Last week’s meeting was a relaxed affair, and a change of pace from those of the preceding weeks. I’d like to thank Catherine for standing in for Emma as Chair, as Emma’s internet was unreliable following a tree falling onto wiring at her place. Catherine brought her characteristic vibrancy and good humour to the role, which was eminently appropriate given the nature of our “guests”. And a big thank you to Don who took notes for our reporter Kris, whose turn it was to be sans electricity at home.
Martin was thanked for submitting new paperwork to District to secure a $2,000 Grant later in the year. Martin celebrated his birthday yesterday; being an octogenarian does not slow him down, he is a tireless worker striving to improve the lives of others and is a great role model for us all.
Everyone who attended shared stories of their beloved pets, some of whom had passed on to the next life. We learnt a lot about our fellow members, and I’ll just make mention of a few of our members and their funny anecdotes. When Martin’s two sons and his daughter found a stray dog, it was delegated to his daughter to ask Martin if they could keep it; evidently the old softie would find it harder to say “No” to her. Peter Hadwen still has his little dog, which was given to him by his son, after he had narrowly missed running it over a few times seventeen years ago. Now living with Peter and Diane at the Weary Dunlop Retirement Village, he still enjoys his daily walks and chats with the other resident canines. Andrew told how his poodle Penelope climbed the ladder onto the roof once while he was removing the leaves, and in the interests of “full disclosure” revealed how Penelope sleeps in bed with him. Coco (Chanel) is their other poodle. Ros is the proud owner of eleven animals, including four dogs and two donkeys. Rory the donkey sounds like a soprano when it brays, while Rocky sounds like a foghorn. Chris Adams stole the show at the end as he regaled us with stories and photos of the various pets his family has had over the years, stories of peacocks and geese defaecating in unsuitable places, a one-horned goat which he had saved from an abusive owner, dogs, chickens, horses among others. Now his only pet is Jeanette!
Will you join me in registering for the Virtual RAM (Rotarians Against Malaria) Conference this weekend? You can use the link Kris has provided below to register. There is so much to learn about this insidious disease and what is being done to combat it by RAM and their partners. Our quiet achiever Gloria puts in countless hours as National Secretary.
Can you please plan to attend AG Brian Hodgson’s forum with our Cluster - the Rotary Clubs of Belgrave (the host) and Monbulk and Yarra Ranges Rotaractors, on Wednesday 23rd September at 7pm.? See below to learn about the interesting speakers and the topics being discussed. Brian and Youth Committee Chair Tina will greatly appreciate our involvement.
Finally, the Baton Relay to celebrate the 100 years of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand is outlined in the flyer below. This will be really exciting and fun. What ideas can you offer for our displays and our relay? What route should our relay take to gain maximum exposure and engage our local communities?
If you have a topic for a future speaker, kindly email Russell Marnock or me.
Next week:
Our Guest Speakers are Greg King, partner of DG Alma Reynolds, & PDG Bob Aitken from Zone 8 talking about “EndPolio” and “PolioPlus.”
Thank you to PP PHF Don Borg for taking some notes due to the Editor being indisposed with a powercut :)
Pres. Vicki asked if anyone would be interested in having a week where we had two meetings. One being our normal meeting and another with Belgrave, Monbulk and Rotaractors. There would be a few speakers. (please liaise with Vicki to see any other details she would like to add)
Gayle ran a great session considering most of her fine victims were not in attendance:
John Ritchie having a sneeky snooze last week
Andrew being coaxed by Kelly last week on his talk about his own life
Marcus wandering the streets early in the morning
Kelly and Andrew's two dogs seen at Rotary Meetings as often as Kelly and Andrew
Then all members got the chance to talk about their pets present or past
Cheese and Wine night 29th Sep. was mentioned and the Fundraising Committee are still investigating how to set this up.
KNOW YOUR ROTARIAN - Shalini Penny
Married Dave at 21
Started work at British Telecom, various tasks incl. billing, promoted to Exec. Officer
Migrated to Aust. in March 1985 following Dave’s promotion
Worked part-time as a teller for Westpac. At age 33, told too old to be full-time
Worked for REIV as Admin Manager of their magazine and began career in publishing
When Aust. Consolidated Press bought the mag., became Production Manager of 7 publications
ACP bought out David Syme - The Age and their magazines. Shalini started off managing one mag. and 8 people and went to managing 30 titles and 150 people.
As Production Services Manager negotiated various contracts (some huge), liaised with people doing differing roles, aimed to maximise profits etc.
With Restructure, became Admin. Manager as well; this involved running the building, OHS, security, project management and the setting up of an in-house café etc.
Many fringe benefits, company car, computer, phone and numerous magazines
Retrenched during GFC in 2008
Started business working from home, but hated lack of contact with people
Joined print division ofsuperannuation co. Super Partners and learnt new systems
Retired in 2014 as Dave had retired and mother in ill-health in England
Characteristics loves meeting challenges, organisation, working under pressure and to schedules and deadlines, administration and project management and as most of us know, wants everything done yesterday!!!
Below - Shalini with the girls at Rotary Conference
Wine Tasting Evening
Fed up with Zoom and lockdown? We are doing something about it!!
Don't forget to sign up and pay by 22nd September to take part in our Wine-tasting and Cheese evening on 29th September via Zoom!
Open to club members and their partners.
Information along with RSVP Form and payment details has been circulated, if you need more details please contact Kris, Shalini or Kelly :)
BATON RELAY - what are we going to do!
Rotaract Mentoring Series
Integrating Younger Generations Into the Workforce - Saturday 12 September Register HERE
If you look around your workplace, you are likely to see people from the full five generations on the job today, from the Silent Generation to Gen Z. A result of this boost in age diversity are discussions about how generational differences are impacting individuals and organisations. In this webinar, we will be exploring this issue and putting forward some recommendations to young professionals about how to integrate into workplaces. We will also share recommendations to employers about how to welcome and find the best value out of younger workers.
Key learning objectives:
Understanding the current reality, examining the evidence
Sharing tips with employers about how to find the best value out of younger workers
Sharing tips with young generations about how to integrate into the workplace
RAM's VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
12th and 13th September (our very own PP PHF Gloria Hargreaves spends a lot of time servicing this cause as Secretary. A wonderful contribution, Gloria thank you! - Register HERE
We are regularly asked to share information on other Rotary Club or community group events. Rather than list all of them in Sparkle, please check out them out HERE
Emerald Village Community
Emerald Village Community update can be found HERE
