This is not a time to just focus on restoring peace to war torn countries but to think about how we bring peace and avoid conflict in our everyday lives – in our homes, schools, work places and in our Rotary Clubs. Rotary’s goal is to create environments where peace can be built and maintained through sustainable and measurable activities in communities worldwide. Peacebuilding remains a cornerstone of our mission as a humanitarian service organization.
President's Report
I’m looking forward to this week’s meeting, with our guest speaker being Jacob Gormley, President of the Nepean Region Rotaract Club. I know we are all well aware of our mission as Rotarians and the valuable work and projects we support. Rotaract brings together young people aged between 18-30 years to take action in their communities and to develop leadership and professional skills. The value of offering an avenue where young people can create positive change is incredibly exciting and I know Jacob will be able to tell us a great deal about the opportunities the Nepean Region Rotaract Club is providing in his region. I’d like to think the Blue Mountains could also offer this same prospect to the younger members of our community who have a passion to make a difference both locally and more broadly in their world. I’d encourage you to be there early as I understand we will be a full house on the evening with Grace Marcer and Javier Strudwick of the Mountains Youth Services Team (MYST) also being there to speak of their experiences at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) in January, and a good number of interested younger members of our community coming to hear from all three – a great night of enthusiasm and energy is guaranteed.
Keeping on the ‘youth theme’ the Club supported Ellison Public School on Friday morning with a Back to School Breakfast BBQ. What a fantastic morning it was, providing bacon and egg sandwiches and the usual sausage sizzle to lots of smiling children along with their parents, grans, grandads, and teachers. As always, these events are win/win situations, with our Club supporting the schools and their community whilst offer our Club the opportunity to fund raise and put ourselves ‘out there’. We received so many positive comments on the day acknowledging the great work Rotary undertakes. So, thanks to Johannes for organising the event and doing the required purchasing. Most importantly, the event can’t happen without willing hands, so a very big thank you to Jerome Pagitz and Annette Brown – friends of the Club and our members Al, Bruce, Frank, Colin, Marilyn, and Bronwyn who all worked in total harmony to make it a happy and successful morning.
There are a lot more events coming up and the Club will get that information out to members and friends in the near future. It is envisaged providing good advanced notice will allow members and friends to earmark dates into the future and allow members to more easily meet their commitment to service. Prior to a more detailed list coming to you I will just mention a few that are in the near future.
February 28th – Family Fun Dance - ShelterBox fundraiser
March 7th – Buckland Retirement Village BBQ
March 8th – Wellness Day at the Old Farm, Yellow Rock
March 21st – Bunnings BBQ
The Family Fun Dance is a wonderful opportunity for our Club to showcase ShelterBox and raise funds for this organisation. The organisers Al Kellaway and Honorary member Robin Ingram having put a lot of planning and effort into this event and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing a ShelterBox ‘in action’ on the day. I would encourage members and friends to get along to the event, but most importantly to invite those with children, as there will be so much for them to do and enjoy. You can register using the QR code (included in the poster elsewhere in this Springword as well as immediately following) and this will assist in planning the catering.
Wishing you all a wonderful week, take care….Liz
Cheers Liz
Liz Roberts
President 2025-2026
The Rotary Club of Springwood
LAST GENERAL CLUB MEETING
At our last general Club meeting, we had the wonderful expereince of inducting four new members to our Club. We are very proud to welcome. Belinda Erich, Susette Fleming, Donna Hildon and Joe Merceica as ne members of our Club. These new members have already started to work at some of our activities and we are grateful for their obvious commitment and enthusiasm and warmly welcome them to be part of our team.
President Liz Roberts inducts Joe Mercieca, Susette Fleming, and Donna Hildon
President Liz Roberts inducts Belinda Erich
We also had a guest speaker at the same meeting -
Dr Danny Wotherspoon, who is an expert on snakes, who regaled us with his many stories about the types of snakes in the local area and his experiences with them. An enjoyable talk, but a bit scary for some.
SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY FROM THE ROTARY CLUB OF SPRINGWOOD INC.
