1. MEETING OF OCTOBER 31st
Tonight’s meeting was attended by Phil McIntosh and David Byfield of Wollundry Rotary Club on behalf of the Gears and Beers event run by their club. This was also a 5th Monday social night!
Scott Mudd introduced his wife Melissa, who attended as a guest. Please come back any time, Melissa!
PP Daryl Breust chaired the meeting in President Paul’s absence and after some general business we had reports from Henk on the result of the recent garden viewing which netted around $5,500. Albert and his committee did a great job despite the weather. Henk also reported on the catering for the bike event in Coolamon on the weekend; thanks go to Alex, Neil and Clare Munro as well as Henk for doing the work.
Albert reported on the garden viewing and requested that the club make a donation to the three non-Rotarian hosts for allowing their gardens to be included in the programme.
Gears and Beers Report by Phil McIntosh and David Byfield
Phil McIntosh gave us a rundown on the event that we helped to run, especially the Dirty 130 ride. Wollundry RC has been running the event for 8 years now and for the first time Phil said that following the March weekend due to Covid, the riders of the March weekend engaged the event through social media. This resulted in the success of the October event. FOMO was an expression Phil used as a result of this social media phenomenon, Fear Of Missing Out.
Phil spoke about the money shots as there were three excellent photos that came out of the October weekend–simply stunning and will be the reason why the 2023 October event will be a sellout. The video that was taken of the riders going through Adrian Lindner’s canola paddock has been viewed 4,700 times to date on Facebook.
Phil waxes lyrical about so many highlights and thanked our club many times for our involvement and hard work put in by Daryl and all the volunteers that weekend. Comments from the riders were enthusiastic, leading Phil to proclaim that it was the best Beers & Gears ever!
Phil and David then presented a cheque to President Paul (who was a late arrival after driving all day from Melbourne) and PP Daryl.
Here are some photos of the several thousand taken during the event from the Gears and Beers Facebook page:
2. MEETING OF OCTOBER 24th
Tonight we had 19 members attend our Club Assembly to discuss New Years Eve 2022.
President Paul gave a short report on the D9705 Conference held at the CSU in Wagga Wagga this past weekend. Paul suggested that we might consider doing an international project for Papua New Guinea given the great need in that country and the fact that PNG is a close neighbour to Australia. John G also attended the DISCON and gave a brief report. There is a pictorial story further on in this bulletin.
Albert gave a report on the garden viewing days and thanked all who volunteered their time especially those who are not members of our club. Despite the weather, the event was quite successful. Thanks to Albert and his committee for doing such a great job. All five gardens were different and beautiful in their own way.
Paul asked for volunteers for the upcoming weekend to man the caravan for the Community Bike Ride at Kindra Park. Albert will drop off the caravan; so far Alex, Henk, Daryl and Neil have offered to man the van.
After other matters were discussed, Paul opened the Club Assembly and called for a discussion on the following motion of recommendation to the CRC Board:
“That the CRC continues to support the Shire Council’s NYE programme as we have done in the past”.
After a good robust debate with speakers for and against the motion, it was decided to make the following recommendation to the board:
“That the CRC continues to support the Shire Council’s NYE programme as we have done in the past subject to receiving support of the Coolamon Lions Club.”
The above motion was passed without dissent.
The evening concluded with a spirited fines session and a raffle with several prizes on offer.
Mystery Bell:
3. MEETING OF OCTOBER 19th
JOINT LIONS AND ROTARY DINNER
Lions President Alan White and the Coolamon Lions were our hosts at this joint meeting of our two clubs. Lions had 23 members and guests and Rotary had 19 members and guests attend the dinner. The pre-dinner fellowship was extended to 0ne hour as Lions meet at 7.30 pm. This was an excellent part of the night.
Lions toasted the King, an old, dying tradition especially as the portrait of the late Queen is still hanging in the dining room. We learned about the Lions credo and their mission as a service club. There was a joint fines session led by S@A Garth Perkin and his loyal Corporal Dick Jennings. Lions put up Dave McCann who was no match for the Rotary team.
Alan thanked Rotary for helping with the recent parking for the Ganmain Show. Alan then introduced Leo de Kroo as the guest speaker and raconteur for the night.
Leo gave a wonderful talk on his life, loves and music. Leo was married to Just Stone for a few years and Leo’s stories of people he has met and worked with over the years was wonderful nostalgia, from playing with his brother as the De Kroo Brothers and meeting up with such luminaries as Col Joy, when his life changed from country music to rock ‘n’ roll after being inspired by Elvis.
Leo was good mates with Johnnie O’ Keefe and appeared on Bandstand and 6 O’Clock Rock. Great memories of JoK calling him at all times of the night and Kamahl which he thought was a joke at the time. Leo then started a sing-along quiz show for members and guests, including songs by Neil Diamond, Marty Roberts, Pat Boone and a tribute to Olivia Newton-John.
Leo had some interesting meetings including one with Neil Sedaka who according to Leo was the best part of the meeting! Leo’s standout guy was John Denver, who was a genuine human being according to Leo.
Leo entertained us with Clancy of the Overflow and finished with The Gambler by Kenny Rodgers. All in all, a good night was had by all.
Leo de Kroo
HOWEVER, THE ROTARY BELL HAS GONE WALKABOUT AGAIN!!!!! We know who the culprit is and we have called in the dog squad to go pay him a visit!!! Even though they have the Mayor, an ex-policeman, and several councillors as Lions, apparently there has been collusion between these gentlemen to lift our bell in a dastardly plan.
