Happy New Year and welcome back to Adelaide Light Rotary after our Christmas Break.

It is worth noting that while many activities ceased over the festive season,  members still continued with the Sunday Night bread-run of collecting breads and pastries and delivering them to Ronald McDonald House, Moore Street and Catherine House. Thank you.

Last Friday night we held a successful film night. The film “Breathe” certainly brought home the devastating effect that polio brings to a family, how disabled people were treated in the 60’s and 70’s, invention is the mother of necessity and the resilience of human nature.   There was hardly a dry eye in the theatre at the finale but all agreed it was a film worth seeing. For Rotarians, it reinforced the amazing job that Rotary is doing in ridding the world of this insidious disease – from 1,000 cases a day to 2017 when there were 21 cases worldwide! Profits from this event will go to the End Polio project. Thanks in particular to John W and Rob for leading this project.

At our planning meeting last week we reconnected to our proposed Catherine House Community project following the very generous donation from Stratco of all materials required for the building of the pergola. We confirmed we have been allocated bbq spots for the year do fundraising is continuing. International Team now have a contact and will be looking at another overseas project and a Vocational Tour of Food Bank is being arranged in the next few weeks. Rotaract is also celebrating its 50^th year since inception in February. Thanks all Club Members for your contributions and look forward to my next 6 months as President.

Thought for the week:

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal

Emi Hasegawa (now Manabe) was a Rotary exchange student from Japan in the early days of our club, in 1993. She has maintained close contact ever since particularly with the Spinley, Trengove and Harding families and has been back to Adelaide again several times including a couple of visits with her family since she married Nobu Manabe.  

Emi and Nobu came again over the New Year period arriving on 29th December and departing back to Japan on 6th January.  The family stayed with Phil Harding for a few days and spent a few days also in Port Lincoln.

On 6th January there was a farewell morning tea attended by number of past and present Club members as shown in the photo below.

Emi, Nobu and their daughters Kai(aged 11) and Mei (7) had a great time, highlights being kayaking with the dolphins on the Port River, a visit to the Gorge Wildlife Park, the opportunity to catch up with Roger and Cherry Trengove, and New Year’s Eve spent with Past President Rex Spinley and his family. A great time was also with her Rotary friends in Port Lincoln.