Meetings

Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin # 8

by

Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin #8

MEETING August 20th. 2012

Dick Thompson and Neil Munro

Tonight we had the pleasure of listening to Dick Thompson, brother of Bill Thompson a well known local identity.  Dick has lived in Yorkshire for the past 24 years after leaving Coolamon.  Dick like his brother Bill is a lawyer and practices in a small town about 40 minutes drive to Leeds and Sheffield.  Dick met his wife Chris a Yorkshire lass when he went to Alice Springs to play football.   They decided to live in Yorkshire and have two daughters.  Dick gave a lively and most interesting talk on his life as an ex pat living in the Yorkshire couintry side which he describes as being out of an episode of All Creatures Great and Small.

We had 10 members in attendance with our guests Val Burns, Maureen Hulsman, Maree Jennings and Bill Thompson.

The Yorkshire Dales


REMINDERS

Monday 27th August members meeting Club Catering John Burns Talking.

Monday 3rd September 2nd Meeting re Promoting the Coolamon Shire.

Monday 10th September Business Meeting including Board Meeting Club Catering.

Thursday 13th September BINGO Rostered on: Christine Atkinson, Henk Hulsman, Dick Jennings, Neil Munro.

*Monday September 17th DG Greg Brown’s visit. Gilbert Catering.

Rotary Peace Conference Wagga Wagga September 21st. – 23rd.

*Monday 24th September 2012 Guest Speaker the Hon. Michael McCormack MP Federal Member for Riverina Gilbert Catering.

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT SAKUJI TANAKA

Before the Bud Billiken Parade set off, I had the distinct honor of putting my “Peace through Service” pin on the renowned civil rights leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson, with District 6450 Assistant Governor J.N. Settles Sr. looking on. I also got to present my pin to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. It was a day filled with humbling and inspiring encounters.

Sakuji Tanaka and Jesse Jackson

The Bud Billiken® Parade and Picnic is an annual parade and picnic in Chicago, Illinois, and is the oldest and largest African-American parade in the United States. Since 1929, it has always been held the second Saturday in August. The idea for the parade came from Mr. Robert S. Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender. The focus of the parade is education and sounds the clarion call for “Back to School” to our children. It is currently the second largest parade in the United States. The 82d Annual Parade took place on August 13, 2011, and was televised on WLS-TV as well as nationally on WGN-TV and viewed by over 25 million viewers. In August 2012, the second Saturday falls on August 11, 2012. The focus on the parade continues to be the betterment of Chicago’s youth.

 

PRESIDENT PAUL WESTON’S REPORT

Those in attendance at Monday’s meeting were treated to a very interesting talk by Dick Thompson, brother of Bill and a Coolamon resident currently residing in Yorkshire, England.  Dick described how a two-year stay in Alice Springs 24 years ago turned into a continuing life adventure in England after he met his wife, a pom who was doing a volunteer service gig in Tennant Creek.  One thing led to another and Dick is now living and working in Yorkshire.  Dick considers himself an Aussie, and has made sure his daughters (now in their twenties) make regular visits to Coolamon to spend time with their grandparents.  Although Dick still considers himself a true blue Aussie, he pointed out that he has spent nearly as much of his life in England as in Australia (but he still has a fair dinkum Aussie accent!).  It was a very interesting perspective on living in another country while trying to retain as much of one’s culture and heritage as possible, and sharing that with one’s children.

Next week will provide an opportunity for John Burns to share his life story with the club.  We’ll also spend a bit of time at the meeting reflecting on where we are as a club and where we want to be in the future, so come prepared to do a bit more brainstorming.

The Shop Locally campaign is regaining some momentum, with plans for a voucher book taking shape in time for the Christmas shopping season.  An upcoming weekly meeting will focus specifically on the Shop Locally campaign, and will involve local shop owners; watch this space in the near future for specifics.

That’s all for now.  Onward and upward!.

