The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Robert Coote
July 1
Noel Phelan
July 6
Kim Wilkins
July 20
John Bolton
July 21
Geoff Duggin
July 31
Susan Law
July 31
Spouse Birthdays
John Bolton
July 21
Join Date
Douglas Herridge
July 3, 1984
36 years
John Weingarth
July 3, 1984
36 years
Derek Matz
July 9, 2013
7 years
Karin Eurell
July 9, 2013
7 years
Geoff Duggin
July 10, 2007
13 years
Paul Sullivan
July 20, 1993
27 years
Bob Farrar
July 25, 2000
20 years
Mike Cocks
July 30, 1996
24 years
President's Message
Kevin Tattrie
I am happy this message in my second week as President follows our first opportunity to meet in person again in quite some time. I would like to thank the membership for their support in adapting to holding virtual meetings over the last couple of months. We are still facing uncertain times and will need to be flexible as we adapt to the ever-changing landscape around us; which is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
We should be so happy with the success of the recent Dine for a Cause evening which kicked off our fund-raising activities for this year; with a huge thanks to all those involved. The COVID-19 situation will continue to pose new challenges for us as a club and we will continue to come together to turn every challenge into an opportunity.
I recently attended the Crows Nest Changeover meeting, attended also by the new District Governor David Clark, who is hoping to build more joint club projects and activities. I look forward to the opportunities ahead and the support and energy our members bring to every activity.
Best wishes,
Kevin
Club Meeting News
Welcome
President Kevin Tattrie welcomed members to the first meeting back at Northbridge Golf Club since March. He then introduced and welcomed our guest speaker, Dr Adam Craig.
Toast
Fay Petrou gave a toast to the RC of Cessnock. The club is 82 years old and recently had their Changeover Dinner. The club’s president is John Rosee and his aim for the year is to grow membership, grow sponsorship and grow friendship.
President Kevin called upon IPP Malcolm Lye to officially present the 2019-2020 Presidents’ Award Certificates, which were presented virtually at the Zoom Changeover meeting, to the following recipients:
Liz Grey – for her great assistance to all three Presidents during the year.
Bob Farrar - for all his continuing work on the Club website.
Barry Anderson - for his quick action in identifying the needs of the bushfire victims in Nambucca and organising support.
John Garrett - for organising the bucket appeals which raised so much for the bushfire victims.
Luke Keighery - for his work as International director and all the projects achieved during the year in Nepal and Timor L’Este.
Don Landers - for keeping the club members entertained and amused during the long lockdown period of the pandemic.
President Kevin then acknowledged the two Paul Harris Recognition recipients - Kim Wilkins and Helen Gulson - who had been presented with their Paul Harris Fellow awards at the Changeover.
President Kevin also presented pins to the 2020-2021 board members:
Vice President – Ranald Stewart
President Elect - Jon Gidney
Immediate Past President – Malcolm Lye
Secretary – Liz Grey
Treasurer – Jon Gidney
Membership – Peter Grinter
Club Service – Peter McNair
Youth – Susan Law
Community Service – Eleanor Chevor
Fundraising – Sally O’Neill
Foundation – Valda Andrews
Vocational – Garth Carter
International – Luke Keighery
PR & Communications – Peter Russell
Announcements
Peter McNair reported on his recent trip to the Sapphire Coast with Sally O'Neill and Valda Andrews where they visited the bushfire region for which we raised funds. We donated $22,500 towards the building of the Pavilion for the community at Kiah and Peter said the foundations had been laid and the building would be completed soon. He also visited Mogo where we donated $5,500 for its rehabilitation after the fires. The Kiah Pavilion was also funded by Merimbula RC.
He said that Bateman’s Bay RC was operating a hub for counselling, computers and community space which they were funding, and that he also attended the Merimbula RC Changeover dinner at which our assistance was acknowledged and gratefully appreciated.
Sally O’Neill gave a report on the Dining for a Cause fundraiser which was enjoyed by some 32 club members and friends on 4 July. A lot of effort was made by the hosts and especially Luke Keighery who produced the evening’s run sheet. President Kevin Zoomed in 3 times during the evening and ran a quiz and silent auction and the evening was great fun. Over $1,400 was raised.
Sally has also advised that unfortunately the Bunnings BBQ set for Sunday, 26 July has been cancelled. Due to some uncertainty re the current COVID-19 situation, Bunnings have decided to postpone the re-start of their BBQs.
