Posted by Andrew Crockett
Thirty-five members and guests (many from University of the Third Age) attended today’s Club meeting by Zoom.  We were treated to a fascinating and thought-provoking talk by Associate Professor Dr Duane Hamacher on his research into how indigenous people in Australia and elsewhere interpreted the stars and celestial phenomena and from their observations predicted such things as changes in the weather and seasons.  His talk, based on his soon-to-be-released book, First Astronomers, provoked many questions from a rapt audience.  
See a full report on Duane’s talk elsewhere in the Bulletin.
 
 
Zoom Donations
Many thanks to those members and guests who generously donated to the Club’s charity funds when registering for this meeting.  Donations for this week totalled $475 which brings our total Club meeting donations for February to $670.
 
 
Report on Board meeting 8 February
 
The Club’s Privacy Policy
The Board has reviewed the Club’s Privacy Policy to ensure that we are complying with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) with respect to the publication of personal information in the Bulletin and other Club media.  
As you know, the Bulletin is accessible to the general public via a link on the Homepage of the Club website.   We are keen to ensure that the Bulletin – and the Club’s social media platforms – are publicly accessible because this is a useful way of promoting the Club and the services we provide.  The Board concluded that the present Privacy Policy, which is the standard Clubrunner policy, does not make it sufficiently clear that personal information relating to people who participate in Club activities may be disclosed beyond the membership of the Club. 
Accordingly, we have decided to amend the Privacy Policy to make it clear that personal information such as names, photographs and other identifying information may be published in a form that is accessible to the public.  The amended policy makes it clear that care is taken when selecting information for publication to ensure that there is no unnecessary or unreasonable disclosure of personal information in reports on Club functions or service activities in which the Club has engaged.
I will be writing to members and our other Bulletin subscribers later this week explaining the amended Policy and to say that if at any time you are concerned about personal information being published in the Bulletin or other Club media to let me, or the Bulletin Editor Gordon Cheyne, know so we can take corrective action. 
 
Awards Committee
The Board has establishment an Awards Committee to make recommendations to the Board for the presentation of awards and other recognitions for the 2021/22 Rotary Year at the Changeover Dinner on 25 June 2022.
 
Bunnings Barbecues
The Board approved a proposal by the Fundraising Committee for the Club to run some Bunnings Barbecues during the year and we are waiting to hear from Bunnings about possible fixtures.  Once we have a fixture the Fundraising Committee will call for volunteers to be rostered on as cooks, servers, cashiers and other roles as required.  The barbecues are a relatively quick and easy way to raise funds for Club’s service projects and I hope members will respond enthusiastically to the call for volunteers when the time comes. 
 
 
Special events in March
A reminder about three special Club events coming up in March.
  • The President’s Drinks Party will be held on Sunday 6 March from 4.00pm to 6.00 pm. If you are planning to attend please book as soon as possible to assist us with catering.  Bookings can be made via the invitation on the website.  The cost is $30 per head which includes a donation to the Club’s charity funds.  
  • The International Women’s Day Breakfast will be held on Tuesday 8 March at Kooyong.  The cost of the breakfast is $42 per head.  Bookings are now open in TryBookings via this link  www.trybooking.com/BXGFO
  • lunch to honour David Corrigan will be held at Kooyong on Tuesday 15 March.  David retired in December after a remarkable 58 years as a Rotarian and 46 years as a member of the Rotary Club of Hawthorn.
Mental Health Packs
A big thank you to those who volunteered recently to pack care bags for the mental health unit at The Alfred Hospital.  
 
Special interest groups
Our two special interest groups – the Bookworms and Fixers - have decided to change the times we meet so people who wish to belong to both groups can do so.  This hasn’t been possible in the past because both groups met monthly at the same time.  In future, the groups will meet alternate months on the second Monday.  
The Fixers will meet on Monday 14 March at 6.00 pm when we’ll be discussing ‘How can authorities revitalize the CBD?’.
The Bookworms meet on Monday 11 April when they will discuss The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam by Douglas Murray.
Why not come and join in the fun, fellowship and mental stimulation of these meetings? 
 
Rotary Leadership Institute program
Newer members of the Club are encouraged to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute program which is conducted online by District 9800.  The program is free and provides a very useful introduction to Rotary.    
The next program will be conducted in three sessions on 20 March, 27 March and 3 April.  The first session runs from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm, and the other two from 11.00 am to 12.00 pm.
For more details and to register for the program, contact the District Secretary Jane Pennington via this link  https://rotarydistrict9800.org.au/events.  
 
Next meeting
Our next Club meeting will be on 22 February by Zoom when we’ll feature another in our series of ‘Experienced Members Behind the Badge’, this time we’ll hear from our esteemed former President and District Governor, Dennis Shore.
Until then stay safe and well, and please don’t forget to book for those March special events.
 
 
Thought for the Week
 
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
- Pericles (also attributed to, but most likely recorded by, Thucydides)
 
Pericles (495 BCE - 429 BCE) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War and was acclaimed by Thucydides as ‘the first citizen of Athens’.  Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it is principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural centre of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon. Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics called him a populist. He, along with several members of his family, died during the Plague of Athens in 429 BCE. 
 
Thucydides (circa 460 BCE-400 BCE) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BCE war between Sparta and Athens. Thucydides has been called the father of ‘scientific history’ by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the deities.  His version of Pericles' Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics. More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plagues, massacres, and civil war. He also has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behaviour of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest.