Weekly Message From President Ngaire

Our Club Forum this week gave me the chance to present a review of our Vision Session, facilitated last month by our District team.  Your questions and comments were welcomed.  As a follow up we will forward on to each of you the results of the survey that we completed prior to the Vision Facilitation and the ideas brought forward during the session, that were shown yesterday.   

I encourage you to check out other ‘go to’ Rotary clubs that are really thriving – growing a young vibrant membership and implementing great programs.  ROC Rotary is a great start.  Browse their website – it is brilliant and so is their club structure.  Bring your ideas to our next Club Forum on January 29. 

What a delight it was this week to hand our GardenDesignFest cheque over to Treasurer Robert Ball, and to acknowledge again the sterling work done by so many of our club.  A great team effort, well done all. 

We have the opportunity of raising double that amount during our five days of car parking for AAMI Tennis Classic at Kooyong in January.  Our roster is filling nicely. I still have 31 open spots mostly on Saturday so I need a lot more help to fill those.  The roster will be sent to you all, please ask family and friends to help with you.

Gordon Cheyne, Ian Pohl and I attended a Boroondara Cares meeting last week, which brought together representatives from 10 Rotary clubs, council and other community organisations.  The focus of BC is to provide an ideas forum for community projects within our city.  There is one project currently “on the table’, proposing the extension of the Servants Community Housing which provides accommodation for ‘tertiary’ category homeless people in West Hawthorn and at Hamer House in Kew.  

By coincidence, Josh Frydenberg’s Kooyong Christmas Giving Tree is directing all donations to the Servants Community Housing this year. His message is elsewhere in the bulletin.

Still on the ‘to do’ list this week:  

·         Contact Noel Halford to help with Christmas Lunch on Sunday December 23.  We really need your help with this event

·         Order your Christmas hams and wines from Phil Stewart – before December 12  

Ian Stoney has undergone surgery in Epworth for another back operation.  He is not yet ready for your visits or phone calls.  Hopefully next week.  Meanwhile our best wishes for a speedy recovery, Ian.   

For your 2013 social diaries:  Instead of our lunch meeting on January 15, we are having a BBQ at the Rocket Park, ie Central Gardens in Hawthorn.  Start time from 6pm, BYO everything.  Children, grandchildren, most welcome.  

No meeting next week – instead we will enjoy our Christmas Dinner at Kooyong on Thursday 13 December, start time 7 for 7.30.pm.  It will be a night of fellowship and fun to celebrate Christmas and our great achievements of 2012.  

Yours in Rotary, 

Ngaire  

Thought for the week:

"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."

-     - Chinese Proverb