Yours in Rotary,

Paul

 

 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Artificial Elephant

The Great Artificial Elephant !
This is a robotic miracle…made from 45
tons of recycled materials, measuring
12 meters high and 8 meters wide. It
can carry up to 49 passengers

Moses Freestyle

A barber runs out of his shop and down to the nearest corner where a policeman is standing.
“Officer,” he asks, “have you seen a man run by here in the last few minutes?”
“No, I haven’t. What’s the problem?”
“The lousy cheat ran out of my shop without paying me!”
“Does this fellow have any distinguishing features?” the officer asked.
“Well, yes,” the barber replies. “He’s carrying one of his ears in his left hand.”

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2012 when…

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2 You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses / facebook / twitter.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your mobile phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7 Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your mobile phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

 

ROTARY INFORMATION

RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service)

Volunteers are the lifeblood of RAWCS Projects. Being a RAWCS Volunteer can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life; you can make new friends in other countries and you will form very close bonds with your team members.

Rotary International is an organisation of people who serve their communities around the world in a  range of volunteer roles.

The projects listed on this website are all being managed by members of sponsor Rotary Clubs volunteering their time to do this important community work.

Participation by other Rotarians and by members of the public is also welcome.

If you like to sew or knit, you might like to make dolls for orphans in Africa.  You could sort books as part of a literacy program. Or knit a knee rug for the Wheelchair For Kids Project.  There’s any number of other projects you could volunteer some of your time towards –  a number of RAWCS projects even provide opportunities for volunteers to travel to the project country and work directly on the project.

 

Current RAWCS Projects

Click on the image below to read all about this project in East Timor:

Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin # 2

by

Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin # 2

BUSINESS MEETING DINNER JULY 9th. 2012

Monday the 9th July was our first meeting for the new Rotary year 2012-2013.  It was also the first board meeting for the new year.

President Paul Weston got to work straight away and changed a few things.  We have a new Grace and only one toast.  Paul started the meeting by asking each one present to describe their week and to give any personal news.  This is a refreshing start to our new Rotary year and all augers well for our future.   We had a lovely meal with some excellent fines being imposed by our Sergeant at Arms for the night Dick Jennings.

 

VISIT TO JUNEE ROTARY CHANGE OVER DINNER

Last Sunday four members from our club visited Junee and attended the Rotary Club of Junee’s annual change over dinner/lunch.  Grahame Miles, Dick Jennings, John Glassford and Paul Weston represented the club.  It was the first official meeting of our new District Governor Greg Brown.  Well done Junee and it was a great idea to hold the change over on a Sunday afternoon, plenty of time for good fellowship.  Most of the clubs from Group 5 supported the luncheon.

AMAZING CANADIAN MAN CLIMBS KILIMANJARO

Man who lost his legs as a child scales 19,000ft-high Kilimanjaro by crawling on his HANDS for seven daysIt’s a feat most able-bodied people would struggle to achieve -scaling one of the highest peaks on the planet. Spencer West managed it using just his hands. The 31-year-old, from Toronto, Canada – who lost his legs when he was just five years old – reached the summit of the 19,341ft high Mt. Kilimanjaro on Monday after a slow, gruelling and awe-inspiring trek.

Because of the rough terrain, Mr West had to complete most of the seven-day trek on his hands, only using a wheelchair when the ground allowed Mr West was born with sacral agenesis, a genetic disorder that left his lower spine poorly developed and his legs permanently crossed. He had his legs removed below the knees at the age of three and, two-years-later, had them amputated to below his pelvis. Medical experts told the courageous Canadian he would never be a functioning member of society but he has continued to defy doctors his entire life.

He trained for a year to scale the tallest peak in Africa without legs and set off on June 12 with best friends David Johnson and Alex Meers. The trek to the top took seven days, hiking through Tanzania’s jungles, snowfields and deserts – and Mr West was forced to make 80 per cent of the journey on his hands, only hopping in a custom-made wheelchair when the terrain allowed. The trio made it to the final approach on Sunday and rose the following morning for the ascent to Uhuru Peak. They reached the top at 11.15am after a exhausting seven hour hike.

His incredible feat has raised more than £300,000 for Free The Children.

