This week we have two presenters: Brian Mendis – International House Fraternitas Award. International House is a residential college of the University of Melbourne. It accommodates 265 students from Australia and from approximately 35 other countries. The Fraternitas Award is presented each year to an outstanding student from International House. Brian graduated in science from the University of Melbourne in 2014. In 2013 he received the Fraternitas Award from our Rotary Club.
David Jones – How Christchurch is recovering 3 years after the ‘quake David Jones is RCCMS’s very own resident Kiwi. He maintains business interests in NZ and frequently returns to his bach in the stunningly beautiful Marlborough Sounds. David and Sally have close friends and family in Christchurch and he will no doubt present a very personal view of the rebuilding and recovery in that beautiful city.
Notice is hereby given of Special General Meeting to be held on Tuesday 15 April at 8am to enable members to vote on the election of the President Nominee for 2015-16. The Nominations Commitee advised the nomination of George Mackey as President Nominee. ... Bruce McBain
About 20 people, including a dozen from our club, worked from 8.30am to 1.30pm on Saturday March 21 putting the grounds of McAuley House in order.
The group included a professional arborist and two helpers, hired by our club for $1500 (including insurance), four women from RC Melbourne Park (pic below); and two McAuley staff.
The main job was pruning some seriously high and overgrown trees, including a liquid amber, a lilly pilly, and a big lemon tree. The arborist went up using a harness. He trucked the offcuts to the Dynon Road Transfer Station.
The party also weeded and cleaned all the garden beds.
A grateful McAuley House, which looks after distressed women, laid on morning tea, topping off party pies etc with some delectable cakes.
A week ago Bernie Gerlinger was struggling to find helpers but after reporting that he had only four, club members rallied at the last minute to volunteer, as is their normal practice.
It was the biggest group ever to tackle the McAuley grounds and the morning’s work made a real difference. It was either the third or fourth working bee at the House.
Robyn Davies, program manager for McAuley, (pic below with President Doug) says, “The transformation was amazing! The garden had been lacking TLC for quite a while and got it today in spades. The arborist, your club members and the four girls from Melbourne Park Rotary were all fabulous and I cant thank them enough.” #
On Tuesday 25 February, the last hot and blustery day of summer as it turned out, Yanpu, my wife Pauline and I travelled to the Rotary District 9800 Donations In Kind (DIK) store at Brooklyn after the Club meeting to assist with activities at the store.
Given the hot weather conditions with a strong northerly wind blowing through the open doors, it was a challenging day. Yanpu and Pauline worked tirelessly to sort and repack unused Coles uniforms (short and long sleeved blouses and tops) into boxes, resulting in 2 pallets being filled. Three Rotarians, including myself, loaded a 40 foot Container with various items including hospital beds and mattresses, office furniture, a generator, bicycles, computers etc. This Container was to be picked up 2 days later, and shipped to Dili, East Timor.
The DIK store is a hive of activity on at least Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the day that we were in attendance, there were Rotarians from other Clubs including Sunshine, Keilor, Melbourne, Wyndham and Port Melbourne. In the evening, the Yarraville RC were to sort and repack bed sheets from the Hilton Hotel which would eventually find their way to East Timor.
Our Club will have the opportunity to come together on a Saturday later in the year and work as a team at the DIK store. It is a rewarding experience for all. At the end of the day, the DIK store is simply a giant transfer station, receiving large and small donations of goods from large corporates down to individuals, and forwarding them to overseas needy nations. Of recent years, the bulk of the containers have been shipped to East Timor but most South Pacific nations as well as South East Asian countries have also been recipients from this store .It is with pride that one notices the large banner inside the store, “Over 100,000 volunteer hours achieved to date”.
For members doing a cruise liner trip, it’s worth checking whether there’s a ‘service club” meeting on board. These mix together anyone from Rotary, Apex, Lions or whatever.
On the Holland America liner Oosterdam travelling the South Pacific, our reporter went to two meetings and picked up various gen.
Attendees included Rotarians from Naperville, Chicago RC (started in 1941), Lilydale D9810, Calgary RC, Canada, and Leeton RC, NSW.
Among the tidbits:
# Rotary One, Chicago RC (est. 1905), grew to so many members, it needed two full-time staff to run the club. It now has a more manageable 200+ members. Possibly rises in annual dues effected part of the reduction.
# Naperville RC since 1993 has raffled a new USD1 million home annually (tickets USD100 each), accumulating USD2.3m in a charitable trust in proceeds and investment income. The trust has distributed more than USD3.3m to charities. The club gives about $300,000 to charity each year.
