Several of us Rotarians on ROTI or Rotarians On The Internet are starting a Rotary Action Group for Endangered Species. We have a Facebook page up and running so those of you on Facebook please share our page and join this war against the exploitation of the rhino and elephant.
Our logo by Paula Wiegmink from Perth.:
This ex SAS Aussie digger has started a project called IAPF International Anti-Poaching Foundation watch the story on the video below:
Short, humorous and to the point.
We will do better with our Facebook page next year!
Well we volunteered for the chocolate wheel again this year for our annual hospital fete. We came and we worked but it was hard going due to the lack of numbers this year. Maybe a sign of the times but we found it hard to sell the tickets required to run this fund raising part of the hospital this year.
On hand were Ian Durham, Dick Jennings, Ian Jennings, John Glassford, Paul Weston and Leslie Weston. Clare Munro also kindly volunteered but her services were not required. Anyhow here are some photos from Saturday morning in Coolamon. The morning teas were delicious! Click on the photos for a larger image please.
‘How to do Business in the Online Marketplace’ workshop hosted by Web 123. Natasha Vanzetti was the presenter ably assisted by Nicola Bell from Tilma Management. We attracted some 41 participants and the consensus was that it was well run with some excellent information provided by Natasaha. Coolamon Rotary and The Coolamon Shire Council sponsored the workshop.
Some notable statements made included:
In setting up your web site Natasaha said that:
Here are some photos from Monday night’s workshop:
Just some of those who attended the workshop just click on the image to get a larger version.
Another landmark event was held on Monday at the Coolamon Sport and Rec Club. The Rotary Club of Coolamon and the Coolamon Shire Council jointly sponsored a digital marketing workshop designed to promote electronic media to small businesses in the shire. Natasha Vanzetti, a partner with web design firm Web123 out of Wagga, presented an hour-long presentation on the imperative for small businesses to establish a presence on the web and the importance of social media for building up and keeping a customer base. Loads of practical advice along with an extensive question and answer period after dinner, mixed in with plenty of time for fellowship, made for a full and information-packed evening.
It was hard to clear out the last of the participants what with all the lengthy after-dinner conversation, and even Dick Jennings, one of the last remaining Luddites in the club, had a hard time tearing himself away. Who knows, you might even get an e-mail message from Dick one of these days! It’s clear that the topic was of great interest to a good cross-section of small businesses across the shire (from Marrar to Ganmain, and Ardlethan to Coolamon), judging from the lively conversation during the dinner break and afterwards. Thanks go to Coolamon Shire Council for co-sponsoring this event with us and to Linda Tillman for lining up the speaker. The event will enhance our efforts to boost small businesses in the shire via our “Shop Locally/Be a Shire Buyer” campaign.
Several of us (Ian Durham, John Glassford, Dick Jennings, Ian Jennings, Leslie Weston and I) ran the chocolate wheel at the hospital fête on Saturday morning, and helped raise over $500 for the hospital (courtesy of donated gifts for the wheel), despite the low turnout at the event.
Don’t forget the social evening planned for this coming Monday. Because it’s the fifth Monday of the month, we’ll be dispensing with our regular meeting and instead will have a purely social gathering and meal at the home of Ian and Marilyn Jennings. Please let Ian or Marilyn know if you’re planning to attend. You’ll find details elsewhere in this bulletin.
That’s all for now.
Onward and upward!
Yours in Rotary,
Paul
*Monday 29th October Social Night at Marilyn and Ian Jennings home. Start 6.30 for 7.00 pm and BYO please. Please call Ian or Marilyn on 0428 492 157 or home on 6927 3390.
*Monday 5th November Guest Speaker Georgie Roberts from the Red Cross.
Thursday 8th November: BINGO on duty: John Burns, Henk Hulsman, Leslie Weston & Paul Weston
Monday 12th November AGM and Election of Office Bearers for 2013-2014.
Monday 19th November Ian Durham Speaker on his journey of life.
Sunday November 25th Rotary Markets in Coolamon.
