Week of 22nd March 2021

President Howard welcomed 14 members to our first club assembly of 2021.  Items discussed on the night were:

• Meals served at our weekly meetings. Item to be discussed  by the catering committee.
• The new requirement for each club to have a Child Protection Officer.  Anne was appointed to this position because she is currently the Youth Director.
• RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness), which will be held this year after a year hiatus owing to COVID-19. We will need two members to attend on the day designated for Coolamon (likely 14 May).  The assembly recommended to the board that we pay the fee of $15 for all students who attend the event from Coolamon Central School.
• Donation to the Leisure Company, the charity nominated by Albert’s son, who is competing in this year’s Wagga Takes 2.  The Leisure Company is a not-for-profit company that provides recreation, work, and life skill opportunities for people with disabilities.  The club recommended to the board that the club donate $500 to this cause.
• Members who do not participate in club activities or attend weekly meetings (there are a few).  According to our bylaws, most of the members identified as falling in this category are exempt from club activities and attendance at weekly meetings because they have been members for at least 20 years and their combined age plus years of membership is 85 or more (the “Rule of 85”).

The meeting concluded with an entertaining fine session and a raffle.  Albert dug deep again, and levied a fine against Ted for something that occurred around the time that Ted got married (details to remain unrevealed here).  The raffle was won by John G.

DIARY

*Monday 29th March – Speaker meeting.  PEN Paul Weston on “Adventures in Genealogy” with some contributions from John Glassford. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

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Monday 5th April – NO Meeting (Easter Monday).

*Monday 12th April – Speaker meeting. Wayne McPherson on “Impact of the 2019-20 Bushfires on Fish”.  This promises to be a very interesting talk and you are all invited to bring your partners along. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Saturday 15th-16th May – D9705 Assembly. Young Services Club, Young.  10.00 am Sat – 1.00 pm Sun.

* denotes partner and guest night

JUST FOR LAUGHS

Guinness is Good for you.

Dublin’s Patrick O’Shea called his lawyer and asked, “Is it true they are suin’ dem der cigarette companies for causin’ people to git cancer?”

“Yes, Patrick, sure is true,” responded the lawyer.

“And now someone is suin’ dem fast food restaurants for makin’ dem fat an’ cloggin’ their arteries with all dem der burgers an’ fries, is that true,?”

“Sure is, Patrick.”

“And that a lady sued McDonald’s for millions when she burned her tongue with that hot coffee that she ordered?”

“Yep.”

“And that a football player sued that university when he graduated and still couldn’t read?”

“That’s right,” said the lawyer.“But why are you asking?”

“Well, I was thinkin’ . . .

What I want to know is, can I sue Guinness for all dem ugly women It made me sleep with.

THE PUZZLER

Answer to last week’s puzzler: The person in the photo is the man’s son.

This week’s puzzler: Here’s another mind-bender for you: “The day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Saturday. What day is it today?”

ROTARY NEWS

BATHURST DISTRICT 9705 CONFERENCE

Here is a report from PDG John Glassford who attended the 2021 DISCON in Bathurst.

Abercrombie House is where the conference started for the College of Governors high tea and annual meeting.  This year we have Past Governors from D9700 and D9710.  It was a very pleasant meeting and we started to get to know our fellow Governors that attended from both of the old districts.

The welcome BBQ dinner was at the Mount Panorama Car Museum, good fellowship but crook steaks sort of shoe leather material.  The museum was most interesting and at the same time haphazard in it’s presentations.

The conference opened with Rotary International Director Elect Jessie Harman who spoke well on all matters topical at the moment.  RIDE Jessie encouraged us all to get our Rotary clubs involved in our 7th Area of Focus, the environment and climate change.

Saturday was a full day of speakers and two areas that were covered included health, the environment and climate change; the 7th Area of Focus for Rotary International.

Will post the rest of the photos in thumb nails.

There were a lot of professor type people who made the presentations, all interesting all had little to do with Rotary.

