Hello members of Daybreak and welcome to Bulletin 44.
We are now into the month of May which is Youth Service Month on the Rotary Calendar and also the month when we usually celebrate the May Racing Carnival. We missed our May Race meeting with the Rotary Club of Warrnambool East but will make sure the event is well celebrated in May 2021.
Waffle with Wine Meetings – We had a couple of special guests join us at last week’s zoom meeting, namely Ian and Sherril Mackay; such is one advantage of electronic meetings when we can have guests zoomed in from further afield. Members enjoyed the catch up with Ian and Sherril and hearing how Rotary is operating in their current location of Mount Gambier. It seems Rotary Clubs far and wide have adopted the zoom platform for meetings and can see some advantages of retaining its use for some extra meetings in the Rotary year; all agree though, that there is nothing like catching up with members face to face and we look forward to resuming our breakfast meetings when restrictions are lifted.
Our next Zoom meeting scheduled for Friday May 8 will also have some guests. Peter Smid has organized Andy Alt and Helen Flanders both past Warrnambool residents now living on Elcho Island. Andy is currently working in school counselling for the NT Education Department on some of the islands of Arnhem Land and Helen is working in the language school on Elcho Island.
Care Program Update – Glenn reported that at the information session held by Anglicare there were approximately twenty volunteers that showed interest in working on the Care Program during the interim period while Daybreak members are not available. The first day of the re-introduced program was Sunday May 3 and unfortunately only one client attended the service. The weather was not the best on that day and it is likely that was the reason for non-attendance; hopefully there will be an increased participation by clients this coming weekend.
Membership Minute –figures released from the District reveal some of the reasons why Rotary loses members and the percentages relevant to each reason: 30% of members leave because of the cost of being a member and/or the time commitment involved, 23% leave because of the Club environment and 19% leave because their expectations are not met. These are interesting figures and worth considering as we do a Health Check on our Club moving into the new Rotary year.
Down Memory Lane – As we have suspended out service programs for the time being, I have less information and pictures to put in each week’s Bulletin. Chris and Janey’s Moonraker photos from last week stirred some interest in the Club members and I thought it might be a good idea to feature a Daybreak memory in the Bulletin each week. If members have some pictures from past Daybreak social events or service projects, please send through to me with a small paragraph that relates to the picture. Also, if members have any brags or fines for other members, please forward to me.
Bowelscan Month – As mentioned last week, May is Rotary Bowelscan Month; however kits are not available in pharmacies this year. The kits can still be purchased at www.rotarybowelscan.com.au at a cost of $20. Please pass the word on and help save a life.
District Meeting and Assembly – A reminder that the Assembly is taking place online during the month of May. This is a great opportunity to up-skill so join in online and enrol in the training sessions relevant to the Committee you will be working with in 2020-21.
2020 Rotary Virtual Convention – As the Rotary International Conference was cancelled, RI have decided to hold a virtual convention from June 20-26. This will be a great opportunity to participate in an event that will truly signal Rotary as Connecting the World and you will be able to do this from your own house. We will circulate more about this event as it is circulated from RI.
Directors and Committees 2020-21 – Peter and Cheryl have organized and circulated the Club Leadership Plan for 2020-21. Thank you to those members who have stepped up to a Director position and to all members who have indicated their willingness to work within a committee. We still have a vacancy for President Elect and would like to fill this position so that the Club has certainty into the future. For anyone considering they would like to nominate please contact Peter or Cheryl for further information.
Updating Details – Secretary Cheryl has been busy preparing for the 2020-21 Rotary year. Please make sure that all your details on Clubrunner are up to date and that you know your login and passwords for both Clubrunner and Club Central/My Rotary as this will make her job much easier. If you do not know these details please contact Clubrunner who will be able to assist you.
Birthdays and Anniversaries – We have no birthdays this week but we do congratulate Sandra Batten on seventeen years as a Daybreaker. Sandra joined Rotary on May 14, 2003.
I’d like to wish all the Mums in our Club and beyond a very happy Mother’s Day 2020.
Stay safe and stay connected.
Liza
Someone may have been busy during this period of isolation. A new fence has appeared out front of a Daybreaker's house.
Maybe we don't have it that bad?
It’s a mess out there now. Hard to discern between what’s a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria. For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. And don’t try to catch your breath. On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war. Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40’s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime. At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. From your birth, until you were 55, you dealt with the fear of polio epidemics each summer. You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or dying. At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation. On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.
Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How did they endure all of that? When you were a kid in 1985 and didn’t think your 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. And how mean that kid in your class was. Yet they survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Refined and enlightening as time goes on. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Your parents and/or grandparents were called to endure all of the above – you are called to stay home and sit on your couch.
