Bit of a change from last weekend - not much ☀️ about.
I’d like to give a big 🗣 to Gail Birchall and her band of savvy sewers who have been working hard to produce caps & masks for frontline medical staff via the Help Our Hospital Heroes. Fantastic effort & much appreciated 🙏
What a wonderful presentation last week by Moses Pulop and his Water Project in PNG💧. We were all speechless at the end of his very personal journey😶 It made me appreciate the privileged life I live here in Torquay. We look forward to hopefully working with Moses in the very near future - possibly even joining as a member🙌
Special mention to our online visitors who attended last week - RC Warrnambool (who have worked with Moses) and Bill Honeywell from RC Clitheroe UK (cycled the Great Ocean Road earlier this year). it was great to have you join us! 🙋🏼♂️🙋🏽
This week we have Grace Alvarez and the team from Rotary International South Pacific & Phillipines joining us for an update. All welcome to our Zoom meeting at 7pm😊
We are seeing Covid19 🦠restrictions ease in Victoria and will abide by the guidelines put out by the State Government in relation to face to face meetings. Until then we’ll keep on 🖥
Last but not least I am V E R Y excited for tomorrow night’s JOKERS WILD with the Chief if Fun - Neil Henderson who has 💰💰💰 to give away in the Jackpot!
At last Monday’s Zoom meeting, members at last had the opportunity to hear from Moses Pulop , and the wonderful water project in his village Komea in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea .
In about July last year, an email from Roger Skipsy from the Rotary Club of Mount Martha alerted us that Moses and his family - wife Vanessa and daughter Isla had moved to Torquay & he may like to come & speak about his village and even join our Rotary Club.
Moses story is that after a very lonely & traumatic childhood, in the village of Komea he was adopted by young Australian missionaries Andrew & Narelle , who brought him back to Australia when he was 10 years old.
The reason for his interest & motivation for the water project is that as a young boy he trekked up and back a mountain to gather water from a spring using hollow bamboo poles
This was a very tiring & dangerous process, resulting in very little water for the village
The water project begun in February 2019 was jointly organised through Roger Skipsey – Rotary Club Mt Martha and James Mepham-UNICEFF, and involved Tony Austin from the Warnnambool Club , who provided funds for Water Tanks, pipes & tap stands.
The villagers helped to dig the trenches for the pipes
Rolling the tanks into position
And seeing the results of running water !!!!
3000 Men, Women and Children in Komea Village and neighboring villages are now living their dreams. Enjoying what they describe as “ sweet” water meaning fresh, clean and quality. The children can enjoy a short walk (100-200m) to collect water.
Plans for 2020-2022
Concrete lid for current spring boxes
Harvest rain water by building shelters next to water tanks
Shower and toilet facilities
Torquay Rotary Club will be considering how we can assist with this Project and
We look forward to welcoming Moses, Vanessa & baby Isla into the Club in the near future
Having recently turned 60 I realised I have almost spent half my lifetime in Rotary having joined in 1991.
I married Simone in 1990 when Dylan was already 4 and he is now 35 and Madison wasn’t born until 1993.
I started playing football with Torquay in 1990 and didn’t retire until 1998 and then took up Athletics and am now
a grandfather twice over.
Generally I have had a great time at Rotary and it’s the members and friends of Rotary which make the Club what
it is today and will try and refer to most current members in Rotary and the first would be caterers from Gilbert &
Sullivan namely Rodney & Lorraine and what a team they make, and then there is Madam President Paul Kelly &
the Dots singing if I could start today again with Maggie May another favourite hit with Slater ruling the waves at
Bells, with Peter sticking to his bollen on the lawn under the old Birchall tree & Darrell brewin his own drinks and
who refers to Lloyd James and James Lloyd?
Then there is the member who is always D’Snoozing and our youngest member Young Ben but who ages everyday.
Every Club would have their member who are referred to as Angry but I don’t think our Club has one or am I wrong?
Our President Elect Jan will be following in the steps of her late husband Rob who was the only Agent I knew who
could unsell a house.
There is Fratboy Fratantaro and Garth Hammonica.
