Coolamon Rotary Bulletin #1920-31

Meeting of April 6th

[There was no meeting on April 13th because of the public holiday.]

President Daryl welcomed 18 members and two guests to our second Zoom meeting, which will be our standard way of meeting until restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are eased.  Present in the virtual meeting room were members Daryl, Paul, John G, Henk, Grahame, Ian, Don, Anne, Alex, Albert, John B, Bernadette, Garth and Leslie.  Visiting Rotarians included David Benn (Rotary Club of Wagga Wollundry) and Chip Ross (Rotary Club of Strathcona Sunrise, BC Canada). One guest (Chez Post) also attended.  Apologies received from Myffy Collette, Neil Munro and Dick Jennings (eye accident).

President Daryl opened the meeting and welcomed our visiting Rotarians and our guest.

Henk Hulsman read the correspondence which included Rotary Down Under increase in annual cost of RDU magazine ($44/annum), letter of thanks from Marg Perkin for the gift that Grahame purchased for Marg on our behalf, and  Coolamon Shire Council bill for the community hall hire for our last bingo.

Paul Weston advised us that his daughter Nicole who lives in New York City may have contracted the virus, however Nicole is well and believes that she is now immune and is back at work (working from home).

Alex and Chez have been weeding and walking the dogs.

Don said it was a good time to plant the trees. Ian feels that they are best done in the spring after another ripping.  Albert suggested that water-retention crystals be used, regardless of when planting occurs.

Daryl thanked Henk and Albert for helping to complete the caravan shed.

David Benn says that Wollundry will start using Zoom soon and the Board has already met via Zoom.

Daryl said that Wagga Wagga was very quiet.

Chip Ross joined in and shared what is happening in Canada and noted that Canada was doing much the same as Australia.  Chip spoke about his club and what they have done on the international Rotary scale which includes:

  • Wheel chairs and prosthetic limbs for Chennai in India.
  • Water projects in Mexico together with their District 5060 and the Rotary Foundation. They are looking at a suite of projects raising over $200-300,000 US$ and are working with WASRAG (and WASH.
  • They will be supporting 4 villages in Mexico.
  • Chip said they had the same problems with lack of toilet paper in Canada.
  • Chip invited us to join his club one day on Zoom (our meeting started at 3 am for Chip!)
  • John G presented Chip with $20 Canadian in return for Chip’s $50 Aussie that Chip gave to JG in 2005 at the Chicago Convention.

The re was no fine session or raffle, but we’re working on a way to implement virtual fines and raffles!

Daryl closed the meeting at 8:35 pm and thanked everyone for attending and said that it was a most enjoyable meeting.  Our next regular meeting will take place on April 20th at 7:30 pm (via Zoom).

Coronavirus Update

Editor’s note: over the next few weeks, I’ll be including informational pieces on viruses in general and the coronavirus in particular.  After doing a bit of reading on the topic, I thought sumarising this information in non-technical terms might help members to better understand the nature of viruses and the biological basis of the current pandemic.

Caronavirus Briefing
Part 3 – How viruses cause illness.  Recapping from the previous two instalments, viruses are not living things, but are able to reproduce (replicate) by getting cells of a host organism to “read” the genetic material they carry and then manufacture more virus particles (the genetic material plus the protein coat that surrounds it).  COVID-19 is caused by an RNA virus, a group of viruses that includes the viruses that cause the common cold, polio and SARS (a respiratory virus that threatened the world several years ago, but then fizzled out).  The virus that causes COVID-19 (the name given to the disease) is technically referred to as SARS-CoV-2 and likely originated from a virus that infected bats.  Most viruses attack organisms only within one species, which is attributed to the presence of proteins on the surface of the virus that can only invade cells that have the appropriate receptor protein that can bind to the surface protein.  The virus SARS-CoV-2 is most genetically similar to a virus that infects bats, but a genetic change must have occurred to allow its surface protein to bind to proteins found in humans, perhaps after transitioning through a third organism.  This is what happened when SARS appeared several years ago; a virus from bats jumped to civet cats after a surface protein mutation occurred, and from civet cats it transitioned to humans.  In any event, 2019-nCov makes its home in the cells of humans, causing the disease known as COVID-19.  How does COVID-19 kill people?  When viruses invade our cells, the body recognises the foreign bodies and mounts a defence, which has two main stages, a short-term, rapid response by leukocytes (also called “killer cells”) and a longer-term, more targeted response that produces antibodies that neutralise the invader. As people age, they produce fewer of the cells that generate antibodies, which leaves most of the defence up to the non-specific killer cells. One of the main tools of the killer cells is the production of cytokines, which have the unfortunate side-effect of causing inflammation.  The inflammation caused by SARS-CoV-2 is centred in the lungs because there are more of the receptor proteins that bind to the viral protein there than in other tissues.  The inflammation in the lungs impedes oxygen exchange, which accounts for the breathing difficulty associated with COVID-19. Besides older people, those with chronic respiratory problems or cardiovascular impairment are at increased risk of dying from COVID-19, but there is much we don’t know about the virus because young, apparently healthy people have also succumbed to the illness. In the next instalment, we’ll look at transmission of coronavirus and the rationale behind strategies being used to control the societal impact of COVID-19.  – Paul Weston

JUST FOR LAUGHS

THE PUZZLER

Answer to last puzzler: The answer was a net.

