Home Page | Rotary Club of Mundingburra

Rotary Club of Mundingburra

Townsville, Australia

Visting Rotarians and Guests are always welcome

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 6:30 PM

Townsville RSL Club

139 Charters Towers Road
Hyde Park, QLD 4812
Australia

Phone:

0447 815 013

Email:

rotarymundingburra@outlook.com

6pm for 6.30pm start Check Rotary News below as some weekly meetings are offsite.

District Site

Venue Map

Celebrating Australia Day

The Mundingburra Rotary Club will be celebrating Australia Day with a special event at the Bluewater Park.

The Club, in partnership with the Bluewater Association, will be planting trees in the park, holding a sausage sizzle, and a number of other events to celebrate this Australia Day. We invite people to come in the afternoon and share the day with us.

Happy New Year

The Rotary club of Mundingburra welcomes members and guests to 2021.

Our club meetings commence from the 7th Jan and visitors are welcome.

We wish everyone a very happy and safe New Year.

Mundingburrra Rotary supporting Canteen Bandana program

Our club is proud to be supporting the fundraising efforts of CANTEEN (an organization setup to assist our youth (12-25) who are experiencing cancer). This wonderful organization assists with the moral and mental health of our especially important younger members of the community.

Members have participated in purchasing CANTEEN Bandana’s in support of their Bandana Day fundraiser to help this important organisation who do a wonderful job for our youth with cancer.

Compassionate Friends Meeting

Our Rotary Club was privileged to have Alex Whitney speak to the members about the Compassionate Friends organisation. This wonderful group of people are a gathering of people who have lost a child, irrespective of the child’s age at death and the cause of the death, and is an organisation independent of any religious, philosophical or government body.

In presenting Alex spoke of her personal and tragic loss, and that Compassionate Friends is a mean that assists people facing similar issues, to be able to talk with like minded people in a special way.

Her talk was very moving and appreciated by the Club. It’s a great organisation that originated in the UK, and has provided a vital means for helping people in similar situations.

Melbourne Cup Night

For the 30 years, the Mundingburra Rotary Club has held a special event to celebrate the Melbourne Cup. It’s a very social night with members, and lots of friends, dressing up, and hoping to maybe share in any Cup Raffles.

The major event of the night is our very special Tony Wode, and very well known local race caller, who has made this a special night for us every year with a fantastic phantom race call. His ability to put everyone in the mood, and make them feel they are actually at the race, which was not being held for a number of days later, is beyond belief. His excited call is so well done, the cheering and suspense has everyone joining in and enjoying the night. He is brilliant.

Tony is an Honorary Member of our club, and has been for a number of years, and in appreciation of his 30 years of helping our club with this event, the club had our President, Shane Smith, present him with a Paul Harris award. The Paul Harris award allows clubs to donate $1,000 US to the Rotary Foundation on a person’s behalf. This money is then used to assist humanity projects around the world.

Paul Harris was a founder of Rotary International and it is a very special award for a club to make to a person. Tony’s commitment to community values was also highlighted with a decision he made 30 years ago, which he still applies today, that our donation to him is forwarded to the City OF Townsville Christmas fundraiser for needy people.

Rotary helping our Community

The Suprise.

Rotary Clubs around Australia do a wonderful job in assisting people in our communities as well as those in overseas places where our standing of living is much higher than some third world countries.

The story below is one of where three of our Townsville Rotary Clubs have worked together, with others in our City to achieve a new vehicle for a family doing it really tough.

Just take a few minute to read the following outline of what we called Project Devlin, to reach an outcome that highlights the compassion we have for those a little less fortunate than ourselves.

Project Devlin was born when the Southern Cross Catholic College wrote to Mundingburra Rotary club seeking community assistance for a family whose son attends the school.

Devlin is a resilient young man in year 9 at Southern Cross. At the tender age of 8 he was diagnosed with bone cancer resulting in the loss of the lower half of his right leg. Following his surgery, Devlin and his family had to relocate to Brisbane for him to undertake pediatric oncology for 12 months.

The family has since returned home to Townsville, where he regularly needs ongoing treatment, and three weeks ago had further surgery to his lower amputation.

Elvira is a single mum raising two children Devlin and Zita, and she is classified as Devlin’s full time carer. 12 months ago her 20 year old car gave up the ghost to the point the vehicle was scrapped. Since then she has been relying upon the gracious help of a neighbour to lend her a car.

Mundingburra Rotary proposed Project Devlin as a community service mission for our club to adopt. The plan included a financial contribution from Elvira herself, financial support of RC of Townsville, and RC of Townsville Sunrise as project partners, and an application for a Rotary Australia Compassionate Grant, and of course the RC of Mundingburra as project managers to purchase a new vehicle.

