Please send apologies to Peter Hodgson before 10:30am each Monday at: peterhodgson@optusnet.com.au
Next Meeting – 30th May 2017
Attendance desk:
Kevin Tattrie & Jon Gidney Reserves: (Therese Stubbs & John Bolton)
Set up & pack up:
Noel Phelan & John Turner Reserves: (Rob Coote & Ian Burnet)
Speakers & topic:
Barbara Healey Topic: Experiences with NASA.
Rotary Club Meeting 23rd May 2017
Welcome
President Paulwelcomed guests Neil McKechnie, Darren Smith, Marcelle Grohlman, Eleanor Chevor and especially all our Fireworks sponsors attending tonight.
Announcements
President Paul reminded everyone about the upcoming “Comedy for a Cause” on June 1 so buy your tickets at http://comedyforacause.net/tc-events/nrc/ .
President Paul also announced that after nearly 30 years as a member, and having just passed his 85th birthday, Sydney Grohlman is retiring from Rotary. Syd served some 20 years on the board and was instrumental in the setting up of the blood cord bank. Paul thanked Syd sincerely for his service and contribution to Northbridge Rotary and also Marcelle for her support. In response, Syd spoke of how much he has enjoyed his involvement in rotary and is looking forward to the continued friendship of rotarians.
Finally, Bob Edwards presented certificates to each of our sponsors for their support for this year’s Fireworks which has netted over $40k for the charities which we support.
Guest Speaker - John Turnbull - Marine Researcher & Explorer
Bob Edwards introduced our guest speaker for the evening, John Turnbull, Marine Explorer, researcher at UNSW, President of their Underwater Research Group.
John spoke to us about the weird and wonderful marine life in the waters around Sydney. A keen diver and marine ecologist, John explained that 70% of the earth is covered by oceans which provide us with all our water and 50% of our oxygen. It is a hidden world and expensive to research and hence only a small percentage is known about it. The ocean comprises an underwater forest made of kelp and crayweed and unfortunately in the 1970s much of this crayweed died due to pollution. Despite the vast improvement in the cleanliness of the oceans since then, this crayweed has not naturally regenerated and is having to be replanted by divers wherever possible.
John’s website, www.marineexplorer.com, shows what unique life there is under the ocean around Sydney. Some of this sea life include types of cuttlefish, weedy sea dragons – a foot long creature that lives in kelp and looks and behaves like kelp, and the blue groper which is neither blue nor a groper! The Sydney pigmy pipehorse and Bare Island angler fish are both unique to Sydney waters amongst other creatures.
John also spoke about marine pollution and explained that the biggest pollution threat are microplastics, the main culprits, surprisingly, being the minute plastic grains in facial scrubs and the fibres of polar fleeces and other synthetic fibres. Each time they are washed the minute fibres eventually end up in the oceans attracting harmful chemicals which end up back in our food chain. This certainly gave us all food for thought!
Ian Burnet thanked JohnTurnbull for his talk and said we all need to take responsibility and learn how to protect our environment.
When Vanuatu was devastated by cyclone Pam, the Rotary Club of Northbridge raised $2,200 in a bucket appeal at Northbridge Plaza. The Club has partnered with the Rotary Club of Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed which has a number of active projects in Vanuatu, and which particularly aim to build local capacity rather than perpetuating a welfare dependent mentality.
Northbridge Club decided to support a project which involves the introduction of Aquaponics to help create sustainable small business opportunities in remote villages. The Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed Club has partnered with the Vanuatu Agricultural College in order to bring this about. The country's Minister for Agriculture has taken a personal interest in this project, and the first training session has been delivered through the Agricultural College (pictured).
The Northbridge Club also provided a manual bore water pump, filter and tippy tap (pictured) so that the children at the Matantas school can now wash their hands. Previously the nearest water source was 45 minutes away, and health and hygiene issues were an everyday event. The pump also supplies water to a bush shower for the boarders at the school.
Many thanks to Chantal Dunbar of the Rotary Club of Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed who has initiated these projects and many others, and has changes countless lives in Vanuatu now and into the future.
The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza for our Annual Community Fireworks Night & Pictures on the Pitch Film Night