Central Spoke 20.09.2026 (Sep. 20, 2026)

President's Report.

G’day Rotarians,

I hope we’ve all enjoyed the week. Some summery weather in the ‘bool was welcoming - but the gusty wind on Sunday reminded us all where we live. Fortunately it wasn’t windy for the Hampden League grand final on Saturday which saw Koroit win their 8th Grand final out of the past 11! Some effort.

District has invited all the Clubs in the 9780 District to put forward nominations for the 2028-29 District Governor - not for the current District but for the new re-districted District. (6 times if you’re counting). Nominations close 30 September so let me know if you’re interested.

A big thanks to Jon for organising the 10 Pin Bowling and dinner evening last week - very enjoyable. I’m sure that there’ll be a summary in this edition of the Spoke, including commentary with respect to best-on-lane, winner of the father-son challenge, best dressed, best President, etc. The meal and service at Images was very good - so good in fact that we have booked this year’s Christmas function there. Ink in Friday 4th December - 6pm.

Don’t forget to wear your FOOTBALL COLOURS this week, particularly if you support Fremantle or Brisbane. Someone should let our guest speaker Tim Close know, or he’ll be wondering what he’s walked in to.

This week’s bridge is a conveyor bridge (CV01) at Stawell Gold Mine. This is the last span before the coarse ore storage bin, and is in much better condition now than when it was condemned and sent to scrap by Les McGrath some years ago. Well done Les!

See you Wednesday.

Sláinte Mhaith

Paul

Upcoming Events

23rd September - Fundraiser at Middy's 7.00am

- Footy Colours Day.

29th September - Fundraiser at WCC.

1st October - End Polio Movie Night.

4th December - Christmas party, downstairs at Images (unconfirmed).

Early January - Meeting with our first ever inbound exchange student, Jenny Myers.

Welcome to our Club!

Imagine Rotary

Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m.

Warrnambool Bowls Club

75 Timor St
Warrnambool, VIC 3280
Australia

Phone:

0493 467 248

Send Email to Club

Please join us for lunch at the Warrnambool Bowls Club.

District Site

Venue Map

President

Paul Reilly

President Elect

Lindsay Bullivant

Secretary

Glenn Marler

Treasurer

Sam Baulch

Club Service

Jon Vertigan

Community Service

Francis Broekman

Vocational Service

Gerald Irvine

International Service

Stuart Bethune

Rotary Foundation

Bono O'Neill

Membership/Welfare

Anthony Robinson

Youth Service

David Jellie

Environment

Ian McPhail

Immediate Past President

Bono O'Neill

Sergeant-at-Arms

Phillip Ritchie

Bowling Night.

Jon invited members to enjoy a bit of fellowship with bowling and a meal at Images on Thursday. Jon was joined by Francis, Paul, Ashaan, Glenn, Lindsay, Shane, Robbo, Matt, and yours truly for a lively game of tenpin bowling. We then retired to Images for dinner, where we were joined by David, Louise J., Lew, Di and Louise K.

Matt, Robbo, Ashaan and Francis all recorded good scores. Robbo clearly knocked over the most pins in the social department, which was no surprise. However, the standout performance came from Lindsay. His technique was smooth and stylish but he also put the score on the board and was the clear winner. It was a performance that had 'future president' written all over it.

To answer Paul's specific questions;

1. Best on lane 9 - Lindsay.

2. Best on lane 10 - Ashaan.

3. Best on lane 11 - Matt.

4. Best on lane 12 - Robbo. Robbo was bowling in lane 11, but he did his best work in

lane 12.

5. Winner of father-son challenge - you try being 58 and compete in physical challenges against a 16 year old! Ashaan, obviously.

6. Best dressed - Lindsay, obviously.

7. Best president - no award given this year.

We thank Jon for organising a very enjoyable evening.

Robbo worked the room.

Lindsay was not completely happy with how his name was abbreviated.

However, he must have been happy with his bowling.

Everyone managed to avoid the dreaded 'Why not ask for some coaching!' category.

Minutes.

Attendance: Nooka announced a ‘record for O’Reilly’ of 27 members and two guests in attendance. Our two guests were Alex and Ashaan.

Nooka has been wearing these jeans since he was six.

Nooka also advised that the footy tipping competition results will be announced next week against his wishes. It does make you wonder when Nooka would like to announce the tipping comp results. The third day of the Boxing Day Test? Never? It reminds us of that age old philosophical dilemma; If Nooka runs a footy tipping competition but nobody ever hears the results, has a footy tipping competition even been run at all? Nooka has added a new clause to the footy tipping constitution. If you are not present when the results are announced, you won’t get paid. The moral of the story? Be there next week.

Meal: Schnitzel, chips and salad. Copilot recommends ‘Pairing wine with chicken schnitzel, gravy, salad, and chips requires a bottle that can handle two things: cutting through the rich, fried texture of the breading and chips, while matching the savory depth of the gravy’. It advises an oaked or textured Chardonnay or a dry Riesling or Grüner Veltliner. A Pinot Noir or Gamay would also be acceptable. Seek further advice from Robbo or the Bowlo’s sommelier.

Pip dropped the clutch on another meeting with a culturally sensitive story from Spain before introducing our illustrious president, Paul. Paul wished Pip best wishes for his birthday, and everybody congratulated Bob on the birth of his grandson. Paul informed us that the district had overwhelmingly voted yes to the redistricting proposal. To be fair, if RI just changed the district boundaries without telling us, probably nobody in our club would notice or indeed care.

In reports;

Jon advised that he was filming a documentary about our club and wanted to interview members. He advised us ‘don’t think too much about your answers’. Playing to our strength there Jon.
David again advised members that Simon Larsen is looking for host families for the remainder of the year. The hosts do not need to be Rotarians and you can host David for a period of time of your choosing. Talk to David if you know someone who can help.
Francis thanked Bob, Hayesey, Garry and Surf for helping him varnish the tables at Loved and Shared.
Surf gave us an update on the proposed container collection at the Red Hot Summer Tour. He also proposed a possible weeding working bee at the Bromfield Street Weir site and possibly a working bee assisting Beach Patrol. Stay tuned.
Robbo informed us Jan Irvine has had some complications from recent cardiac surgery but is now heading in the right direction and hopefully will be out of hospital soon. We extend our best wishes to Jan and Gerald.
Lindsay advised that Tim has started to receive treatment but has also received a prognosis that is very positive. We are thinking of Tim and wish him well.
Sam advised that the club finances are looking healthy, but not so healthy that you don’t need to worry about paying your annual membership dues. Twenty-two members have so far contributed to the Bruce Ludeman Community Fund.
Sam reminded members we will be raising funds by manning a barbecue at Middy’s next Wednesday morning and at the WCC depot the following Tuesday lunchtime. See the Stack App for details and to put your name down to help.
Matt advised that the council has now installed four container recycling bins at Lake Pertobe. We will need to organise a roster to empty them.
Matt also advised that he will be running a grand final ‘winner and margin’ tipping competition next week. Bring $5 to be involved.

Lew got a free meal but also had to present the fines session this week. We learnt that 19 men causes a deal of trouble 25 years ago and that parts of Africa had reticulated giraffes before they had reticulated water. That is just showing off.

The barrel was drawn and Lew’s number came up again. I was all for it, but the consensus was for a redraw and Malcolm came up trumps.

Jon interviewed Rowan for his mystery project that will be revealed this week.