Thank you to all of the members who were able to join Matt at the Loved and Shared Working Bee. That is approximately 20 volunteer hours put back into the community with the team that turned up. Well done.
A few members attended the RI Director Jessie Harman dinner hosted by RC Warrnambool. Jessie share what it is like being on the board of RI and on the areas RI are focusing on this year. It was a very interesting presentation and a fantastic opportunity for the Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland clubs to mingle.
In July, our club gave a small grant to Legacy to host the Regional Launch of the Victorian Veterans Families Services program here in Warrnambool. This state-wide program is being delivered to support families, supporters and Veterans impacted by the Royal Commission into Defence Suicide. Adam Kent is the man on the ground and he put on a very good show. Thanks to Brendan and Francis for attending on behalf of the club.
The board have unanimously voted 'yes', our club vote, that Zone 8 participate in the Regionalisation Project. Last chance if you object, please let me know ASAP. I am getting the instructions on how to formalise our vote, please let me know if you need more information, start here: https://rotaryzone8.org/page/rotary-regionalisation-project
This week at lunch our guests are from the Brophy Housing Support and Linkages Program. Please join us, and don't forget your badge if you have it at home, you'll miss out on the bottle of wine otherwise!
RSVP to Stack Teams App by lunch Tuesday - we are back at the Timor St Bowls Club this week.
Attendance: Les helpfully reported that ‘we are all here’, to which someone replied ‘no we aren’t’. Les further clarified this as ‘sixteen sitting on seats’. Our guests were Allan Welsh and Jeff Mutsaers.
Meal: Fish and chips by popular demand. The RSL certainly impressed with a meal that was both large and very tasty.
Sgt Malcolm introduced our esteemed President before we moved into reports.
· James and Matt reminded members that we have a working bee at Loved and Shared, 12 Cooper Street, this Friday.
· James reported on his efforts at the Volunteers Expo at Emmanuel College. The Rotary clubs were able to talk to some prospective members. We thank James for representing us.
· Tony thanked James, David, Brendan, Gracey, Peter and Ashaan for assisting the Cemetery Trust out at Tooram Memorial Park last weekend.
· Hayesey discussed Rob’s plan for us to have vocational visits to places like Pacific Handling, SWI, K9000 and the Indigenous Nursery. Members seemed very keen on the idea.
· Bore reminded members of the Polio fundraiser movie and asked members to buy tickets and come along.
· Malcolm gave us an update on the Bool Music and Wine Festival.
Our guest speakers were Allan and Jeff. They are the ‘Pilot’ and ‘Stoker’ of a tandem bicycle. Allan and Jeff have been riding together for years but their old bike cracked and could not be repaired. They managed to purchase a second hand bike in Wangaratta although it does need an overhaul. Allan, who lost his sight in a car accident in 1970, reports that riding is his only way of maintaining his cardiac fitness. Allan noted that he has been ‘pushing Jeff around’ for years. He hopes to ride with Allan for another ten years. They will make this new tandem bike available to anyone else who wishes to use it.
Matt conducted a brief but excellent fines session before our hard-working secretary won the bottle of wine.
Loved and Shared Working Bee.
Last Friday Matt organised a working bee out at the Loved and Shared shed in Cooper Street. The task at hand was to line the inside of a steel shed. Matt, Rowan, Brendan, James, Peter W., Clive, Lew, Hayesey and yours truly worked as a team. I don't think anyone would be offended if I mentioned that Rowan and Brendan provided most of the expertise. Jamiee was there from Loved and Shared and very kindly provided us with lunch. Hopefully this new venture will be up and running soon. We may return soon to paint these panels.
Brendan and Rowan were well supported by middle management.
Q. How many Rotarians does it take to use a hammer?
A. Four. One to wield the hammer, two to supervise, and one to make sure the hammer is not damaged by striking the concrete if it is accidentally dropped.
Jamie from Loved and Shared gets stuck in.
Legacy Week
Legacy week has kicked off, don't forget to buy a badge or bear to help support the good work of Legacy, and a huge thanks to our members and partners who have been or are Legatees.
East Timor Veteran and Skydiving survivor, Chris Rantall, keynote speaker, at the launch of the Legacy Melbourne VVFS Regional Program. with MC and Veteran Liaison Officer Adam Kent.
RSL Active Warrnambool, a program supported by the club, also donated $750 to Standing Tall and $750 to KaKay Academy, a program connecting Aboriginal Young Ladies to their Culture.
RI Director Jessie Harman
Imagine sitting in a board meeting with 12 nations represented, each with their own interpreter in a booth. The diversity of Rotary visible by the faces and languages that dutifully govern Rotary International. One of those faces is PDG Jessie Harman from Ballarat. She is also on the committee for the Rotary Foundation. Her insights were very valuable. She presented the FIVE main focuses of the board at present:
1. Women members and Women leadership on half of the RI Board.
2. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: a Taskforce has been set up, with Price Waterhouse and Coopers the providing the operational funding to commission staff to develop resources. The board identifies that DEQ is "Rotary's key to long-term sustainability" and "being true to the objective of the Four Way Test".
