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President's Message 21 December 2024
Bruce Turner
President’s Message
Greetings and welcome. Thank you for joining our online news and updates.
I trust everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year celebrating with family and friends.
We welcome 2025 with our usual busy program of activities, which include the Danger 1000, regular Cowrie Markets, Book Fair, Motor Show, Resale Shed, Cadel Evans and District Conference. Quite a heavy load which sees extensive support from the broader community.
We are very fortunate to have an amazing network through “Friends of Rotary” which enables us to run these events that rely on many volunteers. A huge thankyou in advance to all those who have put up the hand to help out on these activities. I always like to focus on the positives and these activities not only provide the opportunity to raise much needed funds but also see us involved in many community events and more opportunities for fellowship. One final consideration; think about all the spare time we will have when April rolls around - what will we do with all that spare time?
There will be many emails with information and roster updates over the next couple of months, please check these carefully and notify the organisers of any required alterations.
A quick thank you to Gerard Hogan for arranging such a great start to our Club Meeting program for 2025 with a walk and talk along Spring Creek. Graham Stockton, with his usual passion for our environment, presented a very informative “show and tell” and gave us the opportunity to visit an area so close to home but rarely visited. Our very informal dinner that followed was also a fun relaxed social evening. Looking forward to many more as the year progresses.
Make sure you get your copy of the Surf Coast Times this week, it’s a great read. You can check on the progress of two of our main projects and view a “plug” to join Rotary.
Book Fair sales are from 9 am to 4 pm each day during 17th - 19th January 2025.
A pop up BOOK FAIR is a major fund raising activity for the Torquay Rotary Club.
Environmental impact - recycling of reading material
Collaboration of Community - Secondary College and Rotary
Community Impact - provides Rotary with funds to support a variety of activities within our local community as well as the broader national and international projects
Grab something to read and then pass it on to someone else to read - from just $2.
We now have a number of options for partners and friends to enjoy if they are not attending the conference sessions. These include Chocolate Making as the Ocean Road Chocolaterie, a tour of the historic Fyansford Papermill and a tour of the Torquay Surfing Museum.
Jan Saturday 25th Times are from 9.45 am until 2.15pm. It can be broken up into 2 shifts, but we will need about 4 or 5 people to cover this. They will be quite short shifts and it is very simple “light” work. Garth Symington will be in charge and look after the opening and closing duties. It is probably best to contact Garth directly if you are able to help out or would like to know more about what is involved on the day.
Thank you to Linda Neale, Gail Birchall, Greg Birchall, Gerard Hogan, Garth Symington, John Oswald, Phil Beasley, Kelly Binyon, Mal Slater, Robyn O’Loughlin, Judy Rutter, John Weber, John Evans, Janice Evans, Tom Fratantaro, Chrissie Sims and Bruce Turner for staffing the BBQ at the Danger 1000. Having such an extensive list of volunteers enabled us to share the load on what was a very busy and very hot day.
AWESOME JOB EVERYONE.
Thank you for your time and amazing efforts yesterday! Our takings across the day totalled $3225. That explains why we felt so busy, not our imagination we actually were! A great boost to our fundraising figures, well done. I hope everyone has recovered and you have been able to wash the BBQ odour out of your skin and clothes.
Cultural Cooking: in collaboration with Common Ground, and the Staying Grounded Project.
Established in 2020, our Staying Grounded program provides training and employment pathways in farming and hospitality for people facing disadvantage in the Geelong region. In particular, we work with women from asylum seeker and immigrant communities seeking employment. https://www.commongroundproject.com.au/staying-grounded
Bolani is a traditional vegan Afghani stuffed bread dish, served with a variety of dips/relishes. Participants will learn techniques and make this delicious meal and accompanying dips. The group will conclude by sharing a meal together. Ingredients for this dish will be sourced from the Common Ground farm as much as possible.
When: Wednesday 5th March 2025, 10:30am - 1:00pm Where: Torquay Community House, 14 Price Street
Please note, as this class uses a traditional recipe and methods, this class can't be adapted to be gluten free or friendly. Please contact us if you have other allergy considerations and we will advise if this class is suitable.
This event requires a minimum number of participants to proceed. Torquay Community House reserves the right to cancel this event if ticket sales do not reach the minimum threshold by 1 February. Refunds will be issued if the class is cancelled by TCH.
24 Members of the club ventured out last week for a guided tour of land conservation works and an explanation of the hopes and aspirations for the land in the Spring Creek Valley.
Read a details report of this tour and see the pics on this link - SPRING CREEK TOUR.pdf