Weekly Bulletin (Dec. 17, 2023)

I had a great few days in Melbourne with my son Matthew and grandson Mo and a part from having very sore feet from running around the zoo for 3 hours stupidly in high heels I revelled in the joy of seeing him grow and more in seeing my son who was extremely active as a child and is now middle aged receive some well-deserved karma.

We welcomed visiting Rotarian and current President of the Rotary Club of Warrnambool East. And had apologies from David Brown, Rachel Furnell and Greg Lee.

Reminder for the Friday evening get together at the Warrnambool Club. Also a reminder from Glen Brotchie and Jim Sawyer for the upcoming Hole in One Competition run by the Rotary Club of Warrnambool East. They are after people to go on their roster in 4-hour shifts. Please let Glen know if you can help out here with this highly successful Rotary fund raiser.

Chris also gave us an update towards the RYDA program. The program is now booked in for June next year and we will need lots of support and volunteers to help Chris. Very exciting!

Graeme Ward updated us on a joint Warrnambool Rotary Clubs initiative to collect used / discarded blister packs. Our club has been ahead of the pack. A community grant has been received for this project of $5000 and will be used to fund a pilot project where these items will be collected primarily through chemists. More info on this to follow.

Three young women who participated in Defying the Drift and were sponsored by our Club gave a very good presentation on the activities they attended at Longrenong. It was really interesting to hear about what they observed and learned during their time there and the contacts they made that will assist them to clarify their future path and hopefully defy the drift away from rural Victoria and agriculture. We wish Macey, Taylah and Scarlett well in their future endeavours.

At thee end of half my year as president I would like to thank everyone in the Club and particularly the Board for their support. It is indeed a privileged to undertake this role and I know I need a few extra reminders than most so thanks to all for everyone (especially Brooke and Sarah) doing this so kindly (even Tony). I am off to see my beautiful granddaughters in Queensland for a week and then again in January for 3 weeks so I will leave you in Tony Austin's more than capable hands and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Party next week (thanks to Kelly for organising) and a very happy Christmas surrounded by loved ones and friends. See you back on the 9th of January.

My quote for the week.
“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instil a love of learning.” — Brad Henry
President Janet Blackley