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
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
36 years
John Turner
January 22, 2002
19 years
Club Meeting News - 19 January 2021
Welcome
President Kevin welcomed all members and guest speaker, our own Bob Edwards.
Announcements
Sally O’Neill advised that the Bunnings BBQ for 24 Jan has been cancelled.
Eleanor Chevor advised that the Dementia Café has no starting date as yet. At this point there are plenty of volunteers but no customers! If anyone knows of an older person who could benefit from social contact at a Dementia Café please let Eleanor know.
Peter Grinter announced that the Rostrum Voice of Youth will tentatively be held at Ascham School on 3 March and Cammeraygal High School on 22 March from 4pm-7.30pm. A number of members volunteered their assistance, and Cammeraygal High School was the first choice. The date will be confirmed shortly, but in the meantime, if you are interested in helping please let Peter know.
President Kevin then invited Ros Virtue up to the podium to introduce Jane Lovett-Cameron to be inducted as a member of Northbridge Rotary Club. President Kevin then inducted Jane into the club and she was duly welcomed by all members.
Guest Speaker - Bob Edwards – Sydney’s Infrastructure Projects
Barry Anderson introduced Bob Edwards who has been a member of our Club for 36 years. He has an Engineering degree as well as a degree in Master of Public Health. He is an adventurer on the land, sea, and air, and by virtue of his engineering background has a keen interest in infrastructure projects.
The 23 kilometre Sydney to Parramatta road opened in 1811. Financing the road was by a toll collected at 3 toll booths. The importance of the road declined with the introduction of rail in 1855.
Great Northern Road connected Sydney to the fertile plains of the Hunter Region via Dural, Wiseman’s Ferry and Wollombi. 260 kilometres in length through rugged terrain and built between 1825 and 1838. An engineering masterpiece constructed to an extremely high standard, it declined with the opening of shipping to the Hunter.
Cumberland Highway runs 34 kilometres from Hornsby to Liverpool via Parramatta.Completed in 1988.
Due to the topography, it was difficult to build roads as bridges were required over the flood plains and rivers. Bridges built:
Nepean River 1907
Tom Ugly’s 1929
Sydney Harbour 1932
Endeavour Bridge over Cooks River 1951
Gladesville, Fig Tree and Tarban Creek series of bridges 1964. Gladesville Bridge was the longest concrete arch bridge in the world.
Captain Cook Bridge 1965.
North Connex connects Hornsby with the M2, West Connex joins M4 with Victoria Road, M5 joins into General Holmes Drive, M8 is parallel to M5 but ends west of Mascot Airport.
West Sydney Airport, Nancy Bird Walton Airport, construction started in 2018 after many years of discussion and should be completed by 2026. This decision allowed many activities to commence. Upgrade of the Northern Road from Narellan and Camden Valley Way to the M4, M2 connecting airport to the M7.
The infrastructure is designed to have 3 city hubs: Eastern Harbour City, Western Parkland City and Central River City.
Rail Freight: Freight rail could not operate during computer peaks and this created much disruption. A southern rail freight line completed in 2012 and northern rail freight line completed in 2016.
Eastern suburbs rail from Martin Place to Bondi Junction opened in 1979. Light rail system projects Westmead/Parramatta and Epping/Beecroft. Metro out to Schofield.
Bob finished by explaining that NSW Government is leasing the freeways not selling the freeways. Sydney Harbour Tunnel is owned now by the Government.
Barry Anderson thanked Bob Edwards for his interesting and informative talk.
And now for little bit of humour, or not .....
Too hot - I'm all our of humour this week!!
If anyone has any jokes or funny stories, feel free to send them to me for the humour section of the Bulletin!
He’s not renowned for his cricketing prowess, nor is he an Oxford or Cambridge academic, but Northbridge’s Donald Landers is, indisputably, ‘our Don’.
A retired solicitor, Don and his wife Shirley are long time Northbridge residents who have served our community selflessly for many years.
