This Thursday, we’re back to normal with our dinner meeting from 6.00pm at the Kent Town Hotel. At the start of our meeting, we will be having a short AGM for the election of officers for 2025-26 and a Club Assembly.
Then our guest speaker for the night will be Stephen Morris on “Limits to Growth – Population and the Economy”, detailing the relationship between population and economic growth and environmental degradation. Also discussed will be the advantages of a stable population, Earth Overshoot Day and possible solutions for a safe, healthy and just planet.
Last week’s speaker was Ian Delaere with his delightful “Life & Times”. Born in Ontario Canada just before the first Moon landing, Ian’s mum was a teacher, and his dad was an agrarian labourer who went to trade school and became a heavy mining equipment expert. The young family then spent the next decade living a very nomadic existence, moving from Ontario to Northern Manitoba next to Hudson Bay, over to Australia with stints in Queensland and the Pilbara in Far North Western Australia, followed by a five-year stay in the Canadian Yukon Territory.
Returning to Australia after the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the family regained the nomadic experience by living in Brisbane, Broken Hill (NSW), and Savage River (Tas) before stopping at Jabiru in the Northern Territory while Ian completed Years 11 and 12 in Darwin. Along the journey, Ian met many characters, including Peter Black, the local mayor and head of science at Willyama High School in Broken Hill, who taught Ian an abiding interest in chemistry, which led to his current career. These youthful experiences lead to resilience in facing each challenge while prioritising stability over the nomadic lifestyle, at least while his son and daughter are at school.
After attending Darwin and Brisbane for Uni, Ian finished a Bachelors and Honours degree in Chemistry. Ian then had a choice of careers: assisting a defence contractor in developing light-based computers at the ANU or the less encumbered option of studying plant-based neurotoxins at the University of Adelaide Waite Institute. The Neurotoxins WON! Gaining a PHD, Ian is well versed in various procedures to assess the chemistry of plants. These tools lead to work in the wine industry through Roseworthy, Mountadam Wines, the University of Adelaide as a post-doc and out into the commercial world with natural botanical skincare company Jurlique International - to name just a few.
Along the road, Sheryl and Ian travelled to Mexico. Upon their return to Australia, Sheryl was offered a one-year posting as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development in the Thailand prison system. Subsequently, this led to a move to Canberra, where Ian worked for Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and on return to SA with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and then SA Health. All these opportunities have been great experiences for developing his chosen craft as an expert toxicologist, a field in which he is currently setting up his consultancy. An interesting question came from the floor about what he’d like to study next. Ian is very interested in the human body's physiology and how it copes with environmental interactions with various stressors, such as heat physiology (ie firemen/women) and the long-term exposures from persistent chemicals in the human body. Lots of data is needed. An exceedingly interesting talk, thanks Ian.
On Saturday 29/Sunday 30 March, I will be attending the President’s Elect Learning & Development Seminar and District Assembly at The Observatory, 23 Hackney Road, Hackney (just down from the Wine Centre). District Assembly is a great venue to meet with Rotarians from other Clubs and learn how Rotary in our District operates. Let me know if you’d like to attend the Assembly on 30 March on 0419043042. Lovely to see that Alison, Paul J and Jody are all keen to attend; let me know if anyone else would like to come (no charge).
As part of the Rotary Regionalisation Pilot, 12 Adelaide-based Clubs will come together under a project called “Shop and Share” to collect non-perishable goods to support families experiencing hardship in their local communities. Adelaide Light will be partnering with RC Adelaide at the North Adelaide Village shopping centre (67 O’Connell St) on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 April from 10am-4.00pm (near Bakers Live shop 7, ground floor). Any goods collected will support women and children who are in Domestic Violence Shelters. RCAL donations will go to Catherine House and RCA donations to the Women’s Safety Services (a collection of 11 women’s shelters in northern Adelaide suburbs).
Feel free to bring non-perishable items (canned goods, toothpaste, pasta, cereal, shampoos, coffee etc) to our April Club meetings and we can start to accumulate these goods. If you’d like to volunteer for any of the six 2-hour shifts over 11/12 April, please let either myself, Paige or Kirsti know. We’ll send out an email for your response in the coming week.
The Rotary Multi District Impact Summit (taking the place of an annual District Conference) at the Morphettville Racecourse from 16-18 May 2025 is just a few months away. Our District 9510 (SA, NSW, NT & Vic) and D9800 (Victoria) are combining forces to present the Rotary Impact Summit giving Rotarians the opportunity to connect across more than just one district. The weekend is packed with inspiring speakers, breakout workshops and social occasions.
Speakers include Nova Peris OAM (former Senator/dual Olympian); Ian Steel OAM (Kickstart for Kids); Brad Chilcott AM (Welcoming Australia); Melanie Tate (Puddle Jumpers); Faith Coleman (Environmentalist); Suresh Marcandan (Australian Rotary Health); Jennifer Scott (Rotary International Director Elect); and Charlie Allen APM (Rotary Peace Fellow). Cost for the 2-day event is $200pp with additional costs for Friday night cocktail function ($55pp), Saturday Gala ($95pp), Sunday Foundation Breakfast ($45pp), Sunday morning “End Polio” Walk (free). Registration for the Summit closes 30 April.
My husband and I attended a 3-District Conference in the New England area, USA in the 1990s and it was fantastic; over 7000 delegates, interesting speakers, and the buzz of the event and camaraderie were outstanding. Think about whether you’d like to attend the Multi District Impact Summit.
Best wishes and have a great week. Yvette, President.
