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| Kristine Fitzgerald, author of 'White Space' |
September Theme: Membership and Extension
Notice of Meeting for the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove
18 The Terrace, Ocean Grove
Tuesday 11th September 2012, 6.00 for 6.30p.m
Speaker: PP John Jones and PP Howard Osbourne from RC Eaglehawk on Rotary Overseas Exchange (Thailand).
Chairman: Ann Hodgkinson.
Assistant Cashier and Thanker: John Fox.
Greeter and Assistant Sergeant: Coral Barker.
Weekly Raffle: Marion Walton.
Birthdays and Anniversaries: 12/9 Fred Andrews, 13/9 Noel Emselle.
Notice of Meeting for the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove
18 the Terrace, Ocean Grove
Tuesday, 18th September 2012, 6.00p.m for 6.30p.m Combined meeting with Lions Club
Speaker: Martin Stow. "Tha's Nicked"
Chairman: Rod Greer.
Assistant Cashier and Thanker: Margaret Campbell.
Greeter and Assistant Sergeant: Alex Magee
Weekly Raffle: Fred Andrews.
Birthdays and Anniversaries: Nil.
Notice of Meeting for the Rotary Club of Ocean Grove
18 The Terrace, Ocean Grove
Tuesday, 25th September 2012, 6.00 for 6.30p.m
Speaker: Catherine Eagleson, RC Drysdale. Crosswords for Fun – Play Free Puzzles online
Chairman: Rod Bush.
Greeter and Assistant Sergeant: Judy Greer.
Assistant Cashier and Thanker: Gordon King.
Weekly Raffle: Ian Bent.
Birthday and Anniversaries: Nil
Report of the Meeting: 4/9/2012.
Pres. Dick stressed the importance of New Generations. He also welcomed a prospective new member, Eng Ho who has bought the Laundry services in the Industrial Estate.
Notes and reminders: - Geoff Chandler reminded members about the Shine On Awards. He would be pleased to receive nominations any time.
- Market: There were 50+ stalls with a good range of merchandise available. The door collection raised $650 and the raffle took $150. John Paton thanked all those who have helped with the Winter Markets.
- Social Committee. Marion Walton. Negotiations are continuing for a bus to go to Colac for the Birregurra Cup on 6/10/2012. –She also invited members of the club to a tree planting at "Wurook South" on Sunday 16/9/12. There are 2500 trees to plant and those who assist will be fed and watered.
- Pride in Workmanship Award. Please consider likely recipients for this award. Gerry Spencer would be pleased to hear of any nominations.
- Footy Tipping. Please continue to tip throughout the finals. The overall winner for the Home and Away games was Bill Walton… for the 3rd year in a row! Second was Alex Magee and third was Geoff Brentnall. John Fox came last.
- Art Show. Entries are coming in well. Raffle tickets are available from Tony Haines if wanted.
- International. Shelter Boxes are being distributed Niger, Haiti and the Philippines. The team has had to move out of Lebanon because of war.
- New Generations. The Graeme Bath Community Service Awards Program has been taken up with gusto this year by students from Ocean Grove Primary and Star of the Sea Schools. There are 30+ children who have completed the requirements so they will be divided into two groups for presentation.
- Rotary Foundation. The method for allocating grants has changed to allow better use of short resources more effectively.
- Membership. Those people who visited last week should be followed up by their hosts or John Paton in the next couple of weeks.
- Mega Swim. Please give John Paton the money promised as soon as possible so the books can be finalized.
- Regional Conference. Dick Clay reported that the district has allocated $15,000 for the event. The contract on the Christian College Hall has been finalized. St James Church Hall across the road will be used for Friday night's welcome and informal gathering. The catering is also settled.
****** Please remember to avail yourselves of the tea and coffee provided during the evening, preferably before the guest speaker commences. *****
Guest Speaker. Kristine Fitzgerald. Topic: "White Space."
Kristine grew up in Wagga Wagga. She leads a busy life including teaching Math's and Science. Three years ago she felt as though she was continually rushing about, crowding everything into every minute of the day. Even her thought processes seemed to rush. She realized she needed to slow down, but how? Thus the genesis of the idea for the book "White Space" was born. Whilst using a computer as a student she heard about "white space", those empty gaps on a written document that allows ease of reading. Kristine related these to the action of slowing down life and brain activities. She thought that by finding out what life was like 50 years ago she could perhaps find a solution to her questions and thus her stressors. She found that every period has its own stressors and that it is important to learn from mistakes and to keep a balance in one's life. Three major truths were evident.
1. If one thing at a time is done properly things slow down.
2. Pause between activities – even if it is only to look up or take a deep breath.
3. Do things every day that are enjoyable.
By slowing down Kristine's quality of life has improved, but it was difficult to accept that she may not get as much done. She did discover that the world would not implode if the list of the day's activities were not completed. (Does this sound familiar to anyone?) AG.
***Some words of wisdom from Ann Hodgkinson***
A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns were designated as either masculine or feminine.
House for instance is feminine: 'la casa.'
Pencil, however is masculine: 'el lapis.'
A student asked, 'What is a computer?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer should be a masculine or feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that the computer should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computedora') because:
- No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
- The native language they use to communicate with each other is incomprehensible to everyone else.
- Even the smallest mistakes are stored in the long-term memory for possible later retrieval.
- As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
The women's group however, concluded that computers should be masculine ('el computador') because:
- In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.
- They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves.
- They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.
- As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, a better model was available.
The women won.
-Note to members – Apologies must be in by 11a.m. on MONDAY! Notification later than this is of no use. Co-operation with this would be appreciated. Phone number 0457 315 900
AG.