Don’t forget our twins Johnny Mac & Graeme McDonald and the name Richard can’t even spell so he is just Messyski.
If anyone needs a break you can always book with the travelling man Paul and then there is the legend you may not
forget who was often confused with Cowboy Neale. Then there is Howard’s Way and the Vet on the Hill with Dawson’s Creek rebooting this year on TV.
There is also the member who is always in a pickle and the Smith twins Ben & Bruce.
You can’t forget Dim Sims and Gaynor (back to) schols and then there is one of the engines making sure that the
Club stays on track who doesn’t Shedden her workload and thrives on more. story about a boy called Michael and it doesn’t matter where you look you can see a plum on the ridge.
The purpose of this long rambling email is that I would like the Board to provide me with a leave of absence until
With the kids going back to school on Tuesday and life for the parents goes back to some form of normality, being stuck indoors for most kids didn't stop them from still enjoying their up-most favourite activity.
They found ways by 'improvising' and of course thank goodness for Zoom, Skype and FaceTime most kids and a hell of a lot of Adults were able to carry on with these activities, be it exercising, art, cooking, DIY and so on..
Some very special achievements were also accomplished and I'm so very proud to say that one of those was done by my oldest Granddaughter, Khloe who is just 7yrs old.
She has been doing Taekwondo since she was 5yrs old and has managed to earn her way up already to her Blue Belt.. She has diligently trained during the lockdown every night in her own Dojang, completely set up in the garage, by her Dad who is also her personal coach, and followed all her sessions with her Master and classmates via Zoom classes.
During these classes she has managed to get to a point that her Master felt she was capable of entering into the Online World Taekwondo Championships, representing Australia in her age group, 6-8yrs. There was 600 entrants all up from 38 countries around the world and the competition was held in Argentina.
I'm so very proud to say that all her hard work has paid off as she came, in the female section, 3rd in the World and a 'Podium Winner' and the only female winner again in her age group to represent Australia..
So you could say that I'm one very proud Nanny as are all her family as well as the Master, who also is a 'Podium Winner' for his age group with a 3rd too, who practices what he preaches and gets great results all round..!
The Rotary Club of Torquay has 6 Battery Recycle cylinders (Bins) in the supermarkets around Torquay, which many of you would have seen. This is a great Community Service, and keeps used batteries out of landfill. Darrell Brewin has looked after this, and has been 'collection officer' for the club over recent time, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Thank you Darrell for your time spent coordinating and collecting the bins full of used batteries.
When the 'isolation period' commenced, there was a decision to collect the bins from the supermarkets, and place them in storage until restrictions eased. I collected the battery recycle bins, and stored them in our Rotary shed. Greg Plumridge went and emptied the bins, so they were ready to be placed back in the supermarkets - Thanks Greg -
As we entered some sort of 'new normal' the time had come to place these bins back into the supermarkets..... and the one in IGA was full. A staff member from IGA mentioned this to Howard Randall, who passed the message onto me. Following a discussion between Darrell, Secretary Lesley and our 'welcomed back' member Rob Harris - Rob has volunteered, and taken on the 'Collection Officer' role and coordinator of the Battery Recycle Bins. Many Thanks Rob for taking on this role.
Rob has been to each venue and placed his mobile number on each of the recycle bins, so as it nears full they can call him. This makes it real easy for the supermarkets.
Rob collects the used batteries, and drops them up to Torquay Tyrepower, where we have containers to put them in. From here, Tom Fratantaro picks the containers up, and takes them to the recycle depot in North Geelong.
I would like to thank Rob for taking on this role, Torquay Tyrepower for allowing us to use their premises to drop off and collect the used batteries, and Tom for collecting the batteries and taking them to the recycle depot.
Gail Birchall and a team of sewing people have been busy sewing scrub hats for hospital staff during the COVID 19 crisis Gail has done this on behalf of the Rotary Club of Torquay!! Thank you so much Gail & your team
Graham Gill had the first attempt to locate the elusive Joker last Monday but not successful. Either was Alan Anderson later in the meeting. Consolation prizes of wine were won by Brian Mynott, Trevor Hall, Gaynor (again!) and not to be outdone, Bruce Turner, whose name has now been drawn out on 4 separate occasions.
