banner
Welcome to The Rotary Club of Northbridge
Northbridge
We meet Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Northbridge Golf Club
Sailors Bay Road,
Northbridge, NSW 2063
Australia
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
VenueMap Venue Map
Please send apologies to Helen Gulson before 10:30am each Monday at helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
Club Service Duty Roster
Club Service Duty Roster
Speakers
Feb 18, 2020
StreetWork
Feb 25, 2020
Club Committes or Youth Program Presentation
View entire list
Upcoming Events
Bookstall at Plaza
Northbridge Plaza
Feb 16, 2020
 
Club Commitee Evening
Feb 18, 2020
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
 
Club Forum (Visioning) TBC
Mar 03, 2020
 
Pride of Workmanship
Mar 10, 2020
 
Bookstall at Plaza
Northbridge Plaza
Mar 15, 2020
 
District Conference
Woolongong
Mar 20, 2020 – Mar 22, 2020
 
Rock for a Cause
Northbridge Golf Club
Mar 22, 2020
 
Bookstall at Plaza
Northbridge Plaza
Apr 19, 2020
 
Fireworks Preparation (No Guest Speaker)
Northbridge Golf Club
Apr 28, 2020
 
Community Fireworks
May 09, 2020
 
View entire list
 
The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Michael Bartok
January 4
 
Brian Robson
January 8
 
Denise Woodward
January 13
 
Sally O'Neill
January 13
 
Chris Switzer
January 16
 
Spouse Birthdays
Angela Keighery
January 24
 
Anniversaries
John Turner
Penny
January 2
 
Peter Hodgson
Audrey Hodgson
January 11
 
Don Landers
Shush Landers
January 12
 
Join Date
Bob Edwards
January 22, 1985
35 years
 
John Turner
January 22, 2002
18 years
 
ClubRunner Mobile
Club Meeting News
 
Welcome
 
President Peter welcomed members and guests Pam Clifford and speaker Shane Tiernan.
 
Toast
 
Geoff Duggin proposed a toast to the RC of Darwin. After having concentrated on funding various overseas projects over the past few years, this year the club’s primary focus is working in partnership with the Royal Darwin Showground and Exhibition Centre to improve the facilities they offer the public, and also helping to improve the facilities of the Darwin Men’s Shed.
 
Announcements
 
President Peter announced that as well as the $1500 the club recently received from Tokyo Marunouchi RC as reported last week, Masa Ohtani advised that our sister club, the RC of Tokyo Suginami has donated $1300 to our bushfire appeal. A letter of thanks will be sent to the clubs.
 
President Peter also spoke about the Rostrum Voice of Youth which has been operating since 1974. This year 400 students will take part in over 60 heats both at Ascham School on 1 April and at Shore School on 7 April. General consensus of the members was that we should be involved in the heats taking place at Ascham School.
 
A club visit is in the process of being arranged for the Royal Far West at Manly for either 5 May or 19 May. Details will be advised shortly.
 
Peter Russell advised that “Comedy for a Cause” will be held on Thursday, 11 June at Northbridge Golf Club. We need 100 people to attend the evening to make it a success so he encourages all members to circulate the notice to family and friends when it becomes available.
 
Susan Law spoke about the Youth Program and the club meeting on 25 February when we have the girls from WGH visiting whom we sponsored for last year’s RYPEN program. The meeting will be a cocktail format with finger foods which will give everyone an opportunity to interact with the girls, encourage them and spread the word about Rotary.
 
Kim Wilkins reminded members about the bookstall to be held this coming Sunday, 16 February at Northbridge Plaza.
 
David Hyde talked about the “Rock for a Cause” fundraiser which will be held on Sunday, 22 March from 5pm to 9pm at Northbridge Golf Club. He too encouraged all members to circulate the flyer to friends and family when it becomes available and to come along to the event with a group of friends for what should be a very enjoyable evening.
 
President Elect Kevin Tattrie advised there will be a District meeting on 19 April for the 2021 board members and asked those who will be attending to diarise the date. More details to follow.
Guest Speaker - Shane Tiernan - Asylum Seeker Centre
 
Karin Eurell introduced guest speaker Shane Tiernan from the Asylum Seeker Centre. Shane has a background in science, works in the HR field and volunteers at the Asylum Seeker Centre helping asylum seekers to prepare resumes, look for jobs, etc.  The ASC gets no real government funding, other than funding for a nurse half a day a week. There are over 400 volunteers at the centre.
 
