Boré’s view: The Magic of Rotary part 1.

This year Matt returns as president eleven years after his first stint in the job.  The magical part is that Matt himself has only aged three years over the same period.  This can be explained by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.  The passage of time is a variable that is influenced by gravitational fields and the velocity of the object.  Time slows down as objects approach the speed of light.

With a family, busy business, and now President of the Rotary Club, Matt is moving so fast that time passes about four times slower for him than for the rest of us.  Of course, he is under so much pressure that he will probably die of old age in his early twenties.  It is a small price to pay to have him back as President.

Boré recently spotted The Compass streaking across the sky in a north-easterly direction, and filed this report.

We thank Boré for another wonderful cartoon.

 

Attendance: Glenn precisely and concisely reported 26 members in attendance.  Nooka will sort out these teething problems when he returns.  Members were asked to use the Stack App each week to ensure they receive a meal and ensure that we don’t upset management.

Meal: A seniors sized roast with vegies and a bread roll.  You know we are getting on a bit when the whole club suddenly qualifies for a senior’s meal.  For those of us not yet old enough to qualify for a senior's meal, it all felt very illicit.

 

The Voice told a joke before introducing The Compass and we were underway again.  Matt reported;

·       We will be supporting the VCAL student with his TAFE fees as previously discussed.

·       We will contribute $1,000 towards sending five students from Warrnambool to the NYSF.  We should have one of those students come and talk to us in due course.

·       We will try the senior’s sized meals, which would also be a few dollars cheaper.  Matt suggested passing on the savings to members before Lindsay, ever the savvy accountant, suggested not passing on the saving to members.

·       Matt thanked Glenn for joining him at the Volunteers Expo at Emmanual College on the weekend.  Warrnambool East RC picked up a new member.  Some lessons were learnt, including the need to a brochure to be able to hand to interested people.

·       The CPR/first aid training is scheduled for August 3^rd at the old Warrnambool Club.  Talk to Matt if you are interested.  Gerald Irvine noted that CPR can significantly improve the outcome in cardiac arrest situations.  Matt noted that attending the first aid training might break your heart. 

·       We all need to ensure we have up to date Working with Children checks now that we are restarting the exchange program. 

 

In reports;

·       Tony D. discussed the revegetation working bee at the site of the now-demolished Bromfield Street Weir.  See below.

·       Paul R. gave us an update on the finances.  We made about $11,000 from the collection of cans after costs last year. 

·       Boré suggested a progressive dinner.  Stay tuned.

·       Robbo noted our latest membership application is progressing.  Again, stay tuned. 

·       Surf outlined some of the social events he is considering for the year ahead.  A trivia night, ‘Nooka’s Fishing Competition’, a car rally, and a visit to the Woolsthorpe Pub via The Union’s Rotary dairy are amongst the plans.  Is their any human field of endeavour that Rotary hasn’t contributed to?

·       Gerald noted that we set aside $1,000 to support students attending ‘Defy the Drift’.  The only fly in the ointment was that we only had one applicant, and then she pulled out.  We can but try.

·       Gerald also noted that we might be asked to help again at the Neil Porter Foundation Deakin Careers Night. 

·       Dillo asked for volunteers to assist with collecting some more cans at the races on Monday.  He received a generous response. 

Bromfield Street Weir revegetation.

The above title is a bit of a misnomer, because the weir is no more.  It is a river again!  We will meet at 10.00am on Saturday the 17^th of August at the old weir site.  Go down Bromfield Street until it turns 90⁰ left to become Daltons Road.  Go straight ahead along the gravel road. 

Bring;

·       Boots.

·       Gardening gloves.

·       Water to drink.

·       A spade or pick is not essential, the CMA will provide some, but some extras would be handy.

The Catchment Management Authority have asked us not to park or drive on the grass around the site.  Please consider parking on the paved section of Bromfield Street or Daltons Road and walking to the weir site.  If you do want to drive down the gravel section of road, be aware that there may be a lot of cars down there and you will have to get out without being able to use the grassed area to turn around.

 

 

 

The Magic of Rotary part 2.

Yes, it is that time of year again.  We get a new slogan for the year and your humble Central Spoke editor will once again over-analyse that slogan. 

Our slogan for the year is of course ‘The Magic of Rotary’.  The Macquarie Dictionary defines Magic as ‘the  art of producing effects claimed to be beyond the natural human power and arrived at by means of supernatural agencies or through the command of occult forces in nature’.  Further, Magical Thinking is described as ‘the belief that unrelated events are causally linked despite the absence of any plausible link between them, particularly as a result of supernatural effects’.

At Rotary we fund scientific research, send students to the National Youth Science Forum, tackle diseases like polio and malaria with evidenced-based strategies, and undertake measurable, verifiable service in the community. 

Of course, here Rotary is really using the word ‘magic’ in an informal way as a synonym for wonderful or exciting.  However, arguably part of the ‘magic’ of Rotary is that we don’t resort to magical thinking or try to invoke magic to improve the world.  We are just People of Action, working together to make the world a better place.  What is not to like about that.  No magic required at all.

Rotary Horse Racing Report.

Last year about this time we looked forward to another season of racing with optimistic excitement, much like an Essendon supporter in the pre-season.  We had Sirileo Miss, Power of Song, Dirty Angel, Matrooshi and Overflow Miss all in pre-season training and looking ready for a big year. 

Unfortunately, much like an Essendon team after the mid-season bye, tout est allé à la merde, as French connoisseurs of horse racing would say.  Sirileo Miss and Overflow Miss were disappointing, Power of Song and Dirty Angel were so bad that the stables sold them for what ever they could get, and Matrooshi still can’t get out on the park. 

In the off season we recruited Chipilly courtesy of the Myeloma Luncheon.  On Saturday she had her first senior game in a maiden at Murtoa.  Murtoa has a population of 900 and a grain silo that holds 400,000 tonnes.  When the zombie apocalypse comes they are going to be okay.

Chipilly started the race as favourite, with many pundits tipping her for a top four finish and a home final.  She got out of the gates well and passed the half way mark in reasonable shape.  Unfortunately, it was very disappointing from there.  She looked flat and finished miles behind the eventual winner.

Where to from here?  We have confidence in the coach.  Maybe we just have the wrong cattle.  Should we keep getting Adrian Dodoro to pick our horses for us?  It wasn’t even like we were playing Sydney or Brisbane.  It was a maiden at Murtoa, the proverbial St Kilda of horse racing.  Time to change channels and see what is happening at the Olympics.  Australie, Australie, Australie!

Chipilly did well enough to briefly appear on the telecast. 

(If you look closely you can see her head bobbing up behind the third placed horse.)

Ten years ago, there was so much happening in our club.  Our inbound exchange student Cecilie Sorensen arrived from Denmark.  We just completed a water project in Cameroon in partnership with clubs in Germany, the UK and Cameroon.  In addition, work was underway on installing a playground in Swann reserve partly funded by us.  The works included a climbing frame, birds nest swing and a picnic table that Pip dubbed the 'Anthony Davies memorial table'.  The Anthony Davies table, almost never used, was subsequently vandalised and removed by council.  Happy days.