Lake Mac Autumn Fair
Lake Mac Autumn Fair
This amazing extravaganza is on again - don't miss out
Saturday 30th April at Speers Point Park.

Lake Mac Autumn FairLake Mac Autumn Fair This amazing extravaganza is on again - don't miss out Saturday 30th April at Speers Point Park. ![]() |
Backpack Blitz![]() |
Christmas Trailer Raffle - 1st Prize Congratulations go to Ian and Trish Ashton who are the proud new owners of the fully registered trailer and all of its contents. Have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year. ![]() |
Christmas Trailer raffle - 2nd prize2nd Prize goes to Karen Bell. An outdoor setting and 3 x $100 vouchers thanks to Bunnings, Woolworths and Good Guys. ![]() |
2020 Wrap-up – The Year that Was...WOW! Well what a year this has been. One for us all to remember. It started with the devastating bushfires up and down our east coastline and the smokey days down at the lake reminded us what others were facing. Our Club donated $2000 to an appeal run by Taree Rotary Club – given in $1000 vouchers to people in that district who had lost their homes. Our Rotary year was soon into gear, with a Vocational visit to the Red Frog, providing services for families with autistic children. After an interesting talk and tour of the premises we dined at Warners at the Bay. |
Its time to get out and about![]() |
October monthly focus area |
September Basic Education and Literacy |
Lake Mac Autumn Fair![]() The Rotary Clubs in Lake Macquarie invite you to enjoy a fun day out at the inaugural Lake Mac Autumn Fair. The fair will be held at Speers Point Park on the 1st of May from 9am and will include games stalls, rides, exhibits, animals, music and dancing. The whole family can enjoy wandering through the classic car exhibit or maybe for the adventurous a joy ride in the red seaplane you may have spotted recently down at the bay. The kids will also learn about some of our emergency services with Police, RFS and Marine Rescue displays. There will be plenty of food and beverage stalls to satisfy the entire family. Local charities, schools, the girl guides and the council are also involved as well. We thank our major supporter Lake Macquarie City Council as well as other supporters 2NURFM, Kennards Hire, Electrodry and Centennial Coal. Proceeds on the day will go back into the local community through our local charity and community group partners. Read a recent article by Newcastle Weekly |
Lake Mac Autumn Fair - RaffleTickets may be purchased at Lake Macquarie Autumn Fair to be held at Speers Point Park on Saturday 1st May. Tickets may also be purchased by contacting Christine at christineje@bigpond.com ![]() |
From the President’s Pen – Barry![]() Hi Members and Friends, As the Christmas and New Year break fades rapidly into distant memory we can now focus squarely, on what the next few months holds, and get down to making sure all our plans come to fruition. The big one, of course is the Lake Mac Autumn Fair. I have been working quite hard on this, and we are gradually building up a good selection of participants and stalls, Rotary run, charity run and commercially run. Meanwhile, Adrian and Toni McLean are starting to pull together the entertainment aspects. |
Christmas Trailer Raffle - Winners![]() The Christmas Trailer Raffle has been drawn with the winners being drawn at Survivors R Us on Friday 18th December and the lucky winners are: 1st: Damon McDonald 2nd: Ann Humpreys 3rd: Ryan Field For our Presidents message from the day please read more |
Leckie Poetry Competition EveningLeckie Poetry Night Monday 19 October 2020 was hosted by the Rotary Club of Cardiff this year with our usual participating clubs Charlestown and Warners Bay joining in for the long standing fun and friendly competition. Congratulations to all who participated by writing and reciting a poem, and to all those who wore a special hat for the occasion. The overall winner of the Leckie Poetry prize was Eleanor Cunningham, RC Cardiff. AG Craig Henningham was awarded a special prize for his hat that was “nearly in season” Some of the competing poems are below: |
Got Your Back Sista - Peree Watson and Mel HistonBarry introduced the guest speaker, Peree Watson, and CEO of “Got Your Back Sista”, Mel Histon. As the registered charitable arm of The Sista Code movement, their vision is to see women and their children happy, thriving and living independently after escaping the trauma of domestic violence. As such, Got Your Back Sista offers benevolent relief and support to women and children escaping domestic violence and are at risk of living below the poverty line. They give a hand up for them to begin again and live independently. |
Twilight Bike Rides![]() Twilight Bike Rides Every Thursday at 5.30pm we gather at Speers Point Park to join Barry’s Twilight Rides. The rides are a community event and each week have included a few local riders joining Club members on investigating different rides around our beautiful lake. They also provide a social get together for Club members and community members whether riders or spectators. You don’t need to be a rider, or on the roster, to come and enjoy the afternoon. We have streamlined the organisation. We provide soft drink or water as well as a sweet treat as a reward for sharing the evening. A reminder that a gold coin donation is appreciated and will go towards RCWB’s community service. Text Yes, name and number of riders to 0428 259 769. We look forward to sharing this regular event with you. |
