Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin #18

NOVEMBER IS ROTARY FOUNDATION MONTH.

MEETING MONDAY NOVEMBER 9th. 2015

Our weekly meeting was a bit light on attendance, with many of our members engaged in the harvest now that we’ve had some dry weather. With more rain forecast for Thursday, the harvesters and grain trucks will no doubt be running around the clock, making the most of the good weather until then.

Because of the town meeting scheduled for next Monday (16 Nov), we have decided to forego our weekly meeting next week and attend the town meeting in lieu. The meeting will include some very important discussion about shire amalgamation, a topic that we thought was dead but is now back on the table. The meeting will be held at 6:00 pm in St Michael’s Hall on Methul Street. We’re hoping for a good roll-up of Rotarians, especially in light of our recent meeting with the shire council. Please plan to attend, and wear your Rotary shirt. This will be a very important community event!

Our guest speaker was our own Leslie Weston, who presented a travelogue of her recent trips to China. Leslie has been working for the past few years with colleagues in Yunnan province, which is located in very southern China (near Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar/Burma). We learned a bit about the plant biodiversity of the area, which is one of the eight biodiversity hotspots on the planet, and its local inhabitants, many of whom belong to one of 27 ethnic minorities. We were treated to some beautiful photos of the landscape, the local people, and the exotic fruits that are produced in the area. President Wayne thanked our speaker and presented her with a kangaroo change purse in appreciation.

Pictured above is a Buddhist shrine, with the Himalayas in the background. Below (left): a woman belonging to one of the many local ethnic minorities in traditional dress; (right) Leslie with her colleagues in a tea paddock; tea is one of the many important crops grown in Yunnan.

Diary Reminders

Wednesday 11th November November Board Meeting.

Thursday 12th November Rotary Foundation Dinner in Wagga Wagga.

Thursday 12th November BINGO Roster: Henk Hulsman (Capt.), Daryl Breust, Myffy Collette and Bernadette Milne.

*Monday 16th November. Because of the town meeting scheduled for next Monday (16 Nov), we have decided to forego our weekly meeting next week and attend the town meeting in lieu. The meeting will include some very important discussion about shire amalgamation, a topic that we thought was dead but is now back on the table. The meeting will be held at 6:00 pm in St Michael’s Hall on Methul Street. We’re hoping for a good roll-up of Rotarians, especially in light of our recent meeting with the shire council. Please plan to attend, and wear your Rotary shirt. This will be a very important community event!

*Saturday December 12th Annual Christmas party at Marg and Garth Perkins’ Home.

*Monday 29th February Joint Vocational Service Meeting with WW Sunrise in Ganmain at Huff ‘n’ Puff Constructions.

Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th April 2016 D9700 Conference in Wagga Wagga.

Saturday 28th May 2016 – Wednesday June 1st Seoul RICON South Korea

*Partners and Guests Night.

Apologies for Monday meetings call Ian Jennings on 0428 492 157 BY FRIDAY 12.00 pm.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

One for President Wayne Lewis. Was it your goat Wayne?

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT

K.R. “RAVI” RAVINDRAN

NOVEMBER 2015

One sunny morning at the end of June 1991, a van drove through the busy, rush-hour streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Winding through traffic to a northern suburb, the van arrived at the Forward Command Headquarters of the Defense Ministry. Security guards stopped it for inspection. When they did, the two suicide bombers driving the van detonated their cargo: thousands of kilograms of plastic explosives.

The roof of the building was blown off completely. Debris was strewn for blocks. In total, 21 people were killed and 175 people injured, among them many pupils of the girls’ school next door. More than a kilometer away, the blast shattered every window in my home. My wife raced toward the sound of the explosion – toward our daughter’s school.

FULL MESSAGE HERE.

DISTRICT GOVERNOR GARY ROBERTS D 9700

Hats Off to Rotary Clubs!

When it comes to shining a light on mental illness in Australia, Rotary Clubs have done it again. Thank you to all the Clubs across the nation who hosted a Hat Day event, and invited their local community to get involved as well.

Hundreds of Australian Rotary Clubs held fundraisers big and small. Some collected donations & sold merchandise at train stations, organised a Mental Health & Wellbeing Community Fair, worked with local organisations to collect donations at their receptions, as well as trivia nights, novelty auctions, hat competitions or passing the hat around at a partner’s night – thank you for your vital support of mental health research.

One of our Hat Day Ambassadors, Dr Happy aka Dr Tim Sharp, the Chief Happiness Officer at The Happiness Institute, shared happiness challenges and tips from his new ‘Happiness At Work’ Book on a “Dr Happy Roadshow”. Functions were held in Sydney, Melbourne & Hobart. An event on Hat Day (Friday October 9) included a speech from the NSW Minister for Mental Health, The Honourable Pru Goward, who endorsed Hat Day and the work of Australian Rotary Clubs in leading mental health research in Australia.

