1

President – Jenny Foster 2017/18

March 20th 2018

Volume 83, Issue 34

Secretary@RCE.org.au Chartered 27th March 1935 www.RCE.org.au

Jenny Foster

23-25th March ART SHOW together with Rotary Club of East Keilor See Advert in Contact

27th March 2018 No Meeting – Art Show

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT:

“The Power To Make A Difference” - 2018 District 9800 Conference – 16 to 18 March in Warrnambool. Yes, Rotary certainly has the power! A super power of like-minded people that when gathered together at an event such as the District Conference last weekend, how exciting that is. So many people talking together, working together, networking together. I am so pleased to have attended this inspiring, educational & very friendly Conference. Congratulation to DG Peter Frueh & many, many others for putting on such a memorable event. Key Note Speakers:

1. John Sherwood – Warrnambool Institute Lecturer - we learnt so much about the coast & waters of the area. 2. Sheree Marris – Aquatic Scientist – we were amazed by film footage of the world under the surface of Port Phillip Bay. 3. Michelle Benstead – PHD Psychology student at Deakin University - we heard how this study is helping parents strengthen

their family & improve their child’s mental health. 4. Sonja Dawson – Registered Nurse - we were spell-bound listening to stories about the incredible work of hundreds of

volunteer doctors & nurses working aboard the Mercy Ships in Africa helping so many. 5. Michael Crossland – Inspirational Speaker - we cried listening to the incredible story of one man who defied the odds of life

threatening cancer as a 1 year old & for all the times he has been knocked down throughout his life, and there has been many, he tells us to to focus “NOT on what we CANNOT do, but what we CAN do”.

6. Bernadette Schwerdt – Writer - we thought about all those wonderful Rotary stories we need to be telling others & how we go about doing that.

7. Chris Herrman – World Traveller - we focused on a man travelling the world on his Senior Gap Year & even then finding the opportunities to help others in the true Rotarian spirit.

8. Amanda Wendt – 9800 Director of Public Image & Communication - we clapped loudly when told that Amanda will be joining the Rotary International Communications Committee in July so that the whole Rotary world will be hearing how we can all focus on Public Image & also the need to invite the millennial generation to be a part of the fabulous world of Rotary.

*** Want to know more…just Google these fantastic people!

We were also entertained by so many talented people & treated to so many wonderful photos & films. Friday night we enjoyed a cocktail party at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum & then joined Keilor East members for a dinner. Saturday night we wined & dined

together wearing a lot of green….it was St Patrick’s Day, a time to be enjoyed by all. Something for everyone, including a "Call To Action" on Sunday afternoon when many of us gathered together to pack “ForAMeal – Food packing for Disaster Relief. At the beginning & at the end we laughed a lot when hearing from Rotary International Presidents’s Representative, PDG Brian Hall. Amongst his very funny words & witty jokes we heard a very important message…we must be telling others far more about the Opportunities that Rotary offers, not the Obligations. This weekend we will have just as much fun at the annual Moonee Valley Art Show. Please come along to offer assistance & most importantly, have fun! My closing words of today comes from Conference speaker, Michael Crossland…..

“Shoot for the Stars. If you miss, you’ll end up in the stars….Sparkling!!!”

And as we all now, I like a bit of Sparkle!

Message from Maurice Mollica YOU WILL RECALL THE CLUB MEMBERS HAD A PHOTO TAKEN AS A GROUP TWO WEEKS AGO. I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A MEMORY

STICK FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHER WITH THE PHOTO IN IT. THE PHOTO HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THE BOOK WE ARE

PRODUCING. SHOULD YOU WISH TO PURCHASE A COPY OF THE PHOTO I CAN ARRANGE TO HAVE COPIES. THE SIZE IS 12 X 8 IN

FULL COLOR AND THE COST WOULD BE AU$10.00... FROM THAT THE CLUB WOULD MAKE A VERY SMALL PROFIT. PLEASE LET

ME KNOW EITHER BY E-MAIL OR A PHONE CALL TO ME OR LET ME KNOW WHEN THE CLUB NEXT MEETS. I WILL HAVE A

SAMPLE OF THE PHOTO THEN. MAURICE MOLLICA.

On Tuesday 10 April 2018 the Rotary Club of Essendon is hosting a dinner in support of Rotary's very own charity, The Rotary Foundation. This event is in lieu of the lunchtime meeting and we are hoping that the majority of Club members will attend. Additionally, we warmly welcome all friends of the Club who would like to show their support for our endeavours. The guest speakers on the night will highlight a major Rotary project, 'End Trachoma 2020'. Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness around the world and, surprisingly, Australia is the last developed country where it still exists. It promises to be a most interesting evening and is a wonderful opportunity to bring family, friends & business colleagues along to witness how Rotary continues to make a difference in the world through health initiatives such as this. All are welcome! A flyer with full details of the event is attached. Bookings may be made through 'trybooking'. Kind regards, Stephen Roe Secretary The Rotary Club of Essendon

