• NEW MEMBER WELCOMED

• THIS WEEKS MEETING - SPEAKER

• RIDING TO CONFERENCE

• GUEST SPEAKER PRESENTATION - LAST TUESDAY

• SUCCESSFUL FUND RAISER

• MEETING REPORT - LAST TUESDAY

• UPCOMING EVENTS

• GALLERY

New member Lynne Webber’s hobbies include sailing – originally taught by her parents on Sydney’s Middle Harbour and Pittwater. “They’re still sailing though dad (Dev) is 90 and mum (Faith) is 88 and has dementia – but luckily her sailing skills have been preserved.”

Lynne’s big passion, outside family, friends and work is the Argentinian Tango. She’s dedicated thousands of hours to improve since 2011. “It’s a very mindful dance because there are no set routines. As a follower I have to intuit what my leader wants me to do, so it requires extreme focus, which is good for the mind.

Her husband Bob, worse luck, has no such passion for tango.  She says, “The best dances I ever had was with a stranger in Berlin in 2014. We had an amazing synchronicity: a goal you  aim for, but seldom reach.”

She joined Rotary Central Melbourne on January 23 to find new ways to contribute to society – she is particularly attracted to early intervention programs and mentoring programs such as the one for senior police.

Lynne’s first career was as a primary teacher. Seeing the learning difficulties many kids have, she completed a psychology undergraduate degree and Masters in educational psychology at Macquarie University. While there she met Bob, who was completing his Ph.D, and in 1983 they moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a campus surrounded by cornfields. While he pursued post-doctoral research, she completed a Ph.D in educational psychology.

Special Program to Replace Guest Speaker (due to traffic jam on the Monash)

In the absence of the guest speaker, Peter Duras talked about the objectives of Shine for Kids. Shine for Kids is the only national charity in Australia that works solely to support the children of incarcerated parents.

He noted our close connection to this charity through ex club member Mik Wells and spoke of the need to reconnect. Through the goodwill of Caprice, many items of linen, toys, bags, shoes etc had been donated to Shine for Kids through RCM.

• President Frank opened the meeting and handed over to Chair Tom Callander. 
• Visitors:
  • Uttam Ganguli Past District Governor 3291 and representimg the Rotary Club of Rabindra Sarobar, Calcutta.
  • Lauren Clark, Rotary Club of Albert Park and her guest Caitlyn Rustern
  • Nick and Jennifer Clift. Nick is a transferring member from RC Echuca-Moama
  • Temur Samarov, an overseas MBA student at Charles Stuart who has a connection to Rotary via his sponsors, the RC of Helmond, in the Netherlands. Temur is from Uzbekistan.
• Tom advised that unfortunately our guest speaker, Sheryl Forrester, The Victorian Programs Coordinator for Shine for Kids was caught in the traffic chaos caused by an accident on the Monash freeway and was unlikely to join us. He decided to reallocate the time to allow several presentations from members and guests.

• Uttam Ganguli announced that his Rotary Club of Rabindra Saobar, Calcutta had approved the documentation to enter into a sister club relationship with Rotary Central Melbourne and he handed the completed paperwork to President Frank for approval by the RCM Board.
• Rotary Club banners were exchanged between Uttam and Frank.
• Stuart Ellis sought feedback on our Youth Exchange program following the successful hosting of Flavia by our club this year. He is interested in member’s views about whether or not we should replicate this program next year. Comments to Stuart please.
• Neville Taylor, on behalf of Elias, reminded members of our commitment to White Night on Saturday February 17. Our marquee will be situated on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale streets.
• Herb Greenwood reminded members of the Opera on the Yarra event on March 3. Please book your tickets via Try Booking. 
• Yangpu made a short presentation on the Children’s Toy Project being conducted by the Melbourne Men’s Shed. They are looking for non-profit organisations to partner with to sell the toys and share the proceeds. Any ideas to Yangpu please.
• President Frank relayed the sad news that ex member and friend of RCM, John Meehan had suffered a major stroke and was very unwell. Our thoughts and prayers are with John, his wife Lorraine and their family at this difficult time.
• President Frank commended the members to read the latest District 9800 newsletter which he had recently circulated via email.

• Rob Hines then provided an overview of the biennial Garden DesignFest which would take place over two weekends in November this year, 10th and 11th for rural gardens and 17th and 18th for Metropolitan gardens. The GDF is a joint venture between three Rotary Clubs, Kew, Brighton North and RCM. The major beneficiary of funds this year will be the End Trachoma campaign. This will be RCM’s major fundraiser in the 2018/19 year and there will opportunities aplenty for volunteers.
• John Heinrichs then spoke of his next sojourn to the USA in order to save $80 per month! That’s the storage fee for his motor home over there. He will be leaving shortly for a number of months continuing his exploration of the west coast in particular as he attempts to hike from the northern border of California to Canada, nearly 2000 kilometres. That’s if he survives his trip to the Big Sandy Machine Gun Shoot in Arizona first. Good luck John and please send us some photos along the way. Hopefully we’ll see you in October.
• Anne King then spoke of her recent trip to Bali during which she visited a project of the RC of Richmond. Anne is Assistant Governor for the Heritage cluster, a group of 6 Rotary clubs which includes Richmond. RC Richmond are sponsoring a young women to attend a hospitality school in Bali which is focused on training young people to speak English and learn skills to enable them to work on the cruise ships and in turn provide for their families.
• Lauren Clark a visiting Rotarian from RC Albert Park spoke of her club’s project “Star Carnivale”. This is your chance to swing on the Giant Ferris wheel, the Melbourne Star, while it is lit up in Rotary Colours for the evening on April 22. Tickets are $35 per person and each Pod takes 20 people. For every Pod sold RC Albert Park will donate $400 to the Rotary Foundation in that club’s name. details at www.rotaryalbertparkevents.org.au 

• As expected the Swindle jackpotted to next week’s meeting.
• Today’s chair Tom Callander handed over to President Frank who closed the meeting, on time at 8:45am