OoZoO        Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Mosman



July 21, 2009
Literacy Month
V50, No. 1

PRESIDENT’S REPORT:

Unexpected?  Surprised?  Yes I was during the Changeover when I was asked to leave the room and change into a "real" Frenchman. Well that is why I decided to play the game and grabbed a bottle of French wine to go with my baguette! Thanks to all of you for having made this Changeover a great evening.

The board had a meeting on Monday 14th. A few dates have been set. Our Club Assembly will be held at the RSL on Thursday 6th August at 7:30
In the next few days we will firm up the following dates:
Dine Out: Thursday, 20th August (with partners)
D.G Visit normal meeting: Tuesday, 8th September
Vocational Awards Night: 21st October (with partners)
Melbourne cup Day: 3rd November (with partners)
During December: Christmas dinner (with partners and friends)
New Year BBQ:  5th January (with partners)
or the following week.

This year we would also like to have a Christmas Raffle. We will need volunteers to sell raffle tickets on the 4 Saturdays before Christmas. We will only plan a raffle if we get a minimum of 15 members putting their names down. The decision will be made as to whether we have a raffle or not at the August board meeting following the Club Assembly, depending on members’ response.

The Community Service Committee is also working on different fundraising projects that I will inform you about as soon as we have more information.

Last week Charlie Barnett visited the Rotary Club of Yea. Charlie gave them $2,500 from our Club to cover the costs of a year’s membership for 100 plus members to the Yea Business and Traders’ Association. I received the following letter from Julie Lynch, secretary of the RC of Yea.

Hello Dom,
Attached is a photo of Past President Sandra Hanley accepting the RC of Mosman cheque from Charlie Barnett yesterday morning. Sandra and I met with Charlie for a coffee and chat in Yea before Charlie headed off to Flowerdale to meet up with our club’s Chairman of the Bushfire Recovery Committee, David Long, and have  a look around some of the devastated areas (grassland areas
now very green after recent rain, house sites have been cleared but forested areas still showing the impact of the fires, with many stands of trees probably never to regenerate) and also I believe to view the temporary village set up in Flowerdale.  No doubt Charlie will have taken lots of photos during his visit to Flowerdale which he will be able to share with you on his return.

Please pass on to your club’s members our grateful thanks for their generosity and compassion.

The photo of Charlie and Sandra has also been forwarded to the local paper for publication this week with an acknowledgement of your club’s generosity of spirit.   
Regards, Julie Lynch,
RC of Yea
 

Dominique Rabu

This week – Horizons Restaurant, Mosman RS Club. Military Rd. Mosman.
COULD THOSE MEMBERS WITH SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS PLEASE ADVISE ERNIE AT THE RS CLUB ON ARRIVAL.
Special diets: Salads either Prawn Caesar or Smoked Salmon or Chicken with Balsamic dressing.
If you are an Apology or are bringing Guests, please advise
DOMINIQUE RABU by Monday Voicemail on 0434053052

Guest Speaker: - Matasaki Moroe, YEP student from Japan.

 

COMING EVENTS

July 28th

Catriona Dixon (nee Thornton) – a former YE student to the UK from Mosman years ago

Aug. 4th

TBA

Aug. 6th

Club Assembly @ Mosman R S Club, 7:30 pm

Aug. 11th

Liz McDougall:  Rotahome Village in Lautoka, Fiji.

Aug. 18th

Returning World Peace Fellow Luke Fletcher

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

23rd Danny Low

 

ATTENDANCE TABLE ROSTER

2009     July – Fay Duncan, Philip Perkins
August – Dieter Beck, Barry Starr
September – Derek Andrew, Bruce McAteer
October – Ian Freeman, Don West
November – Ken Burke, John Melville
December – Danny Low, Terry Orman

2010     January
– Seymour Major, Jim Reid
February – Blair Leslie, Peter Schramko

* If you cannot attend when rostered, please arrange a substitute.*  
Text Box: YOUTH NEWS

 

 

* David Waldl has arrived safely back in Vienna.
* Lianna Fuller-Byrne is on summer holidays from school and has spent a week in New York City with her host mother and sister and is staying at her host family’s summer cottage enjoying water sports. 
*
Nick Kunz has moved to his third host family in Kanazawa, Japan.
* Malte Alberts is arriving from Germany early on July 25th.

    

     CHANGEOVER

Friday night, at a black tie dinner in the Grand Hall of Mosman Art Gallery, 77 Rotarians, family, and friends gathered to bid farewell to outgoing President Jim Reid and to welcome new President Dominique Rabu.  For the occasion, Dominique dressed as a Frenchman wearing a beret and wielding a baguette.  For the coming year, Dominique, who was previously President of the club in Noumea, is focusing on Fellowship and Fundraising for the many projects which the Club undertakes both locally and internationally.  Special guests included new DG John and Margaret Cameron, DGN David and Anne Rands, AG Lynn Moore, Mosman Mayor Dom Lopez and Judy Hinde, and Drs. Bruce and Joyce Conolly and Dr. Peter and Cassie Scougall who head our hand teams to Vietnam and Myanmar.  Many Rotarians and their partners joined us and it was also lovely to welcome Judy Carroll, Marion Harding, Peter Schramko’s daughter Sally, and Don and Lynette Campbell.