We have engaged the “bell squad”, a congress in actual fact, to sort out the theft of our Rotary bell. This is a heavily armed-to-the-teeth squad of a highly trained team of investigators, be warned!!!!
YOU WILL ALL BE FOUND AND HEAVILY FINED!!!!
DIARY
*N.B. You are always welcome to bring guests to most of our meetings, just advise Ian Jennings if you want to bring a guest along when you respond to the weekly dinner roll call!
Monday, 7th November – CRC Annual General Meeting, including election of office bearers for 2023-2024. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7 pm.
Thursday 10th November – CRC Board Meeting – Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 7 pm.
Monday, 14th November – Regular Meeting. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7 pm.
Monday, 21st November – Regular Meeting. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7 pm.
JUST FOR LAUGHS
LIONS GALLERY
THE PUZZLER
Answer to the last puzzlers:
Easier one: You’d get paid one cent since six seconds is 1/600th of an hour (and the hourly rate is $6.00 per hour).
Harder one: 1) ROYGBIV – colours of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet); 2) QWERTY – first six letters in the top row of letters in a standard computer keyboard layout; 3) PRNDL – gears in a typical automatic car transmission (park, reverse, neutral, drive, low); 4) SCUBA – self-contained underwater breathing apparatus; and 5) EGBDF – letters of the musical notes in the lines of the treble clef, from bottom to top. Bonus: SNAFU – situation normal, all fouled up (a US military anagram, although the original version is spicier than that!)
This week’s puzzlers:
Easier one: What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Harder one: Leslie had trouble logging into her CSU email account. After trying her password twice without success, she remembered that the passwords are reset every month for security purposes. She called her supervisor and said, “Hey boss, my password is out of date.” Her supervisor replied, “Yes, that’s right. The new password is different. Listen carefully. I am sure you can figure out the new one. The new one has the same number of letters as your old password, but only four of the letters are the same.” With that, Leslie could correctly log into her email account. What are the new and old passwords?
ROTARY NEWS
1. DISTRICT 9705 CONFERENCE REPORT
The District 9705 Conference held at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga on 23-24 October. District Governor Geraldine Rurenga and her team, supported by Eilagh Sheils Rurenga and Chair of the Conference Michael Milston, produced a wonderful and well-organised conference. Here are some photos taken by John G; John regrets that Susan and he missed the dinner dance, which reportedly was a lot of fun.
A full report will be available at some stage in the near future:
2. MESSAGE FROM A KENYAN ROTARIAN
The photo above, from left to right:
Rotary International President Jennifer Jones
Margaret Kimani and PDG Eric Kimani
Vice Chair of The Rotary Foundation, Larry Lunsford
I WORK ALONGSIDE BILL GATES TO IMPROVE OUR WORLD…YOU TOO CAN!
It has been long since I wrote on Facebook and sitting here in Amsterdam on a long lay-over I wish to share an abundant thought…
This week the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged an astounding US $ 1.2 billion towards the eradication of Polio. This has been covered in the media through-out the world and one may read about it in various places;
Read (Daily Nation): https://nation.africa/…/gates-foundation-pledges-1-2-bn…
Read (Rotary Website): https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio
Read (End Polio Website): https://www.endpolio.org/
In the last couple of years, The Gates Foundation has offered Rotarians 1:2 match-for every dollar we Rotarians raise for Polio they would match with two. This will continue this year. I cannot understand why any Rotarian would not donate $10, $100, $1000 or as much as they are able to, so that we can access the match and get this nasty disease out of the way!!
24th October will be World Polio Day. Traditionally, I will sit with my credit card and make a “small” donation to Polio through Rotary www.rotary.org/donate
I challenge as many Rotarians (and non- Rotarians too can donate!) to make a donation and like me boast to work alongside the greats of this world like Bill Gates to eradicate a disease that is threatening our world again!
As I ponder around the subject of giving, my mind takes me back to the events of this previous week at Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Chicago. We sat through “stories” told by many philanthropists who have donated to Rotary between US $250,000 and US $10 million: https://www.rotary.org/en/donate/recognition
It is unfathomable that an older man or woman would shed tears while thanking Rotary for allowing them the opportunity to give away their US $10 million!!! I am a changed man out of these experiences. My “gospel” of abundance is enlarged- “to him whom much is given, much is expected” but I must also add that this also apply “to him whom little is given, little is expected too!”
What is my call to action here?
One need not be a billionaire to stand alongside Bill Gates or any of the greats of the world. We all can play our little part in whatever station we are in life. If you give nothing to nobody, you deny yourself the joy of opening your hands to receive!
My abundant thinking tells me the world has enough for all of us!
© Eric Kimani
October 2022
3. ROTARY ZONE 8 CANBERRA CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER IS ROTARY FOUNDATION MONTH
Graphics by Debbie Vance from Canada
ROTARY CLUB OF COOLAMON Inc. 2022-23
Chartered March 3rd, 1971; Sponsoring Club Narrandera Rotary Club
President: Paul Weston
President-Elect 2023-2024: John Bond
Secretary: John Glassford
Treasurer: Mary Potts
Membership Director: John Nulty
Service Projects Director: John Bond
Youth Services Director: Anne Rzeszkowski
Club Admin Director: Henk Hulsman
Public Image Director: Grahame Miles
Sergeant @ Arms: Garth Perkin
Immediate Past President and Vice-President: Albert Suidgeest
Bulletin Editors: Paul Weston and John Glassford
Webmaster: John Glassford
