Presidential Prattlings

I really enjoyed my first day in the Presidential Chair, and thank you all for electing me to the position, the best seat in the room.

The Changeover Dinner at Kooyong was a truly delightful evening, especially seeing Ngarie present well-deserved Paul Harris Fellowships to several members and partners. It was a delight to see how happy Winsome and Ian Cathels were when accepting Winsome’s PHF, marred only by Ian’s unfortunate fall in the car park on leaving the function. He suffered a fratured pelvis, and when Dr John Carre Riddell and I visited him on Sunday in Freemasons Hospital, he was reasonably comfortable, but frustrated at the enforced hospitalisation. He faces about six weeks with no weight-bearing, so give him a call to cheer him up. I rang Kooyong CEO to thank the staff for their care and attention on the night.

PDG Dennis Shore presented visiting Rotarian Michael Doling of Melton Valley with a replacement theme tie, required after “an accident” at the DG Changeover, and Simon O’Donoghue craftily auctioned off the remaining ties.

Guests in attendance at todays meeting were Gillian Swinnerton, Sheila Cheyne, Vivienne Chemali of The Countrywomen’s Association, and James Twining from “The Leader”. 

Guest Speaker Annette Allison,  Public Affairs Manager of The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia,  had a career of more than 28 years on TV and radio, (including being a Ten news anchor and co-host of the long-running Good Morning Melbourne). Annette told us how The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia delivers extensive primary health care and 24-hour emergency service to those who live, work and travel throughout Australia. Today, the RFDS has a fleet of 60 aircraft operating from 21 bases located across the nation and provides medical assistance to over 270,000 people every year – that’s one every two minutes'.    The Royal Flying Doctor Service sounds a good charity to support, so $110 raised from Simon’s auction was given to Annette.

Ian Macfarlane publicised the Masters Barbecue on Sunday: if you can help, please call him on 9810 0548, and David Pisterman took preliminary numbers for the RI Convention in Sydney, June 1-4, 2014. After our experience in Bangkok last year, I’m sure this Convention will be great fun.

The Sergeants Session was as probing as ever: I thought that having Merideth Hayes as leader of “The Merry Team” would be a softer and more sensitive approach to fundraising. However it turns out that the female of the species is deadlier than the male.

Finally my thought of the week, from Gautama Buddha:  "Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."