To satisfy their transport needs we identified the Mitsubishi Outlander as an ideal solution to accommodate Devlin’s wheelchair being the main issue for the family, and subsequently approached Pickerings Mitsubishi who assisted us for the supply of a new Outlander.

See over for more photos of the handover event which occurred on Saturday 17th October 2020

ICE - The horror drug

Past District Governor presenting Certificates of thanks to Glen and Andrea

Our thanks to the wonderful ambassadors from AAIC (Australian Anti ICE Campaign) for spending a few hours at night with our club to share the issue of the power of just one trial of ICE can do to hook people of all ages into a life of hell.

AAIC is primarily concerned with addressing the dangers with school children, however the message is very clear that regardless of age, this drug is something that no body should try even once.

Once you learn of (a) what chemicals often go into this evil drug – Main drain cleaner, and house dangerous chemical, (b) the way it links to the brain and takes over your ability to control yourself, you have to ask why would anyone use it.

Peer pressure and often false statements of how it can help you in difficult times, or to loose weight, are all things to avoid.

And to hear from a person who was an addict, and learn what happened to her life, and especially what she ended up having to do to fund her addiction, you really see that this product is one to avoid at all costs.

For people not able to attend the meeting, or maybe are reading this page from elsewhere, have a look at the two videos on the AAIC web page, the information will most likely shock you as it did to us attending the presentation.

The message needs to be spread far and wide to try and put a stop to innocent people making snap decision from false information, that will later create havoc for your body, your mind, your relationships with family and friends, and most likely will end us with you having a criminal record or loss of life.

Thanks to Glen and Andrea for a real understanding of this terrible drug,

Off Site Meeting 22nd Oct

The Rotary Club of Mundingburra will be meeting at the Townsville Yacht Club on Thursday 22nd October. Our special guest is the our Rotary District Governor. We will be returning to the Townsville RSL the following week(30th Oct) for our special annual Melbourne Cup night.

Visitors are welcome however due to catering needs prior advice is needed to ensure we can seat any additional attendees,, and arrange a meal.

Please contact the Secretary on the phone numbers on the home page if you want to attend.

Porsche Australia Tasmania Targa

Last week, the Club had a very interesting presentation by Mark Bogiatzis, on the Porsche Australia Tasmania event, which Mark has participated in a number of times. Mark a proud local businessman, outlined in a very open and fun way the way the event is organised and run, and explained his enjoyment of being part of this event which has allowed him to not only enhance his driving skills, but also meet some wonderful people from around Australia and the world.

A dot point of his comments follow on the next page.

New Club Meeting Location

Members and Guest are advised that as of Thursday 8th October, the Club will be holding our weekly meetings at the Townsville RSL Club, 139 Charters Towers Road, Hyde Park.

Club Visit to SES Townsville

Our Vocational visit to the Townsville SES highlighted the fantastic facility that our community has for assisting with issues relating to Cyclones, Bush Fires, Search & Rescue, floods and support for motor vehicle accidents.

The centre provides a base for not only the SES, but also the Fire Brigade, and Rural Fire Brigades but also various Emergency groups. The centre not only houses a variety of items of equipment needed to cover the various events that might arise, but also contains a well resourced training facility for keeping new and existing staff up to speed.

More photos below.

Bunnings BBQ Day

Thanks to Bunnings for the opportunity to allow us to participate in a Saturday Bunnings day on the 29th August. It was a great day raising funds for our community as well as providing a great deal of fellowship to our volunteers.

The Bunnings Supervisor ensured that we complied with all COVID issues as personal and community safety is also paramount within our club.

The afternoon crew after close of the day and acknowledging one

members birthday milestone With a balloon and cake.

Club Meeting 3rd Sept is Off site

Members and Guests,

The clubs meeting on Thursday 3rd Sept is a vocational visit to the SES in Ingham Road. any guests wanting to attend to advise the Secretary for attendance and catering purposes.

Townsville Grammar School Interact Club

Visiting Members of the Townsville Grammar School Interact Club

with Mundingburra Rotary President Shane Smith

and Past District Governor Robert Tardaini

Three students from the Townsville Grammar School’s Interact Club attended our meeting and provided a wonderful overview of the work they are doing as students to build a good community support base for various projects they are undertaking.