# A minor fund-raiser at many clubs is a system of an accumulating pot of money. A weekly winner gets to draw a card from a pack, and someone who eventually draws the joker gets a big windfall.
# Naperville RC killed the sergeant’s session ten years ago. Leeton RC continues to make it a feature of meetings.
# Lilydale RC meets fortnightly, not weekly, but also has a monthly fellowship meeting. With the Montrose and Chirnside RCs, it runs the monthly Lilydale Farmers Produce Market – rather than contracting it out to a market organizer. This involves a lot of frequent organizer-meetings which tend to offset the absence of formal weekly meetings. The market raises $3-4000 net per month, divided between three clubs. Lilydale RC collaborates with Doncaster and Melbourne RC to send plastic bins to East Timor for village rat-proof rice storage.
# Leeton RC retains traditional Rotary rites. It sings Grace and the National Anthem. Membership is down in recent years from 60 to 32.
# Unlike in Australia, Rotary in the US is popular at retirement villages. An outstanding example is John Knox Village RC in Florida (the village has 900 residents).
# A different model of fund-raising is supporting major events by third-party charity fundraisers. An example is Fitzroy RC’s help with the Multiple Sclerosis Mega Swim event at the Fitzroy Pool, which in February last year raised $300,000. This annual event has continued since 2001. The club’s work includes cooking food during the 24-hour swim, using sausages donated from Coles and other donations.
# Lions and Apex clubs are generally having a very hard time sustaining memberships.
FRom left: Frank O'Brien, Alan Seale, Guest Speaker Jack Blayney, Richard Stone and Neville John.
VISITORS
Rob Hines, Guest
Terry Valentine, Visiting Rotarian
Reporter: John Price
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Roger Thornton reminded members about the Royal Talbot working bee Saturday 5th April.
Allan Driver noted that the Echuca Steam Rally which RCCMS supports is set for the Queen’s Birthday weekend 7-9 June.
Roy Garret noted that our nomination for the THE ONE International Humanitarian Award had not been taken up by RI District 3450
Jillian Cavanagh said there would be a Vocational Service event early May visiting a Fire and Emergency Services facility.
SERGEANT’S SESSION led by Mary Voice. David Jones managed to convince me that he had crashed a sailing vessel into a container off Norfolk Island. Gerard Hogan provided some extra lines to the poem which both rhymed and made sense.
GUEST SPEAKER
Assistant Commissioner Jack Blayney, Victoria Police discussed the effect on the community of the drug methamphetamine commonly known as “ice”.
Since 2011 Jack has been the Region Commander for Western Region, Victoria Police. He is responsible for the delivery of police services within the region which is a large part of the State and includes Geelong, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Horsham, Bendigo and Mildura. There are 145 police stations serving a population of 950,000. He has been a member of Victoria Police since 1975 in a variety of roles and has received many awards including the Australian Police Medal.
The drug ice is one of the most devastating drugs seen in the community. The growth of its usage in country Victoria has been very fast. The drug is rapidly addictive. It promotes euphoria, increased energy, sociability and increased physical sensation. Addiction has been found in children as young as 12.
People using the drug start to exhibit a number of disturbing effects such as hysteria, aggression and violent behaviour. Eventually there is an uncontrollable craving leading some users to resort to crime to support their habit. The addicts’ mental and physical health can be seriously affected. There are major impacts on families, increased road trauma and overdose deaths.
Jack recounted several cases provoked by ice usage and how it affects both men and women. Cases included burglary, deliberate pedestrian deaths, agression to parents, theft from family members and bashings and murders. Police officers in the Western Region have been stabbed while attempting to control an argument. In 2013 trafficking charges rose 78% and possession charges increased 33.3% in the region. One of the characteristics of the crimes being committed is that people who have never offended before suddenly become involved in extreme crime.
The drug mostly affects the deprived communities and in Victoria most of these communities lie in the country. Jack described some methods which are being used to tackle this rapidly growing problem. These included making the seriousness of the problem known through the community by working with the media and education. One defence against the problem is to develop the social cohesion in the towns to strengthen communities to attack the problem. A Parliamentary Enquiry is examining the issue and Jack hopes that this will result in law reform and new enforcement strategies. Ultimately this is a battle that confronts us all.
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McAuley House’s big cleanup
FRom left: Frank O'Brien, Alan Seale, Guest Speaker Jack Blayney, Richard Stone and Neville John.
