Attendance: Glenn recorded twenty-two members, one visiting Rotarian and one guest in attendance. Our visiting Rotarian was Jillian Oliver from the Rotary Club of Alfredton and our guest was Maria.
Meal: Schnitzel.
Our sergeant, aka DJ DJ, kicked us of with an excellent lawyer joke before introducing our stand in president Robbo in the absence of our President, President-elect and Immediate Past President.
Robbo noted the sad passing of Elizabeth Quinlan. Our thoughts are with Bill and the Quinlan family.
Robbo also noted the sad passing of Paul Blain’s father. We also extend our condolences to Paul, Alison, and their family.
Robbo then gave us an account of how he took Maria to the football. Now Robbo, you know here at the Central Spoke we have nothing but love in our hearts for Melbourne supporters. Far be it for us to insinuate that the diverse group of people that make up the supporters of any one AFL club would conform to any tired stereotype. However, we do note that Robbo began his account of a Melbourne supporter’s day at the football by explaining that “As soon as I got to the football, I spoke to the maître d'.” Of course you did Robbo. Nobody seemed even slightly surprised. Maria gave us feedback on the experience of driving all the way to Melbourne and spending hours at the MCG just to watch Melbourne play Carton and be served a selected range of canapés and premium wines organised by the maître d'. ‘It was fine’ claimed Maria unconvincingly. To be fair Robbo, you should have taken Maria, a Saints supporter, to this week's game. It would have been a real thrill for her to see the last quarter live.
In reports;
- Greg advised that the Science and Engineering Challenge is on in about two and a half weeks’ time. Volunteers will be sought.
- Gerald advised that the Neil Porter Legacy will be running the Maths and Science Expo on Friday the 15th of August at Terang High School. Volunteers are needed so please talk to Gerald if you are able to help.
- Jon reminded members that we will have another tree planting working bee at the Bromfield Street Weir site on Saturday 9th of August. 10.00am start followed by a social barbeque with the other clubs. As well as planting trees, we can also witness the collection of an environmental DNA sample. Please join us.
- Jon advised that the plan is then to hold a combined club meeting six weeks later when the GHCMA will present the results of the environmental DNA test.
- Glenn reminded members that membership subscriptions are now due.
- Glenn and Ron gave us an update on the footy tipping. Trev is in first, because it would look too suspicious if he wasn’t. Glenn is in second, Ron is third, and Nooka is in fourth. O’Reilly picked 8 and so fell one short of a payout.
Jillian Oliver from the Rotary Club of Alfredton gave us a wonderful presentation on the work of ROMAC. Jill is a former chair of ROMAC. ROMAC is a Zone 8 project (so Aus, NZ, Pacific Islands and PNG). It is run entirely by volunteers. ROMAC provides life saving or dignity restoring surgery for children under 15 who cannot obtain this surgery in their home country. The surgery is provided entirely free of charge. Surgeons donate their time and expertise, volunteers host parents and carers, and Ronald McDonald House provides free accommodation here in Victoria. Embassies provide interpreters. Rotary clubs can support ROMAC through hosting parents or providing financial support. Member can subscribe to the ROMAC newsletter if they wish.
Jill referred to an excellent presentation at the District Conference in Ballarat a little over twelve months ago. Jill asked for a show of hands to see which members present had been at the District Conference, which was an awkward moment. Your correspondent can testify that it was an impressive presentation on ROMAC at the conference.
We thank Jill for taking the time to come to Warrnambool and deliver a wonderful account of the work of ROMAC.
Boré presents Jill with some of Malcolm's wonderful paste.
(I slipped in some firefighting equipment for the Pres.)
Maria then gave us an update. She went to Melbourne with Chris and Robbo, socialised with their children, went to the Melbourne Zoo, the Botanic Gardens and, as mentioned, the MCG. Robbo reminded members to include Maria in any activities they are participating in.
The barrel was drawn and Shane picked up the coveted free meal voucher. Robbo has won so many he uses them as post-it notes at home.
Glenn give us the footy tipping report.
Stu ponders how Glenn, Ron and Nooka managed to be in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.
