Thursday, August 6

Bulletin 6/09: 4 August 2009

Meeting Ocean Grove Hotel: Duties 11 August 2009 Chairman: Martin Geerings. Assistant Cashier &Thanker: David Cooke. Greeter & Assistant Sergeant: Margaret Campbell.

‘From President Rod at the Chalkboard’:

Listen!

Care Packs: I will be suggesting to Board that we buy a quantity of items to be packed after a meeting. We can then present them to the District Governor’s partner (Christine Sims) on their visit on September 1st.
MCG visit - 8 September: Think about the visit to the ‘G’. It’s the only way some of us will get to be there in September!
Forthcoming Group Presidents Meeting: Bus advertising for Rotary will begin soon in the Geelong area and go for six months (check club website links).
District Conference Next Year: I will be looking soon for ‘Home Hosts’ to help provide some extra accommodation (please let me know if you are interested). It’s all sounding good; hopefully we will have a big turn-out!
Membership Night Next Week 11 August: After President-Elect Noel Emselle’s excellent work last week I look forward to meeting a lot of guests next Tuesday night – please book in the usual manner. Prospective new members will be Club guests. Dinner payments are required, as usual, for partners and other guests.

Membership Month – August 2009:
Noel Emselle received thirty completed ‘Membership Satisfaction Survey’ forms at the last meeting. These will be very helpful to the Board and the Membership Committee in planning future activities and recruitment. Members not then present and who want their views included in the analysis should obtain a blank form from Noel on 11 August (or request a pdf copy from him; noel@ftg.com.au).

The Rotarian Profile: Rotary’s achievements - and its image - stem from the founders’ vision of local business and professional leaders clubbing together so that their various talents and resources could be applied jointly effectively and voluntarily for the public benefit. This was reflected in the wording of earlier inductions when new Rotarians were received as ‘leaders in (their) vocation(s)’ and having those ‘qualities of head and heart’ expected of Rotarians. The classification system (with its ‘active’, ‘additional active’ and ‘senior active’ categories) was intended, firstly; to ensure that only those best qualified to be Rotarians were invited and secondly; that within each club’s membership there was a sufficiency of talents and resources. These two elements, it seems to the Editor, are non-negotiable if Rotary is to stay Rotary. How they are managed as times change is another matter.

The Art Show Proposal:
Rotarians Carol Barker, Richard Clay, Ian Downing and Tony Haines will meet at Dick’s home on Monday 17 August at 6 pm to plan their feasibility study (and report to the Board in October).


Rotary’s Acronyms, Abbreviations and ‘Peculiar Phrases’.
The cloud of unknowing lessens when we know the meanings. Some terms are listed in the 2009/2010 Club Directory (p.31). More are accessible via the ‘Rotary Down Under’ website (and in a ‘2009 Presidents-Elect Training Seminar’ document held by the Editor).

Bulletin Content:

The Editor wonders whether it is still appropriate to publish details of members’ and partners’ birthdays and anniversaries. This is private information; some may not care whether it is published or not; others might. If there are no strong feelings these details will be omitted in future.

Forthcoming Speakers (Richard Trigg):

11 August (Membership Month): Guest-Night and Special Guest Speaker John Reid (‘vintner, journalist, poet and radio announcer’).
18 August: Hamish Carr (Expresso Coffee Solutions)


Duties 18 August:
Chairman: Geoffrey Cummins. Assistant Cashier and Thanker: Geoff Eglin
Greeter and Assistant Sergeant: Charles Dawborn.


Other Rotary Happenings:

Rotary Club of Geelong West ‘Geelong Book Fair’

Venue: Geelong West Town Hall (admission gold coin donation)
Dates and Times: Friday 14 August 11am/5pm; Saturday 15 August 9am/5pm;
Sunday 16 August 10am/2pm

1000s books on sale. Local authors in attendance over the weekend

ShelterBox update

ShelterBox is a disaster relief charity which provides aid in the form of ShelterBoxes. ShelterBox has responded to more than 80 disasters in almost 50 different countries.

The 'ShelterBox' is tailored to each disaster, but typically contains a ten-man tent, blankets, cooking and water purification equipment, tools, mosquito nets and children's packs.

This video was shown at the 2009 Rotary International Convention when ShelterBox Founder, Tom Henderson delivered a keynote speech in front of 14,000 people.