President Peter welcomed all members, guest Pam Clifford and guest speaker Dr David Bendon.
Toast
Michael Bartok gave a toast to the Rotary Club Mosman. Established 1961, it is involved in disaster prevention and relief, water and sanitation projects, supports two women’s refuges, and for more than 20 years has supported the hand surgeons’ project in Vietnam, and as well is involved in all the regular Rotary Projects.
Announcements
John Turner commended an article in the SMH of 29 October on Prof Vanessa Hayes and her research into Genomics. Vanessa came and spoke to our meeting several months ago.
PP Ranald Stewart spoke about the most recent trip to Wellington by himself, Peter Russell, Helen Gulson and Penny & Malcolm Lye. He talked about the Wellington Rotary club meeting which they all attended, and how appreciative their club was for our support. The day at the Zoo went well and the children all seemed to enjoy the day.
PP Ranald also spoke about the 2020 District Conference which is being held in Wollongong from 20-22 March. Registration is open so please consider attending.
President's Message
At the end of the meeting President Peter Antaw handed over the chains of office to incoming President Peter Grinter, whose term will continue to the end of February.
President Peter Antaw said he has enjoyed his time as president overseeing the many projects that have been undertaken. He is particularly proud of the Wellington project, and very appreciative of the 27 club members and partners who have actively participated by going out to Wellington and Dubbo. He said he is proud that our club is such an active one and thanked everyone for their commitment and support.
President Peter Grinter accepted the chains of office for the next four months. He said our club is the most dynamic in Australia and he is looking forward to continuing the projects being undertaken.
Guest Speaker - Dr Michael Bendon
Dr. Michael Bendon holds post-graduate qualifications in Archaeology, History, Education, Linguistics, Maritime Archeology and Cultural History Management. This is a wide range of interests but he spoke to us mainly about the importance of the Greek island of Lemnos as a staging point for the attack on Gallipoli and showed images of the nurses and the hospital set up there to receive casualties from that ill-starred campaign.
Dr Bendon also presented various examples of the untold war stories that he has collected as he travels to different Clubs and speaking venues around Australia. His message was that if you have, or know anyone who has, any war diaries, letters or photographs, not only from this period but from all theatres in which Australians have fought, or indeed have acted as peacekeepers, such as WW2, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Middle East, etc, then they need to be collected and recorded before this memory is lost forever. His aim is to take these diaries, photographs and letters and weave them into a story. He can be contacted at cheersmichael@hotmail.com if anyone is willing to share such documents.
Ian Burnet
DID YOU KNOW
The Club held its first Christmas Lunch for the senior citizens of the Northbridge area in 1986 under the presidency of Malcolm Tompson. Initially and for many years thereafter the lunch was held in the St. Marks Anglican Church Hall and the catering was all done by the wives and partners of the then all male membership, they being joined by our lady members in later years. The event was usually limited to about 100 attendees and was always a great event in bringing together the members and their partners and children in a most enjoyable and friendly occasion. In recent years, with changes being necessary to find a different venue and the idea of self-catering becoming increasingly difficult, the program was terminated only in the last couple of years.
I hate this snow! No – wait.… I love this snow! Signed Bi-polar Bear.
Beer nuts for sale - $1.25 per bag. Deer nuts are under a buck.
I’m terrified of elevators and I’m taking steps to avoid them.
People are making apocalypse jokes like there’s no tomorrow.
Drink wine – it isn’t good to keep things bottled up!
Cows have hooves because they lactose.
If anyone has any jokes or funny stories, feel free to send them to me for the humour section of the Bulletin! Email them to helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
