25th May, 2011
Notice for the meeting at Club Grove, Tuesday 31st May, 6.00 for 6.30
Subject RYLA and life with a disability. Speaker Andrew Leesom A student of David Tyrrell, who lost a leg when he was very young. Chairman David Tyrrell
Assistant Cashier & Thanker Gordon King Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Alex Magee
Birthdays 31st Bob Osbourne 1st June Wal Kelly
Sorry about last week’s bulletin
I accidentally reduced the font size when typing last week’s bulletin which explains why I thought I would never get to the end of my standard two pages. Richard must have increased his font size, which is why you all got 5 pages! As usual, I only typed two.
Another Complaint to Thomas Cook Holidays. “We had to queue outside, with no air conditioning”.
Dog’s disease!
My neighbour found out that her dog [a Schnauzer] could hardly hear, so she took it to the vet. He found that the problem was excessive hair in the dog’s ears. He cleaned both ears, and the dog recovered. The vet said that if she wanted to keep the problem from recurring, the lady should get some ‘Nair’ from the chemist and rub it in the dog’s ears once a month.
The lady went to the chemist and bought some ‘Nair’ hair remover. The chemist told her, “if you’re going to use it under your arms, don’t use deodorant for a few days. ”I’m not using it under my arms”. The lady said.
“Well, if you’re using it on your legs, don’t shave for a couple of days”. The lady replied, I’m not using it on my legs either. If you must know, I’m using it on my Schnauzer”.
The pharmacist said, “Well, stay off your bicycle for about a week”.
Why do AFL players tattoo their arms? Collingwood appear to be the worst offenders!
Notice for the meeting at Club Grove, Tuesday 7th June, 6.00 for 6.30
Subject A ‘Member’s night’ [definitely not a club assembly], when we will be invited to comment on the suitability of the year’s programmes to date, and to offer suggestions for 2011/12. Personally, and in case I don’t get to Rotary that night, my comments on 2010/11 programmes are that Trevor did a great job with the variety of programmes and without Richard, the bulletins would have been deadly dull. However, the writer of the bulletins is supposed to be an editor, and in that I was disappointed. There were very few ‘ letters to the editor’, except jokes, and most of them came from non-members. Chairman Margaret Campbell
Assistant Cashier & Thanker John Paton Greeter & Assistant Sergeant Rod Birrell
Birthdays 11th June Wilma Andrews
The continuing saga of the Barwon Heads Bridge!
Jan and I went to Melbourne by train from Marshall on Monday. [as mentioned last week, a much better option in terms of both time and distance, than South Geelong].. We very nearly missed the train because the Barwon Heads Bridge was restricted to passages of one-way traffic. Peter Hawthorne was a fellow train passenger, and we wondered how long that project had lasted. Jan thought two years, Peter, 18 months. I settled for a 50/50 compromise. Either way, it’s a $45m disgrace. The footbridge/ bicycle track/ fishing facility on the South side is, according to Peter, only 6 metres from the road bridge. Try casting north without snagging the main bridge or a passing vehicle. I may be exaggerating, but on my frequent crossings, at least 50% of the workmen -?- appear to be onlookers.
Another complaint from Thomas Cook customers; “It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.”
The origins of Group Study Exchange
In January 1964, the RI Board of Directors and the Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees approved Group Study Exchange as an official Rotary program [as opposed to Student Exchange, which has never been so recognised]. 34 teams from 17 pairs of districts participated in the first round of exchanges during 1965-66 and 1966-67 Rotary years. But young people had been travelling the globe with support from Rotary clubs well before that decision. In 1960, six young men from England went to New Zealand, led by English Rotarian Geoff Morton and financed by clubs in Yorkshire. They travelled the country, staying with Rotarians along the way.
Exploding watermelons pose hazard in China
Hundreds of watermelons in China have been bursting from overuse of growth hormones. Overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather by farmers untrained in their use has resulted in fields of ‘land mines’ instead of the bounty of fruit they wanted Many hectares of this crop have been lost as Chinese regulations don’t forbid the use of the chemical, and obviously, the Chinese farmers don’t understand the necessary timing. Actually, Australian regulations are also non-existent, and the chemical G.A. is widely used here to artificially increase the size of fresh sultana grapes. U.S. regulations also permit the use of growth hormones on grapes and kiwi fruit.
Notes from last night
- The First Aid refresher course last Wednesday proved to be a great success, with Pres. Noel handing out several certificates.
- Secy. Vic. reported an overwhelming response to the ‘Bowel Scan’ project in Ocean Grove, with our Rotary club far exceeding the response from the city of Wodonga, where there were only 13 respondees from the entire community.
- Community Service head Bill Walton is confident the students at Surfside Primary can build their own garden shed without our help. We will observe their progress, with interest.
- Vocational Service guru John Eyles would welcome more responses from members about the revised ‘Gordon Project submission recently circulated to members.
- Current RAWCS. [Rotary Australia World Community Service ] badges will shortly be available @ $5 from RF director Geoff Brentnall.
- Geoffrey Cummins has already received encouraging support for our winter markets due at the Surfside Centre on the first Sundays in July, August and September.
- Art Show chairman Ian Downing forecasts applications from artists in the coming months.
- Footy Tipping head Alex Magee was too shy to announce himself leader of the pack after round 9, but did announce Vic Harnath top pick last weekend, and Marion Walton winner of the much-sought-after ‘booby’ prize with just ONE!
Jodie Johnston, our guest speaker, is the senior mental health nursing specialist in the Geelong district, coping with the dramatically inadequate sized local team dealing with the district’s population of 237,000 with our share of 1 in about 5 citizens suffering the problems surrounding mental illness. Of course, those numbers are not all in the serious category, but Jodie reckons about 4000 are, and we have just 28 beds available for them!
Jodie, deceptively young and very articulate, has been an educator with Barwon Health for the past 4 years and is currently studying for her masters degree whist also raising a young family. If the national statistics are accurate, the one in five figure leaves about 11 of us are a bit ‘susso’ , and at least five of them need to be watched carefully!.
John Fox, hoping this will, print out at no more than 3 pages.
1100hrs.24/5/2011
