Weekly Message from Ngaire
AG Bob Slater was our scheduled speaker for Vocational month and on Tuesday reminded us of the ‘Value of Vocation in Rotary’ by highlighting, with personal anecdotes, the role of effective career mentoring. It was a thought-provoking reminder of the power of Rotary networking underpinned by the strong vocational skills of individual Rotarians.
All members of Rotary District 9800 are deeply saddened by the passing on October 6 of their esteemed Past District Governor Jeffrey Bird, a gentleman in every sense of the word and a true believer in Service Above Self. He will be greatly missed. Deepest sympathy is extended to Elaine and family.
It was great to welcome back Pip Smibert after some time away for health reasons. Jack Ings was also on hand looking quite hale and relaxed and Ian Cathels should be well enough to join us in a fortnight.
We are looking forward to a change from Kooyong lunch next week with our Vocational visit to the Carlton United Brewery. 30 Rotarians will be learning about the brewing process, and sampling beer and pub style lunches during their visit. If you want to tag along please ring Geoff Wright.
Elizabeth Foxworth has our Garden Roster up for the weekend November 17 and 18, and so far 15 people have written their names in. This is a good start AND we still need another 57 of you on roster to ensure our success and to earn our share of the available $$$. This is one of our major fundraisers for the year so please ask family – partners, children or siblings - to join you in the gardens.
The good news from Ken McNamara is that Boroondara Council are happy for us to park cars around the perimeter of the newly upgraded oval during the AAMI Classic in January. It’s a fund raising opportunity we thought we had lost and while not on the scale of previous years will still bring in much needed dollars for our charities.
Our Head Ham man Phil Stewart is in discussion about the pricing of hams for this year so expect to see the order forms circulating soon. We are able to offer club members the chance to buy sides of smoked salmon, through the RC of Kew, so if this is of interest let us know when ordering.
We now have a group big enough to qualify us for the $10 tickets for our movie night on October 25 and Deco’s is booked for early dinner. Everyone is welcome – bring friends and family. I need final numbers at lunch on October 23rd so I can buy tickets on the Wednesday. We’ll let you know the starting time the same week.
October is also New Generation month in our club. Our Tasmanian Youth exchange students arrive in Melbourne on October 21st. They are being billeted with HSC families but David Owen is looking for help with the students on several afternoons during that week. They will attend our club lunch on October 23rd.
Olivia Wilson, our successful nominee for the prestigious National Youth Science Forum, will attend the introductory function at International House on Monday October 22, accompanied by her Science teacher, parent and David Owen. Olivia is very excited at the prospect of rubbing shoulders with some well-known scientists and past attendees of NYSF.
The Camcare concert is now only 2 weeks away and promises to be a wonderful afternoon. Many elderly citizens would love to be invited to a musical extravaganza so if you can’t attend yourself think about who would love to if given the chance.
City2Sea is happening on November 11th and RCH will be well represented. It is a fun event and good fellowship as well, while giving us a chance to promote Rotary to the public. Please tell Chris Hanson if you would like to join in.
I’m attending the Blind Cricket launch tonight, and together with Gordon Cheyne and Brian Reid will represent RCH at the award ceremony at Auburn House for the presentation of their Better Project award for their Men’s Shed. This was made possible through our RCH donation in 2008. It is exciting to see a donation bring such a positive result.
Enjoy a happy week…
Yours in Rotary,
Ngaire
Thought for the day “When you come to the edge of all that you know, you must believe in one of two things: There will be earth to stand on or you'll be given wings to fly."