John J Glassford 
Saturday night we had dinner and great fellowship at he Wagga Wagga RSL Club.
The dinner speaker was Bob Fels from the Rotary Foundation Rotary International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Dinner was great and the decorations by Rae Loneragan were well done subtle and peaceful.
It has been another almost 2 days of this wonderful Peace Conference in Wagga Wagga this weekend.
Saturday had many excellent speakers and we met some outstanding Rotary Peace Fellows.
Today being International Peace Day 2012 was a fitting way to start the Wagga Wagga Peace Conference. We had three members form Coolamon Rotary attend, Neil Munro, Dick Jennings and John Glassford. Presentations today included welcome to Wiradjuri Country by Elder Uncle Stan Grant. Mayor Rotarian Kerry Pascoe and the Hon Michaeal McCormack. Speakers were of the higehst quality including Professor John Braithwaite, Dr Barbara Ferguson, Jenn Weidman form the Centre of Peace Studies at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and Professor Jake Lynch from the Centre for Peace Studies at the University of Sydney.
Congratulations to PDG Fred Loneragan and PDG Ray King for organising this special event which deserves our full support.
Today DG Greg Brown and his wife Lyn Brown paid us a visit for the annual Governor’s visit.
L-R Mark Reardon, Christine Atkinson, John Burns, AG Alan Sharp, Grahame Miles, Garth Perkin, Paul Weston, DG Greg Brown, Lyn Brown, Ian Jennings, Henk Hulsman, Ian Durham, John Glassford.
RI President Sakuji gets around this week he is in Brazil. I hope that you enjoy reading about his travels.
While attending the RI Institute for Zones 22 &
23A in Vitória, Brazil, RI Director José Antonio F. Antiório and City Councilman Sergio Magalhães presented me with this certificate making me an honorary citizen of Vitória. Thank you so much, and I look forward to visiting Brazil again soon.
ブラジル訪問中、ヴィトーリアの名誉市民の称号をいただき感激いたしました。いつの日かこの美しいヴィトーリアの街を再訪問できることを願っています。
The RI Institute for Zones 22 & 23A in Vitória, Brazil helped Rotary gain traction in this region, due in large part to generous support from past RI presidents D.K. Lee and Luis Vicente Giay, RI Director José Antonio F. Antiório and Trustee Antonio Hallage. Thank you all for making this meeting a success.
Brazil will be the host of the Rotary Convention in 2015 from 5-8 June 2015 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Sao Paulo Night Club and other scenes of Brazil.
As promised I have managed to get some lovely jewelery made by the deaf ladies at Sasa Designs in Nairobi. UNEKE in Wagga have them and will be selling them in their shop. If you need a unique African gift for a lady then here is a way to help the deaf ladies in Nairobi. The Sasa Designs project is being managed by a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from California, Megan MacDonald. Here are some of the pieces now at Uneke.
A busload of politicians were driving down a country road when all of a sudden, the bus ran off the road and crashed into a tree in an old cockie’s paddock.
The old cockie, after seeing what had happened, went over to investigate.
He then proceeded to dig a hole to bury the politicians.
A few days later the local policeman came out, saw the crashed bus, and asked the old cockie where all the politicians had gone.
The old cockie said he had buried them.
The policeman asked the old cockie, “Were they all dead?”
The old cockie replied, “Well, some of them said they weren’t, but I didn’t believe them.”
A man and his ever nagging wife went on vacation to Jerusalem. While they were there, the wife passed away.
The undertaker told the husband, “You can have her shipped home for $5,000 or you can bury her here, in the Holy Land, for $150.”
The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home.
The undertaker asked, “Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend only $150”.
The man replied, “Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later, he rose from the dead. I just can’t take that chance.”
{Thanks to Tom Telfer of ROTI fame for these jokes}
The aim of Rotary Youth Program for Enrichment is to provide an enriching and challenging experience for Year 9 high school students. The weekend camp is a balance of social interaction, adventures and speakers to assist the students in developing life skills. RYPEN provides students with a wider experience than many have previously had. They interact with Rotarians and their peers from across the District and undertake challenging activities and adventures.
Coolamon RYPEN Team 2011 with Rtn. Leslie Weston
District 9700 Committee Members
Name Position
Neil Pinto(Chairman) Wollundry-Wagga Wagga
David Mills (Bathurst)
Greg Conkey (Wollundry Wagga Wagga)
Geoff Breust (Wollundry Wagga Wagga)
Darren Wallace (Wollundry Wagga Wagga)
RYPEN 2012: – Borambola Sport and Recreation camp approximately 13km east of Wagga Wagga on the Sturt Highway
Dates are Friday 23, Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 November 2012
Buses are organised to transport students from across the District:
– A coach travelling between Bathurst and Wagga Wagga will pick up and drop off participants to the north of Wagga Wagga.