Ellison PS held their welcome back to school BBQ on Friday 13th February. This was supported by our Rotary Club
which provided the BBQ with sausage sandwiches and egg and bacon sandwiches. Comments received included the following message from Ellison PS.
On behalf of our school and the P&C, I would like to extend a huge thank you
to you and the entire Springwood Rotary team for your incredible efforts in
catering for our Welcome Breakfast this year. It was a wonderful event,
and everyone I spoke with had only positive things to say.
Your team was welcoming, professional, and so generous with their time,
which truly contributed to the warm and inclusive atmosphere of the morning.
It was a pleasure working with you, and please pass on my sincere thanks to
your entire team for their outstanding contribution. We very much look
forward to the opportunity to work together again in the future.
LATEST NEWS …
1. DATES TO LOOK FORWARD TO (IN ADDITION TO THOSE LISTED ABOVE)...
Wednesday, 4th March - Men's Morning Tea, Winmalee
Friday, 6th March - Ori Fund raising Raffle, 5.00 pm
Saturday, 7th March - Working Bee at Buttenshaw Park, 8.30am
Monday, 16th March - Tea Party at the Singh's to raise funds for Grace's Place.
2. YOUTH DIRECTOR'S REPORT
a) Not much to report from this past week. Breakfast club with MYST starts back this week & we have 2 Youth related speakers at Monday night's meeting. Our guest speakers are Jacob Gormely, President of the Nepean Region Rotaract Club, and Grace Marcer, our recent RYLA candidate, who will speak on their experiences with these aspects of Rotary. We will also have extra guests along as I have invited our recent RYPEN, RYLA and Youth Exchange participants to hear about these programs. Get in early to save your seats & welcome them to our meeting!
b) SCIENCE & ENGINEERING CHALLENGE - VOLUNTEERS FOR SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK
Volunteers needed! Please register through the attached PDF link on the brochure below.
2026 Science and Engineering Challenge
Sydney Olympic Park,
March 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27
Volunteers would be supervising Year 10 students as they undertake a range of science and engineering-related tasks, though a background in science or engineering is not essential. You would be required to be on site from 0800 to 1430. Morning tea and lunch will be provided and parking is normally available.
We look forward to welcoming you to the SEC volunteer team!
Sheryn Phillips, Youth Director
3. FAMILY FUN DANCE
Following, you will find the flier for this exciting fundraising event, all details are there.
It is being held on Saturday 28th February at 5.00 to 8.00 in the evening at the Old Farm, 35 Purvine Rd, Yellow Rock. Please share the information with all of your friends, relatives and neighbours. Let's make this a big occasion for our Club.
For this event to be successful we will require a team of our trusty helpers for the evening in the following areas:
parking attendants 3 people 4.45pm - 7.45pm
front gate registration checking, raffle ticket selling 3 people 4.45pm-7.45pm
BBQ trailer cooking, serving and sale 5 people 5-7pm
Dessert server 1 person 6.30-7pm
Dam watcher (kids) 1 person 4.45-7.45pm
ShelterBox support for their display team 1 person 5-7pm
Kindly contact Al Kellway to indicate where you are able to help, so a roster will be prepared.
4. TEA PARTY FUNDRAISER FOR GRACE'S PLACE TO BE HELD AT THE SINGH'S
This is a great event to raise funds for Grace's Place. The goal is to raise funds to purchase a ride-on mower. Grace’s Place is a residential trauma centre for children and young people affected by homicide. To say we were overwhelmed by the facility itself and the incredible work undertaken there would be an understatement. I don’t feel anyone could visit this centre and see and hear the work undertaken and not be impressed by the selfless service performed on a daily basis. Martha Jabour OAM, is the Executive Director and CEO of
Grace’s Place and was named the NSW 2025 Local Hero; so, it’s not surprising that Martha is also a proud member of the Rotary Club of Carlingford – Rotarians are certainly a force to be reckoned with.
5. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – CONFERENCE SUPPORT (FRIDAY NIGHT & SATURDAY)
All great conferences rely on volunteers to help ensure everything runs smoothly, and we are now seeking volunteers for Friday night and Saturday to assist with our upcoming Conference.
