Dolly Parton & RI team up to promote early childhood reading

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Country music legend Dolly Parton says reading to a preschooler is the best way to prepare for the day when that child first heads off to school.

Parton was a speaker at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, in June, where she received Paul Harris Fellow Recognition and shared her appreciation for Rotary’s efforts to promote literacy. RI News caught up with Parton in Montréal for an exclusive interview. Watch the video above for the interview, and for more from her convention appearance.

Rotary International and the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library are collaborating to promote early childhood reading. The Imagination Library provides preschool children with a free book each month from birth until age five. The program has received support from more than 115 Rotary clubs and has grown from its base in Parton’s home state of Tennessee, USA, to other communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Dolly Parton Teams Up with Rotary International from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Presentation to Marrar Public School

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Grahame Miles with the Marrar School Captain Adam Wallace

Past President Grahame Miles was the main force behind our Rotary Community Day this year.  Grahame also drove the monster raffle and as a result we as a club were able to provide a total of $6,767  to most of our local schools in the Coolamon Shire.  Here we see Grahame presenting a cheque for $625 to the Marrar Public School Captain Adam Wallace recently.

Thanks for all that you do for the community Grahame and for being a Rotarian.

Megan MacDonald Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar

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Megan MacDonald in Nairobi

I first met Megan MacDonald in Los Angeles at the Rotary International Convention in 2008.  Megan was on her way to Kenya to study at the University of Nairobi as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.  Megan has kept a blog on her activities and some of her posts are truly remarkable.

Megan’s Blog

Here is an example of her writing:

WRITINGS OF MEGAN

“Have you seen The Constant Gardener? Do you remember the rolling sprawl of rusted tin roofs in Kibera? Did the movie capture the fractured earth, the plastic bag-choked bits of green amidst the ever-present brown?

I went to Kibera for the first time shortly after I arrived in Kenya to visit Red Rose School. I wore the wrong shoes, and was cautioned that were I ever to go through the gate next to the school that beckoned into the depths of the slum I better make sure my feet were covered. I’ve been back many times since to the inner Toi market (fabulous used clothing market, I have a friend who got an authentic Louis Vuitton for under $1) and Makina market where my tailor is. All these visits allowed me to say, “yes, I’ve been to Kibera” though none of them in anyway conveyed the reality of the place I visited for the first time today. The border does not betray the inner sanctum’s reality. No, it does not

It is hard to reconcile my ability to see the beauty, joy and goings on of life in the slum, with the revolting site you have to process in order to know it must be changed. The land is sucked of the green. The water is scarce, the trash unbelievable. Children meander through filth, shining their glorious youth and innocence in order to make it human, to make it bearable.

There is music, constant music. There are babies being held, old men shooting the shit, hunched grandmas walking together. It is life, at the same time as it should, and never should, be.”

Megan MacDonald Nairobi, Kenya 8th June 2009.  From Megan’s blog “There She Goes”.


Australian Rotary Conference Canberra 2010

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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.

Tanaka is choice for 2012-13 RI president

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Sakuji Tanaka

Sakuji Tanaka, a member of the Rotary Club of Yashio, Saitama, Japan, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in 2012-13. Tanaka will become the president-nominee on 1 October if there are no challenging candidates.

Tanaka said he would like to see Rotary “continue its vital work as the force to improve our communities.”

For 32 years, Tanaka was president of Tanaka Company Ltd., a wholesale firm that went public in 1995 and later merged with other leading wholesalers in Japan. Currently, he serves as vice president of the Yashio City Chamber of Commerce and adviser to Arata Co. Ltd., an animal feed and pet food wholesaler. He also chaired the National Household Papers Distribution Association of Japan for eight years. Tanaka studied business at Nihon Management Daigakuin and Tokyo Management Daigakuin.

Guest Speaker Terry Jones August 9th

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Terry Jones in Full Flight

Our guest speker this week was Terry Jones from Bathurst:

Terry is currently Editor of the Bathurst Newspaper, the Western Advocate.  In the 1970s he was Editor of the Griffith Area News and has a wealth of knowledge of the events before and after Donald Mackay’s disappearance.  On the evening of July 15, 1977, Donald Mackay disappeared from a hotel car park after having drinks with friends.  He was never seen again.

Terry gave an inspiring and excellent talk on the events in Griffith from the early days, long before Don McKay was murdered, through to the latest drug busts etc.  Terry covered it so thoroughly that there were only two questions asked at the end.  98 people attended this special event in Coolamon.

Shelter Box in Pakistan August 2010

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ShelterBox tents in use in the region

ShelterBox tents are now up and providing immediate shelter to around 1,000 families displaced by the recent flooding in Pakistan.

The flooding is the worst in 80 years and has caused wide-spread devastation, particularly in District Mianwali, Bhakkar & Khushab and Punjab Province.

The tents were distributed by long-standing ShelterBox partners the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP).

SHELTERBOX WEB SITE