This week’s puzzler:

 

DIARY

NB: All face-to-face Rotary events have been cancelled until further notice because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Board meetings will be held as previously scheduled but will be virtual meetings (conducted via Zoom).  Regular meetings will be held via Zoom on a trial basis starting on 30 March.

Monday, April 20th – Zoom meeting.  7:30-9:00 pm. See meeting invitation in SMS or email message sent to members for login details.

Sunday, April 19th – DisTec20 (District 9700 technology workshop),  Young.

Saturday, April 25th (ANZAC Day) – Catering for Trotting Club, Coolamon Showgrounds.

Saturday & Sunday, May 16th & 17th – District Assembly, Young. Income board members expected to attend.

Monday, May 18th – Club Assembly.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7 pm.

Wednesday, May 20th – Board meeting. Zoom, 7:30-8:30 pm.

June 6-10th – RI Convention, Honolulu.

Wednesday, June 17th – Board meeting. Zoom, 7:30-8:30 pm.

*Monday, June 29th – Coolamon Rotary Changeover. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club.

* denotes partner & guest night

 

REMINDERS

Please get your working with children check completed and give the number and expiry date to the secretary ASAP. Failure to do so may mean you are not covered insurance wise when you volunteer at events.

 

ROTARY CLUB OF COOLAMON Inc. 2019-20

Chartered March 3rd, 1971; Sponsoring Club Narrandera Rotary Club
 
President: Daryl Breust 0409 551 140
President-Elect: Howard Atkinson
Secretary: John Glassford
Treasurer: Henk Hulsman 6927 3486
Rotary Foundation Director: Neil Munro
Membership Director: Paul Weston
Service Projects Director: Howard Atkinson
Youth Director: Anne Rzeszkowski
Club Admin Director:  Dave McKinley
Club Services Director: Albert Suidgeest
Public Image Director: Grahame Miles
Immediate Past President: Daryl Breust 0409 551 140
Sergeant @ Arms: Albert Suidgeest
Bulletin Editors: Grahame Miles and Paul Weston
Webmaster: John Glassford
 

April is Rotary Maternal and Child Health Month Month

Coolamon Rotary Bulletin – #1920-30

Meeting of March 30th

President Daryl welcomed 18 members and two guests to this extraordinary club meeting, our first using ZOOM technology!

Present in the virtual meeting room: Members Daryl, Paul, John G, Henk, Grahame, Dick, Ian, Don, Myffy, Anne, Neil, Dave, John N, Howard, Albert, John B, Rod and Alex as well as guests Chez Post and Sarah Collins.

Henk read out correspondence, including letters from Coolamon Shire Council confirming occupancy of our new shed for the and the closure of the Community Centre Hall for all events, including Bingo.

Daryl briefly discussed some motions that were passed at our recent ZOOM Board Meeting.  The minutes of that meeting were sent to all members last week.

Anne confirmed the cancellation of RYDA this year.

Our Club will support the Coolamon Urban Trail by way of handling the grant money for Council to allow them to obtain 1-to-1 matching grants.

Coolamon Rotary club are supporting the Batlow RC in the construction of a Men’s Shed for Batlow as part of their bushfire recovery.  Our club will donate $10,000, matching the amount being contributed by Batlow RC.

Barry Lilywhite’s request for funds towards his stepson’s medical expenses was rejected. Individual members wishing to donate to the cause should visit Barry’s Facebook page.

Grahame advised members that Bingo has been cancelled for April and May, at this stage. Further cancellations are likely.

Grahame has arranged the purchase of a gift as a welcome home present for Marg Perkin after her recent hospitalisation in Wagga.

Daryl polled participants regarding their preference for weekly or fortnightly Zoom meetings for the duration of the NSW lockdown; weekly meetings narrowly won the day, so our next meeting will be next Monday, April 6, starting at 7.30 pm.

Grahame brought up the need to find a member (or members) willing to take over from Myffy in producing the Coolamon Community Chronicle. There was much thoughtful discussion, but no volunteers as yet. One or two members are needed to assemble the stories for the Chronicle and to distribute it to the various outlets around town (the paper will be put together by students from Coolamon Central School and their faculty advisor).   Discussion will continue over the next few months; if no members can take this on, we may have to look at paying a non-member to do the job.

John N asked about the finances for the Chronicle and Myffy explained how it all works. Myffy said there would not be an issue of the Chronicle in May because of the Easter holiday and that the April edition was going out very soon.

Daryl invited members to give a brief account of what they have been up to over the past few weeks under self-isolation and how they’ve been travelling.

We all wished Alex a happy birthday with some inspired (and some tired!) singing. Happy Birthday, Alex!

Albert was unable to fully participate in the meeting because of technical difficulties, so there was no fine session. The meeting adjourned at 9 pm.

