The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Luke Keighery
May 3
Kevin Tattrie
May 6
Ros Virtue
May 18
Douglas Herridge
May 29
Join Date
Michael Bartok
May 14, 2002
18 years
Ian Burnet
May 17, 2005
15 years
Peter McNair
May 17, 2005
15 years
Valda Andrews
May 25, 2010
10 years
President's Message
Malcolm Lye
A week or so ago, I filled out a survey sent by Rotary International to Club Presidents around the world. The questions asked: what our club was doing to support communities affected by COVID-19; how our club was adapting to the crisis; how we were holding meetings and whether they were successful; and what other activities our club was involved with during the COVID-19 crisis. I was able to respond positively to all RI’s questions. I told them about our fundraising for COVID-19 projects in Nepal and for a small charity in Sydney hospitals; I said that our club was meeting very satisfactorily using Zoom technology and that members’ attendance was similar or better than our normal club meetings; and that we had also initiated a number of ways to keep members in touch with Rotary and each other. I doubt many clubs would have done much more to adapt to the crisis. It’s a credit to the energy and initiative of our members.
Keep well!
Malcolm
Club Meeting News
President Malcolmwelcomed all members to the Zoom meeting on 19 May, especially guest speaker, Dr Ruth Ratner.
Members' Announcements
President Malcolm advised members that it is most likely it will be early July before our meetings will resume at the golf club.
Luke Keighery advised that Nepal now had 375 cases of COVID-19 and that our $6000 donation has been used for PPE, food packages, orphanages and other people in need during lockdown. An additional $15000 has been donated by the Rotary clubs of Wagga Wagga and Kathmandu. PPE and medical supplies have gone to hospitals, washstands have been set up for handwashing in public places and in maternity hospitals.
There had been 24 cases of COVID-19 in Timor L’Este and lockdown has now ended. The Ermera project has recommenced.
Rob Coote said the discussions for the funding of south coast projects were ongoing and consultation has been occurring with Council and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal to determine the best ways to spend the funds raised.
Garth Carter spoke about the Rotary Emergency Service award which it was suggested could go to the Warringah/Pittwater RFS. He will check as to whether the award can only go to an individual or can go to a group.
Peter Antaw reported that Taldumunde has had an influx of young people requiring crisis refuge. The Neutral Bay house in particular needs some desks/tables where students can study.
Eleanor Chevor spoke about her knitted items which have been selling well and have contributed around $600 to the charities account.
John & Therese said they had recently met up with the Syd & Marcelle Grolman who asked about how the club is going. Both are in good spirits.
News from the Club’s Board
The Board met by Zoom on May 21. Below are some the items which may be of interest to members:
The Changeover will be held on Tuesday June 30. The club has a restaurant booking but we expect the evening will almost certainly be held by Zoom. It is planned to follow the usual format of our normal Changeover Dinners as much as is practicable.
The budget for the 2020/21 Rotary year presented by Jon Gidney was approved by the Board. Fundraising income is forecast to be significantly higher than in the current year which was seriously impacted by COVID-19.
$1440 has been raised to date from the voluntary $25/month donations by members. $1000 is being donated to HSAP and the balance will go to another charity (TBN).
Rob continues to work with Rotary clubs on the South Coast to identify projects for our remaining bushfire relief funds.
Some possible fundraising projects are being explored by Sally to try to partly replace our traditional projects. In addition, it is expected that the club’s deferred charity golf day will be held in the next couple of months.
A new club brochure has been prepared by Karin and is currently being printed.
Efforts are being made to try to improve the appeal of our club Zoom meetings, by finding more entertaining and different content. Ideas welcomed!
The club’s Bulletin will be produced on a fortnightly basis because it is hard for Helen to find Rotary items during these difficult times.
District President’s meeting
President Malcolm attended a District President’s meeting held by Zoom on May 23. There were 80 attendees and the guest presenter was RI President Mark Maloney, speaking from his living room in the US. Much of the discussion was about Rotary after the COVID-19 crisis. It was agreed that virtual platforms like Zoom and live streaming were here to stay and would continue to be used for many meetings. Member retention during the lockdown was a concern of many clubs.
RI is currently investigating Rotary regional organisations around the world. It was said to be likely that a pilot re-structuring project will be held in Australia and New Zealand which could result in the region being run independent of RI (as is the case for UK and Ireland).
Guest Speaker - Dr Ruth Ratner
Helen Gulson introduced Dr Ruth Ratner, a GP who has practiced in Northbridge for nearly 35 years.
Ruth had always harbored a dream to write a novel, and this year she published her first novel, Dance me to the End of Love, a book about family, love and long held secrets. She read us some pages from her novel and spoke about the book and that the story was a combination of fiction and stories she had heard over many years as a doctor. There is a twist in the story which will have readers guessing as to how it will end!
After some questions from members, Ranald Stewart thanked Ruth for her talk, and said that her book can be purchased from Northbridge Newsagency.
