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President's Message
Kelly Binyon
President's Report No 14
Hello All,
What a huge week of all things Rotary!
We started off with our regular meeting where I had the pleasure of inducting our newest Rotarian-Paul Moran (Travel Agency) into the Rotary Club of Torquay. We welcome Paul and his family to our Club.
We also had a heartfelt & inspirational presentation from Carol Young and her sidekick Dusty from Young Diggers. Full details in Chairman’s Report. A very worthy cause and a testament to the power of volunteering.
On Friday night a group of Rotarians went along to the Annual RC Grovedale Auction Dinner Dance at Capri Receptions in Geelong. Well what a fun-filled night was had by all. We certainly went home with happy hearts & empty wallets!! I’ll let the pictures do the talking...but cannot recommend this night highly enough- even if it’s just to witness Karen Dawson’s fierce bidding or to marvel at Helen Plumridge’s haul of “goodies” from the Silent Auction! The highlight of the evening was Paul Binyon breaking his newly acquired foot stool 😩and I’m a little afraid of what Maggie might do with that Star Wars light sabre😳
Today Rotarians we’re promoting ‘Lift the Lid’ on Mental Health at Bunnings - with a bbq & cake stall. The end result was $500 to go to to Australian Rotary Health. A fantastic effort and thanks to all members & friends of Rotary that assures with baked goods and cooking the barbie.
Tomorrow night is CRAZY HAT 🎩Night and we have Catherine Eagleson from ARH as our guest speaker. So don’t forget to create something outstanding-there is a prize to be won for the most outrageous hat🤠
Have a great week and I’ll see you all tomorrow night!
A Visit from Carole & Dusty from The Young Diggers:
Well I think we were all quite taken aback with some of the stories Carole told especially the Suicide rate with our younger members of the Australian Defence Forces. Carole actually told me that this year alone there was something like 87 suicides but, believe it or not, only one suicide was reported who actually owned an Assistance Dog, still one too many. But as we learnt throughout the evening this statistic is slowly declining through the amazing work that The Young Diggers does helping our members of the forces that have returned home from War or are still serving.
Carole has been married to an ex-serviceman for something like 52 years. She met her husband Joe in 1966, when he was playing in a band, fell in love but had to wait for 2 years to marry him as he was assigned to go to Vietnam in 1967. Needless to say, he didn’t come back the same man, they still married but something was very different. She struggled for years to get him some help then one day whilst visiting the Vietnam Veteran’s Counselling Service Joe was finally diagnosed with ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which wasn’t well known of in those days.
This inspired Carole to raise awareness about PTSD. She helped establish the Melton branch of Partners of Veterans, became Vice-President, then became Ambassador for the Young Diggers Initiative. She provided the Assistance Dogs of today to returned servicemen with PTSD, the dogs are given to the young diggers for comfort and help with their everyday lives.
These dogs’ lives are also saved as most are found in the pounds and are sourced and rescued through their temperament and behavioural habits, some have also been trucked down from as far as Brisbane or Tamworth. They are de-sexed, trained to a point where they can actually go to a home but then the new owner has to take full responsibility for the welfare, continual training and love of their new companion & Assistance dog. After all they are there to help them get through their PTSD and encourage them to get back out into the world again.
Some Vets feel they can’t even leave their homes let along cope with everyday life. This is where the dogs play their vital role as Assistance Dogs and can help them get through their fears, encourage them to venture out, know when a trigger has been set off and are able to calm their owners in such a way that can divert an incident, which is not only good for the owner but for those around them too. All too often the family will suffer and sometimes feel they have to tread on eggshells, but one less incident, thanks to their beautiful dog, is always a good thing. I would personally, like to think, we in some way can help them out, as they do not have any financial help in any way, they are run purely on a Volunteer basis, something to think about down the track maybe..?!!
Young Diggers do have an Emergency phone number which is: 0418 193 871
Tomorrow night - Monday 7th October is a very significant night - Torquay Rotary's "Lift the Lid" Crazy Hat Nite
This is to raise much needed funds for Australian Rotary Health and we have District Chair Catherine Eagleson from the Rotary Club of Drysdale coming to talk to us about the work being done in this area .
This a partners night , so be sure to bring your partner and to wear a "Special", "Outrageous", or "Significant" Hat....
Monday Night 7th Oct...……....There will be a fabulous raffle - & if you make a donation to Australian Rotary Health's Lift the Lid Campaign and you could win a prize....... so start preparing your hat now!
