Presidents Report

My very first President’s Report came after having had a wonderful meeting where we celebrated our annual Pride of Workmanship dinner, and at the time I wrote – “Wow, what an amazing meeting”.  Fast forward one month and I’m about to start my report with exactly the same words – wow what an amazing meeting we had last night! That was due to the enormous fun, goodwill and socialising that took place as we welcomed District Governor Mina Howard and Assistant DG Stuart Armstrong to our meeting, which we combined with a winter Christmas theme. Mina and Stuart met with the Board prior to the meeting to check in with us and see how the new Rotary year is progressing, and then joined the meeting to provide a comprehensive update to members on District and International Rotary initiatives. That was after we enjoyed a Christmas roast and plum pudding courtesy of Frank and his fabulous staff at Springfield, as well as opening bon bons and playing some Christmas themed games. My favourite image of the night was seeing a wave of red and green and Christmas hats from the podium and hearing laughter ringing out during the night – it did take many of us back to meetings pre-COVID and a state we hope prevails throughout the year ahead.  Once again, a big thank you to the Social Committee for their work in actioning our winter Christmas night and to the PRT team for the beautiful Christmas table decorations.
For this bulletin the key issue I wanted to flag is that our Zoom meeting on 29/08/2022, will see Michelle Westlund from the District team join us to explain and answer questions in relation to the Regionalisation Pilot program.
Taken from the Rotary Zone 8 website: Creating tomorrow | Rotary (creatingtomorrowrotary.org)
the following may help to set the scene:
“With a century of service under our belt and support of the Rotary International Board, we’re ensuring Rotary continues to do good and flourish in our region with a more contemporary structure. It aims to better support clubs and members to connect with more volunteers, develop leadership skills and collaborate with one another and our communities to change the world.
A pilot program is proposed for Rotary Zone 8, which includes Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.
On the 13th April 2022 the Council on Legislation voted strongly in favour of a pilot being undertaken in Zone 8 on the basis our clubs and districts support this happening by 1st October 2022. The plan is to explore, test and develop a framework developed by the Board's Shaping Rotary's Future Committee to confirm what works and what doesn't in our Zone. If the pilot proceeds, it will occur whilst districts remain in place and in full consultation with districts and clubs.”
Michelle has requested that in order to make the meeting as interactive and informative as possible, that members please go online and look at some of the material that is available to provide important background information about the potential trial. To help facilitate this please click on the following links to view this material:

1. Creating Tomorrow - Zone 8 Regionalisation Fact Sheet
2. Creating Tomorrow - Zone 8 Regionalisation Facts about the Vote

                                                                                                                                    Editor Note: Both of these are PDF files and will open a new page. Close the file to return.
Alternatively, you may like to join the webinar on Friday 12 August to listen in to Rotary International Director Jessie Harman and co-presenters PDG Ingrid Waugh and PDG Peter Frueh, talk about and answer questions on this topic.  Be warned however, this commences at 7am AEST – so maybe a little early for some. If you do want to attend that session, please register at the following site:
ROTI0061_Webinar_Invitation_A4+Rev.pdf (squarespace.com)
Later that week after our meeting on the 29/08, I’ll be asked to vote on behalf of the Club as to whether our Club does or doesn’t want the Regionalisation trial to take place.  To give each member a say in our Club’s deliberation, I’ve requested Neville to set up a poll within the functionality of Zoom, such that when Michelle leaves the meeting, members will stay online and vote, thereby providing immediate feedback to inform our Club’s voting intention. 
 
And that’s the buzz for the week. Hope to see you at Springfield again next Monday night for our combined meeting with the Rotary Club of Epping. Janelle

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Cloak and Dagger Cuckoo Bee (Thyreus nitidulus), an Australian native. Commons photo.

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Night Report

Night Report
Opening: Sgt Tony Coote opened the meeting with a recital of the “Night Before Christmas” 
President's Welcome
The President welcomed Mina Howard (DG), Stuart Armstrong (ADG), Libby Bleakley (Blackheath Club), Vince Delpopolo and Anna, Lucy-Jade Folkard, Nadish Nairobi, Kaye Carter (Pennant Hills Club IPP) and Partners; Glenda, Kaija, Joy, Pamela, Jill, Gwen, Margaret, Lyn, Anne, Dianne, Bev, Julianne, Rashna, Roma, Indira, Mary, Rebecca and Rob.
Director’s Reports

• Community Service: Colin reminded members and partners to respond to the email requesting help with the WPHPS Fair BBQ on Sunday August 21.  Also reminded members to reply to the email requesting help with repairing the shed at Michele’s place on 12/08/2022.  He spoke about the need for maintenance to the RFS containers.
• Fund Raising: John deferred to Kerry to speak about the Bunnings BBQ at Dural on Sept 24.  A cake stall will be included
• International: Peter spoke about a meeting for members interested in joining him on a trip to West Timor.
• Membership:  Carol spoke about the prospective new members and another information night in November.
• Youth: Rosemary spoke about the Rotary youth programs.  No candidates for National Youth Science – no interest from Cherrybrook Technology High School.  Last year’s candidates for RYLA no longer available - will try the guides and scouts.  No candidates for RYPEN.  Four students coming from Coonabarabran for the Santos Science Experiment in early October.
• Club Services: Neville spoke about the Cowra Conference, Melbourne Convention and the Antiques Roadshow next week.