 

PRESIDENT PAUL WESTON’S REPORT

One week down in the new Rotary year and all is well.  Our first business meeting went smoothly, although a little longer than planned because of the catching up that needed to be done.  For the coming year, we plan to continue the tradition of having guest speakers and guests for the first and third Mondays of each month.  The second Monday will be a business/board meeting (all members invited), and the fourth Monday will be a member’s night (the exact format to be determined, but one aspect will be members having the chance to describe their life story or formative events in their lives).  These meetings will take place at the Sport and Rec Club with catering by Gilbert or an alternative caterer.  The fifth Monday (when it occurs) will be a dinner meeting at the home of a member (with the exception of July 30, which was allocated to a guest speaker before the current format was decided).

Several of us attended the Junee change-over on Sunday, a lunch-time affair that was enjoyed by all.  It was great to see the success that Junee is enjoying as a club after nearly going extinct several years ago; we plan to have a joint meeting with Junee in the coming months to discuss their formula for success in attracting new members.  Several other initiatives to increase potential membership are being explored and will be brought to light as they get fleshed out.  A start will be our next meeting, when Gary Roberts (Past Assistant Governor) shares his ideas for increasing membership.

Thanks to the members who manned (personned?) the street raffle on Saturday.  Despite the frigid conditions at the start, we persevered and raised a nice sum for our charity fund.  The next street raffle is scheduled for February of next year.

Hope to see you at our next meeting!

Yours in Rotary,

Paul

 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

The Biker

ROTARY INFORMATION

Hello Folks,

D5010 … known as the largest District in the Rotary world covering 11 times zones, bifurcated effective July 1. D2225 and D5010 are the result, one on each side of the Bering Sea: Russian Siberia from the Ural Mountains to the Bering Sea (roughly 6 time zones,) and USA’s Alaska/Canada’s Yukon (roughly 5 time zones). Siberia remains the largest District in the Rotary world and I believe D5010 is now the second largest. Each District has about 36 clubs, I’m not sure how many Rotarians, clearly there is much room for growth in both. Our two Districts have an excellent working relationship and continue to be very close in our Fellowship and friendships.

Onward and upward,

Jon Deisher, PP
Anchorage Rotary/D5010
Anchorage, Alaska

ROTI Rotarians On The Internet

President of Rotary International  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

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

Rotarians For Fighting AIDS: http://www.rffa.org

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 Diary Monday July 9th

by
Thursday July 12th Bingo on: John Glassford, Leslie Weston, Paul Weston, Rodney Jarrett
Monday July 16th Guest Speaker Past Assistant Governor Gary Roberts on membership Gilbert catering
Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd July CANBERRA CONFERENCE.
Monday July 23rd Meeting Club Catering
*Monday July 30th Guest Speaker Jarrad McPherson on Fishing in Laos Gilbert Catering
*Monday August 6th Guest Speaker Linda Tillman on Tourism in our district Gilbert Catering.
Thursday August 9th Bingo on: Ian Durham, Garth Perkin, Grahame Miles, John Burns
*Monday September 17th DG Greg Brown’s visit. Gilbert Catering.
Rotary Peace Conference Wagga Wagga September 21st. – 23rd.
*Combined meeting with Junee Rotary Club, date TBA, venue Junee, to be confirmed.
*Monday in October (29th) Social Night at Ian and Marilyn Jennings’s House.
Peace Ceremony in Coolamon maybe February 2013.

*PARTNERS NIGHT.

 

Coolamon Rotary News

by

Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin # 1


41st. CHANGE OVER DINNER JULY 2nd. 2012

On Monday night Coolamon Rotary Club held it’s 41st Change Over Dinner.  Amongst the guests included The Hon. Michael McCormack the Federal Member for the Riverina,  and the Mayor of Coolamon Shire Robert Menzies with his wife Betty Menzies.

Rotary was well represented by Immediate Past District Governor Ian Simpson and his wife Jean as well as Past Assistant Governor Gary Roberts and Marilyn.

Other clubs in our District 9700 were represented by Junee, Temora, Wollundry, Wagga Wagga, Wagga Wagga Sunrise, Wagga Wagga Murrumbidgee and Narrandera our sponsor club 41 years ago.