3. New types of clubs such as passport clubs, alumni clubs, corporate clubs, cause based clubs, and more to enable us to connect with a host of people that can not join a conventional club.
4. Environment, the 7th area of focused introduced. More projects, more funding from RI Foundation.
5. Innovation and flexibility emphasis. RI wants us to join them on the mission and mandate to adapt and evolve.
Jesse also informed us that RI foresee a closer collaboration between Rotary and Rotaract in the future. RI has partnerships with other organisations such as Mediations without Borders, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, Shelter Box and many more and sees this type of partnership as a new global resources.
Jesse spoke about RI's goal to raise the public profile of Rotary. She looks forward to the day when the world is free of polio, and describes the eradication of polio as the thing that 'will be our greatest give to the World'
Finally Jesse Harmon urged all local Rotarians to attend the World Convention in Melbourne in 2023.
Jessie expressed humble gratitude to all Rotarians, thanking you for everything you do and quoted Paul Harris "We will be known by the results".
Rotten Returns.
Excluding charter members - who are well documented - for no particular reason I have started to put together a list of former members (in no particular order) that I can remember during my previous time as a member (1989 - 2005). Feel free to join in if you can remember any more during or after this time.
Graeme Aberline, Gary Ryan, Andy Graham, Alan Marsh, Frans Bos, Neil Bridge, Leo Ryan (dec), David Smith, Ian Coulson, Eric Read, Trevor Rowe, Peter Kemp, "Pinky" (can't remember his real name) Kemp, Andrew Rowe, John Krygger, Reece Boyle, Tim Free, Chris Preston, Cpt Harry Webb, Norm Dyer (dec), Wayne Smith (dec), Peter Bastian, Alex Keillor (dec), Geoff Harrison, Graham Pennington, Robert Coffey, Brendan Rea, Michael Richards, Geoff Rollinson, Michael Boot, Manju Palam, Steve Baulch, Glenn Doolan, Peter Shipp, Pat McKenzie, Frank McKenzie, Geoff Adams . . . .
Some others I can't remember their names: A Kiwi guy, the CEO at the hospital before Andrew Rowe, ? Micalleff, the first lady member and no doubt a few from 2005 to 2022.
I can't remember the Kiwi's name but I do remember how he talked!
Rotary Horse Racing report.
Warrnambool Central Rotary has done more for Queensland racing than anyone since Russ Hinze. Last week our ridiculously good-looking (former) horse Physicality got another run in Queensland at the Sunshine Coast. No doubt Trev and Robbo dropped everything and got trackside to witness all the action. In the words of the race caller, Physicality was ‘well backed at long odds.’
Physicality got out of the gates well and led from the get go. With 800 to go Physicality was still well out in front. With 400 to go our heroic gelding was neck and neck with the leader in second place. The finish line and victory were within sight. Physicality was about to silence the nay-sayers and finally reward her long-suffering connections. The bitter taste of years of defeats was about to be washed away with the sweet taste of victory. Glory and fame were within reach.
Your correspondent is not a horse racing expert, and I am not even sure if race horses have a traditional manual transmission, but it really looked like the jockey reached for fourth gear and accidently jammed it into reverse. Last place. 26.4 lengths behind the winner and 20 lengths behind second last place. So close and yet so, so, so very far away. Clearly Physicality is no stayer, and the 1400 meters was not the right race for him. If connections can find a 600m race then Physicality will be right in the mix.
Physicality; well out in front early in the race.
Still looking good on the rail in second place at the 400m mark.
The situation exactly 13 seconds later.
On the line. The second last placed horse can be seen on the left edge of screen. Unfortunately, Physicality’s strong finish was not captured on the official video.
Ten Years Ago.
Ten years ago, our meeting stenographer Pip Ritchie recorded events at the previous week's meeting as follows;
‘The Sarg’ introduced ‘Pres Penno’ who talked about the Drive For Life program that crashed after failing to take the first bend. Apparently all the young law abiding students around the town already know how to drive. ‘The Wino’ suggested we find some hoons and car thieves and try and re-educate them. Member thought he was kidding. (It might be easier for the Club to run a grizzly bear fighting competition.) ‘The Pres’ also informed the meeting of a concert for world peace to be held on the Thursday night before the Port Fairy Folk Festival at the Lice House Theatre in Warrnambool.
‘The Sarg’ called for reports while the members tucked into some good old ‘bum-nut and bacon pie’ - with chips and salad.
Rotary International's statement of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
As a global network that strives to build a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, Rotary values diversity and celebrates the contributions of people of all backgrounds, regardless of their age, ethnicity, race, colour, abilities, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
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