The HUB. Tuesday 15 th July 2014 Volume 69 Issue #03

Transcription

1 THE ROTARY CLUB OF RYDE DISTRICT 9685 CHARTERED 1946 The HUB Tuesday 15 th July 2014 Volume 69 Issue #03

2 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS President Rotary International District 9685 Governor Gary C.K. Huang Rotary Club of Taipei, Taiwan Ian Scott (Central Blue Mountains) DIRECTORS AVENUES ROTARY CLUB OF RYDE President Administration Foundation Membership Public Relations Projects Secretary Treasurer Immediate Past President Community Service International Service Vocational Service Youth Service Kalma McLellan Victoria Gouel PDG John Dodd Kathryn Dodd Tony Abboud Bob Kaye-Smith Stephen Thorp David James Adrian Hallett Julie Thorp Ken Allen Jan Cutler John Brown COMMUNICATIONS The HUB Editor Serjeant-at-Arms Programmes Attendance Social Secretary Events Co-ordinator Public Officer Website Administrator HUB Contributions Kathryn Dodd Patrick Longfield Duncan Taylor Ross Rocca Peter Cooper Julie Thorp Bob Kaye-Smith Stefan Sojka editor@ryderotary.org.au CLUB INFORMATION Chartered 22nd April 1946 District 9685 RI Club #18039 MEETINGS EVERY TUESDAY 6PM FOR 6:30PM MEETING LOCATION: Next Generation Club (Level 2) Ryde Aquatic Centre 504 Victoria Rd, Ryde POSTAL ADDRESS: Rotary Club of Ryde Inc. PO BOX 90 Ryde NSW 1680 RSVP GUESTS OR ABSENCES TO JULIE THORP:

3 THIS WEEK 3 July 15 Alzheimers Project - J. Thorogood TONIGHT S ROSTER Welcomers Toast to Rotary Introduction Vote of Thanks Elisabeth Curcic-Daher & Nora Etmekdjian Victoria Gouel Chartered July 14th, 1924: The Rotary Club of Wanganui, New Zealand The Wanganui Club was the fifth to be established in New Zealand, and has sponsored 4 new Clubs (Marton 1943, Taihape 1945, Wanganui North 1959 & Wanganui South 1963). A substantial early project was establishing a public Health Camp in the City. The cause of crippled children was another early project. In 1935, the Club sponsored the formation of a Wanganui branch of the Crippled Children s Society. A number of presidents in the first 30 years of the Club had sons who later joined the Club and themselves became president. Since 1991 the Club has supplied over $30,000 of goods to Foodbank. Wanganui also runs Rotary Readers, several health & safety projects, and over the last 35 years has built and added to the unique Kowahi Park children s playground. Bob Kaye-Smith Burkhart Foertsch Upcoming duty roster is on Page 11. If you are unable to fulfill any duty, please arrange your own swap and inform President Kalma of the change. KALMA S KORNER Dear Rotarians and Friends of Rotary, What a great description of life in Chile we heard last week and the fascinating projects being achieved by so many people along its narrow and volatile terrain! Nicky Howe s insight into her many trips reinforces just how much there is to do everywhere you turn. My thanks again go to Hub Editor Kathryn for her stalwart efforts to holiday in Vanuatu and still support us with editions of The Hub. Her hard work hopefully did not take too much from her holiday and allowed her to soak up some well-earned sunshine. And it is only 10 days until the Signature Dinner getting very exciting! Do you have your tickets yet? Do you have your fancy outfit yet? Come along and enjoy the fun and help to support the organisations this event is targeting. Kalma UPCOMING EVENTS FOR YOUR CALENDAR July 25th (Fri) Oct 26th (Sun) Ryde Signature Dinner 6:30 for 7pm / $95 / Ryde-Eastwood Leagues / RSVP via ryderotary.org.au Graffiti Removal Day Details TBC