Proceeds will support initiatives such as the implementation of national suicide prevention strategies, the development of web & phone-based programs to reduce symptoms of mental illness & improve resilience, developing new medication treatments for schizophrenia, resources for loved ones caring for someone with a mental illness and many more.

Donations to Hat Day are currently being tallied – there are too many to count. 100% of funds will go directly to vital mental health research projects around Australia through Australian Rotary Health. Projects aim to find preventions, treatments and cures for a range of debilitating mental illnesses.

Thank you to everyone who got involved in Hat Day 2015. For more information or to donate, visit

www.hatday.com.au.

District 9700 Web Site

ROTARY INFORMATION

CELEBRITIES, HEALTH OFFICIALS COME TOGETHER TO HAIL PROGRESS TOWARD POLIO’S END

Jeffrey Kluger, Time magazine editor at large (left), talks with Dr. John Vertefeuille, polio incident manager for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as part of Rotary’s World Polio Day event on 23 October in New York City.

Photo Credit: Rotary International/Alyce Henson

After a historic year during which transmission of the wild poliovirus vanished from Nigeria and the continent of Africa, the crippling disease is closer than ever to being eradicated worldwide, said top health experts at Rotary’s third annual World Polio Day event on 23 October in New York City.

More than 150 people attended the special Livestream program co-sponsored by UNICEF, and thousands more around the world watched online. Jeffrey Kluger, Time magazine’s editor at large, moderated the event.

Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF, lauded the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s efforts. After nearly 30 years, the GPEI, which includes Rotary, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is on the cusp of ending polio. It would be only the second human disease ever to be eradicated.

FULL STORY HERE.

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SEOUL 2016

PAST CONVENTIONS SYDNEY 2014

One of the best ways to learn about Rotary is to attend a Rotary International Convention, RICON. They are held every year in a different country. The fifth and last RICON that I attended representing Coolamon Rotary Club was Sydney. We had a booth in the House of Friendship for the Coolamon and Sunrise 2015 Mount Kenya ANZAC Day Climb. Here are some memories of 2014 {Click on the thumb nail for a larger picture}:

Join me in Seoul in May 2016!

RICON SEOUL 2016 WEB SITE

The 2016 Rotary Convention is your chance to meet Rotary members from around the globe. You’ll reconnect with old friends and make new ones while exploring different cultures and exchanging ideas for a better world.

Seoul is the ideal location for a Rotary convention and a delightful travel destination to explore. You’ll find traditional tea houses and regal palaces alongside posh shopping malls and bustling markets. Make sure to include extra time in your travel plans to experience the wonders of South Korea.

LATEST NEWS FROM RAGES.

As the world prepares to convene in Paris later this month for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, editorial cartoonist David Pope of The Canberra Times in Australia makes sure that orangutans — and the environmental crisis currently underway in Southeast Asia — are not left out of the debate.

CHOOSE WISELY!

RAGES WEB SITE

JOIN RAGES HERE.

ONLY IN AFRICA

FOOTNOTE

NEW ZEALAND

Probably the most beautiful country in the world. We are still here and return next week to Ganmain and Coolamon. Before you go to Europe or Africa or SE Asia visit our Brothers and Sisters across the Tasman.

Here are some reflections of our visit to the South Island and Wanaka in particular. Please click on the thumb nail pics for a LARGER view and they are spectacular. Susan and I went to celebrate her BIG birthday bash with her relos in NZ, her Bro Eddie, her Sis Gail and her Cus Lauren. We all had a choice time!!!

Bulletin Editor and Web Site: John Glassford

Yours in Rotary John Glassford Chair 2014 -2016

Rotarian Action Group for Endangered Species

Don’t forget to regularly check our club web site for current information such as bingo rosters and various newsletters from the District Governor, the School of St. Jude’s, the monthly membership on the move newsletter as well as several other club bulletins.

Rotary International President K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran

Governor of District 9700 Gary Roberts

Coolamon Club President Wayne Lewis

Coolamon Club Secretary Paul Weston

Club Treasurer Henk Hulsman

Coolamon Rotary Club Inc. P.O. Box 23 COOLAMON N.S.W. 2701

Websites of Interest

Coolamon Rotary Club: http://coolamonrotary.com

Road MAPS to Africa a Coolamon Rotary Project: http://www.mountainsofthemoon.org/

Rotary Down Under on line: http://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/2/26587/49598/pub

Mount Kenya 2015 Web Site incorporating the ORK: http://theork.com/

Our Rotary Centennial Twin Club Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: http://www.rotaryhoutbay.org

Rotarian Action Group for Endangered Species RAGES: http://www.endangeredrag.org/#