The lovely table decorations were done by Colleen Rabu.  Thanks to Rotarians Derek Andrew, Norm Brunskill, and Barry Starr who donated raffle prizes.   Our Exchange student Otavio Toretta (Brasil) and Peter Scougall helped Barry Starr sell raffle tickets.  Prize winners were Derek Andrew, Murray Block, Colleen Mathews and Clare Stockdale.  Catering was by Deb Ainsley.
 

Our new President Dominique introduced his new board which includes Yvonne Hazell who not only was our first lady President but also our first lady Secretary and is now our first lady Sergeant-at-arms.  She did her first fine session of the year.  L to R:  PP Barry Starr, PP John Dean, PP Yvonne Hazell, PPC Derek Andrew, Monsieur le Président, Tony Larnach-Jones, PE Peter Court, Ken Burke and Dieter Beck.  The evening was Magnifique!

 



SPEAKER REPORT from July 7th -

Alan Smith has been working in community development projects overseas since 1961, starting with Community Aid Abroad and then Freedom from Hunger. He has been involved with AusAID, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.  Alan has been a Project Manager and Team Leader of AusAID, ADB and NGO projects for over 40 years, working in S. and SE Asia. His involvement in community water supply and sanitation projects started in 1985 when he was the Team Leader of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (WS and S) Project in Lombok, Indonesia, which was the first AIDAB-funded project in Indonesia to trial participatory methodologies for delivery of WS and S facilities and environmental health activities at the community level, working with local NGOs. Since then he has worked in community WS and S projects in Myanmar and the Solomon Islands, and has recently retired after 9 years as Team Leader of the Australia-East Timor Rural WS and S Program (RWSSP), which is also funded by AusAID.  By 2015, the target is to supply clean water to 80% of the country.  At the moment, the figure is about 40%. 
 

He told us how the Indonesians, who took over Timor for 25 years, did more in that period in terms of building infrastructure and developing the country than the Portuguese did in about 400 years of occupation.  However, during the troubles in the post-independence struggle in 1999, many areas, including Fohorem sub district, had most of their buildings and infrastructure destroyed.  We have been helping restore a reticulated water supply to that area. Through the RWSSP, Mr. Smith has been supporting this project.


Alan says there is a lot of scope for more projects which will require funding from Rotary as well as Rotarians with engineering and building expertise.  The East Timorese government is trying to properly manage their own (oil/gas) money which will last about 25 years. 


East Timor has about 18 universities but none yet produces degree programs that are internationally recognized.  The goal is to have 3 or 4 which will be of a standard that is acceptable overseas.   Students are being sent to places like Cuba so that they will eventually have 500 trained doctors.  There are problems with nepotism, etc. but the country is still a thriving democracy.


Alan said he was happy to have been part of the Timor-Leste development process to date.  Although retired now, he has been asked to spend a couple of weeks in Myanmar where AusAID is planning to spend $4 million on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects.  He would be happy to go to Myanmar, where the needs of
rural communities are still great, particularly in the areas recently devastated by cyclone Nargis.

 

Vale Bill Carroll

The Rotary Club of Mosman has lost its last charter member with the death of Past President Bill Carroll last Thursday, aged 83. Not only was Bill a charter member, but the first interest meeting was held in his office in his landmark building at the corner of Military and Avenue Roads. Bill was, of course, a principal of P. Leahy Real Estate, a firm which has operated continuously under the ownership of Bill’s forebears, Bill himself, and two of his children since 1890 - older than the Municipality itself.
Bill was the charter Secretary of the Club and was the last of the charter members to take up the Presidency, in 1970-71, a year in which the first and only Rotary International Conference was held in Sydney and our dearly beloved first Rotaract Club was formed. Until his recent years of poor health, Bill’s attendance at Club meetings and functions was exemplary. His continuing involvement was shown when, 30 years after joining the Club, he again became Secretary to the then President and recently re-inducted member, Peter Schramko.
As members age and, in some cases their health declines and their involvement becomes less, it should never be forgotten the service they rendered to the Club and the community in former years. Bill will be sadly missed. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Judy, a long time friend and supporter of our Club.

 

Vale Miriam Butler

Miriam was born in Arding, NSW.  Her father had a property in Arding and her mother was a schoolteacher, devoted to helping people in the community. 
Miriam rode horses to school daily with her sister.  She then went to Sydney University and studied pharmacy.  She had a successful business as a pharmacist in the AMP Building in the City for many years where she worked with David her husband.
She was inducted into our Club on 25/09/07.
During her recent illness, Miriam showed great strength and courage as she was confronted with the challenges associated with her illness.

May she rest in peace.

 

DISTRICT CONFERENCE

Our District Conference in 2010 will be held in Port Macquarie from Thursday, 18 March to Sunday, 21 March 2010




Why talk about it so soon?  The hotels/motels and apartments are starting to fill up rapidly because of the Iron Man competition being held over the same weekend.  It is therefore essential to secure our Club's accommodation as soon as possible, even though this means having to pay for one night's accommodation per room/apartment at this early stage, the balance being payable by 19 February2010

To view the accommodation online, visit www.portmacquarieinfo.com.au

Do not book directly, contact our Club Conference Chair: Blair Leslie.

You will find attached the hotels, motels and rates so as to be able to give your preference.

We could even think of sharing apartments. It would cut the cost and we would have more room.

I hope you can join Colleen and myself and have a good time.

Dominique


 

 

 


PO Box 88, Mosman, 2088
mosman@rotarnet.com.au
Ph: 0401563088