Guest Speaker - Dr Adam Craig - COVID-19
Geoff Duggin introduced guest speaker Dr Adam Craig. Dr Craig has had 16 years’ experience in the field of epidemiology, the last nine years of which have been spent working in Asia and the Pacific Islands. After completing an undergraduate science degree he moved to Alice Springs and worked with community members and health professionals. Subsequently he moved to Sydney and completed a Master of Public Health at the USyd and undertook a PhD in epidemiology at UNSW.
In 2009, with the activity surrounding the influenza pandemic, he had a role as an epidemiologist with the World Health Organisation. He also worked on issues related to early warning surveillance system design and health system strengthening in the Pacific Islands, most closely with individuals and groups from Solomon Island, Vanuatu, Fiji and Kiribati.
Adam currently works at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University NSW.
Adam spoke to us about the COVID-19 virus and explained the virus and its effects with three vital questions:
What is it and what is its effect on us??
Viruses can be either droplets or aerosol (in air). COVID-19 is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 January 2020 in Victoria when a man returning from Wuhan, China tested positive.
Australia’s borders were closed to all non-residents on 20 March. Social distancing rules were imposed and state governments started to close non-essential services. The number of new cases initially grew sharply then levelled out at about 350 per day on 22 March and started to fall in April. A second wave of infections in Victoria commenced in late June and is currently ongoing which appears to have started due to a breakdown in hotel quarantine protocols in Melbourne. As at 14 July 2020, 10,251 cases and 110 deaths have been reported in Australia with Victoria having the highest number of cases.
How did we get to where we are today?
COVID-19 started in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and Adam showed the world chart up to April of the effects around the world. There is currently no immunity to the virus. The last major virus was 100 years ago with the Spanish flu. Every 1 person can infect 3.3 people. There can be two days to fourteen before symptoms appear, and you can be contagious from 2 days before displaying any symptoms. The second wave could be worse than the first wave. It was epidemiologist Dr Rob Moss who showed the Government the early modelling impact of the virus on Australia if mitigation was not instituted. Dr Craig thought the hotel quarantine in Australia saved us being as badly affected as other countries such as the USA and UK. He also felt that because of the bushfires in Dec/Jan/Feb there were not as many overseas tourists here which reduced the number of potential overseas carriers. He felt factors which limited the impact of the virus included a better health system than other countries, being better equipped and prepared for the pandemic, isolation of incoming travellers, contact tracing and the Government Stimulus package.
Future for Australia?
There is not likely to be a vaccine for at least 1 or 2 years, so we need to manage high risk importation, rolling lockdowns, testing/surveillance, focus on vulnerable populations, masks/social distancing, isolation. It’s a long term game and there is a great need to address knowledge gaps.
Key takeaway points
Virus is totally new and there is a lot still to learn
We are all vulnerable
We have to balance health needs with the needs of the society
adam.craig@unsw.edu.au has a produced a podcast – “Contain This: the latest in Global Health Security” – which can be downloaded.
Ros Virtue
The 2020 Rotary District 9685 Changeover will be live on Zoom!
Rotarians across the District are invited to join PDG Kalma McLellan and DG David Clark in celebrating the close of the Rotary Year and the start of the next.
Sunday July 19th, live from Castle Hill RSL.
Changeover formalities will commence at 12pm, with the Zoom meeting open half an hour beforehand.
In the year 2005-2006 the then President, Gary Denhard established the 20 Year Club to acknowledge the service of and honour those then current members who had been Active Members of the Club for 20 years. During Gary’s Presidential year there were a total of 17 of the then current membership who qualified for membership, the bulk of that number being formally acknowledged in October 2005 with the remainder being acknowledged over the remaining period until Changeover. Initially President Gary had drawn up a list of benefits to be bestowed on each of the members who qualified as 20 Year members as follows:
A letter of congratulations
A certificate
Exemption from one roster per year
$10 per head subsidy for all Rotary functions outside the Club
One bottle of pleasant wine each year at a dinner meeting
An invitation to participate in and speak to a Board meeting
An opportunity for a spokesperson from the 20 Year Club to speak at each club assembly
This ambitious benevolence was very quickly dropped by the Board when the cost to the Club Account was calculated, much to the regret of lucky recipients. The idea of the 20 Year Club has been renewed a couple of times but has never become a permanent feature of the Club.