They do various projects to fund raise so they can assist with a number of activities to support vulnerable and needy people. They are also working on how to assist young people in Timor Leste (one of our close neighbours to Australia). One upcoming fundraiser will involve a Car Wash event, which many of our Rotary Club members have agreed to also attend and pay for a wash as many mentioned they hadn’t been too busy to wash their own vehicles.

Presentations were given by the Interact Club President, the Interact Treasurer, and one other, outlining the work they are doing.

As possible future leaders of our community, it was gratifying to see that our youth have the community at mind at this incredibly young stage in life.

Out thanks to the teacher who accompanied them to our meeting, and also to the students themselves for sharing personal time with us.

Peter Wheeler Presentation

President Shane, presenting certificate of appreciation to Peter.

Peter Wheeler, of Colliers Townsville, provide an excellent update to the club members about the property market in our community. His talk covered the Commercial, Retail, Housing, and Unit markets in an easy to understand manner.

The overall view he provided was the despite the issues impacting Townsville from the floods, and now the Corona Virus, the market was generally showing very positive signs.

He also provided a good outlook on they way things are likely to go with the increased focus on rebuilding the CBD.

A wonderful talk and one that was encouraging, especially as a lot of people only see the negative side of the problem around us.

Thanks, Peter, for a nice brief on our community from a property perspective.

New Meeting Location

Due to unavailability of space at our previous Club Meeting place, we have moved to the North Queensland Club at 146 Denham Street Townsville City starting 13th August 2020. We look forward to members, visiting Rotarians, and guests to our meetings.

If coming it would assist with catering if you could advise the Secretary via phone or email as per the club details on this page.

Mundingburra Rotary Changeover Dinner

Due to the Corona Virus situation, the Clubs Annual Changeover event was delayed a month, but gee what a wonderful night it was with an excellent attendance of Rotarians, Partners and friends.

Held on Friday 31st July at the Queensland Club, guests were greeted with a very nicely decorated venue and lovely music by students from the Northern Beaches State High School. What a way to start a great night for the the outgoing President Sue Lloyd, and a welcome to the incoming President Shane Smith.

Interesting in attendance was 4 past District Governors, Peter Kaye, Ron Degenhart, Ian Jones and Robert Tardiani (all of which are current members of our club) plus our current District Governor Merwyn Wright, and District Governor nominee, John Hall, plus the Districts Assistant Governor, Trevor Hyatt.



Outgoing President Sue Lloyd	Incoming President Shane Smith

Brendan Sprag

A wonderful presentation by Brendan Sprag, a Psychologist, and Director of 2B Psychology Practice, on happiness and how you might relate to various life events. His comments provoked a lot of interesting thoughts about life and the way we might judge things.

Brendon’s presentation included a number of searching questions about what happiness means to members of the audience and gauging happiness on a scale of 1 to 10. He spoke about his work and how he spends his leisure time in our city. He also spoke about the events that have impacted on the lives of Australians during the past 18 months (include some close to home) such as the 2019 floods, bush fires and the shortage of toilet paper. He read a poem that he wrote following completion of one years work at Stuart Creek Prison. He told a story about the range of emotions he experiences during his cycle rides around our city. Allan Nelson thanked Brendon for his most interesting and topical presentation.

Good News

We are pleased to announce that with the new guidelines on COVID-19 issues being relaxed, we are now recommencing our meetings at the Sun Hotel.

Whilst this is allow us to get back to physically meeting members again, we will be adopting strong measures to comply with the revised regulations on separation. Non members wishing to attend our meeting are welcome however we ask that you phone the Secretary prior to confirm that we have the required space available.

Congratulations to Bill Barber

The Mundingburra Rotary Club acknowledges the Australian Government Certificate of Appreciation for Australian Volunteers 2020, that was recently awarded to Rotarian Bill Barber for his work over many years to assist our local community.

Congratulations Bill, a well deserved award for your contributions over many years.

Mundingburra Rotary Club welcomes 3 New Members

The Rotary Club of Mundingburra welcomes Phil Gordon, Ian Corney & Ryan Lacaze, formerly members of the Rotary Club of Townsville South West to our club. The new members were all sponsored by PDG Robert Tardiani and inducted by President Shane Smith at a small function on 2nd July which was also zoomed to all club members.

Phil Gordon, Ian Corney & Ryan Lacaze accepting their inductions to the club.

We welcome PDG Robert Tardiani and Sue to our club

PDG Robert Tardiani and his wife Rotarian Sue, where both inducted to the Rotary Club of Mundingburra by outgoing President Sue Lloyd, in the presence of incoming President Shane Smith.

The District Governor Ron Degenhart, also a member of our club, sponsored both Robert and Sue to the Club on a special night but with a small gathering due to the Covid situation. Members witnessed the event via the Zoom meeting.

