Greeting us bright and early and ready to take our money at the desk this morning, was Ian Belcher. Once again we were joined by what are now our regular Guests. A warm welcome to both Greg and our resident Victorian, Ken.
Our resident Kiwi Klown, Darryl kept us all amused as he performed the duties of the Chairperson. The International Toast, proposed by Alan Still OAM, took us to the Rotary Clubs in the world that don't belong to a District, in particular to the Rotary Club of Shanghai.
Where was Roger's camera?
Roger Todd, the Club's photographer and co-Public Relations Director, let us into his life as an Architect with a passion for history and heritage. Roger came to Australia in 1961 as the son of a 10 ₤ (pound) Pom. He loves Caloundra's Post World War II Beach Houses and of course we all know Roger's involvement with the Caloundra Lighthouse. He's been a Rotarian since 2000, holding the office of President and Vocational Services Director.
Merv Paddison was called upon to present a Paul Harris Fellow recognition to one of our Club's most deserving members. Genta has been a Rotarian for nine years and a lifesaver at Dicky Beach for 10 years. His work in the Japanese community, both here and abroad is extensive. Genta is also very passionate about our Club's Sanitation Project in the Solomon's. Don't forget to go along to the Annual Japan Festival that Genta organises . It's on this Sunday 13 August at Currimundi Primary School. I hope you have a successful day, Genta, and heartiest congratulations on being recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow. You are a deserved recipient.
Nicole and Jaime, students from Matthew Flinders College each gave a short talk about themselves and showed their appreciation for being chosen to attend the NYSF (National Youth Science Forum) being held later in the year. We will have the girls present to us, after they've been to the Forum, so they can tell us of their adventures.Due to my work commitments, I am often unable to serve/volunteer for our Club. This, however, all changed last week. I was fortunate enough to be able to volunteer as a Leader at our RYDA day at Corbould Park. This is a Youth Driver Awareness Day, with six segments. The program is a credit to our newest member, Neville Woodforth. Myself and other Club Members were extremely impressed with the program, quality of presenters, the students and the overall running of the day. Well done team! (View the report here)
I was also fortunate enough to be able to volunteer at our Bunning's BBQ last Sunday. What a fantastic day we had. We had so many willing members and, as it turns out, people we'd never even met lending a hand as well. I think I'm correct in saying, our profit for the day was a record for our Club, with approximately $1,200 being raised. A superb effort with a lot of fun too. Thanks goes to Chris Milligan who did a great job organising the team, not to mention pre-cutting 700 sausages.
My week as a Rotarian, led me to think more about Volunteering and how good it is for us. Please take the time to read my report, attached here.
A reminder, next week we will be entertaining our District Governor, John Lane and his wife, Bo. This means we need a solid turnout (which, by the way has been occurring regularly; well done!), and can someone please see that Darryl has shoes and a collared shirt to wear.
In the Chair, we will have Judy Clarke, Helen Fox on the desk and I will introduce our Guests.
Until then, I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy this balmy winter weather.