President Frank, still looking resplendent in his Tigers scarf, welcomed members and guests;- Prof Alan Pears Guest Speaker
- Robert Knowles from St Ives, Cornwall
Frank then invited Chairperson Warwick Cavell to propose a toast to the excellent work of Rotary International.
Announcements:
Herb:
- Called for members to attend the Auction and bid generously.
- The major prize, dinner for 10 people, was also announced which could possibly attract syndication bids from members.
Please see separate flyer in this BULLETIN for Auction details.
Michelle:
.jpg)
Members were encouraged to wear a hat, a cap or even a fascinator to support “Lift the Lid on mental illness” day next Tuesday. Attending members will be donating $5 for wearing a head gear or $8 for not wearing one.- President Frank was seen wearing his Richmond cap straight away to show his support for the cause.
Allan Driver:
- Allan gave the members an update about club members who were dealing with health issues.
Peter Duras:
- Reminded members of the exclusive tour of the MCG and asked for members to be at MCG Gate 3 at 10.00am for a timely 10.15 start to the tour. Ticket prices are: $20 for adults and $13 for children under 15. If attending please call Peter now. Pay on day.
President Frank’s announcements:
- Frank declared the Board's wish for members to attend a meeting of each of the Clubs in our Batman Cluster. All members have an opportunity to visit North Melbourne on Thursday 5 October at 6.45 for 7.00pm. It is a special meeting at which each Rotary Club who assisted their August Book Fair (A number of our members provided books) will be presented with a Certificate.
- The President plugged the RI conference in June 2018 to be held in Toronto, Canada, details of which can be found in the Weekly News. He recommended that anyone who is interested in attending should also consider attending the Information Session on Saturday 28 October at 10.00am at East Malvern.
- Following his predictable pattern of bringing up the Tigers at a drop of a hat, President Frank made the observation that he might be the first sitting president of RCCM to support the winning AFL club.
.jpg)
Rob Hines – International Services Team update:
- Ban Heutan, Laos School Project
- Renovation to cost $30K
- District 9800 Grant has been approved
- World of Difference also to contribute to the project
- Application has been made to Australian Embassy for funds
- The project has been delayed owing to torrential rains and flooding in the region but should be finished before our visit in March 2018.
- Rob mentioned that the 16 days tour in March 2018 to Laos & Cambodia has had two couples need to pull out. Unless two more couples sign up the tour could be cancelled. This tour includes the opening of the newest school project in rural Laos -off the beaten track and extremely well reported by past participants. If you're considering this trip please chat to Rob asap.
- Rob also mentioned the Melbourne Marathon fundraiser which the International Services Team is running, and encouraged members to use this link to donate. Three club members are participating. https://run.gofundraise.com.au/page/SuvamGanguli (In need please copy and paste link into your web browser to support our team.)
Presentation:
Guest speaker Prof Alan Pears gave an informative presentation about Australia’s electricity and gas retail markets. A very timely presentation that included some useful web site if you are interested in getting the best deal for your energy costs. Please see separate report in this BULLETIN.
President Frank closed the meeting reminding us to "make a difference in the world".