Bush Fires Dear Rotarians and friends, While many of our D9800 Rotarians and partners were enjoying our District Conference in Warrnambool, on Saturday night three major fires broke out. All roads were closed to allow emergency vehicles to fight the fires and several towns were evacuated. Thankfully there has been no reported deaths or injuries at this point. However there were 12 houses lost, hundreds of livestock died and many kilometres of fences destroyed. The train service may take some days to restore due to damage to signalling damage. We were able to help out in a small way by diverting 120 of our Sunday lunches to the firefighters based at the Warrnambool Basketball Stadium which was a refuge zone. This morning I spoke with District Governor D9780 Ray Herbert which covers from Mt Gambier to Geelong plus Ballarat. I offered him any assistance needed. There is none immediately, as Rotary is not a first responder in these instances. The communities in the South West are very resilient, like most rural/regional communities. However I did offer to help in some of the longer term recovery work such as fencing, etc. Past District Governor Ross Butterworth has also been in contact with D9780 District Governor Ray Herbert to offer access to home furnishing goods and appliances, both from Western Emergency Relief Network and Donations in Kind. It would be good to focus any further enquiries regarding potential assistance through Ross, to avoid duplication of effort and confusion from D9780's perspective. As always the people on the ground need to decide on what is needed and when. I have also spoken to Warrnambool City Mayor Robert Anderson who spoke at our conference and gave him the same assurance that we would help in recovery efforts if asked. Yours in Rotary Peter Frueh (Anne) District Governor for 2017-18 Rotary International District 9800

More Sad News

Dell King passed at midday today, she did not recover.

Shawn and milla are with family and friends.

AJ who has returned to germany is also being cared for, they have requested time alone at this point.

Del King was the current District Community Service Chair, a former GSE Team Leader several years ago and a Past President of the Rotary Club of Flemington. She has also served on the District Youth Exchange Team, has hosted numerous students and has spoken on many panels on her GSE experiences.

Del has impacted on so many lives in her work as a police officer, hiking Kokoda twice with students from the Flemington area, GSE to India, her work on Youth Exchange and standing up for disadvantage everywhere.

Our thoughts are prayers are with Del’s family & friends & all members of the Rotary Club of Flemington

Speaker for the day – Judy Waterhouse “Life in retirement” because that is what Judy has been doing for the last 14 years, Judy said that it has kept her fully occupied apart from her grandchildren. Judy told us that a couple of friends and her got together when they realized that where they lived offered nothing for seniors who still wanted to remain active and connected with the community “We weren’t into bingo, lunch or coffee so we started looking at what we wanted to do and worked from there ,it completely overtook certainly my life and I think the same for the others and have never looked back and wouldn’t change a thing, because I have never known boredom” Judy’s quote

Judy belongs to an organisation named KLAC 200 strong membership $20 per year fee There are activities organised for every day (Chair aerobic ,golf, chorus line,

calisthenics and many others ) The members are from 26 different post codes 20 different nationalities Head office is at Keilor sports club

Her message is that we must plan for retirement other than financial and most importantly we must keep busy, and we must have something else to do in retirement

Subject: RC Eaglehawk Great Aussie Camping Swap Meet

The Rotary Club of Eaglehawk are pleased to announce that the Inaugural Camping Swap Meet is to be held on the 24th and 25th March. Aimed at all things camping – fishing/tents/boats/cooking utensils, you name it, and you will either be able to sell it or buy it! Is your shed full of unused camping gear? Are you looking to upgrade and need to make some space? Then this is your answer, book a site or simply come along to browse what the stall holders have on offer. For additional information and online site bookings simply go to www.greataussiecampingswap.com.au or find us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/greataussiecampingswap Reasonable site fees and an easily accessible venue, makes for a great weekend! Please feel free to share this information to any of your contacts and associates who may benefit from knowing about this fantastic opportunity. Regards, Rotarian Mick Costello, The Great Aussie Camping Swap Meet - 0491 014049

Moonee Valley City Council - International Women’s Day Breakfast on Thursday 8th March 2018 This year, who could forget International Women’s Day! It has become a significant worldwide event that saturates

the Media. The Rotary Club of Essendon has been involved in celebrating International Women’s Day for many years

by sponsoring and paying for a table of 10 at the Moonee Valley City Council International Women’s Day Breakfast.

This year Bev Smyth and myself, hosted 7 student leaders and their teacher from year 12 at Lowther Hall. It was

wonderful to again chat with the girl’s that had shared a year of their development with our last Rotary Exchange

Student Nina, and be at awe at how they are growing up and questioning societies values by delivering a thought

provoking speech on why the media continually publishes pictures of scantily clad women.

Our guest speaker for the breakfast was Melanie Kent, CEO of the Helping Hands Foundation, a local charity running

7 opportunity shops, a food bank, emergency relief, school breakfast programs, and training for the unemployed. Truly

inspirational what they have achieved so far and they are local, with their main facility in Airport West. They would

be happy to give us an in depth tour of their facilities and what they do.