– A minibus travelling between Griffith and Wagga Wagga will pick up and drop off participants to the west of Wagga Wagga
Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka
Governor of District 9700 Greg Brown
Coolamon Club President Paul Weston
Coolamon Club Secretary John Glassford
Coolamon Club Treasurer Henk Hulsman
Coolamon Rotary Club Inc. P.O. Box 23 COOLAMON N.S.W. 2701
NEW! ROTI Rotarians On The Internet September Newsletter
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
Rotarians For Fighting AIDS AUSTRALIA: http://theork.com/
Our Rotary Centennial Twin Club Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: http://www.rotaryhoutbay.org
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.
The average age of the employees at the Vita Needle Company, a needle and tubing factory near Boston, is an amazing 74 years.
Rosa is now 100 years young and still working at Vita Needle!
Coolamon Rotary activities continue to hum along despite a fair few members being out of town lately for various reasons. And despite the lower numbers at the last couple of meetings, we’ve had some productive and enjoyable sessions. I even sensed that people had fun at the board meeting this past Monday, which is a first!
Planning is underway for the next meeting with the local business owners and operators. We’re shooting for one of the Mondays in mid-October, so watch this space.
The Coolamon Rotary food van will back on the road soon, making an appearance at the Scarecrow Festival scheduled for 30 September. We’ll be dishing up some tasty treats at the event, and welcome those who might want to spend a little time at the griddle. Look for a roster sign-up at our next meeting.
Speaking of next meetings, District Governor Greg Brown will be attending our meeting on Monday, 17 September. Please make an extra effort to attend and make Greg welcome as he begins his visits to clubs in the district. Gilbert is catering, so remember of phone apologies if you’ll be unable to attend.
The following week is a special night as we welcome the Hon. Michael McCormack to our weekly meeting to regale us with insider tales of life in Parliament. The talk, entitled “The Lighter Side of Parliament”, will not be of a political nature but instead will expose some of the things that go on behind the scenes at Parliament and don’t make it on the evening news. An invitation has been extended to the public, so we’re expecting a large turnout. Typical for such events, a Chinese buffet will be on offer.
International programs continue, with John Glassford sharing news that $40,000 was recently disbursed to the charities in Africa designated as beneficiaries of the recent climb of the Mountains of the Moon. Plans are taking shape for the next climb, scheduled for 2015. Watch this space for further developments!
Don’t forget about the Rotary Peace Conference taking in place as the Wagga RSL over 21-23 Sept. If you’re not up for attending all three days, you can register to attend single sessions or half days. More information can be found at http://www.rotarypeace2012.org.au.
I have to say I’m amazed at how much good work is being done by such a small organisation. It’s clear that we have a hard-working, dedicated group of members, and I’m very proud to be a member and honoured to be at the helm for this year.
Bingo will be taking place at Alawah Lodge this Thursday—will this be the night the Jackpot is won? Anyone is welcome to play, so come by on the 13th and try your luck!
That’s all for now. Until next time, onward and upward!
Yours in Rotary,
Paul
Many of you know that we now have five Avenues of Service in Rotary. The fifth, and newest, is New Generations Service. There are many ways to serve through this avenue, and you will read about some of them in this month’s issue of the Rotarian.
All of the work we do to educate children, to improve maternal health, to help families live healthier lives – all of this is service to New Generations. We also serve New Generations by working to eradicate polio, helping to ensure that future generations of children will be born into a polio-free world.
Our youth and young adult programs, such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange, are a very important part of this Avenue of Service. We must remember that the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. By helping to develop young leaders and bringing younger members into our clubs, we strengthen communities – and Rotary’s future.
For most of my life, I have been a salesman. I learned long ago that being a good salesman is not enough. You must also have a good product. If you are a good salesman, you will make the first sale. But if you do not have a good product, you will make only the first sale. You will not make the second.
It is not enough to bring new members into Rotary. We want them to stay. We want the new, young members to become longtime members. We want them to be Rotary leaders in 10, 20, or 30 years.
How do we do this? We have to look at our product. We have to look at Rotary not with our own eyes, but with new eyes. When we invite a new member to join and that person’s answer is no, we should ask why. This is not to pressure someone into joining. It is to find out more information. What are the obstacles to membership? Is it an inconvenient meeting time? Is it too much of a time commitment? Is it something else that we have not thought of?
We need to ask questions, and we need to open ourselves to the answers. We cannot say, “No, we will not do this,” just because we have never done it before. Why not have child care at a meeting? Why not involve families in projects? Why not make attendance requirements less strict, or meet less often?
Our new Avenue of New Generations Service is an important step in ensuring many future generations of Rotary, and of Service Above Self.
A couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they’re physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember.