If anyone has any jokes or funny stories, feel free to send them to me for the humour section of the Bulletin! We certainly need a little humour in our lives at the moment!!! Email them to helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
Local and international humanitarian disasters have become the new norm and the Rotary Club of Northbridge has been involved in assisting wherever possible. Recently COVID-19 has received the bulk of media attention. Before that it was the eastern seaboard drought and bushfires. Then, in April, Cyclone Harold devastated parts of Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga.
COVID-19 has considerably reduced Northbridge Rotary’s 2020 fundraising capability, including cancellation of its major fundraiser, the annual fireworks. Prior to this, the Club had raised $29,580 to aid those areas in NSW affected by the bushfires and drought.
With some of its remaining funds, the Club has committed $22,500 towards building a Community Pavilion at Kiah on the NSW south coast and repairing gardens around the Boomerang Centre in severely fire-damaged Mogo near Batemans Bay.
Internationally, the Club has been asked to assist in the fight against COVID-19 by the Rotary Club of Kathmandu in Nepal.
Covid-19 cases have increased significantly in Nepal since late May with tens of thousands of migrant workers returning home from India and Nepal commencing a phased reopening in mid-June.
With the assistance of other local Rotary Clubs, Northbridge Rotary has been able to donate $10,000 to help with the purchase of PPE equipment for medical staff, installing hand washing stations in strategic locations and supplying food for orphanages and others in need, as the photo(s)on this page illustrate.
3 weeks ago Sally, Valda and I along with 2 friends took a 5 day road trip down the south coast to support local communities and at the same time checked out the two projects that our Rotary Club has supported, namely at Mogo and Kiah.
The Mogo project near Batemans Bay Sally, Valda and I met with representatives from the Batemans Bay Rotary Club and visited the Boomerang Indigenous Centre where our Club had agreed to partially fund to the tune of $5,100 a landscaping project, which involved the tidying up of a landscaped area and replanting.
Mogo had been devastated by the fires with several buildings lost and it was interesting that the Batemans Bay RC were very involved with restoration by operating a Hub in Mogo, where counselling services are available as well as computers available for use by the local community.
The Kiah Pavillion project Whilst our group was in Bega I drove south to Merimbula to meet up with representatives of the Merimbula RC who drove me south past Eden to the little village of Kiah to see the pavilion project where our Club has contributed $22,500 in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Bega, Merimbula and Pambula.
The concrete slab has now been poured and the structural steel is now being manufactured.
After the inspection I returned to Merimbula and participated in their face to face Changeover Dinner where our contribution to the Kiah project was gratefully acknowledged, knowing that Rotary Clubs working together can make a difference.
Thank you to everyone in our community who contributed generously towards our Northbridge Shopping Centre bucket appeals, BBQs' fund raising and other activities.
Our traditional Rotary Club fund raising activities have been halted in recent months by the social isolation restrictions to prevent the spread of the COVID19 virus.
Members of the club have come up with a few innovative ideas to raise funds to help the needy in our community.
On the 4th July the club ran “Dine-in for a Cause” fund raising event.
The Dine-in for a Cause event was attended by 32, mainly Rotarians, over 4 Host homes. It included a Quiz and a Silent Auction, raising $1,425 all up, with the funds going to Phoenix House, a charity located at Crows Nest over the last 30 years, providing early intervention and support services to the most vulnerable and challenged young people living in Northern Sydney.
COVID 19 has severely impacted the ability of Northbridge Rotary Club to raise monies to support our various Charities, so one of our talented Rotarians has found a way to
combat cabin fever & put self-isolation to a good cause.
She has been busy knitting various children’s items from headbands, baby comforters, owl mobiles, snail cushions, toy animals & scarves. These would make ideal gifts for children, grandchildren or those of friends & relatives and you would be helping our Rotary Club with much needed funds.
Another option if you don’t have anyone to gift to, then choose an item and we’ll donate it to a child in our country areas which has been devastated by the droughts, bushfires and now the virus! Many of these families would not have the spare cash nor the ability to purchase their children a gift for that special occasion. Every item will come with a gift tag stating that the knit has been hand-made by a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Northbridge.
As these gifts are knitted to order you have the option of choosing your own colours. Looking forward to your support.
The cost of these knitted items have been generously donated and prices range from $10 to $40.
Photos and costs of these knits are below (or on the next page)
You can make your payment directly to Northbridge Rotary’s Charity Account - BSB 032 199, Account 901063 and then email your order to Eleanor - erchevor@yahoo.com