This Monday's jackpot has climbed to $210. Mary and I are going to be heading north to warmer weather now we have been released from Lockdown so if the Jackpot doesn't go off in the first 2 regular drawers tomorrow night then will keep drawing names until we have a winner. DON"T MISS OUT!!!
Final reminder for all players who have not yet forwarded their second $10 to Treasurer Mal to please do so. You would not want to be in arrears for the final Jackpot draws.
Be Sure to log on to this Monday's ZOOM meeting when we play the final weekly round of - JoKeRsWiLd
If you have any questions feel free to give me a call.
As we are unable to hold a Face to Face District Assembly this year the full training program has been created online with access available to all Rotarians in D9780. District has asked that Rotarians interested in registering do so by 4th April.
This Virtual Assembly brings some advantages over the Face to Face format that has previously taken place
You are able to participate in Assembly without the investment of a full day travelling to Stawell to attend.
You will be able to participate in more than the usual one or two breakout sessions that we are usually restricted to.
You have all month to complete any training that you under take.
Please follow the links below to view full details of the program and to register. Should you require further information please contact President Elect Jan Emmett.
If you are unable to participate in any of the District Assembly programs or have not yet had a look at the Learning Centre at rotary.org I can highly recommend that you complete a 15 minute session that will show you how to navigate your way around the "Learning Centre"
Torquay Rotary are now meeting online every Monday (excluding public holidays) at 7:00pm. All Members are invited to participate and we have resumed a program including Guest speakers and some fun activities.
Visitors and Guests are very welcome. If you would like to join us please
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 much of Australia deals with the tragedy of Bushfires many donation funds are being set up by both government and private groups, and one of the most commonly asked questions is
"Which Charity will ensure that your donation dollars reach those in need?"
When you donate through Rotary you can be assured that over 97% of the monies raised will go directly to those in need.
We are very saddened by the devastating bushfires in our district and across Australia. If you are looking to donate to help those suffering, it is important to make sure your donation is well directed. Below are details of 2 Rotary funds which are assisting those affected.
1. RAWCS - Rotary Australia World Community Service National Fire Appeal This is the only option for those who can only donate to a recipient with DGR (Donor Gift Recipient) status, or those who want tax deductibility on their donations. Go to www.rawcs.org.au to donate. To make sure the funds go to those affected by the fires in our district, tag the donation to ‘East Gippsland’. RAWCS do use 2.75% of the donations for administration.
2.East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid Committee This is an account of the Rotary Club of Bairnsdale with the funds controlled by the East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid Committee. Rotary Club of Bairnsdale Projects Account BSB 633000 Acct 165960451. Please email the East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid Committee when you donateeastgrotaryfireaid@gmail.com
Other worthy causes are:-
East Gippsland Hay Donations and transport costs
For those wishingto donate hayto East Gippsland or elsewhere it is being organised through‘Need for Feed’.
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is coordinating fodder relief for farmers affected by bushfires in Gippsland and the Upper Murray. The VFF has secured an agreement with the Victorian Government to facilitate the transport of fodder to affected regions. This includesreimbursement of freight costs for transport of donated fodder.
Whilst we all are dealing with the COVID 19 Virus and the restrictions this has placed on our Club Meetings and all of us personally, future meetings will held through the ZOOM Platform.
All details for how to log into the Zoom Meetings can be found in the article elsewhere in the Bulletin, on the Club Website & Facebook pages. remember that Guests are also available.
Club Members and friends come together over the airwaves to meet and chat socially .
There are a few more interesting speakers arranged , so I hope you can join in & enjoy the connection
Date
Presenter
Meeting
Host
details
Mon 25th May
Grace Ramirez
Grace & the team from
Rotary international South Pacific & Phillippines
Mon 1st Jun
Melinda Gill
Robyn O'Loughlin
Renewsyia Foundation - College scholarships for vulnerable youth in the Philippines
To read DG Rosanne Kava's latest District 9780 eNewsletter CLICK HERE
Rotary Down Under April 2020 Edition 626 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.
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