The Royce Abbey Peace Oration was given by Adjunct Professor John Skerritt the Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health.  John is also directly responsible for both the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Office of Drug Control.  This was a very good presentation and covered Covid 19 in great detail.

Dinner was at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre.  Excellent food and a very good after dinner speaker in Professor Robert Booy.  Robert spoke on epidemiology and it was most entertaining. Robert is the professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney.  He covered Measles, Polio, Flu and of course Covid 19.

The Past Governors were called onto sing We are Australian, and we did a good job, even though I could not read the verses I did my best.  All in all a very good conference that was topical with senior academics mostly on health.

Next year the 2022 DISCON will be in Temora and I am sure that we will get a good role up from our club!!!!

So put the 18, 19 and 20th March 2022 in your diary now!

Here are some thumb nail photos so please click on the image for a larger version.

March is Rotary Water and Sanitation Month

Week of 15th March 2021

Howard welcomed 18 members and 4 guests to our weekly meeting. This week’s meeting featured a presentation by Annette St Clair, who established the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust.  Annette’s story was quite moving; she described how her daughter, aged 20, developed a lump in her groin that turned out to be a melanoma,  Over the next couple of years, Amie underwent several surgeries, chemotherapy, and experimental radiowave treatment in an attempt to remove the cancer, all to no avail.  After Amie passed away (at the age of 23), Annette was inspired to establish a trust in Amie’s name to help victims of melanoma and their families to endure the medical treatments and life adjustments resulting from this cancer.  Normally, melanoma is preceded by an obvious lesion on the skin (following exposure to UV light, either from the sun or tanning beds), but Amie never had any such lesions (although she might have had one that fell away, which sometimes happens).  Annette concluded her talk by encouraging everyone present (especially those that spend a lot of time in the sun) to have regular skin scans in order to detect melanomas in their early stages, when they’re easily managed.  Paul thanked Annette for her moving story and increasing awareness of melanoma, one of the more common forms of cancer afflicting Australians.  (for more information, visit the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust foundation at https://www.amiestclairmelanoma.org.au/about-amie.aspx.

The meeting concluded with a fine session and raffle; fittingly, Annette won one of the raffle prizes.  With regard to the fine session, it must be mentioned that Dick was fined for an event that happened over 20 years ago, which just goes to show how far Albert is willing to go to extract a fine from members!

Rewild is hosting a market in Coolamon in collaboration with The Station Collective and The Sill ;

The details:
 Date: Sunday 28th March 2021
 Where: Station Place, Coolamon
 Time: 10am – 2pm

VENDORS WANTED  Tap below to join the Rewild Community ~
https://www.rewildandco.com.au/markets/apply/

Sites are limited and we are almost at capacity!

DIARY

Wednesday 17th March – Board Meeting.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 7.30 pm.

Friday 19th-Sunday 21st March – District 9705 Conference.  Bathurst Convention Centre, Bathurst.

Monday 22nd March – Club Assembly. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6.30 for 7.00 pm.

Monday 5th April – NO Meeting (Easter Monday).

Saturday 15th-16th May – D9705 Assembly. Young Services Club, Young.  10.00 am Sat – 1.00 pm Sun.

* denotes partner and guest night

JUST FOR LAUGHS

The Bank President

An elderly woman walked into the Bank of Ireland one morning with a purse full of money. She wanted to open a savings account and insisted on talking to the president of the Bank because, she said, she had a lot of money.

After many lengthy discussions (after all, the client is always right) an employee took the elderly woman to the president’s office.

The president of the bank asked her how much she wanted to deposit. She placed her purse on his desk and replied, ‘$165,000’.

The president was curious and asked her how she had been able to save so much money. The elderly woman replied that she made bets.

The president was surprised and asked, ‘What kind of bets?’

The elderly woman replied, ‘Well, I bet you $10,000 that your testicles are square.’

The president started to laugh and told the woman that it was impossible to win a bet like that.

The woman never batted an eye. She just looked at the president and said, ‘Would you like to take my bet?’

‘Certainly’, replied the president. ‘I bet you $10,000 that my testicles are not square.’