Guest Speaker Erica Henley - CEO of Operation Hope Australia Ltd![]() Guest Speaker introduction: Glenda introduced the guest speaker, Erica Henley, and her husband, Kim. Erica is the CEO of Operation Hope Australia Ltd – Supporting Refugees in Northern Iraq. Erica, a Rotarian with the Rotary Club of Toronto, was the joint recipient of the 2020 Zone 8 Rotarian of the Year Award. Erica gave a little of her history as a volunteer working with refugee children. It started when they were living in Brisbane. In 2016, she had the opportunity to volunteer in refugee camps in Greece. From there, Operation Hope Australia Ltd started growing. Erica’s husband, Kim, ensured that all the paperwork to register the humanitarian aid organisation and comply with all the legal requirements were met. In 2017, Erica travelled to Kurdistan in Northern Iraq to help set up a Women and Children’s Ward in the Emergency Field Hospital, only 20km east of Mosel (which was under seige by ISIS). Erica & Kim’s son set up the facility for women & children, whilst Erica raised funds for 25 medical treatments and surgeries throughout 2017 & 2018. |
Christmas Trailer Raffle![]() Rotary Club of Warners Bay and their Christmas elves are busy getting together an awesome collection of goodies for you for Christmas. The team of elves, led by Christine, John and Vina are gathering supplies to fill Santa’s sleigh. As its Australia and the reindeer are busy elsewhere, this amazing Christmas gift comes in its own brand new fully registered trailer. Tickets $2.00 Tickets will be sold in a location near you soon so look out for the Rotary Club of Warners Bay Christmas Trailer in your area. ![]() If you would like to purchase tickets and you haven't caught us out and about, please contact Christine on christineje@bigpond.com |
From the President’s Desk – BarryIt has been a frustrating few days to say the least. As I was setting up for our first face to face board meeting last Monday, I heard that our live-in Newcastle Jet had been sent home from school with cold-like symptoms. So we got him tested (negative), but had to cancel the face-to-face, just in case. Then, having confirmed with Club Macquarie that we were good to meet there on Monday, we had 3 covid cases in Newcastle, with the potential for more, so I cancelled that too. Things do seem to be calming down, and I am hopeful we can meet face-to-face next time! |
Survivors R Us - BBQ's![]() This charity, founded in March 2017 supports those affected by domestic violence, homelessness and unemployment. Some of the many things they do/provide are counselling, low cost food outlet, op-shop and a twice weekly cooked breakfast. These services are for anyone and everyone in need. Christine Johnson-Evans and Kerry Hayes visited the venue to meet the founder and coordinator Maria, an amazing an inspirational woman. Maria showed them around and talked about the many great services the charity provides. |
Human and Hope Association (Cambodia) Sally Hetherington![]() Our fortnightly Zoom meetings continue on and tonight we had guest speaker Sally Hetherington OAM, founder and CEO of Human and Hope Association Incorporated (Australia). At the age of 25, Sally bought a one-way ticket to Siem Reap, Cambodia, with the goal of helping people living in poverty. A few months into her journey in Cambodia, Sally realised that the sustainable development of a community cannot be achieved through the involvement of short-term foreign volunteers. The realisation led Sally to transform a community centre into a locally run NGO registered organisation - Human and Hope Association (Cambodia). Sally’s strong belief in local empowerment for community sustainability led to the selfless decision of making herself redundant at the end of the four-year transformation process. Human and Hope Association Incorporated was subsequently established under Sally’s leadership, with the purpose of raising funds to empower communities to reduce inequalities and spread awareness about the importance of local empowerment. |
2020-21 Rotary ChangeoverLast night we had our Rotary Club of Warners Bay changeover. Members and guests all zoomed in as our current President Les Corrigan passed the collar over to President Elect Barry Knowles. We were pleased to have District Governer Graeme and Sue and Area Governer Clarice join us for our formalities and celebrations. We had an induction into the Paul Harris Fellowship with a virtual presentation to RN Rob Woolley who is part of the MHERV initiative. His service to the community was recognised by all in attendance and Rob also shared with us some stories from the road. Our club along with Rutherford/Telarah has recently taken over MHERV as our own initiative. A special recognition of the Rotary Superhero pin for the very first time in our club was presented to outgoing President Les in recognition of his work with Rotary and in the community. A full report will be detailed in our next newsletter. |
