Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove Inc. www.rotaryoceangrove.blogspot.com Volume 26 No 21 November 20, 2007Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel,
Tuesday 27th November, 6.00 for 6.30
Subject Preparing for the fire season Speaker Cindy Harrison-Roberts Chairman Bob Smith
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Vic Harnath Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Noel Emselle
Birthdays & Anniversaries
27th Rod Bush & Bruce Gilbert [also Ernie Wise 1925, Bruce Lee 1940 and Jim Hendrix 1942.
27th Hans & Heather Franken [This is the first day of Advent, the holy time of preparation for the birth of Christ. Originally, it was a period of fasting during which no marriages took place!!] Tut tut, H & H.
29th Robyn Edwards [also Louisa May Alcott 1832, C S Lewis 1898 and Jacques Chirac 1932]
1st December Bill Steains [also Woody Allen 1935, Lee Trevino 1939 and Bette Midler 1945]
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Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel, Tuesday 4th December, 6.00 for 6.30
This will be the annual Senior Citizen’s Christmas dinner, and details will be provided by Marion Walton. I may not have this information in time for tonight’s bully, and I was not at the meeting, but you will all have details by next week.
What I do need to tell you is that it will be a normal Rotary Meeting so far as registration is concerned, so you have to lodge apology by noon next Monday if you don’t plan to be there. Otherwise, you will have to pay $20 to the treasurer.
Birthdays and Anniversaries
4th Annette Cullen. [also Francisco Franco 1892, Jeff Bridges 1949, and Tyra Banks 1973.]
6th Judy Greer. [also Ira Gershwin 1896, Agnes Moorehead 1900, and Dave Brubeck 1920]
9th James & Pam Turnbull. [also, the day in 1992 when Charles and Di announced their plans to separate, and, ten years later, the U.S. airline, United Airlines, filed for bankruptcy after losing US$4billion over the previous two years.
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“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him” Forrest Tucker.
John Kenny is the choice for 2009-10 RI President
John Kenny, of the Rotary Club of Grange-mouth, Central, Scotland, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in 2009-10. He will become the President-nominee on 1 December if there are no challenging candidates.
John is a past dean of his local law faculty, a judge, and a notary. He is active in scouting and earned the Medal of Merit for helping form new scout groups in Eastern Europe. An elder of the Church of Scotland, he has served as session clerk and presbytery elder. He was also appointed deputy lieutenant of his district by Queen Elizabeth II.
He is a past president of both the Forth Valley Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Scottish Junior Chamber of Commerce. He is also past general legal counsel of Jaycees International.
A Rotarian since 1970, Kenny served Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland as president and vice president. He has served RI as director, executive committee chair, Rotary Foundation Trustee, institute moderator, district governor, convention vice chair and group leader, etc. etc.
He is a major donor to the Rotary Foundation and a Bequest Society member and has received the Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award.
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Corduroy pillows are making headlines.
RI Board approves 2007-10 strategic plan
The RI Board recently approved the RI Strategic Plan 2007-10, which identifies seven priorities.
• Eradicate polio.
• Advance the internal and external recognition and public image of Rotary.
• Increase Rotary’s capacity to provide service to others.
• Expand membership globally in both numbers and quality.
• Emphasize Rotary’s unique vocational service commitment.
• Optimize the use and development of leadership talents within RI.
• Fully implement the strategic planning process to ensure continuity and consistency throughout the organization.
Recognizing the role of values in driving the organization and its members, the Board also approved Rotary’s guiding principles: service, fellowship, diversity, integrity and leadership.
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Some of my fellow members believe the bulletin should be devoted to purely Rotary matters, so this edition is dedicated to them. It is unlikely to be a continuing arrangement, unless I am lucky enough to be sacked!
Rotary club books project is a sustainable worldwide reading initiative.
In 1995, the Rotary Club of Parole, Maryland USA, provided a South African Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar with books to help promote literacy in South Africa. Over the next 12 years, the club built that one shipment into Books for International Goodwill [B.I.G.], a massive literacy project that’s put almost 2.5 million books into the hands of people needing educational and recreational reading material.
About 2,000 volumes are donated to the project each week. Nearly all shipments, -20,000 to 25,000 each time, are sent to Rotary clubs around the world, primarily in Africa, Eastern Europe, and South-East Asia. Those clubs then allocate them to schools and libraries.
With a volunteer base of more than 50 non-Rotary organizations across the RC Parole region, B.I.G. keeps overheads low and productivity high. Every second and fourth Saturday of each month, at least three dozen volunteers work feverously for four hours in a wharehouse to get thousands of books sorted, sealed with a Rotary emblem, boxed, and put on delivery trucks
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Some days we are the flies; some days we are the windscreen.
This day tonight. With grateful recognition to my roving reporter Algie.
Jenny Acopian was our guest speaker tonight, an Ambassadorial Scholar to Tennessee in 1969/70. She was a Rotary Foundation Fellow in those days, but the thrust of the scholarship was the same. The cost was a lot different – US$4600 in those days, $25,000 now.
Jenny’s area of study was teaching and education at the George Peabody College for Teachers, and she lived in the International Students Centre. She learned to enjoy country music, and also experienced racism and prejudice, including the triumph of the human spirit as experienced by an African/American student.
Jenny believes that her experience was worthwhile because she learned to distinguish between political Americans and ordinary folk, and the scholarship program allowed her to develop a greater understanding of people and their cultures.
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5 members are off to meet the RI Pres. We are granting $1000 to a needy student, and we will host a team of Sudenese carolers for ‘Carols in the Park’.