Items of Interest:
Recently class 4P at Northbridge Public School explored why “Lonely Planet” is a literary authority and the techniques they use to attract and influence readers. The students then created their own “Lonely Planet” style book with their own personal trail of recommendations for Northbridge. Two particular items published in the school newsletter are noted below:
April R. wrote “Boom! The first round of the Northbridge Fireworks light up the sky. A shower of coloured sparks blanket the starts. The event is held each year in May in Northbridge Oval, when you can go on fun rides and see small foods stands offering a variety of different fusions. Laughter and live music (played by bands from NPS) fill the air with a happy, energetic vibe.”
Ratin wrote “Relax under the comforting moon, listening to the thundering sound of exploding colours on Northbridge’s annual fireworks evening. As the evening turns into the night the crowd gathers around the oval waiting for the festivities to start. The crowd forms into lines as the kids take part in the entertainment. When everyone is ready, a countdown takes place 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! As it reaches zero, colourful fireworks shoot up exploding with an ear-splitting bang!”
It's nice to read the creative writings of NPS students, and there must be countless numbers of children who have grown up with some wonderful memories of the Rotary fireworks that will always remain with them!
DID YOU KNOW
In the year 2005-2006 the Club was introduced by Peter Grinter to Rostrum Voice of Youth, a program initiated by Rostrum to develop the public speaking and debating skills of students attending High School. In that year Peter was merely seeking a donation to Rostrum to help cover the costs incurred in running the program over the whole of Australia but administered on a state by State basis. Having been successful, Peter was back next year for another donation but he also wanted a team of our members to run one evening of heats by providing adjudicators, timekeepers and other necessary officials. This he also succeeded in obtaining and has continued to do so each and every year thereafter. To the end of 2019 the Club has donated a total of $20,000 to this program.
I stepped on my scale this morning. It said: "Please practice social distancing - only one person at a time on scale."
Not to brag, but I haven't been late to anything in over 6 weeks.
It may take a village to raise a child but I swear it’s going to take a vineyard to home school one.
Day 37: The garbage man placed an AA flyer on my recycling bin.
The spread of Covid-19 is based on two things:
1. How dense the population is.
2. How dense the population is.
People keep asking: "Is coronavirus REALLY all that serious?" Listen y'all, the churches and casinos are closed. When heaven and hell agree on the same thing it's probably pretty serious!
The dumbest thing I've ever bought was a 2020 planner!
2020 is a unique Leap Year. It has 29 days in February, 300 days in March and 5 years in April.
If anyone has any jokes or funny stories, feel free to send them to me for the humour section of the Bulletin! We certainly need a little humour in our lives at the moment!!! Email them to helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is offering a Peace Scholarship in 2020-21
The Rotary Peace Fellowship is the premier educational program of The Rotary Foundation and supports Rotary’s mission to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace. It is intended for individuals who have chosen a career related to international relations, peace, and conflict resolution; who have work experience in these areas; and who have a commitment to community or international humanitarian service and working for peace.
These links explain the scholarships and where they are offered.
Due to COVID19 Virus Safety Restrictions this event has been cancelled until further notice
Looking for something different to do in Northbridge?
Get in the groove with the local band, Laneway 91. Enjoy the evening with popular music, catch up with friends over delicious food and a drink, and help Rotary raise money for rural communities in need.
Dave Banks (left), President, Nambucca Rotary Club presenting a cheque to a member of the community.
Photo caption:
L-R: John Turner, Marko Delatovic, Nick Hillyard and Peter Grinter.
Rotary President, Peter Grinter, presents cheque to Nick Hillyard for BlazeAid at the Charity Fundraiser at Northbridge Golf Club on 24 January.
Over the recent months our nation has been beset by numerous disasters on a national level. As you are no doubt aware your local Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Northbridge, has approached you to assist us in raising funds to help alleviate, in some way, the suffering occasioned to our fellow Australians. We, the members of the Club, have been blown away by the response and generosity of the members of our local community to our requests.
In October last year we conducted a bucket appeal at the Plaza for funds for the relief of drought-stricken farmers and we raised an amount just shy of $20,000.00. This was followed the next month with another bucket appeal at the Plaza to raise funds for victims of the bushfires then devastating the mid north coast of New South Wales which raised just under $16,000.00. Two months later we were back again asking for money for the victims of the fires then raging down the South Coast and nearly $26,000.00 to date has been raised. This is a grand total of some $61,500.00.
In dealing with funds raised by means of these appeals when, quite often, there are national appeals being conducted to raise substantial funds for the same cause, we have found that while the needs of the individual victims of the particular disaster are being helped financially by those national appeals, quite often community amenities are destroyed. However, the repair or replacement of those amenities which would greatly assist the devastated community achieving some return to normality do not qualify for assistance and literally fall through the cracks. To overcome this problem, we try to work with the local Rotary Club in that area and direct funds to helping restore those amenities and allowing the local community to rebuild as an interacting community.
