Presidents Report

Last weekend was one of those really special events that makes you sit back and think wow we did good!! The event I’m talking about was of course our first ever Christmas Market.  This new fundraising model is one the Club has embraced as it allows us to raise funds for a worthy cause and do so by bringing in external stallholders to sell their wares, thus easing the burden on Club members in terms of physicality and time.  Most importantly it allowed us to serve the needs of local West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook communities, as well as work together with our good friends in Cherrybrook – the Rural Fire Service, the Girl Guides and the Scouts, plus other organisations such as Goods Rescued and Rehomed, and the Homicide Victims Support Group who also took a stall to raise funds for Grace’s Place. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and the atmosphere was buzzing with energy and excitement.  I’m incredibly pleased to say we raised significant funds for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, while the takings from our donation jars have been earmarked for the Rotary Flood Relief Appeal for Western NSW. 
 
So now the thank yous and there are many! A big thank you to the more than 1500 local community who attended;  the stallholders who participated; to Club members who supported our own stalls and to others who worked on tasks throughout the day and in the lead up to the event, especially the Fundraising Committee and Neville and John C; to the RFS who generously lent us space and participated in their own promotional and educational activities; to Guides who also gave over the use of the guide hall, who distributed promotional flyers and who ran their own stall to sell bandanas for CANTEEN; to Scouts who also distributed flyers and helped us pack down at the end of the day when we were running out of energy; to Martelli’s Fruit Market at Cherrybrook for providing yet another bountiful fruit basket for our raffle prize; to Matt who generously donated barricades and netting to help with security; and to Michele from Goods Rescued and Rehomed for provision of stock for the Rotary Craft stall. 
 
This event and fundraising model were so effective that we in fact have already scheduled our next market. So, save the date for Saturday 6 May 2023 when we’ll be running our Mother’s Day Market – please join with us again for a great experience.
 
This week has also seen the completion of our Annual General Meeting on 5 December, which allowed our members to hear reports from Board about the overall health and viability of the Club, to elect Board for 2022-23 and to consider and adopt where necessary any changes to the constitution and by-laws. I’m happy to report all went well and the Club is indeed in good shape. While these meetings seem somewhat dry they are incredibly important and much work goes on behind the scenes to ensure reporting responsibilities are signed off with diligence. This would not be possible with out the expertise of our Secretary Tony M, the wise constitutional eye of Keith, and the financial acumen of Treasurer Tony C and our auditor George – a big thank you  gentleman for a job well done.
My final piece of news as we end the calendar year, is to remind all members and partners of the upcoming President’s Lunch on Saturday 21 January 2023.  This is a yearly event organised by the current President in whatever form they so choose to thank and celebrate with the Club during the quieter month of January.  I’m hoping for a leisurely picnic style lunch that will take place at the Lillian Fraser Gardens at Pennant Hills. I would be pleased if you could join me to share a lovely afternoon of fellowship with good food and friends and do what our Club does best – have some fun! A separate email will follow with full details of costings and logistics plus look out for the invite again in next week’s bulletin, which will be the last for 2022.
That’s the buzz from me. Stay well and safe. Janelle  
 

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Tetragonula hockingsi workers on their brood comb

Australia’s own native honey bees are tiny (3 - 5 mm), black and stingless! Inside their resinous nest are a queen, males, and hundreds or even thousands of worker bees. They usually nest inside hollow trees but in northern areas they also nest in urban situations such as inside wall cavities or underneath concrete footpaths.

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Night Report

Night Report  -  5 December 2022
Opening: Sergeant Jim Simpson opened the meeting.
Rotary Toast was proposed by Jim Simson to the Socceroos, the people who attended the Christmas Market and Neville Hansen for organising the Christmas Market.
Annual General Meeting:  Tony Makin
(Editor: Link at end of this Night Report)
Presidents Report:
Refer to President Janelle Craig report in the bulletin
 Director’s Reports

• Community Service: Colin Sharpe

• Michelle Rocketa is looking for helpers next week to collect empty coffee bags from Macquarie Park. Please let Collin know if you can help
• Collin is also looking for someone with car and towbar and a helper to deliver a trailer load of toys
• Tree of Joy at Westleigh – there are about 50 cards let of the tree.
• Tree of Joy at Cherrybrook – there are still many baubles left at Cherrybrook
• Colin and others who have been assisting an elderly couple move from their current residence at Glenhaven to an aged care facility will be completed next week.
• Colin is looking for about 3 people to help jack up and repair the containers at RFS sometime next week. Collin will send out an email request.
• David Turnbull needs a volunteer to install gazebos and tables for next week's Tree of Joy gift wrapping and Neville Hansen offered to assist.