‘Done’, the elderly woman answered. ‘But given the amount of money involved, if you don’t mind I would like to come back at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning with my lawyer as a witness.’

‘No problem’, said the president of the bank confidently.

That night, the president became very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of the mirror examining his testicles, turning them this way and that, checking them over again and again until he was positive that no one could consider his testicles as square and reassuring himself that there was no way he could lose the bet.

The next morning at exactly 10 o’clock the elderly woman arrived at the president’s office with her lawyer and acknowledged the $10,000 bet made the day before that the president’s testicles were square.

The president confirmed that the bet was the same as the one made the day before. Then the elderly woman asked him to drop his pants etc. so that she and her lawyer could see clearly.

The president was happy to oblige.

The elderly woman came closer so she could see better and asked the president if she could touch them. ‘Of course’, said the president. ‘Given the amount of money involved, you should be 100% sure.’

The elderly woman did so with a little smile. Suddenly the president noticed that the lawyer was banging his head against the wall. He asked the elderly woman why he was doing that and she replied, ‘Oh, it’s probably because I bet him $100,000 that around 10 o’clock this morning I would be holding the balls of the President of the Bank of Ireland.

THE PUZZLER

Answer to last week’s puzzler: There are a number of  possible solutions to last week’s puzzler, one of which is shown below.  This one involves moving the indicated match from the number eight on the left, making it a nine, and placing it  in the middle of the zero on the right, making it an eight.  Now the equation is mathematically correct (9+3=12, and12-4=8).

This week’s puzzler: A man looking at a photograph says, “Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the photo?

ROTARY NEWS

2. New Rotary Foundation grant supports scaling proven malaria program in Zambia

The $2 million grant goes toward Rotary club-led Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia program; an additional $4 million contributed by partners the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and World Vision USA.

FULL STORY HERE

MARCH 14th

Every year on March 14, the world celebrates Pi Day to recognise the mathematical constant, pi (π). It defines the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter (circumference = π*diameter) and the value for π is 3.14. The day was recognised in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw as he organised a large-scale celebration at the San Francisco Exploratorium in the United States. In 2019, UNESCO’s 40th General Conference decided to observe Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics.

March is Rotary Water and Sanitation Month

Graphics by Debbie Vance McKay from Canada

Week of 8th March 2021

President Howard welcomed 18 members to a rather subdued regular meeting compared to last week’s anniversary extravaganza.  The meeting was an opportunity to catch up on business, upcoming events and a bit of fellowship.  Dick was congratulated for organising the food and drink served at Neil’s clearing sale, along with all those who helped out on the day.  Alex, Chez and Albert were congratulated for assisting with Clean Up Australia Day, which was held on Sunday. Alex received special recognition for being the longest-serving participant in Clean Up Australia Day; he’s been at it since he was 8!

Albert led an amusing fine session, as usual. The raffle was won by Chez, which only figures because she won both raffle prizes at Friday evening’s Business House Bowls (for which she was deservedly fined, on account of the fact that she was the one that drew both winning numbers on Friday!).

Below is a belated birthday greeting from our sister club in South Africa, which appeared in Bay Breezes, the bulletin of the Hout Bay Rotary Club:

DIARY

*Monday 15th March – Speaker Meeting. Annette St Clair will speak on “The Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust”. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6.30 for 7.00 pm.

Wednesday 17th March – Board Meeting.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 7.30 pm.

Monday 22nd March – Club Assembly. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6.30 for 7.00 pm.

Friday 19th-Sunday 21st March – District 9705 Conference.  Bathurst Convention Centre, Bathurst.

Saturday 15th-16th May – D9705 Assembly. Young Services Club, Young.  10.00 am Sat – 1.00 pm Sun.

* denotes partner and guest night

JUST FOR LAUGHS

SOME IRISH JOKES FOR SAINT PATRICK’S DAY, MARCH 17th

THE PUZZLER

Answer to last week’s Puzzler: The letter “r”.