Peace Ceremony in Coolamon February 2013
Friday 19th to Sunday 21st April 2013 D9700 Conference Leeton
June 23-26 2013 Rotary International Convention in Lisbon. RI Convention Lisbon
*Partners and Guests Night.
Traveling around the world during September I visited many wonderful places and I met countless Rotarians truly dedicated to achieving Peace Through Service. To learn more about the great things happening in the Rotary world, I invite you to read my blog. And thank you for visiting this page.http://bit.ly/T3aoj9
9月の各国訪問では、訪れる先々で奉仕を通じて平和を築いている大勢の素晴らしい方々と出会いました。9月の出来事をつづったブログをご覧ください。 http://bit.ly/QBZ79w
The Old Man
“Look at ME!” boasted the fit old man to a group of young people. “Every morning I do fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, and walk two miles. I’m fit as a fiddle! And you want to know why? I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t stay up late, and I don’t chase after women!”
He smiled at them, teeth white, eyes glittering, “And tomorrow, I’m going to celebrate my 95th birthday!”
“Oh, really?” drawled one of the young onlookers, “How?”
Another Night on the Town
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly: “I have something I must confess.” “There’s no need to, ” his wife replied. “No,” he insisted, “I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!” “I know,” she replied, ” now just rest and let the poison work.”
{Thanks to Tom Telfer from ROTI and the Rotary Club of London North, London, Ontario, Canada}.
World Polio Day is October 24 and Rotary International is using social media to make your voice even stronger. Rotary created a page on the social media service Thunderclap,which enables supporters to sign up to share a single message through their social media accounts. The message will go out at a designated date and time to amplify the voice of our cause.
“It’s World Polio Day & I’m adding my support to end this disease. Join #Rotary in making history. #endpolio: http://thndr.it/VRtT3i”
Rotarians are getting ready to launch events linked to World Polio Day, 24 October, in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Led by RI President Sakuji Tanaka, International PolioPlus Committee Chair Robert Scott, and Rotary Foundation Trustee Stephanie Urchick, delegates to the Rotary institute for zones 24-32 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, will take part in a downtown walk and rally on 19 October. One hundred of the participants will carry signs bearing the End Polio Now message.
For more information about polio, visit: www.endpolio.org.
Bucket List Aurora Borealis, Canada
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.
A good day for Rotarians to donate to the Polio Plus campaign.
Click on the End Polio Now logo above for the full story and to donate.
There is a US$945 million funding gap in the fight to end polio. What’s the impact? Campaigns in 33 countries will be cancelled and 94 million children won’t receive the polio vaccine.
We need your help! Send a message to world leaders to fund the fight to end polio at:
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.
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!
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:
A farewell dinner for the GSE team traveling to Kansas in September was held at the home of Paul and Judy Cox in Orange. Almost 50 guests enjoyed a dinner prepared by Judy and the members and wives of the Rotary Club of Orange Calare. Special guests included DG Greg Brown and Lyn, PDG and GSE Chair Neal Fogarty and Barbara and AG John McKenzie and Lynne.
The GSE team performed a dress rehearsal of their presentations prepared for the Rotary Clubs in Kansas. The night rounded off with a Skype hook up with Arlen Honts GSE coordinator in Wichita Kansas who looked very fresh considering it was 5:30 am in Wichita The team depart for Kansas on August 31st.
We had 27 members, guests and visiting Rotarians attend tonight’s meeting.
President Paul Weston welcomed all our visiting guests to our meeting. We had the pleasure of two guest speakers tonight: Jarrod McPherson and Hannah Bushell, Jarrod’s fiancee. Jarrod and Hannah are from Narrandera and spent 12 months in Laos during 2011- 2012. Jarrod works with Narrandera Fisheries and has been with them for the past 7 years. Hannah worked with the Lao Disabled People’s Association. Jarrod and Hannah gave us all a very detailed account of the 12 months they spent there. It was a most enjoyable and very interesting talk by both of them. Thank you Dick Jennings for introducing these two great Aussie ambassadors to our club and guests.
Some facts given to us by them on Laos:
Population 6.5 million of which 80% are reliant on agriculture subsistence.