 

• Foundation: David Turnbull

       Donations to the Centurion Program should be made to the club General Account and marked with your name and Centurion

• Treasurer:  Tony Coote

       Income from the Christmas Market was $6,800 and after expenses approx. $6,300 to $6,400

• Social: Tony Coote

       The next social event will be the BBQ at Heritage Park on Monday 12 December followed by Tree of Joy gift wrapping at David Turnbull’s home

• Fundraising: John Caruana

John gave a special thanks to Neville for coordinating the Christmas Market which was a great success.
Neville informed us that an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people visited our market and that the stall holders were very appreciative of receiving BBQ meal and toilet vouchers on the day.
Each stall holder has been contacted for feedback and to complete a survey, but all indications are that at least 80% of them were very happy
The Scouts and Guides were also great helpers on the day and beforehand doing at least 600 letter drops
It’s proposed to run a Mother’s Day Market on 6 May next year.

• Membership: Carol Russell

The Christmas Market was a great event to build relationships with our new club members.
Additionally, two potential new members have been invited to attend our first club meeting next year.

•  Public Image: Keith Ball

​       SCRIBD will be removed from our website.

• International:  Peter Stanton

        The NTA Donors trip to East Timor was very successful
        Peter will look to do a presentation of the trip at a club zoom meeting early next year.

• Youth Service:  Rosemary Clarke

Great news that Matilda Bowman from Allice Springs has applied and will attend RYLA next year. Rosemary and Matilda will be attending a meeting at the Pennant Hills Club on 17th January, and if anyone wishes to attend and meet Matilda, please contact Rosemary.
RYPEN has opened to have people attend and one Scout and one Guide have expressed interest to attend.
Our club’s relationship with the Scouts and Guides is going very well and they are also looking to do community service work/engagement.

• Club Services:  Neville Hansen

       Neville with be preparing next year’s duty roster so please let him know if you expect to be away at any time next year
Sergeant at Arm’s
              Jim ran an interesting Christmas Question and Answer session
 Closing remarks by President Janelle:
President Janelle thanked all for attending tonight’s meeting and to remember to RSVP to the President’s Lunch on 21st January.
Next week is the social BBQ at Heritage Park followed by Tree of Joy Wrapping at Turnbull’s place.
Until then, stay safe and have a good week ahead
Janelle

Night Report:
Adrian Sonego
Date: 5 December 2022

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Annual General Meeting

AGM Minutes

 

Photos

Christmas Market

Night Photos

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Humour

Grammer Lesson... contributed by Tony C

Is it "complete",  "finished",  or "completely finished"??

No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the
difference between these two words - "Complete" or "Finished".

In a recent linguistic competition held in London and attended by,
supposedly, the best in the world, Samdar Balgobin, a Guyanese man,
was the clear winner with a standing ovation which lasted over 5
minutes.

The final question was: “How do you explain the difference between
COMPLETE and FINISHED in a way that is easy to understand? Some
people say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED.”

Here is his astute answer:

"When you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE. When you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED. And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are COMPLETELY FINISHED!"
He won a trip around the world and a case of 25 year old Scotch.

Paraposdokians ... contributed by Cawas

A paraprosdokian is a sentence or statement with an unexpected ending. It means “against expectations” 
in Greek. 
                                                  
Will glass coffins be a success?
Remains to be seen.
 
What’s the difference between a hippo and a zippo?
One is really heavy and the other is a little lighter.
 
Hear about the new restaurant called Karma?
There’s no menu - you get what you deserve.
 
I went to buy some camouflage trousers yesterday, but couldn't find any.
 
What do you call a bee that can’t make up its mind?
A maybe.
 
I tried to sue the airline for losing my luggage. 
I lost my case.
 
Is it ignorance or apathy that's destroying the world today?
I don't know and don't really care.
 
I wasn’t originally going to get a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind.
 
Which country’s capital has the fastest-growing population?
Ireland. Every day it’s Dublin.
 
I saw an ad for burial plots, and I thought: “That’s the last thing I need!”
 
Need an ark?
I Noah guy.
 
You’re not completely useless, you can always serve as a bad example.
 
I broke my finger last week. On the other hand, I’m okay.
 
Did you hear about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of soda?
He was lucky it was a soft drink.
 
To the mathematician who thought of the idea of zero.
Thanks for nothing!
 
Son: "Dad, can you tell me what a solar eclipse is?”  
Dad: "No sun.”

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