Minutes.

Attendance: Nooka informed members that he attributes his severe vertigo to the stress of manning the door.  Most members seemed to think this was a reasonable price to pay to have Nooka on the door.  He recorded 21 members and one guest.  It would be churlish of me to mention that I counted a different number.  Our guest was Matt McConnell from the We’ve Got You Foundation.

Meal: Greg quite correctly admonished your correspondent for criticising the meal.  I think Greg is right; if someone is good enough to cook you a meal then you ought to be grateful for it.  It is in this spirit that I write this review.

Our meal was a substance that one Rotarian described as having been ‘lightly fried’.  This was nestled on a bed of salad that was admittedly delicious and refreshing.  It was difficult to tell what it was that had been fried.  Bob thought it was grub worms.  Brendan thought it was the Korean dish ‘Bong Poa ‘.  The key to making Bong Poa appears to be removing it from the fryer at the correct time.  The correct time being just before the Bowls club burns down.

In summary, 9/10, no complaints.

Bob got the invocation and toast out of the way, introduced our President, and we were on our way.  In reports;

·       James wished Matt a very happy 12 and ¾ birthday for not today and not yesterday. 

·       Greg proposed a combined meeting with the Rotary Club of Warrnambool to hear a report from Millie Barling on her time at the science forum.  6.00pm on Tuesday 28^th of March at the Warrnambool Footy Club.  This will replace our normal weekly meeting.  Please rsvp in the Stack App.

·       Your correspondent reported that Standing Tall have agreed to join us in our proposed Albert Park redevelopment project.  Stay tuned.

·       Bob reminded members of the 38 Mate walk on Saturday.

·       Bob also reminded members that the Golden Community Raffle will be drawn on March 15^th.  All tickets must be returned before then.

·       Mal proposed that we complete the Francis Foundation working bee tomorrow night.

·       Hutto reminded members of the Myeloma luncheon at the City Memorial Bowls Club on Monday 1^st May. 

·       Hutto also informed us that Marg’s plaster is now off and she is recovering well.  We wish Marg a continued speedy recovery.

·       Nooka will be launching the new footy tipping contest in two weeks.  Entry is a very reasonable $20 and entirely voluntary unless you don’t want to take part.

Matt McConnell spoke to us about the We’ve Got You Foundation.  Matt is the co-founder of the foundation.  We’ve Got You are a charity to look after and advocate for those who have lost a young child as well as educate health care workers about this experience.  Matt was motivated to start the foundation after the loss of his daughter, Wren, eight days after her birth. 

The We’ve Got You Foundation has already raised funds to provide a bereavement room at South West Healthcare for the families of young children who have died.  This room is a beautiful space with a nice bed and appropriate other items to allow families to spend time with young children in palliative care and make memories with them.

The Foundation is also working to educate midwives and doctors about how to manage these situations appropriately. 

Also, Matt’s foundation offers peer support groups for both mothers and fathers, and believes that it is important for the fathers voices to be also heard

The Foundation hold an annual fundraising gala ball/charity auction.  The symbol of the foundation to raise awareness is pink nail polish. 

We thank Matt for taking the time to talk to us on a subject that is obviously very dear to his heart.  Hopefully there will be some future opportunity for Rotary to support the We’ve Got You Foundation in some way.

The barrel was drawn and Matt Northeast’s number was drawn out as a very appropriate birthday present. 

There was a certain ocean floor like beauty to our meal this week.

Myeloma 3.8 with a Mate - Warrnambool.

Lew returns to the source.

Many years ago Clive travelled to New Zealand to purchase a metal pig. Rowan then mounted the pig on a plinth and it became our feral award.  Recently Lew travelled to Enzed and discovered that the local artist is still flat-out making metal pigs.  Top work from the unknown artist and top work from Lew.

Ten Years Ago.

More than ten years ago actually.  For much of the late naughties as Central Spoke editor I would regularly receive emails from past member Greame ‘Pinky’ Kemp.  Pinky seemed to enjoy walking through the South West Healthcare carpark taking photos of a certain hospital car.  This car always exhibited dents and scratches.  One photo featured a phenomenal amount of mud and tufts of grass packed into the front grill.  There was never any explanation from Pinky, just a steady stream of photos.

I didn't published any of these photos at the time.  A club member, who may or may not have been a hard-working employee of South West Healthcare, felt that another club members, John ‘Pull the Trigger’ Krygger, may not have seen the funny side of these photos of hospital property.  More than ten years later I am prepared to publish the best-looking photo of the hospital car that Pinky ever sent to me.  You just needed to clean the mud off the bottom of the bumper and it would have looked showroom Boré.