Chairman of proceedings was PP Dick Jennings.

Members present:  President Paul Weston, Leslie Weston,  IPP Marg Perkin, Garth Perkin, Henk Hulsman, John Glassford, Ian Durham, Grahame Miles, Christine Atkinson, Neil Munro, Rod Jarrett.

Guests included Partners:  Sharon Miles, Maureen Hulsman, Maree Jennings, Susan Glassford, Lexi Furner, Carmel Jarrett, and Marilyn Jennings.

Visiting Rotarians:  Rotary Club of Junee with Peter Commens and 8 members, Max and Sue Chapman, Peter and Judy Gissing from Wagga Wagga Sunrise, Doug Conkey from Wollundry, Tony Sinclair from Temora, Mary Ann Kelly and Bill Prest from Wagga Wagga and Lance Gillespie from Narrandera.

Coolamon Lions represented by Graham and Leonie  Dennis.

Other Guests included: The Campbell Family included Christine Campbell and Jenny Moynahan, also from Coolamon were Harvey and Rose Higgins.

Two Paul Harris Fellows were inducted last night and in absentia was Jeanette Campbell recovering from a fall and our own Henk Hulsman, congratulations to Jeanette and Henk both very  deserving of this rare honour.   Jeanette was represented by her family and IPDG Ian Simpson presented both PHF awards to the Campbell family and to Henk.

Our sincere thanks go to IPP Marg Perkin for her year as President and we wish Marg well for the years ahead.  Thank you Marg and Garth for organising the night.

Entertainment was provided by a delightful young singer from Ardlethan, with the voice of an angel, her name: Amanda Long.

Dick Jennings was the Master of Ceremonies and as always did a great job.

Another great change over night at Coolamon and the following photographs may help to convey the evening.  Thank you to all the visitors who made the effort to attend our meeting.

PRESIDENT PAUL WESTON’S REPORT

President Paul Weston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a night!  The change-over was truly a night to remember.  Thanks go to Marg and Garth for their planning and hard work, and to Marg for her parting gift of music in the form of an angelic young singer, Amanda Long of Ardlethan.  It was great to see a great roll-up of Rotarians from neighbouring clubs, especially Junee.  It would be good if we could send a similar contingent to Junee for their change over this Sunday (so far, it looks like we have four going; if interested in joining us, contact me or John Glassford).  Congratulations to Jeanette Campbell and Henk Hulsman for  being named Paul Harris Fellows, and to John Glassford for being named ROTIan of the Year.  Marg has set a high standard for a change-over night, and I hope to be able to equal or surpass it next year.  Best wishes to Marg as she moves on to other ventures in her life.

I look forward to accomplishing much in the coming year with the assistance of all our members.  As individuals, we’re limited in what we can do, but when we work together, there’s no limit to what we can do.  Although a modest goal, I plan to expand our markets in Coolamon and promote local businesses by advancing the Shop Locally campaign.  Increasing membership is another goal for the coming year; several new approaches will be tried this year to let the local community know what we do and generate interest among potential members.  Joint events with Lions may be on the cards, allowing us to combine efforts with even more substantial outcomes.  Finally, I hope to increase our reach around the world by fully supporting the Roadmaps to Africa project .

I hope to see you all at our next meeting, a business meeting at the club Monday next.  Onward and upward!

Yours in Rotary,

Paul

 

 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

General Motors reply to BILL GATES

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
computer industry with the auto industry and stated, “If GM had kept up
with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving
$25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.”

In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release
Stating, “If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part,
especially 7th point and 10th point).

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a
new car!

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would
have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off
the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For
some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your
car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to
reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable,
five times as fast and twice as easy to drive – but would run on only five
percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be
replaced by a single “This Car Has Performed an Illegal Operation” warning
light.

7. The airbag system would ask, “Are you sure?” before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and
refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle,
turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how
to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the
same manner as the old car.

10. You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.

Never undervalue the manufacturing industries .

