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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 25, 2020
Club Committes or Youth Program Presentation
Mar 03, 2020
Club Forum (Visioning)
View entire list
Upcoming Events
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
 
Bookstall at Plaza
Northbridge Plaza
May 17, 2020
 
Club Commitee Evening
May 19, 2020
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
 
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 club members and guest speaker Helen Banu from StreetWork.
 
Toast
 
Malcolm Lye proposed a toast to the RC of Makati in the Philippines. The Philippines has 800 Rotary clubs, the largest number of any country. Chartered in 1966, the Makati club has 154 members made up mainly of senior businessmen and professionals. The club has contributed $2m to the Rotary Foundation and at the club’s 50th anniversary in 2016 it inducted 100 Paul Harris Fellows.
 
Announcements
 
John Turner spoke about the Friends of Rotary list which is just about complete. He will shortly email members who have a connection to a person on the list in order that they can engage with that person about their involvement in Rotary.
 
Sally O’Neill announced that planning for “Rock for a Cause” is well under way and the flyer is now ready for distribution. Sally will email the flyer to all members and asked that each member distribute it to friends and family and to encourage them to attend.
 
Helen Gulson asked all members to advise her ASAP of their attendance, or not, at next week’s Rotary meeting as we need to know the numbers earlier than normal for catering purposes since there will be a larger than usual number of guests. A number of girls, parents, and teachers from WGHS will be in attendance.
 
Garth Carter asked if any late nominations for the Pride of Workmanship awards could be given to him as soon as possible.
 
Ranald Stewart advised that a number of members would be attending the District Conference on 21 March in Wollongong. There is still time for people to register for the conference.
Guest Speaker - Helen Banu - StreetWork
 
Peter Hodgson introduced Helen Banu, CEO of StreetWork. Helen has worked with young people all her life having started out as a school teacher.
 
Helen said she enjoys speaking at Northbridge Rotary where she always feels welcome. She has been in her role at StreetWork for 7 years and is very appreciative of the club’s ongoing support. Now in its 40th year, Helen gave us an update of the work undertaken by StreetWork and its youth workers in turning young lives around. She talked about the youth workers mentoring at risk young people and helping them to navigate the services they need. They advocate for them when there is no one else in their lives to do so. Their aim is to build in these young people wellness and capacity. In 2019 StreetWork helped 653 people, and still there is a waitlist. Studies have shown that every $1 spent on these youngsters has a social return on investment (SROI) of $16.
 
Eleanor Chevor thanked Helen for her work and said that together we can work to improve the lives of these young people and the community.
President's Message
Peter Grinter
member photo
A very productive board meeting was held on Thursday evening with a lot of business conducted. I urge all members to read the minutes of the meeting which will be sent out shortly by Secretary Liz so that you are aware of what is happening within the organization of the club as well as keeping abreast of plans for upcoming events.
 
DID YOU KNOW
 

The Club’s third President was Ross Alexander. Ross had an interest in a publishing business which meant that the Club had access to books – children’s books and Little Golden Books in particular. As we are aware, we now conduct regular book sales under the leadership of Kim Wilkins but the Club first entered the bookselling business in 1986 when we used to receive books virtually by the pallet load either for free or at very reduced prices. This made the project very profitable as we could sell the books at a price much less than retail but for a lot more than recycled books are currently selling these days. Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end when Ross had a change of business interests and the project wound up in 1995 having raised on a couple of sales each year, a total of $40,366 for the Charities’ Account.

YOU CAN READ MORE IN THE CLUB HISTORY https://tinyurl.com/rcnclubhistory

 
 
Signs you live in 2020
  1. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave.
  2. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
  3. You text message your son to let him know dinner's on the table, he emails you back from his bedroom.
  4. Your daughter sells Girl Guide cookies via her website.
  5. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven't spoken with your next door neighbour yet this year.
  6. Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver.
  7. You pull up in your own driveway and use your mobile phone to see if anyone is home.
  8. Every commercial on television has a web site address at the bottom of the screen.
  9. You buy a computer and 6 months later it is out of date and now sells for half what you paid for it.
  10. Leaving the house without your mobile phone, which you didn't have the first 20-50 years of your life, is cause for panic and turning around to go get it.
  11. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make a purchase would be a hassle and takes planning.
  12. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is that they do not have e-mail addresses.
  13. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow.
  14. Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet.
 
 
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, 2020
Time:  5 – 9.00 pm
Venue:  Northbridge Golf Club
Tickets available now:  https://www.trybooking.com/BHUJE
 
 
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?