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
Well, my four months as President will soon end. If Peter Antaw was the Drought President and Peter Grinter was the Bushfire President, I’m the Virus President. This miserable virus overwhelmed us during March and we have still not quite emerged into our everyday lives or resumed our normal Rotary activities.
As for our Club, it has been a strange time for all of us. The club seems to have survived more or less intact, thanks to a lot of innovation, cooperation and goodwill from our members. For that, I thank you all.
Despite the lockdown, our Club members also have achievements of which to be proud – a new $6000 COVID-19 project in Nepal; two bushfire relief projects on the NSW South Coast to which the club will donate close to $30,000; and several other projects which have occupied the Club during the lockdown.
For me, it has been an interesting time to be President and the role has kept me well occupied during the lockdown. I’ve tried hard to keep members connected with Rotary and with each other. Thank goodness for Zoom, a word few of us knew but which has become a part of our vocabulary.
Hopefully, in a few weeks’ time we should be back at dinners at the Golf Club and resuming our usual fundraising and other projects under President Kevin Tattrie. With Kevin’s energy and enthusiasm, I expect the Club will be even more dynamic after this period of change.
Thank you all for your support and contributions during this unusual period for our Club.
Keep well!
Malcolm
Club Meeting News
Welcome
President Malcolm welcomed all members and guest speaker, Harold Sharp, to the virtual Zoom meeting on 21 April.
Announcements
President Malcolm talked about the survey results following the last meeting in which members were happy for regular meetings to continue via Zoom. Therefore, the club purchased a Zoom license for this purpose. He also talk about a proposed $25/month voluntary payment to help top up the Charities Account given we are unable to do any fundraising until further notice.
Luke Keighery spoke about the Nepal COVID-19 Project. We received a plea from the RC Kathmandu advising they needed Personal Protective Equipment for their health workers and to help provide food during lockdown. On 21 April there were 31 cases of COVID in Nepal, and as of 29 April there were 54 cases recorded (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/).
The International Committee has $2199 in the charities account, and topped up by $801 from an anonymous donor, an amount of $3000 was released for RC Kathmandu. Liz Grey wrote a Grant Submission to RI for another $3000 which was granted in record time, and so an amount of $6000 was despatched to the RC Kathmandu. Below is a response from them for this donation.
Dear Liz,
Namaste!!
Wow!! That’s great news!!
Thank you so much for your generous support.
We will send you detail report of activities that we are doing with the funds.
Our prayers to you all.
Stay safe and stay healthy.
Regards,
Narayan Krishna Kharel
President, RC Kathmandu
Jon Gidney spoke about the voluntary donation discussed at the board meeting. It has been suggested that members donate $25/month to the Charities Account in lieu of our regular weekly dinner payments. These funds will go to the Health Staff Appreciation Group run by Michelle Barry to support healthcare workers during the pandemic at RNSH, Ryde and Westmead hospitals. Michelle previously set up NICU Food from the Heart to support parents of babies in neonatal intensive care at RNSH.
Kim Wilkins has organized a RCN Zoom book club. This will be held every 2nd Tuesday alternate to the RCN meeting. They are currently meeting at 5 pm and if anyone would like to join, please email Kim.
Susan Law has compiled a reading list and has emailed a list of E-books to members as suggested reading. She has asked that you email her the names of any good books you have read which she can add to the list of good reads.
Guest Speaker - Harold Sharp
President Malcolm introduced to the meeting guest speaker Harold Sharp, a member of the RC of Crows Nest. Harold is a multiple Paul Harris award winner, CEO of the RNS Heart Research Foundation and was the 2002/03 District Governor.
Harold spoke to us about ROMAC – Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children, of which he is the Chair. ROMAC assists children with serious medical conditions in neighbouring developing countries (Timor L’Este, PNG, Solomon Island, Fiji to name a few) by arranging for them to be sent to Australia or New Zealand for often lifesaving surgery which can transform their lives.
Harold showed a very interesting and heart-warming video which you can see here – https://tinyurl.com/RCNRomacVideo . The video clearly describes the amazing work of ROMAC.
President Malcolm thanked Harold for his interesting talk and said he would put the above link on our website for others to see.
Notes from Zoom Meeting of 2 June 2020
Luke Keighery said he didn’t have much to report. Nepal has increased cases of COVID. A shipment of medical supplies is ready to go to Fiji.
Sally O’Neill spoke about a new fundraising idea – Dine in for a Cause whereby small dinner parties of 4-6 people can be hosted by Rotarians at a cost of $35/head with a Zoom session to be held during the evening. She will be sending out all details shortly.
Kim Wilkins spoke about the book club. Next week the book to be discussed is Ruth Ratner's recent novel, Dance me to the End of Love.
GUEST SPEAKER - Noel Phelan - The Sinking & Salvage of the Costa Concordia
Barry Anderson introduced guest speaker Noel Phelan. Noel of course is a seasoned speaker on all things maritime and his topic was the Sinking & Salvage of the Costa Concordia. Noel has been busy ‘Zooming’, and has given 87 presentations including to Probus & U3A.
Noel commenced his talk by speaking about the explosion in recent years of the cruise industry generally and the difficulty in getting experienced crews for all the ships. He then detailed the chain of events leading to the sinking of the Costa Concordia.
Costa Cordia was a ship of the Carnival Line. Its Captain, Francesco Schettino, was an arrogant, exuberant braggart and an ineffectual captain. In January 2012 the ship ran aground and overturned off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany after striking an underwater rock. It transpired that the Captain deviated from the planned route to sail closer to the island to impress his predecessor who lived on the island, not to mention that he had a female companion on the bridge at the time. The crew of the ship consisted of some 40 nationalities which made proper communication impossible once the ship hit the rock. The rescue of 300 passengers took 6 hours and 32 passengers died. The captain left the ship in the lifeboat and went home before all the passengers had been rescued. He was subsequently convicted of abandoning 300 passengers and manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in jail.
The ship took a long time to salvage and was finally scrapped in May 2015, and Noel gave us a good description of the salvage process. The ship was eventually towed to a dock for dismantling. However, once it was dismantled down to the hull, the hull “disappeared” one night and it is believed it was towed out and sunk. The cost of the salvage operation was many times more than the cost of the building of the ship.
Kim Wilkins thanked Noel for his very interesting and informative talk.
DID YOU KNOW
Did you know that the Club hosted our first incoming Exchange Student in 1985-1986? She was Colleen Bailey from the U.S.A. P.P. Barry Anderson was her counsellor and Peter and Audrey Hodgson were one of the 4 families who hosted Colleen. Throughout the history of the Club, a total of 15 Exchange Students have been hosted by the Club.
During the week I came across a lovely old Scottish word that could be appropriately applied to the self professed "leader of the free world":
Cockwomble (noun) – A person, usually male, prone to making outrageously stupid statements and/or inappropriate behavior while generally having a very high opinion of his own wisdom and importance.
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
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
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is offering a Peace Scholarship in 2020-21
The Rotary Peace Fellowship is the premier educational program of The Rotary Foundation and supports Rotary’s mission to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace. It is intended for individuals who have chosen a career related to international relations, peace, and conflict resolution; who have work experience in these areas; and who have a commitment to community or international humanitarian service and working for peace.
These links explain the scholarships and where they are offered.
