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This Day Tonight
- Jan Farrell has expressed Christmas best wishes to our club.
- The Surfside PS principal has expressed appreciation for our work in the school kitchen, open in 2010..
- Judy Greer urgently seeks support with the hosting of the Thai students.
- Tonight’s progressive dinner was a great success. Soup at the Calnin’s [We almost needed a knife and fork], entrees at the Greers [their lovely dog Jess never had so many friends] and main course at the Steains [a magic venue on a magic evening], made it a night to be remembered. Choir master Wilma struggled girlfully with a mob that rendered ‘Silent Night’ from the left and ‘Good King Wenceslas’ from the right at the same time, and SantaWal arrived at high speed to narrowly avoid an insurance claim for ‘Man Overboard’ Some liquor was consumed.
- Our brilliant secretary Vic Harnath was rewarded with a very well deserved Paul Harris Fellowship.
A poker tale
I saw a dog sitting with three of my friends playing poker.
“Isn’t it amazing”, I said, “A dog playing poker.”
One of my mates looked up and said, “ Not really, every time he gets a good hand, he wags his tail.”
Car Raffle Sales Duties
Fri 18/12 Safeway Drysdale AM Trevor McArdle PM Geoffrey Cummins
Fri 18/12 Safeway OG AM Noel Emselle PM Heather Wallace.
Wed 23/12 Leopold Geoff & Wal
Sun 27/12 Portarlington Market Wal Kelly & John Fox
Sun 27/12 AM ???????????????? PM Norm Elliott
The list of recalcitrants
Incredibly, 15 of the 17 members who have not returned their books, now face death by lethal injection as promised. They were generally nice people, and will be missed. RIP - Andrews, Bent, Bush, Campbell, Clay, Cullen, Downing, Emselle, George, Gilbert, Grimmett, Magee, McArdle, Smith, Tyrrell
Landmarks and turning points in Rotary’s history
1946 - Rotarians in London, meet preliminary to UNESCO. Rotarians participate in preparing and chartering the United Nations. Rotary International fosters worldwide support for UN.
1947 - Death of Paul Harris. First program of the Rotary Foundation established, called the Fellowship for Advanced Study, [today known as Ambassadorial Scholarships]
to be continued
I submitted a short joke last week, but my publisher rejected it. Here’s one slightly longer!
If you’re a labor supporter, substitute Tony Abbott.
Kevin Rudd entered a pub with a pig on a leash. He ordered two beers, one for him and one for the pig. After a couple of rounds, the barman’s curiosity got the better of him. “Where did you get him?” he asked. “I won him in a raffle”, replied the pig.
Some amazing stories of Polio
- In the 1950’s, leg braces used by polio victims were made of heavy iron or steel posts with padded leather straps. The metal posts connected to the heel of an adapted shoe. Each brace could weigh up to 7kgs. Today’s braces, made of plastics or high quality metals, are much lighter; a metal full-leg brace can weigh as little as 2kgs or less. Braces are still needed in the four countries where polio continues to claim victims, and in others where polio survivors live.
- Epidemics hit seemingly out of nowhere, disproportionately striking the middle classes. In New York City in 1916, 27,000 people were paralysed and 9,000 killed by the poliovirus. In 1952, 58,000 cases of polio were reported in the United States and 5,000 in Canada.
Notice for the meeting at the Ocean Grove hotel, Tuesday, 22nd December, 6.00 for 6.30
Speaker Italian Concert Pianiste Chiara Passerini Subject ‘Life in the international public arena’.
Chairman Colin Brown
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Coral Barker Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Geoffrey Cummins
Members are asked to note that this is a normal meeting, but partners are invited to register with Hans.
Birthdays & Anniversaries 24th Geoff Brentnall 25th Jesus of Nazareth 26th Jennifer Bent
28th Colin Brown. 4th January Dick & Leone Clay. THERE WILL BE NO MEETING ON 29th DEC
The origins of the Rotary Foundation
It was all Arch Klumph’s idea. He was RI President in 1917, and stated “It seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.”.
Arch was a remarkable fellow. Born to a poor Pennsylvania family in 1869, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio with his family whilst still a child, and left school at 12 to supplement the family income. At 16, he became office boy to a timber company and enrolled in night school.. He became manager of the company, then bought it and became President or Vice-President of several other businesses, including a bank and a steamship line.
When he was 18, he taught himself the flute and became principal flautist with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 14 years.
In 1911, at the age of 42, he became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Cleveland, was its President in 1912, and RI President in 1916-17. The initial contribution into the Rotary Endowment Fund was $26.50 in 1917, but by 1923, the fund had struggled to $700. When the name of the fund was changed to the Rotary Foundation in 1928, the fund began serious growth, but by 1932, it was still only $50,000.
The fund received an enormous boost in 1947, to mark the death of Paul Harris, and by the following year, it passed $1,775,000. Paul Harris Fellowships [contributions of $US 1000] commenced in 1957, and the number of fellows and the size of the Foundation, is now huge.
Raffle ticket sales rosters for Tuesday, 5th January at various caravan parks will be e-mailed to you all on Sunday 27th December, and again on Sunday 3rd January non-attendance?– Death by lethal injection
Australia has provided four Presidents of Rotary International
Angus Mitchell, 1948/49, from Melbourne, total clubs 6,540 worldwide. Convention in New York.
Clem Renouf, 1978/79, from Nambour, Qld, total clubs 17,814 worldwide. Convention in Rome.
Royce Abbey, 1988/89, from Essendon, total clubs 23,679 worldwide. Convention in Seoul [ 38,878 reg’s]
Glen Kinross, 1997/98, from Brisbane, total clubs 28,736 worldwide. Convention in Indianapolis, USA
During a cruise in 1960, your editor attended a Rotary meeting on board ship, intended to be chaired by Angus Mitchell. Angus, in advanced years, attended, but went to sleep in his chair.
If a relationship has to be secret, you shouldn’t be in it
John Fox, 2310, 15/12/2009