This week’s puzzler: Can you move one match in the diagram below to make the equation  mathematically correct?

ROTARY NEWS

MARCH 26 – CENTENARY PEACE DINNER

The Centenary Peace Dinner – 26 March

ROTARY PEACE DINNER

March is Rotary Water and Sanitation Month

Graphics by Debbie Vance McKay from Canada

Week of 1st March 2021

50th PARTY SOUVENIR EDITION

Marie Jennings suggested that we contact Nay of Nayz Cakes in Wagga Wagga.  Nay baked and iced our cake for the party and not only that, Nay donated the cake to our Rotary club in appreciation of all that Rotary does.  Please consider Nay for your next party cake.  You can find Nayz Cakes here:

NAYZ CAKES

The event was very well supported by the 120 Rotarians, partners and guests who attended on Monday night.  Our District Governor Dr. Michael Moore AM with his wife PP Helen Moore were our special guests for the night.

Our Master of Ceremonies was PP Dick Jennings who did a superb job of keeping everyone amused and on time. There are so many people to thank for the party, too many to mention here, however you all know who you are and what you contributed to making the night the success that it was.

The highlights of the evening, well, there were several, starting with the toasts and including Hout Bay Rotary Club, our Rotary International 2005 Centennial Twin Club.  (Letters of congratulations appear in the bulletin from Hout Bay).  The Hon. Steph. Cooke MP Member for Cootamundra, proposed a toast to our charter members and spoke some inspiring words on why Rotary Clubs and Lions are needed in our local communities.

DG Michael’s talk was well received by all who attended, which included Narrandera (our sponsor club in 1971), Junee, Temora, Wagga Wagga Sunrise, Wagga Wagga Murrumbidgee, Wollundry Wagga, Wagga Wagga Kooringal, Wagga Wagga, Canberra, Tumbarumba and Batlow Rotary Clubs were.  Lions Coolamon were with us along with many others too numerous to mention here.

The birthday cake was cut by the daughters of our first President Keith West, Cheryl Crocker and Sandra West with the president of Narrandera RC Robert Norrie assisting.

Three major presentations were made on the night which included:

Batlow Rotary Club for $10,000.00, presented to Batlow RC President Sam Hughes by Coolamon RC President Elect Albert Suidgeest.  Our club made a decision regarding supporting the bush fire ravaged areas close to us who had an active Rotary Club.  We chose Batlow to support with their Regrow Batlow project.  On hand were four members of Batlow Rotary including President Sam Hughes.  The money will be used to get a Men’s Shed up and running in Batlow.  Batlow’s men lost many tools in the fires and they also believe that the Men’s Shed will help with the mental health of the men of Batlow.

Two other important presentations were made, one to the Coolamon and Ganmain Hospital by PP Grahame Miles, which was accepted by facility manager Pam Samways.  Our third presentation was to Allawah Lodge and made by PP Daryl Breust to Simone Fuller on behalf of Allawah Lodge.

Finally thank you to Di and Gilbert Kong for the food and to all who helped get the food onto the tables.

The evening in photos as seen through the eyes of our “resident” professional photographer, PDG John Egan from the Wollundry Wagga Rotary Club.  Just click on the thumbnail for a larger photo.  Many many thanks, John.

SOUVENIR PROGRAMME Available by writing to [email protected]

“TELGRAMS” FROM HOUT BAY ROTARY:

IN 2005 HOUT BAY AND COOLAMON ROTARY CLUBS BECAME  ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CENTENNIAL  TWIN  CLUBS

Click on the link below for the “telegrams” from three of Hout Bay’s best!

Hout Bay Tributes

THE GRAND OPENING OF OUR ROTARY SHED

After many years of moving our caravan around for shelter it became apparent that we needed a permanent home for this very valuable piece of our fund raising assets.  Up steps Steph Cooke MP for the NSW Seat of Cootamundra.  PP Daryl Breust and his committee went about applying to the State Government through Steph and we were given a grant to build the shed.