What do you know about Rotary?

Rotary Clubs are community based organisations working under the umbrella of Rotary International based in Chicago, which started in February 1905. The purpose of Rotary is aligned with helping to improve the world, locally, Nationally & World Wide by uniting people in their community.

It was originally very much a Club for professional people, and only male orientated, however this changed some years ago, and clubs now are generally made up of professional and retired members, and open to both Male and Females and people of all skills. Want to know more? read on below.

Club Meeting Update

Due to the current COVID-19 virus which has resulted in the need to not hold gatherings and maintain social separation, consequently the Rotary Club of Mundingburra are holding our weekly meetings via a Zoom video links, at 6.30pm on Thursday nights.

If anyone would like to join our meeting as a visitor please contact the Secretary - Jim Baker on 0407730619 who will make suitable arrangements for access.

It will be nice to go back to physical meetings of our members when it is safe to do so, however this may not be for some time due to the ongoing COVID-19 issue. we will update this page of any changes.

Rotary Meetings are cancelled temporarily

Due to our concern for the welfare of our members, families, and guests, Mundingburra Rotary has elected to cancel all our club meetings for the next 3 to 4 weeks due to the COVD-19 Virus from the 19th March 2020.

Further updates on when our meetings may resume will be posted when know.

Community Safety is very important. Please stay safe.

Prostate Cancer – A personal experience

Thanks to Bevin Irvine, an ambassador for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia for coming along to our club to give members and guests a layman’s understanding of prostate cancer and his personal experience with this medical condition.

His talk clearly explained the need for men to consider their health and get regular checks as they owe it to the families. We can always find a way to say we are busy, however earlier detection and treatment is lifesaving in all forms of cancer treatment and Prostate cancer is no different.

Bevin’s presentation slides gave a clear understanding of the issue and the methods the medical people use to treat the issue, when detected in a person.

Thanks Bevin for giving us a great reminder of the need to look after ourselves, very importantly if we are to be able to continue looking after family and friends. Visit your GP.

Welcome George Koulakis

The Rotary Club of Mundingburra welcomed George Koulakis as a member of our club. George is well known for his work in assisting community members, especially ex service personnel, in helping to overcome mental health issues.

We welcome you George and am sure you will make a very positive contribution to both Rotary International and our Community.

(Photo is George being presented with a certificate of Membership by the District Governor Ron Degenhart.)

Rotarians learning more about Beyond Blue

The club had the huge privilege of a presentation by Geoffrey Saunders about the Beyond Blue organisation at our meeting on Thursday 27th Feb.

For those who may not understand, its an organisation doing wonderful things to help people with mental health issues. Something we used to hide from people rather than today where we are open and able to assist people.

During his talk, he covered the aspects that he had experienced and the assistance and ways that allowed him to understand the illness better and how to overcome these personal demons. It was a rather personal and heartfelt talk done in a very lovely way. Excellent speaker and gets this message across in a many that is easy to understand.

Thanks Geoffrey for coming to speak to our members and give us an insight into this issue that is impacting a lot of people.

Rotary Youth Exchange

The Rotary Club of Mundingburra has had a very long association with assisting young members of our community to spend a year on an exchange in another country. And we also welcome to our community a young member from overseas in return.

Maria, on exchange from Italy, doing a presentation

to our Club on her home and what she has learnt

from her visit to Australia.

Tomas, who exchanged with Denmark being presented by the District

Governor Ron Degenhart.

Mundingburra are currently hosting Maria from Italy. A vibrant young person who has accepted the challenge of leaving her home family to gather an unforgettable period of her life in Australia and have just had the opportunity to welcome Tomas back from a year in Denmark to come and talk to us about his experience as an exchange student.

When you hear from these vibrant young people, how this program has allowed them to develop a higher level of personal skills, understand different cultures, learn another language, as well as build a network of new contacts, you really get to see the value of these programs.

As with past exchanges, they all say it was hard leaving their own families for the exchange, however they say it was one of the best things they could have done and are very grateful for the opportunity being given them.

Housing Industry Association

The club was proud to have Peter Fry, representing HIA, who gave an excellent presentation to the club members on the state of the building industry in Townsville.

Clearly we often only see the negative side whereas Peter was able to demonstrate the way the industry has performed over many years, for the various types of housing, and including separately renovations, which showed that things are well within the norms and the trend is very likely to have an upward path within the next couple of years.

Thankyou Peter for taking the time to talk to us, and to highlight that our community is actually travelling within the normal boundaries of our past.