Greetings Fellow Rotarians! What a special night we had at our last meeting, with our guests of honour being the recipients of the Ernie Hicks Scholarship from Griffith University. This was the first visit to the club in person for some of our students, as the earlier meeting they attended was via Zoom. It was extra special as we bid farewell to our 3rd year student Wisam Omer, but thankfully I don't think that is the last we will see of him.
 
It was a double act last Thursday with another special guest joining us, Lord Baton. To celebrate 100yrs of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand next year, our Club has purchased a special Baton, which we have affectionally named Lord Baton. He will be passed from member to member, who will treat Lord Baton as one of the family - take him home, on outings, show him the sights and sounds of our beautiful part of the world, all supported with photographs. More importantly, Lord Baton will be used as a way to ignite discussion and awareness about Rotary and our Club, with all of those that we come into contact with. Lord Baton is currently on his first leg of the relay and will be coming to a home near you soon. 
 
Our next club meeting is at the Southport Golf Club on Thursday 17 September where we will catch up with Lord Baton and welcome our guest speaker for the evening, former Rosies contributor Kathleen Vlasic, to discuss Homelessness on the Gold Coast. Kathleen has vast experience and knowledge in this area, that can only be obtained by working directly with those on the streets, so please join us on this night to learn more about this issue and to find out how we as a club can help those in need. 
 

Until next time, please take care and if you need anything at all please feel free to contact me via phone on 0433 069 174 or email melissaneilsen1979@gmail.com