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. “Want anything while I’m in the kitchen?” he asks.
“Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?”
“Sure….”
“Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?” she asks.
“No, I can remember it.”
“Well, I’d like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so not to forget it?”
He says, “I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.”
“I’d also like whipped cream. I’m certain you’ll forget that. Write it down,” she says.
Irritated, he says, “I don’t need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream – I got it, for goodness sake!”
Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, the old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment.
“Where’s my toast?”
~~~~~~~
Last Laugh
Sweet Potatoes
Every morning during our coffee break, my co-workers and I listened to the culinary disasters of a newlywed colleague. We then tried to share some helpful hints and recipes.
One day, she asked us for step-by-step instructions on cooking sweet potatoes, one of her husband’s favorites.
“I’ve finally been able to make them sweet,” she said, “but how do you make them orange?”
{Thanks to Tom Telfer of ROTI fame for these jokes}
Although not a project of Rotary International the School of St Jude’s in Moshono Tanzania has a lot of Rotary clubs from around Australia and other parts of the world supporting this amazing school. This is a photo of the latest line of hopeful children who want to be accepted at the School of St Jude’s on the 27th. August out of the 1500 applications 150 will be accepted. The School of St Jude provides an International-standard education to bright children from the poorest households so they will have a better future, break the cycle of poverty, and become the educated professionals Tanzania desperately needs.
The Mountains of the Moon climb has raised $6,725.00 for the School of St Jude’s and the money is on the way to Tanzania.
In 2002 a young lady, Gemma Rice (now Gemma Sisia), from a sheep farm in Australia, opened a small school in Northern Tanzania with the help of her family, friends and local Rotary Club. What started with only three students and one teacher is now a thriving school of over 1,500 students and over 400 local Tanzanian staff. The students and staff are located across three campuses and includes two boarding houses to accommodate more than 1,000 students. These schools really have the potential to influence the quality of Tanzania’s future leaders.
To be an exemplary, modern and self-sustaining institution that affects a paradigm shift on the educational system in Tanzania by enabling Tanzanians to run successful and moral schools to alleviate poverty and break the cycle of dependency on external aid.
The School of St Jude is an independent sponsorship-supported school that provides education for Tanzanian children from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds. The school demonstrates leadership, promotes critical thinking and expects high moral values from its students, staff and the school community.
The animal handlers at the Oregon Zoo took Chendra around to meet some of the other animals one day before the zoo opened. The sea lions were her favorite!
Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka
Governor of District 9700 Greg Brown
Coolamon Club President Paul Weston
Coolamon Club Secretary John Glassford
Coolamon Club Treasurer Henk Hulsman
Coolamon Rotary Club Inc. P.O. Box 23 COOLAMON N.S.W. 2701
NEW! ROTI Rotarians On The Internet September Newsletter
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
Rotarians For Fighting AIDS AUSTRALIA: http://theork.com/
Our Rotary Centennial Twin Club Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: http://www.rotaryhoutbay.org
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.
Rotarians in Mozambique recently provided a water tank and bathroom facilities for a primary school outside Maputo. It’s just one example of how Rotarians are working to improve sanitation and access to clean water.
Monday’s meeting was a “member’s night” and featured John Burns recounting his life story. It’s always interesting hearing the twists and turns that one’s life takes, and John’s story was no exception. Although John grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, he has always identified more with country living, and is much more at home in Coolamon than in the Big Smoke. We followed John’s progression from boyhood through professional life from industrial arts teacher to head of school, witnessing a variety of clothing styles ranging from 70’s chic through to contemporary, with varying amounts and length of hair. John and Val’s two children are now married and starting families of their own, which has led to the empty nesters doing a bit of world travel.
One of the more surprising aspects of John’s life is his love of cars, a passion embodied by his restoration of a Datsun 240Z with his son a number of years ago. John has been involved with service clubs over the years, and it’s great to have John on board as one of the newest members of Coolamon Rotary. Thanks for sharing your life story, John! Stay tuned for next month’s instalment, which is scheduled to be provided by Ian Durham (we’re working through the alphabet, and although Craig Corrigan is next on the list, his current leave of absence means we’ll hear his life story at a later data).
A few updates of interest. Our next meeting with the business owners and shopkeepers in the shire will likely take place in mid-October. Arrangements are being made to have an outside speaker make a presentation on marketing, so stay tuned. MP Michael McCormack will be speaking on the 24th of September, which is expected to be a well-attended event. Don’t forget to check the Bingo roster for next week, and keep the 30th of September in mind since we’ll be running our food van at the Scarecrow Festival organised by the Coolamon Men’s Shed.
That’s all for now. Onward and upward!.
Yours in Rotary,
Paul
John Burns and Past President Marg Perkin with Past RI President Kalyan Banerjee.
I’m back in Japan for ten days before heading off to Brazil. This is the first time I’ve set foot in Japan since taking office in July, so I’m really enjoying these precious moments with my family. I will also attend the Japan-Korea Goodwill Conference being held in Tokyo on 31 August-1 September, an excellent opportunity to promote Peace Through Service.
会長就任以来初めて日本に帰国しました。今回はわずか10日間の滞在ですが、久しぶりに家族と過ごす時間を楽しんでいます。8月31日と9月1日に東京で開かれる日韓親善会議に出席後、地球の裏側ブラジルへと発つ予定です。
1st Blonde Joke This Year
A blonde walks by a travel agency and notices a sign in the window, “Cruise Special. $99!”
So she goes inside, lays her money on the counter and says, “I’d like the $99 cruise special, please.”
The agent says, “Yes, ma’am.”
He grabs her, drags her into the back room, ties her into a large inner tube, pulls her out the back door and downhill to the river bank, where he pushes her in and sends her floating down the river.
A second blonde comes by a few minutes later, sees the sign, goes inside, lays down her money, and asks for the $99 special.
She too is tied to an inner tube and sent floating down the river. Drifting into stronger current, she eventually catches up with the first blonde.
They float side by side for awhile before the first blonde asks, “Do they serve refreshments on this cruise”?
The second blonde replies, “They didn’t last year.”
Golfing’s Top 10 Caddy Replies
10.) Golfer: “Think I’m going to drown myself in the lake.”
Caddy: “Think you can keep your head down that long”?
9.) Golfer: “I’d move Heaven and Earth to break 100 on this course.”
Caddy: “Try Heaven, you’ve already moved most of the Earth.
8.) Golfer: “Do you think my game is improving”?
Caddy: “Yes sir, you miss the ball much closer now.”
7.) Golfer: “Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron”?
Caddy: “Eventually.”
6.) Golfer: “You’ve got to be the worst caddy in the world.”
Caddy: “I don’t think so, sir. That would be too much of a coincidence.”
5.) Golfer: “Please stop checking your watch. It’s too much of a distraction.”
Caddy: “It’s not a watch, it’s a compass.”
4.) Golfer: “How do you like my game”?
Caddy: “Very good, sir, but personally, I prefer golf.”
3.) Golfer: “Do you think it’s a sin to play on Sunday”?
Caddy: “The way you play, sir, it’s a sin on any day.”
2.) Golfer: “This is the worst course I’ve ever played on.”
Caddy: “This isn’t the golf course. We left that an hour ago.”
1.) Golfer: “That can’t be my ball, it’s too old.”
Caddy: “It’s been a long time since we teed off, sir.”
This week we look at one of the very best Rotary projects in the world today:
ShelterBox was founded by Tom Henderson OBE, a Rotarian and former Royal Navy search and rescue diver.
He saw that the aid response to most disasters was in the form of food and medicine to help people survive the immediate aftermath.
Little or no assistance was given in terms of proper shelter to help them through the first few days, weeks and months as they tried to rebuild their lives. ShelterBox was launched to fill that void.
In 1999, Tom started researching the idea, sourcing equipment and twisting arms to get the project off the ground. His persistence paid off in April 2000 when ShelterBox was launched and the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall adopted it as its millennium project. Little did they know that it would become the largest Rotary club project in the world, with an ever-growing number of international affiliates.
The first consignment of 143 boxes was sent to earthquake victims in the Indian state of Gujarat in January 2001. Over the next three years the project matured and by the end of 2004 nearly 2,600 boxes had been dispatched, following 16 major disasters. On 26 December 2004, news came of the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami and ShelterBox faced its most significant challenge, one that would change its course forever. Donations and volunteers poured in and we were able to ramp up our operations on a scale unimaginable just six months earlier. More below:
Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka
Governor of District 9700 Greg Brown
Coolamon Club President Paul Weston
Coolamon Club Secretary John Glassford
Coolamon 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
Rotarians For Fighting AIDS AUSTRALIA: http://theork.com/
Our Rotary Centennial Twin Club Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: http://www.rotaryhoutbay.org
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.
ShelterBox Response Teams (SRTs) have been in the Philippines over the past month delivering much needed aid to families whose homes were flooded by Tropical Storm Haikui.
Dams on nearby rivers broke and the monsoon storm poured 30 centimetres of rain on the capital Manila, the worst downpour it had seen in three years, causing floodwaters to rise and damage to infrastructure.
‘It’s like a water world,’ said Benito Ramos, the head of the country’s disaster response agency.
ShelterBox has been working in and around Manila providing emergency shelter and other non-food items to families in need, including towns around Lake Laguna.
Fionn McKee is a ShelterBox Operations Coordinator who has been helping coordinate ShelterBox’s response in country and speaks about the deployment from Manila: