RYE Outbound Briefing 1

On Saturday I joined Ayumi‘s family to travel up to Horsham, where we stayed the night so we didn’t have to travel too far on Sunday, to attend the Rotary youth exchange outbound briefing. 

This was conducted by the district youth exchange committee. After priming ourselves with coffee we settled in and commenced the briefing, with Past District Governor Christine Duffy conducted the first session -  The 10 Commandments of Youth Exchange (I’ve highlighted a couple in the attached photos).

This really set the scene for the expectations put on our outbound students and gave them a framework for how to conduct themselves and get the most out of their exchange year. 

We were then introduced to Nick from Anywhere Travel who has been looking after District 9780 Exchange student travel arrangements for the past 10 years. He and his colleague, Rochelle are experts in this field and ensure a smooth travel experience both heading out and coming home. 

We then got into the nitty-gritty of what to pack and what not to pack!! This generated lots of questions and great answers!

We finished off with How To Prepare  Presentations. What the students should be preparing to present to their host Club in their country and also what to present when they return home to their sponsor Club. Some really good tips and ideas were discussed and we also had a rebound student from Germany attend and it was great to hear of her time over there and her useful comments in relation to all of these things. 

Of course every student has their own unique experience, but it’s great with the guidance that was in the room from the district committee and their combined years doing this.  It gives the family’s comfort & confidence that their children are going out into the world under Rotary’s caring guidance.

A very informative and  weekend overall but we nearly lost the Toyota Prado down a couple of enormous potholes, so be very careful if you’re travelling west!

Thanks again to James, Fiona, Ayumi and Orlo for looking after me, especially the car chats.

Kelly Binyon 

Youth Exchange Mentor

The Impressionists - Geelong Art Gallery visit

On Monday afternoon (24th August) we met in the foyer of the Geelong art gallery to view The Impressionists exhibition. 

A good number of Rotarians, partners & friends of Rotary attended and were suitably impressed by the impressionists!

It is amazing to have some very well-known artists and their paintings in our local area, most notably Claude Monet, whose works are the most well-known, and also some lesser known impressionist artists, whose works I found personally even better than Monet (I know slightly controversial).

We’re very lucky that both private and institutional collections have allowed these paintings to be released so the general public can enjoy them as well. There were quite a few discussions had over different artworks, and this is what it’s all about - generating conversation. 

It was great to catch up with a few people that we haven’t seen for awhile. A number of us decided to drop into the Grovedale Hotel on the way back to Torquay and enjoyed more time catching up. A lovely way to spend a Monday afternoon. 

Thanks Neil for organising and we hope you and Mary are enjoying Croatia!

Kelly Binyon attends awards as our representative

On Thursday I attended the BNI Melbourne West Geelong Awards Night with members of BNI Surfcoast Connections.

Our Club holds the Not For Profit category in the chapter and I have represented RCoT for the past 9 years every Tuesday morning. 

The event was held at 1915 Restaurant at the Federal Mills Precinct, North Geelong. It was a fun night and great to meet up with hard working business owners across the region. 

Our chapter was a finalist in a number of categories. Congratulations to Katherine Taylor, Principal at Taylor Legal for winning the Givers again award!

Check Read more for images of the night.

As spring arrives, you may have noticed some nature strips that are shunning the mono-culture of grass [that needs constant mowing], for some beautiful, bee friendly plans or even just some low mintenance plants.

I have taken a few photos, to show how residents prepare the strip with manure or mulch and then plant into it.

The Surf Coast shire has guidelines and plant lists on their website to help to stimulate those your creative powers.

Why not have a go and reduce your mowing?

Check the READ More images.

There are events that are being organised and we need help from as many of our members as possible.

This keeps our profile out there, as well as raise much needed funds for helping our community.

So please check the latest rosters list in the link and let John Weber know where you are available.  Thank you very much.

Rotary District 9780 Website

Rotary International Website

Donate to Rotary International