Shane talked about the difference between refugees and asylum seekers. Currently around the world there are some 41 mil displaced persons, 26 mil refugees and 3.5 mil asylum seekers, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan. Australia takes 0.28% of people seeking asylum. She talked about the challenges involved, especially the lengthy time it takes for decisions to be made on those seeking asylum.
 
The main functions of the Centre are advocacy, case management, legal help, health, employment assistance, nutrition education and social support. Funding is mostly from donations and donations in kind.
 
Amy Brittain thanked Shane for her interesting talk and making us aware of the problems and challenges of those seeking asylum and the job the Asylum Seeker Centre undertakes.
President's Message
Peter Grinter
member photo
We enjoyed another packed meeting with contributions made by many of our members, giving a good indication of the range of activities with which the Club is involved.
 
We had the benefit of a very interesting presentation given by Shane Tiernan from the Asylum Seekers Centre at Newtown, which elicited many questions from our members regarding the very worthwhile work undertaken by this organisation.
 
I mentioned to the members that recent coverage in Japan of the NSW bushfires had resulted in another donation of $1,300 made by our sister club of Tokyo Suginami.
 
Many thanks to those members who volunteered to host members of the Wellington Rotary Club who may be able to assist with our fireworks night on 9 May.
 
We have a busy few months ahead of us with a number of forthcoming events including:
 
Rock for a Cause on Sunday 22 March
Rostrum Voice of Youth heats on Wednesday 1 April (to be confirmed)
Fireworks night on Saturday 9 May
Royal Far West Manly tour on Tuesday 19 May (to be confirmed)
Comedy for a Cause on Thursday 11 June
 
And that's without mention of the BBQs and bookstalls. So we need all hands on deck!!
Peter Grinter
 
DID YOU KNOW
 
 
The Club’s first venture in raising money from the local residents of Northbridge was the selling of Rotary Christmas Puddings. This fundraising project was initiated in 1984 and in the first year raised the princely profit for our Charities’ Account of $923. Over the following years the puddings were joined with Rotary Whisky Cakes. Whilst the mark-up on our cost was some 25%, it became harder and harder to effect sales as, even though the tins in which the goods were sold did not easily disclose which company manufactured the goods, it could be ascertained and the public began to realise that they could purchase exactly the same product at Woolworths at a cheaper price. However we persisted with the project until Christmas 2006 when the total net profit for the year was $122. At this point the project was discontinued having raised $14,094 in 21 years,
YOU CAN READ MORE IN THE CLUB HISTORY https://tinyurl.com/rcnclubhistory
 
 
This week’s funny....
 
Everyone seems to be in such a hurry to scream 'racism' these days.
A customer asked, "In what aisle could I find the Guinness?"
The shop assistant asks, "Are you Irish?"
The guy, clearly offended, says, "Yes I am. But let me ask you this. If I had asked for Italian sausage, would you ask me if I was Italian? Or if I had asked for German Bratwurst, would you ask me if I was German? Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog would you ask me if I was Jewish? Or if I had asked for a Taco, would you ask if I was Mexican? Or if I asked for Polish sausage, would you ask if I was Polish?"
The shop assistant says, "No, I probably wouldn't." 
The guy says, "Well then, because I asked for Guinness, why did you ask me if I'm Irish?"
The clerk replied, "Because you're in Bunnings'."
 
 
 
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
 
 

 

 
Stories
Rock for a Cause with Rotary
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.
 
Save the date: Sunday 22 March, Northbridge Golf Club, 5 – 9pm.
2020 Northbridge Community Fireworks
The Rotary Club of Northbridge will again hold the annual community Fireworks event on Saturday 9 May 2020 at the Northbridge Oval.  100 per cent of profits raised go towards supporting rural communities, including aiding disadvantaged youth and mental health.
 
There will be lots of rides, entertainment and a variety of food to enjoy – so come on down.
Be sure to mark this family friendly event in your diary.
Volunteer assistance from the community is welcomed!
 
Please contact Sally on 0411 886 539 for more details.
Applauding the Generosity of our Community
 
 
Photo caption: 
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.
 
Read more...
First Box Opened at Christmas
 
 
 
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.
Rotary Treats 744 School Kids to a Day at the Zoo
 
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.
THE 4 - WAY TEST of the things we say or do

1). Is it the TRUTH?

2). Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3). Will it build GOODWILL & BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4). Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?