Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove Inc.
www.rotaryoceangrove.blogspot.com
Volume 26 No 10
September 4 2007
Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel, Tuesday 11th September, 6.00 for 6.30
Subject Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Speaker Max Henry
Chairman John Wynn
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Bob Osbourne Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Dennis Sanders
Birthdays & Anniversaries
11th Charles & Lois Dawborn [and on this day in 2001, the world stood still, as two planes hijacked by terrorists flew into the World Trade Centre buildings in New York. An hour after the crash, both buildings collapsed. A third plane flew into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. About 3,000 people died in those attacks, and thousands more were injured.].
12th Fred Andrews [also Henry Hudson -the explorer 1570, Jesse Owens 1913, and Rachel Ward, 1957].
13th Noel Emselle [also Roald Dahl 1916, Jacqueline Bisset 1944, and Shane Warne 1969].
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Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel, Tuesday 18 September, 6.00 for 6.30
Subject An adventure in Citizenship Speakers Adam List & Luke Tyrrell, interviewed by Tony Haines.
Chairman Rod Bush
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Bob Smith Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Bill Steains
Birthdays & Anniversaries
18th Ken & Laurie Fleay [On this day in 1809, the Royal Opera House in London was opened with a performance of Macbeth. The Netherlands granted women the right to vote in 1919, and the American guitar hero Jim Hendrix died of a sleeping pill overdose in London at the age of 27].
23rd David Cornwell. [Also Augustus Caesar 63BC, Mickey Rooney 1920, and Ray Charles 1930.
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It was not just the Yanks that stuffed up the mortgage market
Our UK correspondent, Robin Stevens, reports that the Brits. are just as bad, lending two and three times the combined earning power of mortgage applicants. We used to think used car salesmen were the ‘pits’!
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Definition of Rotary We should all know this, but do we recognize and work with it?
How do you describe the organization called “Rotary’?. There are so many characteristics of a Rotary club as well as the activities of more than 1.2 million Rotarians. There are the features of service, internationality, fellowship, classifications of each vocation, development of goodwill and world understanding, the emphasis of high ethical standards, concern for other people, and many more.
In 1976, the Rotary International Board of Directors was interested in creating a concise definition of the fundamental aspects of Rotary. They turned to the three men who were then serving on RI’s Public Relations Committee and requested that a one-sentence definition of Rotary be prepared. After numerous drafts, the committee presented this definition, which has been used ever since in various Rotary publications:
“Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united world-wide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”
Those 31 words are worth remembering when someone asks, “what is a Rotary club?”
The first of ‘1,000 unforgettable Senior Moments’
From a book by Tom Friedman, given to me on father’s day!
When Richard Nixon arrived in Paris for the funeral of French President Georges Pompidou in April 1974, his mind must have been elsewhere. At the airport he declared, “This is a great day for France!”
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Academics question “Mania for sport’ Reported in September 1907
Is there a mania for sport in Australia? The question was raised at the annual meeting of the Trinity College Dialectic Society held in Melbourne on 2nd September 1907. The chairman took the negative view, declaring that the pursuit of sport was an enthusiasm rather than a mania.
He considered, however, that sport was treated with too much reverence in school life. He related the story of a speech night at a public school, noting the air of graceful condescension with which the audience of schoolboys applauded the successful scholars. Then came a diversion. When a lad stepped forward to receive the prize of a cricket bat, he was greeted with a salvo of cheers. No, the lad had not performed some noble act, worthy of the Victoria Cross. He had simply averaged 43 on the cricket field.
The Age newspaper, taking up the issue, thought it lamentable that Australian youth did not trouble itself with sport after leaving school. “Hence we see thousands of the manhood of Australia thronging our football and cricket grounds in the belief that the spectator is the truest sportsman,” the paper said.
Ed. Note : Only the ‘journalise’ has changed!
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The best laid plans of mice and men
I was unable to attend Rotary last night because of another meeting, and apparently, my deputy either missed the meeting or simply, forgot. No great problem, but you will all have to put up with my early morning ramblings as I have another meeting in Geelong early today, and Jan and I are off to Mildura tomorrow.
But the show must go on, and all that remains for your editor to do is to apologise to Coral Barker, who ran last nights program and at least deserves a mention for what I am sure was a great night of fun and games.
A senior citizen defined
A senior citizen is one who was born before television, frozen foods, [Auntie Nell had a coolgardie safe], credit cards and ball-point pens.
For us, ‘a chip’ meant a piece of wood and not a bit of a computer, and teenagers never wore slacks.
We were born before pantyhose, drip-dry clothes, dish washers, [Auntie Nell had me] and electric blankets.
We got married first, and then lived together. We were before Batman and those ridiculous ‘Simpsons’, vitamin pills, disposable nappies, pizzas, instant coffee, tea bags and Chinese takeaways, and, for that matter, KFC and McDonalds.
In our day, ‘grass’ was for mowing, ‘ice’ was what you put in a drink, [but bloody useless, stored in a coolgardie safe], and ‘pot’ was something you cooked in.
A ‘gay person’ was the life of the party, and nothing more, while ‘Aids’ meant beauty lotions, or help rendered for someone in need.
We are today’s senior citizens, a hardy bunch when you think of how the world has changed and of the adjustments we have had to make. But I used to float little paper boats in the water tray on the top of Auntie Nell’s coolgardie safe, and frankly, I miss that!
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I bet Coral’s party was a ripper.