Celebrating local mothers and babies![]() As you may be aware, each month Rotary celebrates a theme. Each year, April is designated Rotary Maternal and Child Health Month, which is one of Rotary’s ‘Areas of Focus’. Around the world, Rotary is involved with many projects which address issues relating to and aiming to improve the health of mothers and children. These include projects which look at improving nutrition, developing better antenatal and birth care, hygiene, school health, and general health issues. |
Meeting with Guest Speaker Andrew BestAnother great meeting tonight with 26 participants logging on. President Les and President Elect Barry gave us some updates on club business. We discussed our upcoming projects for both this year and next year. The club has had working parties meeting on various aspects of our club throughout the pandemic and continues to engage members regularly. Andrew Best Supervisor, Club & District Support from Rotary International, Australia, South Pacific & Philippines joined us with a very informative presentation about his role and many others in the Parramatta office, we all learned something new. He also gave an update on his new club Rotary Social Impact Network, how they have chartered, what they have planned and also showed us how they have been communicating as an online club. Thanks again Andrew. Adrian gave us some insight into where he came from and his career and family life. Thanks also to AG Clarice who also joined in after the very first District Changeover of the year. A highly enjoyable evening. Stay well Photo: Andrew Best on Group Study Exchange, District 7570 Virginia/Tennessee, USA in 2014 |
Meeting with Guest Speaker Wilma SimmonsTonight’s meeting had 25 attendees and focused on a very important topic of Child Protection presented by Wilma Simmons. Firstly a little business from President Les on the Constitution update and adoption. Wilma took us through her presentation and an engaging Q&A followed from members. Thank you Wilma. Our getting to know you spot was with Brian Maclachlan sharing about his journey of life long learning. DG Graeme and Sue Hooper also joined to listen in as we were heading into a project meeting on our Charity Bike Riding event and the direction it will be taking in the future. Thanks to our speakers, contributors, AG Clarice and DG Graeme and Sue for attending. |
The future of the Loop Charity RideHello cyclists The Rotary Club of Warners Bay has run a cycle event in the Lake Macquarie area for over 20 years. We feel it is time to rejuvenate the event, but would very much value your opinion to ensure the changes we are planning are what the cycling community and their families want. If you could take a couple of minutes to complete the attached survey we would be most grateful. Thanks in anticipation, and we hope to see you in 2021! https://mailchi.mp/a…/loop-charity-cycle-ride-august-3258994 |
Congratulations Kerry Hayes![]() A number of our club members hold roles in the Rotary District. One such member deserves a huge congratulations, Assistant Governor, Kerry Hayes was recognised at the District Awards night (via Zoom) for her contribution to The Rotary Foundation and End Polio. A very well deserved accolade indeed. #endpolionow #rotaryfoundation #communityspirit #volunteering #peopleofaction #joinrotary |
Meeting with Guest Speaker Leo MagnisalisOur club had its second Zoom meeting tonight with 30 participants and a great program including our two Youth Exchange students and a guest speaker. Olivia our YEP outbound to Norway who unfortunately due to Covid19 has returned home early, talked about her experience learning a new language, taking a short trip including skiing and making friends, although disappointed to return home early, she is still learning Norwegian and would like to return at a later date. Also Gabby our Inbound YEP luckily has almost been here for a year, will return home early to Brazil as well. She talked about how much she has enjoyed and learned from her experience as well. Our Guest Speaker Leo Magnisalis from Magtech IT made a very timely presentation to educate us on how to spot email and online scams, what to do if you have been scammed and also tips on security. There was great engagement through lots of questions from our participants. Thanks to all involved and looking forward to our next meeting in a fortnight. 🙏 |
Our first Zoom Meeting![]() While we are all doing the right thing and staying home at this time, we can still stay connected. Our club had it's first and very successful Zoom this evening with 26 participants. We are very fortunate to live in a time where during this isolation, we have many tools at our disposal to keep in touch. We are planning our regular fortnightly meetings with guest speakers. Thanks to District 9670 for making Zoom available to us and particularly Pat Heal for his assistance and guidance. |