MEETING February 26th 2018 #7

The Monday meeting was extremely well attended this week with both members and guest eager to hear Patrick Leary’s talk on the reenactment of the charge on Be’er Sheva. Guests included Graham Dennis; Bob McCormack (past president of Rotary 1983) and other McCormack family members  Jill, Clare, Robert, and Desmond; Jan, Irene and Kierra Knox; Lyn Schadel; Marilyn Jennings; Chez Post; Lexis Furrer; Greg and Narelle Gutherie; Helen Lewis and our guest speaker Patrick Leary.

Daryl and Paul reported on the Peace Communities celebration and events with the Friday afternoon ceremony well attended with Guest Speaker Kay Hull as was the Gala Dinner on the Saturday evening. The attendance at the Saturday peace discussion was not as well attended as hoped, but for those lucky enough to go it was well worth the effort. With 107 nationalities living in the Wagga region such a commitment will continue to remain important.

Dave is still looking for RYLA nominations from anyone who thinks they know a suitable youth leader between the ages of 18 and 28. He also informed members of the Rotary Adventure in Citizenship program which will send a youth leader to Canberra for  an in-depth look at parliamentary democracy.

Congratulations go to Wayne Lewis who has successfully been selected as our president-elect for 2019-2020.

Reminders also that Coolamon Rotary will be catering for the Mental Health First Aid course next Monday and Thursday.

Be sure to save the date on the 26th of March as Lucia, our exchange student, will be giving a guest presentation on Germany.

Don’t forget to read the Diary & Quote of the Week below.  

Guest Speaker – Patrick Leary, Reenactment of 4th Light Horse Charge at Be’er Sheva

Our guest speaker Patrick Leary kept the entire venue enraptured with his recounting of his amazing journey in October 2017 to a number of Middle East nations and ultimately Israel and the city of Be’er Sheva to retrace the steps and reenact the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse 100 years ago.

Patrick spoke eloquently of his visit to Gallipoli where he had the opportunity to see the beaches and trenches where our Australian diggers fought and died. Patrick informed us that even today it is possible to find human remains on the site and Patrick was awed by the bravery of the men that fought on the rugged terrain, including the narrow Neck where 200 men died in 6 min, while he found the youngest digger buried at Lone Pine was only 12 years old.

Patrick then spoke on the journey they made to retrace the footsteps of the Light Horse through Egypt and Jordan before finally arriving in Jerusalem prior to the reenactment of the charge on Be’er Sheva which was attended by heads of state from both Israel and Australia. The reenactment was almost called off due to an outbreak of an equine disease that had quarantined many the horses needed for the reenactment and were only released two day prior to the Australian riders collecting their mounts. 

Bulldust on the day made doing a full charge at canter for the final leg of the charge with 100 horse near impossible so the contingent had to walk their mounts into Be’er Sheva. On the the 31st  the contingent of riders rode the 7 km stretch to the war cemetery of Be’er Sheva in a parade commemorating the soldiers and horses that fought on that fateful day 100 years before. However, Patrick informed us that he did get the opportunity to do a full charge at canter with 19 other riders at the completion of the ceremonies and he beautifully described what it must have been like to ride on that day 100 years ago when the people that he saw cheering him as he rode into Be’er Sheva were instead firing bullets at you.

On concluding his talk, Patrick handed back replica dog tags of the original Coolamon soldiers of the light horse, which he had carried with him to the re-enactment, back to their family members who were in attendance on the night.

You can watch the reenactment of the Light Horse Charge on the following YouTube links.

Anzac 100 years Beersheva

RS News: New Zealand and Australian Horses at Beersheva

PM Netanyahu & Australian PM Turnbull at Battle of Be’er Sheba Centenary Service

Quote of the Week

Who said this ?

“I can make a General in five minutes but a good horse is hard to replace.”

Last week’s Quote of the Week is attributed to Mick Jagger.

Diary

Saturday & Sunday, March 3rd & 4th  – PETS (President Elect Training Seminar). Coolamon will be represented by PE Daryl Breust.

Sunday, March 4th – D9700 Assembly  – ALL 2018-2019 Coolamon Club Board Members to attend.  Young, 09:00-16:00.

Monday 5th March – Club Assembly.   Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Thursday March  8th – BINGO.  Neil M (Captain),  Dave McK, Leslie W & Bruce H.

Monday 12th March – Regular meeting.   Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Saturday, 17th March – Street Raffle outside Coolamon Newsagency.

Monday, 19th March – Foundation Dinner Evening. Saint Michael’s Convent with guest speaker District Foundation Chair David Kennedy.

*Monday 26th March – Regular meeting. Guest Speaker:  Lucia on Germany  – Guests and partners welcome. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Saturday, 31st March – Easter Markets & U2D  Art Battle. UTDS, 9:00 am – 1:30 pm.

Thursday, 12th April – BINGO.  Daryl B (Captain),  Don D,  Ian J  & Alex T (note change from roster sent out)

Monday 23rd April – Regular meeting. Guest Speaker: Denise Winkler on ‘Education’. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Saturday & Sunday, 5th-6th May – District 9700 CONFERENCE. Roxy Theatre, Leeton.  Book accommodation early!

Saturday, 23rd June to Wednesday, 27th June – Rotary International Convention. Toronto, Canada.

*Saturday, 30th June – Coolamon Rotary Changeover and District 9700 Changeover.  Ganmain Hall.

* denotes partner & guest night

 

Register Here Today:

 

Community Events

Saturday March 17th 2018 –  The long Table Charity Event at Kindra Park Oval

 

Reminders

 

February is WORLD UNDERSTANDING  month

District 9700 Board 2018-2019

The 2018-2019 D9700 Board is coming together nicely and the restructure is going to work and work well.  DGN John McKenzie and DG George Weston are committed to making it work, as are the others on this much smaller Board:

District Governor John Glassford {Membership & Public Image} Coolamon

District Governor Elect John McKenzie {Service} Orange North

District Governor Nominee {New District} To be appointed

Immediate Past District Governor George Weston {Youth} Leeton

Foundation Director DRFC PDG David Kennedy {Foundation} Blayney

Secretary PP David Benn {Administration} Wollundry Wagga Wagga

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

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 two more Assistant Governors.

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 2017-2018

President Ian Riseley RC of Sandringham Melbourne

President Elect Barry Rassin RC of East Nassau The Bahamas

District 9700 Governor George Weston RC of Leeton

District 9700 Governor Elect John Glassford RC of Coolamon

District 9700 Governor Nominee John McKenzie RC of Orange North