President Peter welcomed all members and guest speakers, current Rotarian Peter Fehon and former Northbridge Rotarian Ross Alexander.
Toast
Peter McNair gave the Rotary toast.
Reminder
Next week is the last opportunity to bring in your spare toiletry items for the young people at Taldumunde. The items collected so far will be taken to the Taldumunde collection point after next Tuesday.
President's Message
This is my last Message as your President. Next Tuesday I will stand down and hand over to Joint President Peter Grinter. At the end of February Peter will pass the baton to Joint President Malcolm Lye to complete the 2019/20 Rotary year. We will have a small ceremony at the end of the meeting on Tuesday and I will present Peter with the Chain of Office and his Joint President Name badge. At the formal changeover next year we will hand over together to President Elect Kevin Tattrie with Malcolm taking the lead.
My time as President has been a busy and fulfilling 4 months starting with a productive Board planning session at the end of June. This was followed by a delightful Changeover function at the Gunners Barracks when Ranald completed his Presidential year. I have attended District and Zone president meetings, joined with other members at a Gala dinner for RI President Mark Maloney, taken part in BBQs etc. and travelled to Wellington and Dubbo, receiving fame appearing on Prime TV Channel 7! To top it off Greg Hart, President of the Wellington Club and I were given a generous interview on country ABC radio where we drew attention to the drought and the good works of Rotary.
The assistance to Wellington Rotary Club has been particularly special as we have supported a project to give the children of the Wellington area a fun day out. Children are now being seen as the hidden victims of the drought as their parents are stressed with their own problems and are cash and time short to take their children on outings. No doubt, the families of some of the children did not need assistance but what has been happening is that over 700 children were equal for the day enjoying a fabulous time together. Also special for this project was the commitment of 23 members and partners who assisted with the BBQ at the Zoo. Four more are still to attend. Many of us attended a weekly meeting at the Wellington Rotary Club and we have developed a close relationship with the Club that I am sure will continue in the future.
Last weekend we held a Bucket Appeal at Northbridge Plaza in aid of the farmers and their communities and with the support of Sandra, the Plaza manager, we raised $6,000.
I have particularly enjoyed our Speakers program which was varied and entertaining. Musically we had former members of the Sydney Symphony orchestra entertain us with their priceless harp and flute and last week we had the mimed dance act of the Show Ponies. Following my general announcements to Club members last week, Simon Eggleton our guest cardiologist, remarked that he was overwhelmed with the dedication of our members giving so much of their time raising funds with the BBQs, book sales and the Bucket Appeal. We can congratulate ourselves on being a hard working Club making a serious contribution to our own community and the world around us.
One achievement I was particularly pleased to see was receipt of the Global Grant of US$24,000 for the Ermera water project in Timor Leste. We also funded a blood analyser for use in Vientiane in Laos.
Finally I want to acknowledge Helen Gulson, assisted by Bob Farrar, for their work making the bulletin look smart and presentable. Also to Don Landers with his DID YOU KNOW contribution which has given some real insights into our Club’s history. Don is to have a heart procedure next week so I wish him well with a speedy recovery.
Thank you All & Kind Regards
Peter Antaw
Guest Speakers - Peter Fehon & Ross Alexander
Bob Edwards introduced speakers Peter Fehon and Ross Alexander. Peter is a chartered accountant and business coach working predominantly with the construction industry. He is also the founder of the Beyond Bitumen Car Rally, the largest community fundraising event in Australia supporting Beyond Blue.
Ross was a Charter Member, and is honorary life member, of the RC of Northbridge. After a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2013 he joined the NSW Prostate Cancer Foundation Board in 2015 to support the work of the Foundation and “give a bit back”.
Peter spoke about Mental Health in 2019. In 2005 his daughter Beth took her own life. She wore a mask for the 16 years she lived and after her death, Peter went into depression and sought help. In 2015 Peter became involved with Beyond Blue and its work with depression. He talked about identifying people at risk, and about some of the warning signs such as list-making and overthinking. He said everyone has a threshold and everyone can be at risk. The highest risk of suicide is amongst unskilled or semi-skilled workers, relationship breakdowns, long working hours, lack of autonomy and financial pressure. There is an average of eight suicides a day in Australia, seven of them men.
Australian Rotary Health recognises organisations such as RUOK? and Movember. The construction industry has its own support organisation due to the high rate of suicide in the industry.
Peter also talked about his work with Beyond Blue and the Beyond Bitumen Car Rally, which he and his wife Trish started in 2015. So far they have raised in excess of $1.2m for the work of Beyond Blue. The first rally in 2015 involved 9 cars and raised $24k. In 2016 20 cars registered for the rally and $74k was raised and subsequently each year there were more registrations. This year there were 94 cars which raised $472k. Two car rallies have been organised for 2020, each with 80 cars, to be run in March and May from Goulburn to Gundagai.
Ross Alexander then spoke about his involvement with the Prostate Cancer Foundation Rally. It started in 1986 with the Variety Club Bash - Bourke to Barossa Outback 4WD. He has done the London to Sydney rally which took him 10 years. He has been involved in 26 rallies to date. He decided to retire last year but he ended up doing Cobar to the desert, back to Birdsville and finished in Broken Hill. He raised $200k in the first year he was involved. In 2020 he and Peter will start in the Bourke to Barossa Valley rally. 100% of all funds raised goes to the charity which receives very little from the Government. 3,500 men per year die of prostate cancer. The Foundation raises $15m per year from various events to support the Foundation.
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 Mark's 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. This 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.
Passengers on a small commuter plane were waiting for the flight to leave and were getting a little impatient. But the airport staff assured them that the
pilots would be there soon and the flight would take off immediately.
Finally the door opened and two men walked up the aisle, dressed in pilots' uniforms. Both were wearing dark glasses. One was using a seeing-eye dog and the other was tapping his way up the aisle with a white tipped cane.
Nervous laughter spread through the cabin as the men entered the cockpit. The door closed and the engines started up. The passengers began glancing around nervously, searching for some sign that it was just a little practical joke. None was forthcoming.
The plane moved faster and faster down the runway and the people near the windows realised that they were headed straight for the edge of the water at the end of the airport's runway. It began to look as though the plane would never take off - that it would plough straight into the water! Panicked
screams filled the cabin and right at that moment, the plane lifted smoothly
into the air.
The passengers began to relax and laugh a little sheepishly. Soon they'd all
retreated into their magazines, secure in the knowledge that the plane was in good hands.
Up in the cockpit, though, the co-pilot turned to his pilot and said, "You
know, Bob, one of these days, they're going to scream too late, and we're all
gonna die!!"
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