 

Editor’s note: over the next few weeks, I’ll be including informational pieces on viruses in general and the coronavirus in particular.  After doing a bit of reading on the topic, I thought sumarising this information in non-technical terms might help members to better understand the nature of viruses and the biological basis of the current pandemic.

Caronavirus Briefing
Part 2 – Types of Viruses. Although all viruses have the same general structure (a protein envelope surrounding genetic material), there are some significant differences in the type of genetic material they possess and the organisms that serve as the host.  Before we look at the type of genetic material used, we need to delve a bit into the processes by which cells store genetic information and then convert that information into proteins and other molecules that make up all of living things. Genetic information is stored in cells in the form of DNA.  The information encoded in DNA is deciphered by the cell and transformed into RNA, another form of genetic material.  The copied genetic information in RNA is then used by tiny chemical “factories” (called ribosomes) to produce the end products (e.g. proteins, enzymes, etc.) needed to carry out cellular processes.  As we saw in the last instalment, viruses replicate by getting a host cell to read the genetic information carried in the virus, causing the host cell to produce copies of the proteins and genetic material that make up the virus. Here’s where the information about DNA and RNA comes in handy; some viruses carry their genetic information in the form of DNA and others carry RNA. Within these two broad groupings there are a number of variants, but the features that distinguish them are way beyond what we can cover here.  Suffice to say that viruses have been classified into seven groups, based on whether they use DNA (Groups I, II and VII) or RNA (Groups III, IV, V and VI) as their genetic material.  Well-known diseases caused by members of these groups include: I – chickenpox/shingles and smallpox; II – parvo (those with puppies are familiar with this one); III – rotavirus (causes gastro in children); IV – dengue, SARS, COVID-19, polio and rhinovirus (common cold); V – ebola, measles, mumps, rabies, influenza; VI – HIV/AIDS; and VII – hepatitis B.  In addition to the diverse means of replicating, there’s quite a diversity in the organisms attacked by viruses.  Most viruses are specific in what they attack; the examples listed above are caused by viruses that attack humans (and dogs, in the case of parvo), but viruses are known to attack every type of organism on the planet, even bacteria! In the next instalment, we’ll look at how viruses cause disease in humans (spoiler alert—it’s not the virus that causes the symptoms!). – Paul Weston

JUST FOR LAUGHS

Caronavirus bench

THE PUZZLER

Answer to last puzzler: The answer to last week’s riddle was memories.

This week’s puzzler: What what object has fewer holes in it after you tear a hole in it?

 

DIARY

NB: All face-to-face Rotary events have been cancelled until further notice because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Board meetings will be held as previously scheduled but will be virtual meetings (conducted via Zoom).  Regular meetings will be held via Zoom on a trial basis starting on 30 March.

Monday, April 6th – Zoom meeting.  7:30-9:00 pm. See meeting invitation in SMS or email message sent to members for login details.

Thursday, April 9thBINGO.  Rostered on are Neil (captain), Leslie, Bern and Rod (or MarieAnne).

Saturday, April 11th – Coolamon Rotary Easter Markets. Up To Date Store, 8:30 am – 1:00 pm. Volunteers will be needed to sell raffle tickets at the door and outside the newsagency.  The markets will be accompanied by the UTD Art Battle and will be followed by the town party being run by the Coolamon Shire Council (“Ditch the Dust”).

Monday, April 13th – No meeting (public holiday).

Wednesday, April 15th – Board meeting. Zoom, 7:30-8:30 pm.

Sunday, April 19th – DisTec20 (District 9700 technology workshop),  Young.

Saturday, April 25th (ANZAC Day) – Catering for Trotting Club, Coolamon Showgrounds.

Saturday & Sunday, May 16th & 17th – District Assembly, Young. Income board members expected to attend.

Monday, May 18th – Club Assembly.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7 pm.

Wednesday, May 20th – Board meeting. Zoom, 7:30-8:30 pm.

June 6-10th – RI Convention, Honolulu.

Wednesday, June 17th – Board meeting. Zoom, 7:30-8:30 pm.

*Monday, June 29th – Coolamon Rotary Changeover. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club.

* denotes partner & guest night

 

REMINDERS

Please get your working with children check completed and give the number and expiry date to the secretary ASAP. Failure to do so may mean you are not covered insurance wise when you volunteer at events.

 

ROTARY CLUB OF COOLAMON Inc. 2019-20

Chartered March 3rd, 1971; Sponsoring Club Narrandera Rotary Club
 
President: Daryl Breust 0409 551 140
President-Elect: Howard Atkinson
Secretary: John Glassford
Treasurer: Henk Hulsman 6927 3486
Rotary Foundation Director: Neil Munro
Membership Director: Paul Weston
Service Projects Director: Howard Atkinson
Youth Director: Anne Rzeszkowski
Club Admin Director:  Dave McKinley
Club Services Director: Albert Suidgeest
Public Image Director: Grahame Miles
Immediate Past President: Daryl Breust 0409 551 140
Sergeant @ Arms: Albert Suidgeest
Bulletin Editors: Grahame Miles and Paul Weston
Webmaster: John Glassford
 

April is Rotary Maternal and Child Health Month Month