Member’s Talk
None tonight.  Instead, Sergeant Tony ran a pass the parcel around each table as well as an inter- table round.  The last person to remove a wrapper won a prize.  The Inter-table prize (wine) was won by Alex.
Guest Speaker
Name. DG Mina Howard.
Introduced by Colin Baxter.
Mina has been a Rotarian in the Blackheath Club since 2006 and became their first female president in 2011 serving a 2-year term.  Mina was a primary school teacher for 43 years and an army reservist.  She is a member of the RFS along with husband Larry (also a Rotarian) and the brigades Community Engagement officer starting the Heads up for Fire project that encourages people to connect with and look out for each other.  In addition to those activities Mina has served as president of the Mt Victoria Community Association, convenor of the Mt Victoria Great Train Weekend Event and volunteers at the Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre and Rhododendron Gardens.

Mina also finds time to travel extensively and participate in international aid projects along with long distance walks to raise money raise money for projects such as ShelterBox. 
Mina’s goal for 2022-23 is to encourage clubs to look critically at their projects and practices and aim to make their club more diverse and welcoming whilst providing meaningful service opportunities for each member.  Continued support of The Rotary Foundation, the End Polio campaign and other Rotary programs are also to be encouraged.  And of course, fellowship and fun must be paramount.
During her talk Mina explained the 2022-23 Logo.  Jennifer Jones wants us to imagine the possibilities for change we can make to transform the world.  You don’t imagine yesterday, you imagine tomorrow.
Mina asked us to reflect about whether our club is relevant within our local community and seen to be diverse and inclusive and to represent our demographic profile.  Ensure our projects make a difference within the community and measure their success.  In the wider community and internationally do we make a difference.
Mina outlined John Hewko’s (Rotary CEO) 6 challenges.

1. Membership Decline
2. Maintaining Relevance
3. Being nimble enough to adapt
4. Continuity in leadership
5. Identifying our next global project
6. Resistance to regionalisation

Mina has 6 calls for action for clubs.

1. Membership satisfaction – conduct a Club Health Check (we did this recently)
2. Have everyone meaningfully engaged in club activities.  Find out what members want from their club and what prospective members want from their membership.
3. Educate members about Rotary.  Have someone summarise an article from the RDU magazine, Rotary Learning Centre etc and give a 5 minute talk to the club.
4. Support other Rotarians and Rotary Groups (RAWCS, ROMAC, ShelterBox, ARH, TRF).  Join with other club’s activities.
5. Provide other opportunities such as Rotary Action Groups and Fellowships.  Have someone research an action group and report to the club during a meeting.
6. Have everyone with a My Rotary Account.

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Mina spoke about Larry’s Project. 
Rotarian and Rural Fire Service Captain Larry Howard is handcrafting hiking sticks and donating all the sale proceeds to Australian Rotary Health as part of the District Governor Partner programme.  The wood for the sticks is sourced from local fire affected tree branches and each is unique in shape.  Clubs are challenged to bring a stick to the Cowra Conference to be judged for the best hiking stick.
Sergeant at Arm’s
Heads & Tails won by: Bev Davison
Raffle won by: Bob Wynns
Night Report:  Colin Sharpe
Date: 8 August 2022

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Night Photos (36 off)

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Humour

John & David contributed by Cawas

​Twelve Commandments for Seniors   contributed by Neville

​#1 - Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.
#2 - “In Style” are the clothes that still fit.
#3 - You don't need anger management. You need people to stop pissing you off.
#4 - Your people skills are just fine. It's your tolerance for idiots that needs work.
#5 - The biggest lie you tell yourself is, “I don't need to write that down. I'll remember it.”
#6 - “On time” is when you get there.
#7 - Even duct tape can't fix stupid, but it sure does muffle the sound.
#8 - It would be wonderful if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes, then come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller?
#9 - Lately, you've noticed people your age are so much older than you.
#10 - Growing old should have taken longer.
#11 - Aging has slowed you down, but it hasn't shut you up.
#12 - You still haven't learned to act your age and hope you never will.

. . . And one more:
“One for the road” means peeing before you leave the house.

​Life Explained! contributed by Jim

On the first day, God created the dog and said:  "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"
And God said that it was good.
On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh.  For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."
The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"
And God again said that it was good. 
On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years." 

The cow said "That's kind of hard to want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed it was good.
On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."
But the human said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me twenty plus, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"
"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."
So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
Life has now been explained to you.

​There is no need to thank me for this valuable information. I'm doing it as a public service. If you are looking for me, I will be on the front porch.

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