President Kelly
Welcomed our guest speaker: Willem Oudyk.
Introduced PP PHF Lorna Shaw to read out the Apologies
- Shalini’s birthday is on Friday, 20 September and Shalini was given a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
- Saturday night was the Cake-Decorating and Bubbles evening at The Hub. Thank you to Sangeeta and the Fundraising Committee.
- Kelly and Emma attended the Presidents’ Meeting on Thursday night. It was a great honour to receive recognition as a Level One Donor to the Rotary Foundation. To receive this recognition, the Club must donate $100 for each member. The money we contribute to Foundation does not just go to end polio but also supports projects in Australia such as RAWCS, Australian Rotary Health and youth programs.
- The Club’s country retreat on Saturday, 11 January is to be replaced by a Phillip Island Beach Retreat at Melinda and Dan’s beachhouse. The reasons for this are there are likely to be fire restrictions in January, and all the accommodation was heavily booked or else too expensive. So we will have a fabulous beach day which will be just as enjoyable and fun, and we are grateful to Mel and Dan. We will leave Emerald at 10 am. in a luxury coach, picnic on the beach, play bocce, walk and do teambuilding activities, followed by a gourmet barbecue dinner and return. The cost is $100 per person for two meals and transport.
President Kelly introduced the Chairperson for the evening Andrew McAllister, aka Handsome Pants.
Chairperson Andrew
- Welcome to Willem and guest Shelley Chilton
- There are only 14 shopping days to Christmas
- AJ only has six weeks before his final exams
- Introduced Willem who has had an illustrious career working in many different industries. He moved into the renewable energy sector just recently.
Willem Oudyk– Renewable Energy and You
- To see Willem’s presentation on renewable energy, click on the QR code.
Response PP PHF John Shaw - Thank you for your fascinating and thought-provoking presentation.
Committee Reports
Kerith Cummins
- Circulated a sheet for members to indicate if they will attend the Primary Schools’ Speech Contest at Cockatoo Primary School on 29 October, and what duty they would like to do.
- You are invited to come to the Wheelathon Fundraiser for Wheelchairs For Kids at Emerald Primary School this Thursday 19th from 9am. to 3:30. The students have already raised over $2,000 and this is expected to increase.
Melinda Moulday
Is gauging interest for the walk in Tasmania in October or early December next year. Add your name to the sheet being circulated if you are interested.
PP PHF Fundraising Chair Sangeeta Bajaj
We had a fantastic turnout with 43 people booked in for the cake-decorating evening. The event received positive feedback, with two attendees even asking if it could be run again in the future.
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we successfully raised $1500 during the evening. Special thanks go to our dedicated committee members who made this event possible. Emma was instrumental in obtaining the necessary licenses and booking The Hub, while Kris took care of the flyers to promote the event. Additionally, we appreciate Kelly for her help with the vacuuming and ensuring everything was tidy.
We also had some fun with prizes for both the best and worst cakes, bringing some light-hearted competition to the evening. Furthermore, we raised an additional $100 from the lolly jar guessing competition, adding to our total funds raised.
Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making this event a success!
PP PHF Youth Chair Marcus Adams
It would be great if Rotarians could attend the Wheelathon on Thursday! Please wear your Rotary top so that you stand out among the crowd.
Next week, we will have an informative talk about EarlyAct, and we are excited to welcome David Clowes, our RYLA participant, who will be joining us.
A big thank you to Catherine, Gayle, and Ken for managing the Breakfast Club this morning and for flipping pancakes. Over 35 students turned up, including some who had never attended before. The atmosphere was truly festive, filled with music and dancing!
In the 2022-23 period, our Club contributed $500 to the Rotary Peace Bells, which commemorates the Rotary International Conference held in Melbourne that year. We are pleased to announce that this coming Saturday at 11 am at the Botanical Gardens, there will be an opening ceremony for the Rotary Bells.
It is fantastic that we supported this project, and it has now come to fruition. If you can, please attend in your Rotary gear to show your support!
PP PHF Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Chair Emma Clark
If you are attending the Wheelathon on Thursday, please remember to sign in at the front office of the school.
The DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiative is a Rotary International Code of Conduct and serves as a framework to ensure that everyone in our Club feels welcome. There was lots of discussion during tonight's meeting, with a focus on the inclusion of both new and long-serving members.
If you haven't done so already, please complete the survey sent out by Toni-Anne, as Kris Ash needs to collate the results.
In regard to Form 3, referees will be contacted soon, and we assure you that a high level of privacy will be maintained throughout the process.
Additionally, this Monday, September 23, from 3 to 5 pm, there will be a Technology Support workshop covering topics such as ClubRunner, the Website, WhatsApp, Slack, and more. The link to register for the workshop can be found in this week’s Sparkle.
PHF John Henderson
A reminder to the members who put their names down to be a Course Marshall or on the Water Station – the PB Running Festival is on the 27 October from 8:00 to 11:30 am.
PP MPHF Russell Marnock
Is a member of DRREA, the Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association. Former President Peter Cook has had health problems. Now there is a new president and a new focus called “Repower The Dandenongs”, a festival occurring on 2 March 2025. They are hoping for a big turnout as there will be specialists with lots of information on heat pumps, solar panels and other things. You will be able to ask questions. Monbulk Primary School will be involved as well. Russell is looking for support from our members on the day to help direct people etc.
Sergeant Rowan conducted a lively Fines’ session which included anecdotes about the recent antics of the Jolly Walkers.
Rowan observed that the decorated cakes didn’t look that good, so he hoped they tasted good.
President Kelly’s Closing Remarks
Kelly thanked Willem for his enlightening talk and Shelley for attending.
- The team and members for Saturday night; it was a good hoot, a good result financially and had community involvement
- Andrew for chairing the meeting
- Rowan for his Sergeant’s role
- John Henderson for the reminder about the Running Festival
It is two months until the Kids Fun Run With Puffing Billy.
Boronia Rotary Club, in conjunction with their Men’s Shed, runs The Kids’ Shed at Boronia Secondary College, a great initiative.
As we approach the United Nations International Day of Peace this Saturday 21st September we are pleased to announce that the Rotary Peace Bells are now installed in Rotary Peace Park.
Our thanks again go to your District and Clubs for their contribution and support for this amazing project.
We hope that you will be able to visit the Bells in the near future and take the "Four Steps to Peace".
If you are able to attend the Bells on International Day of Peace this Saturday, some of the project participants will be there to recognise this special day at 11am.
We hope to have an annual gathering at the bells and these details will be forwarded well in advance.
Rotary Tech and Communication Support - This Monday, 23 September!
Tech and Communication Support Workshop
THIS Monday 23rd September at Emerald Primary School – from 3pm to 5pm.
- No need to be there for the whole 2 hours, will be flexible learning.
- Bring your laptops and phones please.
- Aim will be to go through any platforms you are unsure about, any apps you want added to your phone (even the Woolworths online ordering app if you like!), explore the various websites and what they are for, etc.
- No judgement! Some would say “the blind leading the blind!” - sometimes we learn best together.
- Any members who feel like they are somewhat tech savvy – please feel free to come along and help too!
- Afternoon tea supplied.
Emerald Primary School Wheel-a-thon
Well done to all the pupils at Emerald PS who have raised $1,146.34 towards Wheelchairs for Kids at the time of publication :)
To boost their donation total you can click
HERE
Cakes and Bubbles Evening Photographs
