
Proceeds from the night will go to support the great work of The Rotary Foundation.
And finally, our thoughts align with sentiments expressed this week from Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, as they are deeply saddened to learn of the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Our condolences are with the Royal Family as they grieve for their Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother.
President Gary Clarke from the Rotary Club of Geelong East have invited us to their social night at the Movies on Tuesday 27 Sept at Pivot Cinema cnr of Verner St & Moorabool St Sth Geelong.
So we have changed our Monday planned social night to join them at the movies
From 6pm, you (you are welcome to invite your members & friends) are asked to put on your dancing shoes and get ready to shake, rattle & roll to Baz Luhrmann's 'ELVIS' starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker.
The movie has been described as 'Furiously Entertaining'. If you remember 'The King' then I'm sure you'll enjoy it. (And even if you don't remember Elvis, come along to see what all the fuss was about back in the 50's)
Our next chapter meeting will be held on Thursday 15th September at 6.30pm. We will be joined by PDG Jennifer Scott who will help us with Foundation grant applications in the environment Area of Focus.
Guest Speaker: Past District Governor Jennifer Scott is a member of the Rotary Club of Central Blue Mountains. She was District Governor of District 9690 in 2008-2008 and now serves as the Zone 8 Technical Coordinator for the Environment Area of Focus.
As the Zone Technical Cadre Coordinator, Jennifer will speak to us about applying for and achieving grants under the environment Area of Focus
Tuesday saw us working with Parks, Friends of Pt Addis and Wadawurrung Traditional Owners on preserving a cultural heritage site at Pt Addis. It was an honour to be invited to be part of this important work.
Friday was a fabulous day working with Moriac Primary school students, parents and teachers, Surf Coast Enviro Team, Torquay and District Land Care and Friends of Lake Modewarre. The wildlife corridor will be greatly assisted by this planting of 480 trees. The hardworking students were very appreciative of the Torquay BBQ crew who provided a lovely lunch. The day concluded with an informative session, which focused on the cultural significance of Lake Modewarre. Thank you to Melinda Kennedy, Wadawurrung Traditional Owner and Dr Heather Threadgold. Wednesday will be another busy day working with the students from Bellbrae Primary for another planting and providing another BBQ, Thank you to Cailtlin from TDLC for the great organisation.
Working alongside these fabulous groups enables us to have a greater impact improving our environment and this will be our major focus this year.
In May 2023, Rotary in Geelong is mounting the Geelong Drone Expo (the week before the International Conference in Melbourne). The Expo brings together business, the arts and community into an inspirational family day.
The attached brochure outlines the promotional opportunitites, with the Supporter category being developed particularly with Rotarians in mind. Contact details are in the brochure.
If you could add this to your facebook or website we would be mighty grateful!! The Expo will have a Rotary display area where visitors can see the great work we do. We hope also to attract some of the international Rotarians coming early to visit our great state.
Following the wonderful reception from Orange Sky for the Coats and winter clothing donated by Rotarians last year, and the chilly winter that we are experiencing we have been asked to continue collecting for them again this winter.
Please note that all the people receiving the coats are currently homeless and many have asked if there are any thermal pants or skivvies.
So please check your wardrobes and donate any warm skivvies or pants as well as coats which are always in demand.
I will do regular pickups from our central collection point in Torquay which the Birchalls have kindly agreed to do.
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.
Delegate registration cost for RICON23 in Melbourne changes depending on when you register. The earlier you register the more economical the price.
During Houston Convention timing (June 4th -8th ) if you register and pay for attending RICON23 you shall receive the maximum discount. From June 9th , the cost increases by $50. There is also a further increase after December 15th and then greater increases after March and April 2023.
Rotarians, Rotaractors and friends can obtain the maximum discount to attend RICON23. Registration and Accommodation Bookings are now available through the RI website on this link
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.
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.
2022-23 President Jennifer Jones is eager to advance Rotary’s narrative. To learn more of our RI President's vision and listen to her podcast follow this link RI President Jennifer Jones LINK
District 9780 Governor for 2021-22 is Kathy Rivett from RC of Alfredton
Kathy currently works in the travel industry and previously held positions in the Federal public service.
Kathy is married to David Rivett.
Kathy served as President of the Rotary Club of Wendouree in 2007-08 and worked with PDG Ken Broadbent in 2010 to set up the then Alfredton Satellite Club. With Kathy's support, Alfredton went on to charter in 2013, the first one to convert to a full Club. Kathy is a proud member of the Alfredton Rotary Club.
Kathy has been involved in a wide range of Rotary activities over the years including:
as a Youth Exchange Counsellor
serving on two District Conference Committees
as an RLI Trainer
working on FAIM Projects in Samoa, Cook Islands and Bali.
Kathy's particular love is Event Co-ordination, being a key player in organising Rotary activities including competitions, community events, concerts, expos etc.
LATEST PUBLICATIONS
To read the DG Kathy's latest District 9780 July 22 eNewsletter CLICK HERE
Rotary Down Under 2022 September Edition 653 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.