Sent to us via ROTI by Rtn G N Sivaramakrishna
RI District 3230
Secretary , 2007-08, Rotary Club of Madras North, Chennai, India
President 2009-10, Rotary Club of Madras North, Chennai, India
District Sgt-at-Arms, 2010-11, RI Dist 3230
District Chairman, 2011-12 , Rotary Yellow Pages and Employment Exchange, RI
Dist 3230 and Director TRF, Rotary Club of Madras North, 2011-12

_________________________________________________________

Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka

District 9700 Governor Greg Brown

Coolamon Rotary President Paul Weston

Secretary John Glassford

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

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 Diary Monday July 2nd 2012

by
Monday July 9th Business Meeting Club Catering.
Thursday July 12th Bingo on: John Glassford, Leslie Weston, Paul Weston, Rodney Jarrett
Monday July 16th Guest Speaker Past Assistant Governor Gary Roberts on membership Gilbert catering
Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd July CANBERRA CONFERENCE.
Monday July 23rd Meeting Club Catering
Monday July 30th Guest Speaker Jarrad McPherson on Fishing in Laos Gilbert Catering PARTNERS NIGHT
Monday August 6th Guest Speaker Linda Tillman Tourism within our district Gilbert catering.
Thursday August 9th Bingo on:  Ian Durham, Garth Perkin, Grahame Miles, John Burns
Combined meeting with Junee Rotary Monday 27th August TBA venue Junee, to be confirmed.
Rotary Peace Conference Wagga Wagga September 21st. – 23rd.5th
Monday in October (29th) Social Night at Ian and Marilyn Jennings’s House.
Peace Ceremony in Coolamon maybe February 2013.

Mark Bryce Says G ‘ Day

by
Mark Bryce

Mark Bryce says G’day from Scotland:

“Hi All, Wanted to contact you all to say a huge thank you to your club for hosting our team, and in particular to John, Ian, Iain, and Grahame for lookng after us. It was an absolute pleasure and a privilege to meet you and spend some time with you. I was just sad we couldn’t spend some more time with you. I’ve added your page as a favourite so I can keep an eye on what’s happening over there. Thanks again, take care and all the very best to every one of you!!”

Mark Bryce

Induction of Jason Sachs to Rotary

by
Rotarian Jason Sachs with President Ian Durham

Last night at our weekly meeting we had the pleasure of welcoming Jason Sachs to our Rotary club.  Jason’s vocation is teaching and he has a young family and is head teacher at the Coolamon Central School.  Jason’s classification is Head Teacher and will join Leslie Weston on the New Generations committee.  We will be engaging the youth of our area in the coming years through our wonderful programmes like RYDA and MUNA.  Grahame Miles will mentor Jason and teach Jason all he knows about Rotary.

We all look forward to enjoying Jason’s company over the coming years.  Welcome Jason!

Jason being welcomed by our members

 

Christine and Craig enjoying the induction of Jason

 

Australian Rotary Conference Canberra 2010

by
Cowboy Logic by RI President Ray Klinginsmith

Rotary District 9710 organised a wonderful gathering of Rotarians from all around Australia, New Zealand and our neighbours including Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste.

The conference was well attended with Rotary International President Ray Klinginsmith as the main attraction.  “Cowboy Ray”,  from Missouri,  spoke well and had plenty to say about Rotary and our future in society.  President Ray also spoke about membership retention and being modern in our outlook and thinking.  Ray also encouraged us to throw away the old ways and look to innovative ways that we can serve our community at home and abroad.  Ray used many an example of cowboy logic to get his points across.

“Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat. It’s not so important to know what it is, but you should know what it was. and don’t worry about bitin’ off more than you can chew, your mouth is likely a whole lot bigger than you think.”

President Ray encouraged all of us to build BIGGER, BETTER and BOLDER Rotary Clubs.

All the speakers were well chosen and gave us plenty to think about and do when we return to our clubs.  The break out sessions were well run with good moderators and excellent discussion.  I was most impressed with some of the younger Rotarians, Rotoractors and Interactors who attended and who contributed.  Our future looks good with these younger Rotarians and future Rotarians.

Here are some photographs from the weekend held at the Hellenic Club in Woden in the ACT:

Many thanks to Rotarian Grace Teng and PDG John Egan for the photographs.