Happenings at last week’s Meeting
(Before commencing this Report I must apologise for its lateness. Without the imperative of getting it out in a reasonable time before the next Meeting, I forgot. Sorry for any inconvenience. Ed)
This week we had Greg standing in as Sergeant. He called the Meeting to order (He has a very loud voice. Ed) and handed it over to President Charles. Charles conducted the Toast and Invocation and then welcomed our Guests: Janne Spiers, the Rotary International District Co-ordinator, her associate Alan Lunghusen, and Peter Greenaway who is a “budding” member.
Charles then handed over to the Chair for the week, Mark. Mark read out the apologies, (thankfully less than previous weeks. Ed) and then introduced our Guest Speakers, Janne and Alan.
Janne, followed by Alan, spoke about Rotary International and the “world” of grant applications. The points made included:
- You may be doing “International” even when you don’t know you are. International covers many areas and disciplines;
- Tailor your Project to your Clubs requirements and abilities;
- The Interplast Project was a first for the District and a great achievement;
- District Grants can range from $1000 up to $6000;
- There is the Grants Seminar in May. It is vital that our Club attends so as to get any Memorandums Of Understanding of potential Projects signed;
- District Grants can be used to finance Community Assessments associated with Global Grants;
- Alan spoke on how RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service) covers Local and International projects; and
- RAWCS has a database of philanthropic organisations available.
Janne and Alan conducted a Q&A session and then were presented with a token of our thanks, and a round of applause.
Mark now made a couple of announcements. Firstly, that Maggie McGeever requires any spare rubbish tickets to help in her cleanup and secondly that the Rosebud/Rye Market is having to move due to Shire Road Management issues. Now he called for the Presidents Report.
Charles spoke about:
- A meeting is to be held to sort out the issues currently surrounding the Tiny House Project;
- There were a number of topics which came about regarding Committee Meetings, which have to be discussed, such as different venues. He is still waiting on discussions with the Golf Club and will investigate the Two Buoys as an option.
Mark pointed out that both the Treasurer and Secretary are AWL so their Reports are skipped. He called for Directors Reports.
Chris gave a brief update on the preparations for the Market and organised volunteers. There may be some entertainment improvements at the May Market.
No further Directors reported so Mark called for Members.
Geoff called for the revival of the joint meetings with Rosebud/Rye which was heartily endorsed by the Meeting.
Your Ed put in a request that Guest Speakers and Person Behind the Badge Speakers were not limited to a set time as the Meetings loose valuable knowledge and entertainment.
Pauline announced that the Grant application for supporting local youth, with Rick, was going ahead. She also said that the web site is still underway.
The Lotto was drawn and Mick Smith won. (your Ed has still not received his prize but will, eventually, stop going on about it)
Next was the Fines session, including:
- A District Tax,
- Pete’s shorts,
- Ross being on the outer, and
- A Web Tax.
Now it was Adrians’ turn to provide the Person Behind the Badge talk. The highlights being:
- He was born in 1938, opposite the Essendon Football Club ground and became a life-long supporter;
- He went to the local State Primary School;
- The family move to Hampton, and he attended Brighton Grammer School;
- He remembered Bombers flying over Essendon during WWII;
- His uncle was on the Kokoda track;
- His Dad wasn’t in the services because he was required for the war effort;
- Post war, they moved to Fisherman’s Bend where his Dad was in Quality Control;
- His time at Brighton Grammer was “a ball” with lots of sporting teams;
- In 1951 his family move from a farm in Brighton to Baywater;
- He moved to Carey Grammer and also worked on the farm;
- In 1959 he moved to Euroa, and he remembers Ned Kelly moving there;
- He briefly went to Dookie Agricultural College and learnt blacksmithing; and
- In the 1960’s he was working as a Stock Agent in South Australia.
At this point time was against us and Adrians’ entertaining story was put on hold until our next Meeting. (Looking forward to Part 2. Ed)
Mark handed the Meeting back to Charles who, once again, thanked Janne and Alan. He also announced that, as next Wednesday was the 5th of the Month, there would be no Meeting. Our next one would be at the Peninsular Club on May 7th.
After this, Charles thanked those who attended and declared the Meeting closed at 8:10.