4 IMPORTANT INFORMATION - DUES It s semi-annual dues time! $125 for 1 st July - 31 st December 2014 You can pay by EFT direct to our General Account: BSB Account #: or Cheque or cash paid to the Treasurer on Tuesday. 4 David James A VISIT TO THE ROTARY CLUB OF PORT VILA While on holidays in Vanuatu, PDG John and I invited ourselves along to a meeting of the very impressive Rotary Club of Port Vila. Meeting in a nice French restaurant, at $18 for a hot lunch and coffee, this Club is comprised of a mix of French, Australian and New Zealandish expats. With 20 members, the Club meeting was run like a large board meeting. Everyone was involved in decisions, and each was called upon to provide their experience or professional opinion on different issues. Instead of having committees in the Avenues of Service, the Rotary Club of Port Vila has three committees: Education, Health & Water. At present they are working on providing school desks which will survive the tropics (approx 200,000 required), evaluating the prospects of buying their own fog machine in partnership with the resorts & local pest control companies (the government has not continued the program of insect control, leading to the machinery rusting out and Dengue Fever outbreaks which severely affect local health & the tourism industry), and a great presentation from Jeff, a guest of the Club who runs a small drilling company with a focus on drilling water for life. This is a huge issue in Vanuatu, with many islands lacking potable water, including major villages on the main island Efate. The very sensible approach of this on the ground Club to tackle myriad enormous issues was inspiring - and they still had fun and fellowship, including raffles & an anonymous fining system. Dealing with a reluctant and inefficient bureaucratic system, a tribal culture, and very low education levels and employment opportunities, the Rotary Club of Port Vila is doing great work. Hopefully there will be some opportunities to work together with Ryde Rotary in the future. Kathryn Dodd

5 CELEBRATING THE CITY OF RYDE S CONTRIBUTION TO OUR COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD GUEST ENTERTAINMENT GUEST SPEAKERS SILENT AUCTION RAFFLES & LUCKY DOOR PRIZES $95 PER PERSON FORMAL DRESS Book online via FRIDAY 25 JULY 6:30 for 7PM RYDE EASTWOOD LEAGUES CLUB

6 YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT LIBBI SHAM - REPORT FROM ITALY 6 Buongiorni a tutti, Another new chapter started up this month - most importantly, was my move to the second host family, the Pasca s! I moved just next door to the adjacent town, Fontanafredda, which primarily consists of fields and an odd gelateria! Here, I have my host father, Vincenzo, who is part of the Italian military and my host mother, Letizia, who is both an English teacher and ceramic jewellery artist. Being from the south of Italy meant that at first, I was a little confused and disorientated every time they (particularly Vincenzo) talked to me in Italian - in Italy, the north and south are divided to a certain degree in terms of language (dialects) and way of living and so I had to take several moments to understand. That aside, I am very thankful because we are able to get on well. Getting used to their rhythm of life could not have been harder since I was in and out of the house often at the start of this month because of rotary events or guests. However, there was a person who definitely helped me in the transition and was also someone I was getting used to having and this is my host brother, Alessandro! Having always only sisters in my families, this was an exciting and daunting experience - imagine that, a brother! We re the same age and attend the same school and every morning, we wake up and catch the bus together, though both of us are too sleepy to talk. When I first arrived, I was given the room on the third floor and I discovered that Alessandro had actually given up both his room and bathroom for the room on the fourth floor/attic. Aside from a very thankful heart (it is as if I have a mini apartment all to myself!), we ve managed to get along nicely, learning to communicate to each other via messages when we re both at home just because the house is too big to know what we re both doing and where we both are! Several times, there was the embarrassing realisation that either one of us was at home at the same time and we didn t have a clue! When we re together, we spend time looking at his English schoolwork or we head to the local gelateria for a sweet treat in the lengthy afternoons here in Italy! We ve also taken this month to discover how similar we really are - we both enjoy good afternoon naps, don t study as hard as we need to and we both eat so slowly (unlike my first host sibling!).

7 YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT LIBBI SHAM - REPORT FROM ITALY 7 Whilst I m busy getting used to this new life in the Pasca family, I did not forget my beloved Menegazzi s! A few days prior to my move, Alessandra took the opportunity of the public holiday (1st May) to take me around to see the local sights and towns - we made a trip to the nearby towns of Polcenigo, Coltura and Gorgazza where there were beautiful castles, churches, river sources and mountain caves. It was a beautiful and well-spent day, admiring the ever-classic European scenery with my lovely and crazy host mother! With the end of my stay looming closer, the family and I bonded even closer and we shared the last nights together in the classic Menegazzi-way, sitting in front of the television and enjoying Italian-dubbed movies. Ever since the move, I can happily say that nothing has changed in our relationship and even more so, it has become better! It s a rare occasion that I do not see any member of my first host family during any day of the week - in this past month alone, I had either visited them at home or met up with them at school or in town! Further, I have been invited back several times for lunch, dinner or just a nice, short visit and I can t be happier every time to see the warm faces and to be back in the small but cosy place I called home! After just a few days of settling in to the more individualistic and independent household, I was off to a Rotary trip for the weekend (from 10th to 11th May). For this excursion, we headed straight to the northern area of Italy, Val Venosta, and upon arrival after midnight we discovered all the street signs, stores and people (on television also!) speaking German- it was both exciting and disorientating to find ourselves so close to the Austrian and Switzerland border. We had a restless sleep before finding ourselves take on a 60km bike ride in the countryside. Personally, I was not very comfortable on the bike (having only learnt it in the recent years) but the ride on Saturday was easy enough that I had a surprisingly good time enjoying the genuinely amazing sights, albeit a sore bottom! With regular stops and

