Welcome to our first edition of the Spoke 'n' Words for 2018. Sandi Tarant, our Editor extraordinaire will be back on board from next week with all the regular segments. In the meantime the B team have combined to deliver this short Bulletin.
This week marks the end of the holidays for thousands of school students and workplaces across the state and our roads are about to get busy once again with the thousands more who will be resuming work and life routines... The good news is we’ve made it through the festive season, hopefully rested and re-energised.
At the Rotary Club of Berwick our members have been kept busy in January with a number of Rotary activities and engagements… from the arts screens delivery and pick up on the 31st of December and 14th of January (for the annual Rotary Club of Sorrento Art Show); running the BBQ at the St John of God Berwick Hospital Family Day on the 7th of January; the traditional New Year get together at the Kraan’s on the 10th, welcoming Alex Kraan back to Melbourne on the 14th, fresh from his 12 month Youth Exchange stint in Switzerland; the annual Berwick Cemetery clean up on the 17th; and hosting the largest Australia Day celebrations in Casey on the 26th.
With February upon us, one can't help wonder where the time has gone!!
Through its strong partnership with the Inner Wheel, the Rotary Club of Berwick has been able to deliver some of its most successful and grand scale events over the years and the Australia Day Celebrations at Pioneers Park on the 26th is just another example of that. Kay Morland, International Inner Wheel Board Director, has been a big part of that cooperation over the years and it was only fitting that she be appointed as the first Rotary Club of Berwick Australia Day Ambassador. Thank you Kay for accepting the appointment and for the inspirational speech you delivered to the 3,000 strong Australia Day revellers. Thank you also to Councillor Susan Serey, a long time friend of the Club, who was a last minute replacement for Mayor Geoff Ablett to deliver the Mayoral speech. I also congratulate Past President Geoff Double and his committee for organising the Australia Day event and for a job well done!
This Wednesday, 31st January, Steve and Jennifer Marshall have organised a vocational visit for members and friends of the Club to the Veolia Environment Services facility in Dandenong South. Veolia is currently the leading processor of waste food organics in the metropolitan Melbourne market, with its joint venture in-vessel composting facility (NRS) in Dandenong. This facility is said to be the only metropolitan facility licensed by the EPA to process food waste and has been successfully converting food and garden organic wastes into soil improvement products since 2000. With facilities in every corner of the globe, Veolia has over 163,000 employees worldwide. In 2016, the Veolia group supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 61 million people with wastewater service, produced 54 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 30 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Perhaps there is an opportunity here for Rotary to reach more people in more places by partnering with an organisation such as Veolia. A visit not to be missed!!
I cannot conclude without thanking PP Jack and Ann Kraan for their hospitality in hosting the annual NEW Year BBQ on the 10th of January, and to PP Adrian Funston for organising our 54th annual Berwick Cemetery clean up on the 17th.
I hope you enjoy the first edition of Spoke 'n' Words for 2018.
Ricardo