It was also a great opportunity to catch up with other Rotarians, especially Emma Davis the President of Rotary Club

of Strathmore, a club with a youth focus, and 3 members aged 30 something. Much of this due to a strong Rotaract

and vocational focus, as well as a sense of fun.

The breakfast is also well support by local politicians from all levels of government and local traders.

Thanks for the opportunity to attend.

Kelly Abfalter

District Conference Some of our Club Members & partners, including myself, have just enjoyed such a fantastic & inspiring District Conference in Warrnambool. We congratulate DG Peter Frueh, his wife Anne, & Conference Chair Di Gillies & her organising Committee from the Rotary Club of Balwyn on a fabulous Conference. We all came away knowing all too well why we want to be a Rotarian & wanting to do even more to help others. Everything was organised so well from the Friday night Cocktail party, including the cannon firing, to many wonderful Entertainers & Key-note speakers including our own Bernadette Schwerdt who left us with no doubt why & how we need to be telling our Rotary stories far more. To having such fun yesterday afternoon when many of us came together to pack emergency relief food packs for delivery to a project in the Philippines. What none of the organisers could control was the weather of course & we all went to bed after the great St Patrick's theme dinner we enjoyed on Saturday night listening to the howling wind & smelling the smoke of the near-by bushfires. Please see the following message from DG Peter Frueh....Rotary is always asking “what can we do to assist” Kind Regards President Jenny Foster

Photos from Government House - where Pres. Jenny, Peter Condos, Roger Leask and Lisa Lowcock spent the afternoon on Tuesday. Also in attendance were The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Rotary International World President Ian Riseley and 800 other Rotarians from all around Victoria. They enjoyed the beautiful building and gardens of Government House with afternoon tea – yes cucumber sandwiches and tea

were included!

Picture perfect!!!

DISTRICT GOVERNOR 2020-2021

As no challenges were received by the due date it is my pleasure to confirm that PP Philip Archer is elected as District Governor for 2020-2021 DG Peter Frueh

ROTARY CLUB of KEILOR

Invites you to

AT ABERFELDIE BOWLS CLUB

SCOTT STREET

ESSENDON

Sun 27th May 2018

1.45pm – 3.45pm

$45.00 / head

Profits to S.I.D.S

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Rsvp Mary before 19th May 2018 (H) 9337 0145

Help yourself and help the Club by banking with Strathmore Community Bank. For example, take out a home loan

and the club will receive up to $500. Take out a 3 month fixed term deposit and the club will receive up to $50.

For more details drop into the branch at 337 Napier St or call branch Manager David Porter on 9374-2607.

EVENTS CALENDAR DATE SPEAKER/EVENT VENUE

23-25th March ART SHOW together with Rotary Club of East Keilor

See Advert in Contact

27th March 2018 No Meeting – Art Show

28th March 2018 “Day for Girls” sewing day 1pm to 5pm Essendon Baptist Church 138

Buckley St Moonee Ponds

3rd April 2018 Brumby Babes Talk – Gaye Cariss & Maria Kouppas

The Anglers Tavern- Time 12.30pm to 2pm

10th April 2018 Speakers- Lien Trinh- Project Manager “End Trachoma 2020 (Rotary Scholar)

Murray Verso – Foundation David Abbey – Royce & Jean Abbey

Foundation Foundation Dinner with Cluster Gateway

East & West Clubs

Waterloo Cup Hotel

252 Maribyrnong Road

Moonee Ponds

6.30pm for 7pm start

17th April 2018 David Sullivan – Lawyer Crownbet The Anglers Tavern 6pm to 7.30pm

20th to 21st April 2018 7pm to 4pm Relay for Life – Supporting Brumby Babes RCE to attend Friday night

Aberfeldie Athletics Track Corio St Moonee

Ponds

24th April 2018 Catherine Scerri - Bahay Tuluyan The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

1st May 2018 Neil Henderson – My Life! The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

8th May 2018 Kurt Smyth – The battle of Long Tan The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

15th May 2018 Charter Night & Book Launch- Guest speaker Alex Lavelle – Editor The Age & Alan Murphy

Ascot House – 6.30pm for 7.00pm

22nd May 2018 Alan Murphy – RCE’s Book of History The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

29th May 2018 Paul Cariss – Notary Public The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

5th June 2018 David Abbey – Memories of the day Royce Abbey became RI President in 1988

The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

12th June TBA The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

15th June 2018 President night – Launch of RCE’s Book of History

University House – 6.30pm for 7.00pm

19th June 2018 No Meeting due to President’s night

26th June 2018 Fellowship The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

3rd July 2018 Change-over Lunch – Jenny Foster to Veronica O’Sullivan

The Anglers Tavern 12.30 pm for 1pm to 2pm

Have you taken any photos on your iphone, or camera in

this past Rotary Year?

Can I please have them forwarded to:

M.Kouppas@hotmail.com

Many of these photos will form a special memento of this

past year, and I would like to use them as part of the

year in summary.

I appreciate your help with this. Remember any Rotary

function or event….

Thanking you in anticipation

Maria