Coolamon Rotary Bulletin #1819-7

Week of 13th August, 2018

In lieu of a regular meeting, this week we hosted a special speaker in the form of Robyn Lewis, a former ice addict who spoke about her remarkable recovery.   Several member of the Coolamon Lions club were present, along with a few students at Coolamon Central School and other members of the community.  Robyn described how she became addicted to numerous substances (simultaneously) and wrestled with this crippling affliction for 17 years.  Along the way, she became estranged from her daughter and saw her partner and several friends meet violent ends, either at the hands of others in the drug community or their own hand.  Robyn supported her drug habit mainly by shoplifting, which is apparently a common source of income for many drug addicts and has become a significant financial burden on many retailers.  Amazingly, Robyn has been able to turn her life around, largely due to the efforts of SMART Recovery, an international program that assists addicts in kicking their drug habits.

It was truly inspiring to see how Robyn has been able to resume a normal, productive life.  Robyn is now employed full time and has made it her mission to inform others about the dangers of ice and other addictive substances, mostly on her own dime.  Robyn has been frustrated, however, by the unwillingness of school districts to allow her to spread the word to school-aged children, which is probably where this education is needed most.  The club will be pursuing various angles to see if inroads can be made to the schools.

The club thanked Robyn by presenting her with a financial contribution to help defray the cost of travelling to various locations in the area to give similar presentations.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

A lesson on how consultants can make a difference in an organization:

Last week, we took some friends to a new restaurant, ‘Steve’s Place,’ and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange. When the bus-boy brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I inquired, ‘Why the spoon?’

‘Well, ‘he explained, ‘the restaurant’s owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour. If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift.’

As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it with his spare. ‘I’ll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now.’ I was impressed.

I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter’s fly. Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I asked the waiter, ‘Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?’

‘Oh, certainly!’ Then he lowered his voice. ‘Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the restroom.
By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39%.’

I asked quietly, ‘After you get it out, how do you put it back in?’

‘Well,’ he whispered, ‘I don’t know about the others, but I use the spoon.’

 

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Answer to last week’s Quote of the Week: The ‘J’ stands for “genius”!  Hardly!

Diary

*Monday, 20th August – Guest speaker: Phil McIntosh & David Byfield, Wollundry Rotary (Gears & Beers).  Coolamon Sport and Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Saturday, 25th August – Randle Family ‘More Than Words’ Charity Day. Roster will be established at Monday’s meeting, so if you’re unable to attend on Monday but would like to help out on the day, please let Daryl know.

Monday, 27th August – Regular meeting.   Coolamon Sport and Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

* Saturday, 8th September – Advance Ganmain Trivia Night in Ganmain Hall

* Monday, 10th September – Guest speaker: John Nixon, CanAssist.   Coolamon Sport and Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Thursday, September 13th – Bingo.  Community Centre Hall, 7:00-10:00. Wayne L (Captain),  Dave, Bruce & Howard.

Sunday, 30th September – Beers & Gears  & then Fire Engine Muster

* denotes partner & guest night

Community Events

 

Reminders

Annual subscription fees are due

Please get your working with children check completed and give the number and expiry date to the secretary ASAP. Failure to do so may mean you are not covered insurance wise when you volunteer at events.

 

 

August is International Month of Membership and New Club Development

District Governor: John Glassford {Membership Retention} Coolamon

District Governor-Elect: John McKenzie {Service Projects} Orange North

District Governor Nominee {New District}: Michael Moore

Immediate Past District Governor: George Weston {Youth} Leeton

Foundation Director: PDG David Kennedy {Foundation} Blayney

Secretary: PP David Benn {Administration} Wollundry Wagga Wagga

Treasurer Finance & Audit: PP Doug Conkey {Budget} Wollundry Wagga Wagga

Communications Director: PP Paul Murray {Public Image} Wollundry

Millennials Director: PP Clare Lawlor {Membership Millennials} Wagga CSU Rotaract

Associate Member: AG Julie Poplin {Assistant Governors}

Other District Appointments

Executive Secretary and Web Master: PP Paul Murray Wollundry Wagga Wagga

District Trainer: PP Geraldine Rurenga Wagga Wagga Murrumbidgee

PETS Facilitator: PDG Tony Monley D9810

Public Officer: PDG Ian Tooke Blayney

2019 Griffith D9700 Conference Chair: PP Ross Grillo Griffith

DIO Insurance/Risk Management: PP Sam Catanzariti Griffith

COL 2019 Representative: PDG Gary Roberts

We are still looking at appointing one more Assistant Governor.

We are also looking at the structure of all the Standing Committees and the Special Committees.

We will post all further news on D9700 2018-2019 on my DGJG Blog:

DG JG 9700 2018-2019

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL 2018-2019

President: Barry Rassin, RC of East Nassau The Bahamas

District 9700 Governor: John Glassford, RC of Coolamon

District 9700 Governor Elect: John McKenzie RC of Orange North