Meeting 18th July
This week’s meeting was the first club assembly of the new Rotary year. Much of the meeting was spent tidying up loose ends, but a few announcements livened up the proceedings. Myffy Collette announced that the first issue of the newspaper will be going to the printer this weekend, and would be distributed on the following Saturday. To publicise the arrival of the paper, Myffy has obtained permission from the shire council to set up a table in the plaza next to the newsagency and distribute copies of the paper to passersby. Following that, the papers will be brought to the various distribution points around the shire, where they will be available for pickup by community members. This is a very exciting project and one that has the potential to have a very large impact on the Coolamon shire. The newspaper committee are looking for any stories of local interest to include in the paper, so don’t hesitate to send your pieces to a member of the committee (Myffy, Bernie Milne, Grahame Miles and Paul Weston).
John Glassford and Dick Jennings attended the Narrandera changeover last Wednesday, where they were presented with a cheque in the amount of $1000 for RAGES (Rotary Action Group for Endangered Species, an initiative headed up by John). It’s very gratifying to see local clubs getting behind this international program.
Last week’s bingo at Allawah Lodge was profitable, despite the relatively low turnout. Winter weather seems to keep the bingo players at home, but more of them might show up next month when they hear that the jackpot continues to grow (now at $170, supplemented in part by Myffy’s generous donation of her raffle winnings at the bingo). Organisers Neil Munro and Grahame Miles are encouraging all members to try their hand at bingo next month. As usual, all profits generated by bingo are spent on enhancements to the facilities at the hospital and retirement home.
The street raffle was surprisingly profitable last Saturday, aided no doubt by the lure of a beautiful load of firewood on offer. Proceeds were twice what the street raffle typically generates, and the members selling tickets had to work hard to keep from drooling over the gorgeous load of wood in the trailer parked in front of the newsagency. In the end, the prize was won by local resident Jean Young, who happily donated it to her daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Mal Roberts, since Jean doesn’t have a wood fire. Thanks to members Rod Jarrett, Daryl Breust, John Glassford, Wayne Lewis, Trevor Parkes and Paul Weston who braved the frigid temperatures to sell tickets, and to Wayne and Trevor for loading the wood on Friday.
The formal proceedings of the assembly were uneventful in the end, despite some spirited discussion about the frequency and nature of our weekly meetings. We decided to recommend to the board that we make no change to the bylaws regarding the frequency of meetings, but several suggestions may result in some minor changes to some of the meetings (including increasing the frequency of meetings away from our traditional meeting location and shifting board meetings to weeks when bingo is not on to avoid overloading weeks with too many Rotary events).
The evening was finished off with a raffle (won by John G) and a rousing fine session by Sargeant-At-Arms Ted Hutcheon, who is secretly hoping for a win by Donald Trump in the US election in November.
District 9700 Directory Now Available
Do you have your district directory yet? In case you’ve been living under a log, the directory is no longer being printed; it’s available only as a download from the district website. All members of the district should have received an e-mail in the past week describing how to access the directory, but in case you missed it, simply go to the district website and click on the link “2016-17 District Directory” from the home page.
On the lighter side
Riddle: What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over? (answer somewhere below)
The puzzler
Here’s a visual puzzle for you:
Answer to last puzzler: There were 24 triangles of various sizes, including the whole figure itself.
Diary Reminders
Monday, July 25: Regular meeting
Monday, August 1: Regular meeting*. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club. Guest speaker: Scott Norman (The pleasures of owning a Tesla!)
Thursday, August 11: Bingo [Grahame (Capt), Daryl, Wayne and Ted]
Thursday, August 25: Australian Rotary Health Indigenous Australian Medical Scholarship Informational Program, Wagga Mercure, 6:30 pm start. Answer to riddle: wholesome!
Monday, September 12: Regular meeting and visit by DG Michael Millston. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club.
Saturday, September 17: Coolamon Cheese Factory Grand Opening!
Sunday, October 2: Gears & Beers. Stay tuned for details!
Sunday, October 16: President’s Forum and D9700 AGM, Young.
*Partners and Guests Night
Apologies for Monday meetings: call Ian Jennings on 0428 492 157 BY FRIDAY 12:00 pm.