There are a variety of roles available, including:
Registrations and assisting with registration
Supporting attendees at City Hall
Showcase assistance
Ushers for the Showcase
Ushers for the Civic Theatre
Directing conference attendees to morning tea and lunch, and back to the Civic Theatre
Most roles are for an hour or less, and your support would be greatly appreciated. Volunteering is also a wonderful way to meet people and be part of the Conference's energy and success.
If you are able to help, we would love to hear from you.
Contact:
Adrian Roach
Conference Volunteer Coordinator adrian@valleyfresh.net
0412 191 888
Thank you in advance for your support — together we can make this a fantastic Conference.
1.INNOVATORS AND GO-GETTERS WANTED…THE DISTRICT TEAM BRINGS YOU OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE YOUR IMPACT - A message from ImmediatePast District Governor, Niranjan Deodhar
Your District team is looking to address vacancies and gaps in capacity with new skills and perspectives. In my personal experience, working on roles at District level enables members to truly understand the full potential of Rotary, benefit from it personally in their desire to do good in the world, and also bring that experience back into the club. It is a win-win emanating from lifting your gaze above the reach of any single club.
The District team focuses on outcomes and impact, including that of bringing benefits to clubs. Contrary to some urban myths, it is not the ‘back office’ removed from the real work, but rather a nodal point to help bring scale to what the clubs do. Cognizant of busy lives and club commitments, we use tech extensively to bring efficiencies in our work. While we have a tradition of these roles being for 3 years, a shorter commitment can also be discussed.
Specific roles we are looking to fill are:
Membership and club mentoring committee – to enable clubs to become good at attracting and retaining members; identify growth opportunities; and create new clubs
Foundation committee – to enable clubs to make the most of the resources of the Foundation, including grant-funded projects, and getting the best value in terms of impact for your charitable collections
Partnerships committee – to improve the way we partner with other organisations to increase our impact on communities we serve
2. FUN FACTS ABOUT 2026-27 PRESIDENT OLAYINKA
Something he saw on TV inspired him to join Rotary.
He met his wife at a Rotaract meeting.
He raised $80,000 with a text message.
President-elect Olayinka “Yinka” Hakeem Babalola describes these milestones in his life and talks Rotary priorities in an interview with magazine senior staff writer Diana Schoberg. Click on the image below to read about the fun facts about Olayinka “Yinka” Hakeem Babalola.
3. 5 STEP ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN
4. FACT SHEETS FOR CLUBS, DISTRICTS & COMMUNITY GROUPS
Still looking for clarity on Regionalisation and how it affects you? Our one-page fact sheets are designed with Rotarians in mind. We encourage you to read these fact sheets to help you to keep informed about the Regionalisation Pilot.
5. FRIDAY, 20th TO SUNDAY, 21st MARCH - 2026 ROTARY DISTRICT'S 9660 AND 9685 CONFERENCE
Rotary Unites for Good: 2026 Districts 9660 and 9685 Conference Set for Newcastle on the 20th & 21st March 2026
In 2026, Rotary Districts 9660 and 9685 will come together for a joint conference in the vibrant city of Newcastle, NSW.
This special event will celebrate Rotary’s impact, strengthen connections across districts, and inspire Rotarians and friends through shared learning, collaboration, and fellowship. Register now!
Rotarians from Districts 9660 and 9685 are invited to unite in Newcastle, NSW, on Friday, 20 and Saturday, 21 March 2026, for the “Together for Tomorrow” conference—a dynamic event designed to inspire, connect, and empower Rotary members across both districts.
Event Highlights
Connect: Forge meaningful relationships with fellow Rotarians and changemakers.
Learn: Gain insights from visionary speakers and enjoy a musical extravaganza.
Act: Discover new ways to make a lasting impact in your community and beyond.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK...
Neil Armstrong: "I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine." - Resonates with Rotary's philosophy of making every moment count in the service of humanity.
Acknowledgement of Country
We would like to acknowledge the Gundungurra and Dharug peoples past, present and emerging as the traditional owners of the land where our Club resides and pay our respects to them.