On 15 December this year, Don was honoured at the Northbridge Rotary Club’s Christmas dinner with a special award, presented – as the photograph below shows – by Willoughby Mayor, Gail Giles-Gidney, with Northbridge Rotary President, Kevin Tattrie, hosting the event.
Don was also presented, at this dinner, with a letter from the NSW Premier and Member for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian, honouring Don’s “dedicated Service” to our community, through Rotary. At the bottom of her typed letter, the Premier stated, in her own handwriting:
“Don, your contribution to our community is beyond outstanding – thank you.”
Don Landers was a founding member of Northbridge Rotary Club in 1983. In 1990 he became a Trustee of the Club’s Benevolent Fund, overseeing charitable donations in excess of $230,000, involving a range of humanitarian projects and disaster appeals for the Club. This year he has relinquished his Benevolent fund Trustee role after 30 years of dedicated service.
Don is the perfect example of a hard and committed worker who has given and continues to give his time, energy and experience in the service of others. All who know him, value his wisdom, civic-mindedness, corporate contribution and wonderful sense of humour.
Don, the Rotary Club of Northbridge salutes you.
[Don and Shirley Landers (centre) posing with Northbridge Rotary President Kevin Tattrie (left) and Willoughby Mayor, Gail Giles-Gidney (right)]
The Covid-19 pandemic made fundraising and giving extremely difficult this year, but in the end Christmas won through.
After much hard work, Northbridge Rotary Club’s Sally O’Neill, her fundraising team and her army of Club ticket-sellers, pulled off a fundraising coup with their Christmas Raffle conducted during the course of December at Northbridge Plaza.
Thanks to the generosity of the Northbridge Plaza management – including its security team, local Northbridge and other businesses and shoppers attending the Plaza, the Rotary Club raised over $8,000. That money will be used for local and regional projects, particularly focussing on those recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 22 raffle prizes were drawn at the Plaza by Northbridge Rotary Club President, Kevin Tattrie, on Sunday 20 December, as the photograph below shows.
Congratulations to the following list of lucky prize-winners:
The Rotary club is now motivated to make its Christmas Raffle an annual event, together with its Tree of Joy which, as can be seen from the photograph below, produced a windfall of toys and other gifts for children who would otherwise go without this Christmas. Now, thanks to the Club’s Eleanor Chevor and her team, they too will experience the true joy of what this Season of Giving is all about.
Saturday 26 September shone a bright light over Northbridge. From first light they came bearing gifts of love – by car and on foot, trailing children, dogs and each other. The blue uniformed brigade of Northbridge Rotary was there to meet them – about 40 in all, bright eyed and Covid safe. From early morning the first shift was beginning to receive and unload a continuous flow of non-perishable food supplies, making sure the donors went away with a smile. Northbridge Rotary’s Community Food Drive was in full swing.
By mid-morning, the alcoves and stairs of St. Marks Anglican Church Memorial Hall in Malacoota Road were bulging with rows of food boxes and packed shopping bags. The pace ebbed and flowed as people trailed in and out. When the two charity collection vans from Taldumande Youth Services and StreetWork had departed fully laden late that afternoon, there was still a supply of food remaining and Oz Harvest obliged with a collection of the remaining donations the following morning.
In all, it is estimated the Northbridge and North Shore community contributed to over a tonne of non-perishable food supplies that filled over 100 boxes and 50 shopping bags – enough for 2,400 meals or sufficient to feed a needy family of four for 18 months.
Liz de Rome, Taldumande’s Grants, Community and Volunteers Officer summed the impact of this event up perfectly:
“I wanted to share that as we dropped off bags and boxes of food to our young people, they were so grateful for their generous parcel. This morning, one young girl nearly cried (and me) as she couldn’t believe her luck. She wasn’t sure how she was going to make ends meet this week. The generosity of the community and Northbridge Rotarians has helped fill the pantries of our young people and they’re so grateful.”
The final comment belongs to the Northbridge Rotary event organiser, Eleanor Chevor: “What a day!”
