Meeting of 21 January (first meeting of 2019)

President Daryl welcomed 19 members & guests to our first meeting for 2019.  Guests included Peta, Tim, Charlie & Jackson Wykes (our guest speaker), Heather McK, Jan N, Maree J, Lorraine H, Jan B, Claire M, Helen L, Anne B, Susan G & her guests from Germany, Oemer, Lotta & Marcel.  Apologies from Ian J, Henk H, John B, Myffy C, Bern M & Garth P.

President Daryl thanked all those who helped out on NYE with setting up the food van, cooking & cleanup,  plus selling raffle tickets, which brought in a great figure of $1100.

Daryl also mentioned there would be no meeting next Monday due to public holiday & asked if anyone would be interested in attending Wagga Rotary Club meeting on Thursday night, Jan 31 in lieu of our meeting.

Neil M spoke on the upcoming Peace Ceremony to be held on Saturday, February 23, at 4 to 4.30 followed by fellowship and dinner.  Please keep it in mind to support;  much planning has to be undertaken.

Our exchange student Jackson Wykes has returned from his year in Finland and gave a verbal & slide show on his experiences, mainly outside of school. He was hosted by three different families, most of whom had children of similar ages to him.  Jackson spent much of his time out of school hunting, mainly deer, birds & rabbits, which he got huge satisfaction from.  When the snow was around he also spent lots of time on the snow skiing, which he also loved, and playing ice hockey.  Jackson concluded by thanking our Rotary Club for sponsoring him for the experience of a lifetime.  Daryl thanked Jackson for his presentation and for representing our club (and Australia!) well during his stay overseas.  It was clear to those who saw Jackson speak before and after his stay in Finland that Jackson has matured significantly over the year and become a more confident speaker (with a more refined accent!).

The raffle was won by Howard’s partner, Anne.

 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Which famous person made this quote? 

“I don’t swear much; I’ve taken those words out of my vocabulary, and having kids, you have to have two sets of language!””

 

DIARY

Saturday, 2nd February – Doing it for Drought-Affected Kids. Wagga, 9:00-11:30 am: Dick, Bruce, Don; 11:30-2:00: Alex, Daryl, Wayne.

Monday, 4th February – Regular meeting & planning for 2nd half of the Rotary year.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Monday, 11th February – Regular meeting.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Thursday,  14th February – Bingo.  Community Centre Hall, 6:45 – 10:00. Henk  (Captain),  Dick, Anne & Rod.

*Monday, 18th February – Speaker meeting: Leo De Kroo.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

*Saturday, 23rd February – Rotary Peace Ceremony.  Lion’s Park, Coolamon, 4:00-4:30, followed by fellowship and dinner.

Saturday, 2nd March – PETS 2019-2020, DGE John McKenzie. Young, 09:15-17:00.

Saturday, 2nd March – D9700 District Leadership Team Training, DGE John McKenzie. Young, 14:00-16:30.

Saturday, 2nd March – PETS Dinner, Presidents Elect 2019-2020, DGE John McKenzie. Young, 19:00.

Sunday, 3rd March – PETS Presidents Elect 2019-2020, DGE John McKenzie. Young 9:30-15:00.

Thursday,  14th March – Bingo.  Community Centre Hall, 6:45 – 10:00. Neil (Captain), Don, Leslie & Dave.

Easter Saturday, 19th April – Coolamon Rotary Markets, Up-To-Date Store, Coolamon. Details TBA.

Sunday, 28th April – DisTec 2019, DGE John McKenzie. Young, 10:00-16:00.

Sunday, 26th May – District Assembly. Young, 9:30-15:00.

Friday-Sunday, 29-31 March – D9700 Conference, Griffith.

Saturday-Wednesday, 1st -5th June – 2019 RI CONVENTION, Hamburg.

* 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.

 

 

January is Vocational Service Month

1 January, 2019

We hope you all had a wonderful silly season and were able to spend some quality time with near and dear ones.  We have some pics to share of our Christmas party and New Year’s Eve festival, along with a letter from Jackson Wykes, our outbound Rotary Exchange student who will be returning from Finland later this month.  Best wishes for a healthful and productive new year!

 

Bring on winter in Finland

Jackson Wykes, exchange student sponsored by the Rotary Club of Coolamon currently living in Finland

Hello again everyone …….

I still cannot believe how fast the year is flying by. Who would think we only have three months to go! Writing this makes me think how I need to make the most of every moment that I have left of this exchange.

Not a great deal has happened the past three months. Summer holidays had to come to an end and I have returned to school. It was a bit strange to have to get into a routine again, like getting out of bed early, but it didn’t take me long to adjust. School has changed a lot since returning from the break. I am now in senior school and everyone is very studious and striving to do their best. I attend all my classes but probably distract others in the class as I know school is not counting towards anything for me. Recently my school had exams. I had to do the maths exam. I wouldn’t say I did great as it was all written in Finnish and my ability to read Finnish is not great and possibly I haven’t listened all that well in class!

I’m doing all the basic subjects at school. I do one Finnish class a week which is helping me with learning the language. This has been really hard as everyone just speaks English to me. I love spending time with my friends at school and in my free time.

One big change recently was when I moved to my last host family, the Ilvankas. They are a really nice family and have made me feel like part of their family. On my first night at their house we put an Australian flag up on the wall in the living room. My bedroom is so cool.

My host dad is Jari and my host mum is Terhi. I now have one older host brother, Eero and younger host brother, Arvo. The Ilvankas have decided to only speak Finnish to me, so hopefully I learn a bit before I come home. I am understanding most things they say, but speaking it is a different story.

 

Eero goes to university, so I don’t see him too much. I’m very close with my younger host brother Arvo. I play in his ice hockey team and I go hunting with him almost every day. The Ilvankas go hunting all the time. Almost every weekend I hunt with my host father around where I live. It is a lot of fun and something that I am enjoying a lot.

I have been playing ice hockey a few times a week in Arvo’s team. I’m not very good, but I’m getting better. I really like ice hockey.

I have had one district camp in the last 3 months. At this camp we met in Tampere and I got to meet all the new exchange students in my district. Time has gone so fast that I can’t believe that was me 9 months ago! I have also had the opportunity to meet up with the rest of the new exchange students in Helsinki and Tampere.

I have also had a trip to the coast, a place called Pori. The beach is not the same as in Australia. It was not the best day, weather wise, but it was still very nice and a lot of fun.

I am really looking forward to the cold weather again. I loved winter in Urjala and I’m looking forward to the snow. I need to make the most of my time where there is snow in my backyard as it won’t be the same when I get back home.

Thanks for reading my report. With only 1 month left there is still so much to see and do.

Jackson Wykes

 

ROTARY CLUB OF COOLAMON Inc. 2018-19

Chartered March 3rd, 1971; Sponsoring Club Narrandera Rotary Club

 

President: Daryl Breust 0409 551 140

President-Elect: Wayne Lewis 6927 3501

Service Projects: vacant

Secretary: Paul Weston  6927 2972

Treasurer: Henk Hulsman 6927 3486

Rotary Foundation Director: Neil Munro 6927 3156

Club Admin Director:  Daryl Breust 0409 551 140

Youth Director: Dave McKinley 6927 8553

Membership Director: Wayne Lewis 6927 3501

Public Image Directors: Myffy Collette 6927 6313 / Bernadette Milne

Immediate Past President: Paul Weston  6927 2972

Sergeant @ Arms: Ted Hutcheon 6927 3349

Bulletin Editors: Sarah Collins 0448 118 003 , Grahame Miles 0428 694 448 & Paul Weston 6927 2972