8 YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT LIBBI SHAM - REPORT FROM ITALY 8 (this particular area was famous for its sweet yellow apples), we finally arrived in the half- Italian-half-German town of Merano, a town which was previously under the ownership of Austria-Hungary. The night was spent with many young exchange-hopefuls from this very town who were keen to know about our experiences. After a very quick dinner (the exercise made us very hungry!), the organisers surprised us all with the news of going a further 30km on the bike the next day! Unfortunately, the next day we were under the rain and then had to trudge up a mountain but by the end, I happily took away the achievement of having done a 90km trek on the bike, having deepened friendships and having made ONLY a few bruises on my legs! That wasn t the last time we saw each other however - in the following week, all us exchange students were then invited to the district Rotary conference of the year in Treviso. We had the opportunity to sing the national anthem, L inno Nazionale, in front of the 400 attending Rotarians to open up the conference - we definitely needed to practice more but we pulled it off cheerfully anyway! Unfortunately for many, this was the last time we would meet as the majority was planned to head back home in the coming month so we definitely didn t waste our time - after our performance, we got down to the business of signing flags, making videos and promising each other to visit! To award the (always) hungry exchange students, we were then given a buffet morning tea and lunch! Whilst my time with my exchange student friends are sadly ending (only Tom, my Australian mate and I will be left in this district until August), my time in the classroom and school has only been getting better! I am no longer the newcomer who is always clueless about what to do, where to sit and who to talk to - I am truly embraced into the lives of my classmates and schoolmates and I could not feel luckier going to school everyday and seeing them! From the moment I step inside the classroom, I am comforted by the familiar faces and the warm stories that they share with me and in reverse, they

9 Ciao for now! YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT LIBBI SHAM - REPORT FROM ITALY 9 appreciate my bad attempts to joke and share funny stories in Italian. I have a bunch of fun everyday, laughing over missed serves in volleyball and wrong answers in class, and I genuinely enjoy jumping on the bus each day to see my friends for five hours everyday. What happened on my birthday at the end of this month only further confirms how close we have become as friends - I was welcomed into the classroom with a surprise of happy smiles, tight hugs and kisses on both cheeks by everyone (I didn t expect them to be in class so it was truly a pleasant surprise)! Even the usually shy boys (who were playing a game of cards in the corner together) came around and waited patiently in line to wish me auguri and during recess, had the pleasure to be greeted by many friends for my birthday - for the Italians, wishing someone a happy birthday is a very important rite of passage each year and I was blessed to have had this experience this year! At the beginning of this month, I met Francesca, a girl who recently returned from a 10 months exchange to Melbourne and we have managed to become the best of friends ever since! We spend every recess break together and we both find comfort in having someone understand the Aussie life - we reminisce over the much-loved barbecues and frothies, a Victorian term for beer which I only learned recently! Further, in this month alone we have already managed to go to several parties, sleepover at each others, head to the cinemas and go shopping together! Meeting more and more people each day is definitely a highlight and blessing of exchange, especially when you bump into them again in the school corridors or outside in town and this was particularly the case after attending several parties! True to the characteristic party lifestyle of Italians, I enjoyed several 18th s (one held in the local castle) and a Hawaiian themed one with 100 people in attendance! - they became wonderful opportunities to dress up, dance it out and make more social connections :) I m also very happy to report back that my Italian is steadily improving still! - many people I meet for the first time become quite impressed that I ve already learnt enough in these four months to get by in conversation. As like previously, all my conversations are in Italian but I am able to get through with less of a confused face and more of a confident one! Things coming up in the next month include: my birthday party (with a promised 40 guests in the garden), tour around Europe for two weeks and a hot summer!

