Welcome to the April edition of our Bulletin.
We had yet another month of great guest speakers and other activities in April, starting with a combined meeting with our friends at the RC of Albion, and I again thank President Phil, his members and their fantastic caterers for having us at their clubhouse for the evening. We hope to have Albion visit us soon. Whilst all Clubs are independent entities, we are also part of a global Club, or group of friends, and I would encourage other Clubs to share meetings with their neighbours, to encourage fellowship, networking and to assist with ideas in making the community a better place, which of course is what we strive to do as Rotarians.
Our two guest speakers this month were PDG and Club VP John Leddy, who reminded us of the great work being doing around the world by volunteers in programs organised through the Rotary Australia World Community Service (or RAWCS). Our own Club has used RAWCS to coordinate projects ourselves and continue to do so with our Low Cost Shelter Project. The other guest speaker was member of the RC of Kawana Waters and good friend of our club, Peter McPhee. Peter presented on his career as a professional sprinter in the 1970s, which saw him rise to be crowned Australian Champion three times. I’m sure everyone in attendance (including Peter’s family) are now much more educated on the history of this interesting sport.
Our District Conference ran from 20 to 22 April at Maroochy RSL. It was an opportunity for Rotarians to hear informative presentations, to learn about Rotary programs in the showcase, to share ideas and enjoy fellowship during the breaks and at the Saturday night dinner. It was also a good chance for our exchange student, Jim Lai, to catch up with his Youth Exchange mates. A highlight for the Club was us receiving the award for the highest donations per member to Australian Rotary Health (ARH), something we should be very proud of.
Also this month, we got our hands dirty (literally), by participating in the District’s coordinated tree planting project at John Sprent Reserve. When Rotary International President, Ian Riselely took office, he declared that Rotarians could no longer not be involved in environmental issues, and set Rotary worldwide a goal of planting one tree per Rotarian (approximately 1.2million trees). So, on 28 April 2018, Rotarians from around the district joined together to plant 1414 trees, representing the 1414 Rotarians in District 9600. It was a fun morning out, and is something I hope becomes a more regular event.
During May, we continue with our good work. We start with a shift at Donations in Kind (DiK) on 5 May, and then the week long Rotary Art Spectacular at Central Plaza One (corner Queen and Creek Streets in the City) from 12 to 19 May. We are still needing volunteers as well as attendees for the Opening Night on Monday 14 May. We also have some interesting guest speakers and will be making some donations to worthy recipients, something I will detail in the May Bulletin.
Finally, I note that 13 May is Mother’s Day. I wish all mothers a happy day, and I hope you will be well looked after by your families – I can say that my own mother is now a potential millionaire, well, she will be when I get around to buying that lottery ticket!
Until next month, yours in Rotary Service.
