Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove Inc.
www.rotaryoceangrove.blogspot.com
Volume 25 No 45
May 29, 2007
Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel, Tuesday, 5th June, 6.00 for 6.30.
Subject Rotary so far Speakers Suzy Mann, Ben Israel and Dennis Sanders
Chairman Rod Birrell
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Paul Gleeson Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Judy Greer
Birthday 11th Wilma Andrews [also John Constable1776, Richard Strauss1864, Jacques Cousteau1910].
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Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel, Tuesday 12th June, 6.00 for 6.30
Subject African Refugees in Geelong Speaker Barbara Peek Chairman Charles Dawborn
Assistant Cashier& Thanker Alison George Greeter & Assistant Sergeant John Dodgshun
Birthdays 14th Marion Walton [also Harriot Beecher Stowe1811, Burl Ives1909, Donald Trump1946] 16th Geoff Ford, Jan Brentnall [also Geronimo1829, Stan Laurel890, Enoch Powell1912]
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Be careful when you name your web site [ In three parts, with thanks to Margaret Campell]
All of these are the product of legitimate companies which didn’t spend quite enough time considering how their online names might appear in print. These are not made up. You can check them out!
• “Who Represents” is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity.
• The web site is www.whorepresents.com
• “Experts Exchange” is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
• www.expertsexchange.com
• Ed. Comment. “ I wonder what the reaction might have been if our esteemed President had left the ‘l’ off ours?”
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Rotaracters help second graders read
Going to the library is becoming a lot easier for Birmingham second graders thanks to ‘Ready 2 Read’, a signatory literacy project developed by the Rotaract Club of Birmingham, Alabama, USA. ‘Ready 2 Read’ will provide second-grade classrooms in the Birmingham Public Schools system with more than 30,000 books, ensuring that each of the 150 rooms is equipped with a library of non-fiction books on curriculm-based topics.
In October, Glen Iris Elementary School became the first in the city to launch ‘Ready 2 Read’. Rotaracters, including club president Ben Moncrief, and several Birmingham school board members, visited classrooms to help pass out books, read to students, and celebrate the launch.
“Civic involvement was dying in Birmingham, but this is a project the whole city has embraced,” says Moncrief. “We feel we’re helping to foster the next generation of Birmingham Rotarians.”
Studies show that second grade is a pivotal point in the development of student reading. Second graders begin to read independently and incorporate reading practices that remain throughout their education. Also, time spent reading increases 60% when books are in proximity to classroom activities.
An estimated $250,000 is needed to complete the five-year project: about $150,000 for books and $100,000 for an endowment to sustain the programme. So far, the Rotaract club has collected $50,000 through donations, grants, and fundraisers. “Second-grade literacy is directly linked to a wide range of social issues. A lot of research says that if children can’t read by second grade, they will have a really hard time,” says Mike Mahon, co-founder of the club.
Some points to Ponder
ADULT A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOR A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS The only creatures you eat before they are born and after they are dead. True,true!
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Organ Donorship – the current waiting list
One of the most commonly sought after, and urgently needed human organs is a kidney, but the current waiting list in Australia is 4.4 years! For a lung - 1.4 years, a heart - 1.1 years, and a liver - 10 months.
Only about 1% of all deaths occur in such a way that organ donorship is possible, and transfer of the designated organ has to be performed quickly. A kidney can last outside the body for up to 24 hours, a lung – 6 to 8 hrs, a heart – 2 to 4 hrs., and a liver – up to 10 hrs. Thank your lucky stars if you never need any.
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You know you are living in 2007 when………………with thanks to Noel Emselle.
1 You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2 You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3 You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
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This day tonight [from copy supplied by our roving reporter, ALGIE, who stood in for your editor at short notice.]
• Geoff Brentnell is back from overseas, sporting a beard, which has been described as piebald. [Funny!, I thought that term was only used for horses ]
• We extend condolences to John & Shirley Dodgshun for the death of their grand-daughter.
• Ben and Suzy get married this Friday – churched in Robinvale and receptioned in Mildura. That involves crossing the state border twice! Those not well versed in north-west Victorian geography should check with a map. We wish them well. Our club does not have a long list of resident nuptials, or for that matter, other things connected therewith.
• Our Guest speaker tonight was Cr. Rod McDonald, COGG, Cheetham Ward.
Rod lives in Leopold and conducts a business there. His address dealt largely with municipal planning, and in particular, with medium density housing. This policy has been developed after extensive community consultation and enables controlled growth within town limits, taking into consideration such things as amenities, public transport, shopping, schools, the ever-present greenhouse gases considerations, preservation of heritage, etc. etc. All things most of us take for granted.
Examples of how these matters work in practice are currently seen in Corio and Waurn Ponds.
New subdivisions must consider essential services of gas, electricity, stormwater, loss of traditional farmland, accessibility to workplaces and many others. There needs to be a concentration of housing to reduce sprawl, but there has to be limits, such as maximum heights and acceptable density of dwellings. 15 dwellings per hectare is an acceptable maximum. [currently 10-11 in Geelong]
The Armstrong Creek project is a case in point. An area roughly south of Grovedale, estimated to have up to 55,000 residents in the foreseeable future. There were many questions, responded to in what ALGIE described as public service/council-speak. Thank you, ALGIE.
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