10 TIMOR L ESTE FUNDRAISER DINNER 10 Dinner with Prime Minister for Timor L'este WEDNESDAY 6 TH AUGUST 2014 Dinner: Parking: 6.30pm for 7.00pm start at the Concourse 409 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood Parking is available in The Concourse Enter from Ferguson Lane via Archer Street CORPORATE TABLES FROM $3,000 (10 PEOPLE) The Hon Tony Abbott MP Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott was sworn in as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia on 18 September 2013 having served as the Member for Warringah since 1994 and Health About Timor L'este Dental Program Minister from The Timor L este Dental Program was founded in 2003 with the establishment of a dental clinic in Maubara. Working closely with the Carmelite Sisters, the program is aimed at assisting the rural Timorese population who have no way of accessing dental services in Dili. The Rotary Club of Chatswood Inc. Major Beneficiary: Timor L'este Dental Program The Timor L'este Dental Program was established in 2003, to improve the oral health of people living in the rural areas of Timor L'este. BOOK NOW! Bookings ABN pm@chatswoodrotary.org.au Fax: Mail: PO BOX 138 Chatswood 2057 Peter Kindred Phone Richard Gilbert Phone Michael MacQuillan Phone Registered within the Rotary Australia World Community Service (project #110/ ), the program provides tax deductibility for our donors and aims to provide 4-6 dental team visits a year. The most recent team visit carried out 310 examinations, 332 extractions, 135 fillings and 87 preventative treatments a total of 886 treatments! Your support and donation will provide valuable funds to help improve the dental health of people in Timor Leste. The money will be partly used to purchase a Toyota Troop Carrier to transport the dental volunteers and portable dental equipment through 5 districts in Timor L'este, a country of 1.1 million people but only 10 dentists.

11 Percentage Attendance 8 th July: 86.84% ATTENDANCE REPORTS 11 Makeups: Apologies: PP Allen Horrell, Rtn John Brown, Rtn Julie Thorp. Dr Surinder Joson, PDG John Dodd, PP Allen Horrell, PP Burkhart Foertsch, PP Geoffrey Brennan, PP Ken Allen, Rtn Erdem Toner, Rtn Geoff Nix, Rtn John Brown, Rtn Julie Thorp, Rtn Kathryn Dodd, Rtn Stefan Sojka. LOOKING AHEAD July 29 th Mayor of Ryde Official Visit - Councillor Roy Maggio BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES July 15 th July 15 th July 21 st July 21 st July 22 nd July 22 nd 6th Club Anniversary for Bob Kaye-Smith 6th Club Anniversary for David James Birthday Celebration for Nora Etmekdjian Birthday Celebration for Nora (Artin Etmekdjian) 64th Birthday for Steve Thorp Birthday Celebration for Steve (Julie Thorp) August 1 st August 8 th August 15 th FELIX MORLOCK - FRIDAY NIGHT ROSTER Felix will be hosted first by John & Janelle Dodd / 2 York Street, Beecroft Please confirm your plans in advance with both Felix and the Dodd family! Tony & Sylvia Abboud Kathryn Dodd Adrian & Linda Hallett CLUB MEETING DUTY ROSTER If you are unable to fulfill this duty, please arrange your own swap and inform President Kalma of the change. DATE WELCOMERS TOAST INTRO THANKS Bob Carroll & Graham Metcalfe John Dodd Allen Horrell Peter Cooper Jan Cutler & Noel Dunn Kathryn Dodd Stefan Sojka Duncan Taylor

12 THE ROTARY CLUB OF RYDE THE ROTARY VISION Rotary is a worldwide organisation of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary Clubs, knows as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Clubs are non-political, non-religious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto Service above Self, Rotary s main objective is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. ROTARY THANKS For good food, For good fellowship, and the opportunity to serve through Rotary, We give thanks. THE FOUR-WAY TEST of the things we say, think & do 1. Is it the Truth? 2. Is it fair to all concerned? 3. Will it build goodwill & better friendships? 4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned? ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free; We ve golden soil and wealth for toil; Our home is girt by sea; Our land abounds in nature s gifts, of beauty rich and rare; In history s page, let every stage, Advance Australia Fair. In joyful strains then let us sing, Advance Australia Fair!