Land locked country.
The Mekong River flows through Laos and holds 1200 species of fish of which 2.2 million tonnes are caught on an annual basis or 2% of the world’s total catch.
50 % of the Lao people’s diet is fish.
10% of the population are disabled due to the bombing from 1964 -1973 80 million tonnes of bombs were dropped on Laos and many bombs lie in the fields unexploded.
Read more about Hannah’s work here, heart breaking work and most needed for these people:
Read more about Jarrod’s work here, just excellent work being done:
President Sakuji Tanaka visited a school located in the village of Enkusero Sampu in southern Kenya. A solar-powered water pump provided through a Rotary club project sponsored by District 5340 in California, USA and three districts in Japan supplies the school’s water. Sakuji was glad to see that Rotary is having a positive impact on the community.
PRESIDENT PAUL WESTON’S REPORT
We’ve had a couple of interesting meetings over the past two weeks. Thanks to Christine Atkinson for sharing a condensed version of her life story with us last week—it’s amazing what you can find out about someone when they’re given the opportunity to speak! We’ll be continuing this new tradition of having club members share their life stories with us on the 4th Monday of the month. Next up: John Burns on 27 August.
Following Christine’s talk, we had the first of our discussions regarding the reshaping of our club for the future. It was just a beginning, but it was evident that our members are keen to make changes to keep our club vibrant and a positive force for change in our community and the world. We’ll continue the discussion at a meeting in the near future, so watch this space.
Last night’s meeting was focused solely on fellowship, with a sumptuous Chinese buffet and two very engaging talks by Jarrod McPherson and Hannah Bushell. Jarrod (Dick Jennings’ nephew) and Hannah (Jarrod’s fiancée) shared their experiences living and working in Laos for a year. It was very interesting hearing their different perspectives on their experiences (Jarrod was involved with assisting the fisheries industry, while Hannah worked with improving the lives of disabled and disadvantaged Laotians). The life-changing experiences and challenging living conditions they described made everyone in attendance appreciate the little things we take for granted (such as turning on the tap and not wondering if you’re going to come down with some gut-wrenching gastric affliction!). Thanks again to a great presentation, Jarrod and Hannah, and to members who brought along the many guests which made for a lively evening.
Our next meeting (6 August) is likely to be an even bigger affair as members and guests will be packing the house to hear Linda Tillman present her vision for enhancing the profile of Coolamon Shire as a place to visit and do business. Many of the proprietors of local businesses are expected to attend what should be a landmark dinner meeting for our club. Garth has been hard at work lining up a stellar line-up of dinner speakers, so if you can’t make Monday’s meeting, you should have other opportunities to hear stimulating talks by influential members of our community and the region.
Onward and upward!
Yours in Rotary,
Paul.
Headstone of Russell J. Larsen in the Logan City Cemetery , Logan , Utah !
I wonder if he died knowing he won the ‘Coolest Headstone’ contest?
His five rules for a happy life are at the bottom.
FIVE RULES FOR MEN TO FOLLOW FOR A HAPPY LIFE:
1. It’s important to have a woman who helps at home,
cooks from time to time, cleans up, and has a job.
2. It’s important to have a woman who can make you laugh.
3. It’s important to have a woman who you can trust, and doesn’t lie to you.
4. It’s important to have a woman who is good in bed, and likes to be with you.
5. It’s very, very important that these four women do not know each other or you could end up dead like me.
{submitted by an anonymous Rotarian who goes by the monica H3}.
Over the next few months we will look at how the Rotary Foundation is changing from July 1st 2013. The programme is called Future Vision and over the past 3 Rotary years including this one 100 districts have been involved in the trail of Future Vision. There are some changes that will not please everyone including the end of Group Study Exchange or GSE. GSE will be replaced by Vocational Training Teams or VTT we will have an in depth look at VTTs as they do offer an exiting new way to travel within your vocation to another country.
Here is a brief outline of what Future Vision will look like with 6 areas of focus:
{Click on the image above for a larger version so you can read it!}
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.