The shed is large enough to house our caravan and other items that need storage.  On the eve of our 50th Birthday Party, Steph came down to Coolamon to officially hand the shed over to our club.  Below are some photos of the event. Our eternal thanks to Steph Cooke for her hard work in helping to obtain this grant for our club.

Daryl Breust and his team including Henk Hulsman and Albert Suidgeest did a great job on the building and it will stand the  test of time for years to come.  Our thanks also go to the Coolamon Shire council for allowing our club to build the shed at the Coolamon Showgrounds.  Mayor John Seymour OAM represented the Coolamon Shire Council at the opening; thank you Mayor John.

DIARY

Monday 8th March – Regular Meeting. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6.30 for 7.00 pm.

Wednesday 17th March – Board Meeting.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 7.30 pm.

Monday 22nd March – Club Assembly. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6.30 for 7.00 pm.

Friday 19th-Sunday 21st March 2021.  District 9705 Conference in Bathurst.

Saturday 17th May D9705 Assembly at Young 9.00am-5.00pm.

JUST FOR LAUGHS

NASA has a poster hanging with bees that reads:

“Aerodynamically a bee’s body is not made to fly; the good thing is that the bee doesn’t know “.

The law of physics says that a bee cannot fly, the aerodynamic principle says that the breadth of its wings is too small to keep its huge body in flight, but a bee doesn’t know, it doesn’t know anything about physics or its logic and flies anyway.

This is what we can all do, fly and prevail in every moment in the face of any difficulty and in any circumstance despite what they say.

Let us be bees, no matter the size of our wings, we take flight and enjoy the pollen of life.”

THE PUZZLER

This week’s puzzler: What is seen in the middle of March and April but never at the beginning or end of either month?

ROTARY NEWS

This year’s Club and District Development Seminar (aka the District Assembly) will be held on Saturday the 15th May at the Young Services Club.  We’ve decided to run this as a one day event starting at 9am and finishing at 5pm.  This will be a a busy but interesting day and feedback we have received shows a clear preference for the one-day format.

ALL  members are encouraged to attend as this is an event specifically intended to train your Club’s 2021-2022 executive teams and develop your members as Rotarians.  There will be specific sessions for Presidents, Secretaries and Treasurers as well as practical sessions on the the Direct ClubRunner database, web pages, club bulletins and the best ways to leverage social media.  You will be able to learn more about membership and club development, learning and development, public image, Youth programs and the broad range of service project opportunities available to your Club.

Please advise PE Albert Suidgeest of your attendance, thanks.

Does not matter how you get there; just get there:

March is Water and Sanitation Month

Graphics by Debbie Vance McKay from Canada

Week of 22nd February

A FULL special edition of our 50th Celebrations will be compiled and sent at the end of the week.

Paul Weston has had a heart procedure done this week and hence our apologies for the late edition for this past week.

Even though Paul had been in ICU on the afternoon of our birthday party Paul was present last night and looking very well indeed.  Thanks Paul.

THE MUNRO’S CLEARING SALE

First of all our sincere thanks to the Munro family for choosing our Rotary Club to handle the catering for the day.

Thank you to the Munro Family!

What a day!  All went to plan and all went very well.  There were over 200 registrations and the event was very well organised by the agents, Riverina Livestock Agents, who did a great job.   The main event for our club was run by the catering committee, Chaired by Dick Jennings, all of whom did a superb job.

However there were many facets to this day starting with the cleaning of our caravan, delivery of the caravan to Neil’s farm, ordering of supplies and so on.  The effort put in by all of our volunteers is to be highly commended and there are too many to mention here.  It was a team effort all round, our Rotarians and partners who turned up on the day are those to whom we owe the thanks in volunteering for working before, after and on the day.

HOWEVER we need to make special mention of the work done by Marie Jennings organising the sandwiches made by many many of our partners and our ladies.  The sandwiches were well received and there were plenty of them.  I do not know the names of all who made them, but to all of you Rotarians and partners a HUGE thank you.

It is not over yet as we need help to clean the Rotary shed and Caravan before the opening by Steph Cooke at 6.00 pm on Monday.  Please contact Daryl Breust for further details.

