Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove Inc.
Joint winner of the Lange trophy for best membership growth.
Sole solver of the mystery of the white glove.
www.rotaryoceangrove.blogspot.com
Volume 26 No 35
March 11th 2008
Notice for the meeting at the Queenscliff Bowling Club, MONDAY, 17th March 6.00 for dinner at 7.00
We will be hosted by our daughter club Queenscliffe and will be offered dinner after the bowls social. For which you will be required to pay.
This has been designated a ‘make-up’, but you are assumed to attend unless you de-register with Hans. Non-apologies will be beheaded, [or bowled out!]
Birthdays & Anniversaries
24th March - David & Anne Tyrrell. On this day in 1989, the oil tanker “Exxon Valdez’, was carelessly steered onto a reef off Alaska, rupturing eight of the eleven tanks and spilling 42 million litres of crude oil into the pristine environment of Prince William sound off the south coast of Alaska.
The oil slick affected 2,900 kms of coastline. It has been estimated that 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 seals and untold numbers of fish were killed in the immediate aftermath. Fifteen years after the accident, the region was still suffering. In February 1994, Exxon was ordered to pay US$5 billion in punitive damages.
24th March – Anne Geerings. [also Harry Houdini 1874, Malcolm Muggeridge 1903 and George Harrison 1943.
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Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove Hotel, Tuesday 25th March, 6.00 for 6.30
Speaker Luga Gregorovitch Subject ‘Joining Rotary as a 20 something.’
Chairman Phil. Edwards
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Dick Clay Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Tim Kemp
Birthdays & Anniversaries
26th March – MaryLou Gilbert [also, Henry 11 of England, the first Plantagenet King 1133, Arturo Toscanini 1867, and Elton John 1947]
30th March – Coral Barker [ also Vincent van Gogh 1853, Warren Beatty 1937, and Celine Dion 1968]
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Long Jump A fascinating, but otherwise quite useless piece of information.
The human flea, Pulex irritans, has a long jump of about 330mm [13in] and a high jump of about 200mm [8in] – 130 times its own height. This is the equivalent of a human being jumping to a height of about 260m [850ft] – enough to reach the roof of a 70 story building.
The flea achieves this athletic feat by flexing an elastic pad beside its hind legs and then suddenly releasing it – propelling itself into the air like an arrow with a built-in bow. Each time a flea jumps, it is subjected to a g-force 200 times stronger than normal, a strain that would kill most humans. Fair dinkum
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Extracts from the DG’s newsletter
To the end of January, our club had 47 members, [soon to be 49], 17th largest membership in the district.
As of just a week ago, the DG reported no starters for DG in 2010/11.
March is Rotary Foundation Month.
The district bowelscan committee is looking for a chairman, medical co-ordinator & publicity manager.
Revisiting, [for the very last time], ‘The end of the extraneous matter’- front page, last week’s bulletin.
I must admit to being very ‘blind’ to the attitude of my readers to those bits and pieces which I e-mailed out from time to time. I suspected there were more objectors than the few who actually complained to me, but I must admit the response, [or lack of it] surprised me. I offered to create a separate list for those of the 50 e-mailees who wanted to continue receiving that extra ‘stuff’, and the score……..just one! I apologise to the other 49.
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Oral vaccine is best weapon in polio fight Reprinted verbatim from the January edition of ‘Rotary World’.
‘Rotary and its spearheading partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative remain committed to reaching all children with the oral polio vaccine [OPV].
Experts with the World Health Organization [WHO] said in October that a reported outbreak of vaccine-derived polio in northern Nigeria is an extremely rare occurrence that happens when the weakened form of the virus used in the oral vaccine mutates to a point where it regains its ability to spread and to paralyze children. Such outbreaks are most likely to occur in communities with low childhood immunization rates and poor sanitation, circumstances that give the virus more opportunities to mutate as it circulates among unprotected children.
“Some recent media reports have been misinterpreted as implying that oral polio vaccine has paralysed 69 children in northern Nigeria,” WHO says in a statement. “In fact, these children were paralysed by a vaccine-derived poliovirus because they were not sufficiently vaccinated.”
“The only solution is to step up our efforts to immunize all of Nigeria’s children,” says Robert S Scott, chair of The Rotary Foundation Trustees and the International PolioPlus Committee. “It would be tragic if parents kept their children from receiving the vaccine based on unwarranted fears about its safety. OPV is the best, most effective weapon we have to fight our real enemy: the wild polio-virus.”
Nigeria is one of only four countries where the spread of the wild poliovirus has not been stopped.
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I wish I’d said that. But I can’t imagine to whom!
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.” “That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress. Contributed by Algy
This Day Tonight
If you want to see some beaut pictures of the Swan Hill Rotary Conference, go to our website home page and click on journals to access District Conf. 2008. If that fails, call SecRod and shout “HELP”.
Dick Clay, accompanied by his wife Leone was inducted into our club tonight. If any of you are in any doubt that Dick will be an excellent Rotarian, you haven’t been at a meeting for the last month!
Don’t forget that next weeks meeting is on MONDAY at the Queenscliff Bowling Club, bowls at six, dinner at seven. Deregister, [if you aren’t going] with Hans by FRIDAY 14th, noon!!
Peter Hawthorne appeals for Red Cross Calling collections ASAP. He will accept $$ next Monday.
PP Chris Sims, DG Nominee, was tonight’s guest speaker after PP Helen Trigg graciously stood down in his favour to address the club on Polio Plus. Donations are fully tax-deductible.
The Easter Monday Market, expected to be the highlight of our market season, will be held on next Monday week, 24th march. Please check your roster, and if you are listed for duty, BE THERE. If you are not rostered, but could do your bit at the main gate at 8.30, or perhaps for a bit on the raffle, give Judy a call on 5255 4041. All stalls in the main drag have been pre-booked.
It is the annual ‘Beating the Retreat’ at Fort Queenscliff next Saturday and MC [for the very last time] Major Timothy Kemp invites any of our members to be his guest in the officer’s mess and to enjoy the best seats in the house. 4.30 PM. This is a great spectacle and if you would like to attend, best you call Tim on 5256 1630, or 0427 223 359.
Footy tipping will cost you $44 for the season. Phone Richard Grimmett on 0439 484 437.
The Queenscliff SeaFood Festival is on again at Easter and Geoff Ford would welcome more helpers.