In the middle of all this we conducted our regular annual ‘Tree of Joy’ at the Plaza to solicit Christmas presents for The Smith Family’s Annual Toy and Book Appeal for underprivileged children. This appeal resulted in our collecting enough presents to fill 24 waist-high, 75 litre, self-standing green plastic garden bags. Another magnificent effort by the local Community.
We, the members of the Rotary Club of Northbridge, wish to gratefully acknowledge the generosity of our Northbridge Community and to place on record our sincere thanks and gratitude for the material and financial assistance you have provided so readily when asked by us.
Where does the money go?
“Two people cried as they were so overwhelmed by Rotary generosity”
Karin Eurell
In typical Rotary fashion, we partner with another Rotary Club that is located close to the disaster zone. In this case, we connected with the Nambucca Rotary Club and the $15,000 raised from our first bucket appeal has been distributed already to where it is badly needed.
Nambucca Council provided Rotary with contact details of the 38 people who registered for Council assistance as they had lost their home in the bush fire.
The 38 names and phone numbers were allocated to 6 Rotarians to call and present them with a cheque for $300.
The President of Nambucca Rotary told us: “I have called 6 people so far, two cried as they were so overwhelmed by Rotary generosity.”
A further $1,400 is being donated to Out of the Ashes for porta loos –for people who have lost their home and are living in a tent.
The balance of $2, 200 will go to BlazeAid to assist farmers in the area by providing fencing materials which will be purchased locally.
Photo captions: The educators opened the box with mannequin torso at Christmas, and they were thrilled. It is the first clinical equipment that the hospital education team own themselves. Thanks so much 😊🙏Marg
A cry for assistance is certainly not uncommon in developing countries, especially when it concerns medical equipment. Northbridge Rotary Club heard the cry through two of its members Liz Grey and Ros Virtue, and immediately took up the challenge of fulfilling the needs of one of our closest neighbors, East Timor.
At Dili National Hospital, there are currently 12 Clinical Nurse Educators of which two are midwives. This year they became recognised as the first Timorese Clinical Nurse Educators at the Hospital to teach new nurses, midwives and student nurses on the wards.
Margaret McDonald-Ashe, a Nurse Educator for St John of God Nursing Development Program in Timor-Leste said “There is no budget allocation available for teaching equipment at the Hospital or the rural hospitals. We need assistance to carry on this really important work”
Past President Derek Matz ( Northbridge Rotary Club ) said “we managed to purchase or obtain via donation the vital pieces of equipment that were requested – mainly 2 adult and 2 child mannequins, a laptop and projector, stethoscopes, thermometers, 12 oxygen saturation monitors, a defibrillator with 10 batteries, bandages, medical tape and much more.”
“We can now continue the fantastic work the educators are doing, and even take on a few more people to move into the rural areas and train them as well.”
Margaret couldn’t thank Northbridge Rotary Club enough along with all the people who donated the equipment.
Children from the Wellington district enjoying their day out at the Dubbo Zoo with BBQ lunch.
Rotarians in Action:
Members of Northbridge and Wellington NSW at the Dubbo Zoo
Photo: Cheetah, Dubbo Zoo
The Rotary Clubs of Northbridge (Sydney) and Wellington (NSW) have embarked on a joint project to support the families of drought-affected communities in Western NSW. There are 744 primary school kids from the Wellington District and they are all being treated to a day at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo including a BBQ lunch.
The project is being run over a 7-week period. Rotarians from Northbridge are driving there to connect with their fellow Rotarians in Wellington and to jointly run the BBQ. Northbridge President, Peter Antaw, said that of the families: “The children are suffering as well, most of them don’t understand the financial and extreme pressures that their parents are going through.” The families are anxious about their future but there is also much determination to keep their communities alive.
Australia is experiencing one of its most severe droughts on record, with areas in NSW facing the prospect of running out of water by mid-2020.
The Burrendong dam is now at 4.5% capacity and dwindling rapidly.
The crisis is severely impacting the Wellington area and so special treats like a visit to the zoo is just not possible for many locals and their families.
3000 muesli bars, supplied free by Nestles, as well as 744 sausage sandwiches and a cold drink will be given to the children of the district which includes regional small towns such as Geurie, Mumbil, Stuart Town and Euchareena.
The joint project was launched on 11th September and Channel 7 Prime TV attended the Zoo to film the event. ABC Morning Radio interviewed the Presidents. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their day with most of them citing the Cheetahs and Meer Cats as their favorites.
Ben Shields (Mayor of Dubbo Regional) and Daryl Thompson (Headmaster of Wellington Primary) also attended the launch. They both congratulated the Rotary Clubs for identifying children as the hidden victims of the drought. President Greg Hart of Wellington Rotary also thanked Northbridge Rotary and the Rotary Australia Benevolent Society for their very generous contributions to the project, and for driving up from Sydney to help at the BBQ’s. Without Northbridge, Wellington would not have taken on this project.