Here are some photos of the day; click on the thumbnail for a larger view:

REMINDERS

1. 50th BIRTHDAY PARTY MONDAY MARCH 1st, 6.30 for 7.00 pm

FULLY BOOKED 125 ATTENDING!

Our Deputy Prime Minister was coming up and until 10am Friday morning, Michael has had a ministerial meeting called for Monday in Canberra. Michael has sent his sincere apologies and wishes us well for the next 50 years.

We have filled his two vacant spots for Monday night.  The programme has been printed by John Bond, and we will not change it now!

Reminder that Steph Cooke, our State member, will be officially opening the Rotary Shed at 6.00 pm at the showgrounds. All members are urged to attend please.

Set up for Monday is now 1.00 pm at the Sports Club as there is a wake at 3.00 pm.  We need some balloons to be filled with air!  We have the loan of a pump so any extra hands very welcome!

The following members volunteered: Henk, Ted, Albert, Don, Anne, Grahame and JG.

Honour board updated thanks to Grahame Miles:

2. POLIO PLUS MOVIE AFTERNOON

SUNDAY MARCH 7th – IN AID OF POLIO PLUS – 2.00 pm at the Wagga Wagga Forum Cinema

‘Nomadland’ Takes Top Prizes at Toronto Critics’ Awards

“Nomadland” won best picture, best director for Chloé Zhao and best actress for Frances McDormand at the 24th annual Toronto Film Critics’ Awards (TFCA).

You can see the trailer here:

Nomadland Trailer

Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The third feature film from director Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND features real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West. February 2021.

DIARY

Monday 1st March – COOLAMON ROTARY’S 50th BIRTHDAY PARTY 

Our District 9705 Governor Dr. Michael Moore AM and PP Helen Moore will be our honoured guests.  Please have your attendance in by Monday 22nd February.

Cost $25 per head catering by Gilbert and Di.  Dress code: women smart casual and men jackets and ties.  Please book with Ian Jennings or John Glassford bookings close on Monday 22nd February.

Sunday March 7th – Polio Plus Movie Afternoon in Wagga Wagga Forum Cinema to see the pre-release of “Nomadland’.  Details in this bulletin.

Monday 22nd March – Club Assembly. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7 pm.

Friday 19th-Sunday 21st March 2021.  District 9705 Conference in Bathurst.

JUST FOR LAUGHS

MY DADDY SLEEPS NAKED

“Late again!” the third-grade teacher sternly said to little Robbie.

“It ain’t my fault this time, Miss Russell. You can blame this ‘un on my Daddy.The reason I’m three hours late is my Daddy sleeps naked!”

Miss Russell had taught grammar school for 30-some-odd years. Despite her mounting fears, she asked little Robbie what he meant by that.

Full of grins and mischief, and in the flower of his youth, little Robbie and trouble were old friends but he always told the truth.

“You see, Miss Russell, out at the farm we got this here low down fox. The last few nights, he done ate six hens. Last night, when Daddy heard a noise out in the chicken pen, he grabbed his double barreled shot gun and said to my Ma, “That fox is back again… I’m a gonna git him!”

“Stay back,” Daddy whispered to all us kids!

“My Daddy was naked as a jaybird — no boots, no pants, no shirt! To the hen house he crawled, just like an Injun on the snoop. Then, he stuck that double-barrelled 12-gauge shotgun through the window of the coop. As he stared into the darkness, with a fox on his mind, our old hound dog, Rip, had done gone and woke up and comes sneaking up behind Daddy. Then, as we all looked on, plumb helpless, old Rip done went and stuck his cold nose in my Daddy’s crack!”

“Miss Russell, we all been pluckin’ chickens since three o’clock this mornin!”

THE PUZZLER

Answer to the last puzzler: 12:59 pm.

Sorry, no puzzler this week.

ROTARY NEWS

GEARS AND BEERS IS BACK!!

February is Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution Month

Graphics by Debbie Vance