Congratulations to Nat Fyfe the winner of the Brownlow Medal....however the more important winner were the winners of our "Points Picking Comp" were:-
BROWNLOW & RESULTS The winner of the Grand Final Pick and closest to the margin was Amanda with Richmond by 42 points. The winner of the more complicated Browlow with a triple dead head were Gerard McNamara, Trevor Hall and Gail Rooney.
Our next fun sporting night will be our MELBOURNE CUP NIGHT 4 NOVEMBER 2019 So we can present the coveted Horses Head Award on the night could last years winner please bring the Horses Head to the next Rotary meeting.
If you do require to swap a date for any reason you will now need to find someone to do this with yourself. I would suggest that you send the request to Greg who has offered to advertise on a BBQ Roster Trading Post in the bulletin
You are invited to contribute to a project to support Purple House, an organisation that provides dialysis services to remote indigenous people in Central Australia.
Purple House is an innovative Indigenous-owned and run health service operating from its base in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Now operating 16 remote clinics and a mobile dialysis unit called the Purple Truck, Purple House is getting patients back home so that families and culture can remain strong.
DG Rosanne Kava has asked us all to provide any of the following items to our Assistant Governor, Judy Beasley, who will pass them on to Purple House CEO Sarah Brown for delivery to clients in remote communities
Soaps, shampoos, conditioner, body lotion and toiletries including combs, brushes, toothpaste and tooth brushes (no sanitary items as they are sourced elsewhere).
Special recognition will be given to the Club that provides the top contribution.
Think about volunteering to assist Purple House if you are travelling in central Australia, eg to assist in building a new Purple House in Coober Pedy, or as a nurse on the Purple Bus or one of the Purple Houses. Click the image for more details or CLICK HERE to contact Purple House or phone 08 8953 6444.
Please give your donated items to Lesley Shedden or Mike Reed at any of our Monday meetings.
We are now fully operational with our new system for registering for our weekly dinner meetings. Called Whoozin, this program is used by other local Rotary Clubs with great success.
To make it easy for everyone I have prepared a Whoozin User Manual which is stored on Clubrunner under "Club Documents" that you will be able to print off if you wish.
In Summary the way it will work is:-
You will receive an initial email invitation each Monday for the following week's meeting.
You can immediately accept or decline, leave until later.
You will receive a reminder email on the Friday Prior
You will have until Midnight Sunday to register your RSVP and can change your decision right up until the closing time.
You can register up to 5 guests
You can specify any Special Dietary requirements
Please Note that if you do not register your intentions you will be charged for the dinner fee.
If you have any problems please free to contact myself Greg Plumridge 0418521321 or Michael Reed 0418524315 for details on how to work the program.
If you cannot meet one of your assigned duties, Please contact Maggie Isom ( 0412713102 ) to advise.
The duty team should arrive no later than 6:00 p.m. Besides the below duties, the assigned team is responsible for Room Setup, Greeting Members and Guests, and Room Tidy at the end of our meeting - see checklist in storeroom or click here .
Notifying someone about changes to your meeting attendance is your responsibility!
Our meetings have catered dinners, so if you are unable to attend a meeting, or if your partner is unable
to attend a designated Partner's Night, YOU MUST ADVISE us of your or your partner’s absence.
This also applies if you are attending the meeting but not dining.
How to Book in for our Dinner Meeting?
For Members, Partners and guests of Members
you will receive email invitations to each meeting via Whoozin.
It will be your responsibility to RSVP using Whoozin by Midnight on the day prior to the meeting.
The only exception to this will be if you are expecting to be out of internet connectivity for an extended period.
In this instance you can notify Richard Mierzejewski at LET Surfcoast on03-5261 2777 by 4.00pm on the Saturday prior to the Monday Meeting.
Please Note there is NO Answering Service on this number.
Remember if you are bringing guests or your partner (to a non-partner night) you need to RSVP for the extra number of person/s who will be attending.
If no RSVP is registered as per the above process, the absentee member will be issued with an invoice to pay the Club the usual dinner fee of $25 for your non-attendance, and/or that of your partner if it is an official Partner's Night.
For Visitors to the Club
Any Visitors not being registered as a guest of a Member must call Richard Mierzejewski at LET Surfcoast on03-5261 2777 to Book in. RSVP's must be made no later than 4.00PM on the Saturday prior to the Meeting
Please Note there is NO Answering Service on this number.
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