President Pete’s Message: Here we are in mid-August, and already  being reminded of Christmas by various Marketing groups . I received Christmas literature from the Cancer Council and Diabetes Victoria already within the last week. Very interesting talk last week from Paul Bell about the great work  Interplast do in regard to treating, in the main, young children with’ cleft palattes’, in Pacific Rim countries, so that they are again taken in , and not ostracised by  their respective villages with different nearby countries to Australia.  Please do not forget that the Club deadline for a ‘priority’ booking re our ‘Seriously Pink Evening’ is drawing rapidly close and let us do justice to all of Nicoles’ hard work in arranging this dinner. The guest Speakers are really experts in their field, and the Border is really lucky to have such specialists within our Region. This also includes Chris Pfeiffer, who was awarded the OAM in the  2012 New Years Honours for his work within the wine industry. Additionally the selected menu is mouth watering, so let’s make it an unforgettable evening and take advantage of  some enjoyable fellowship over an excellent array of food and sumptuous wines.  Steve and myself met up with Roz Walls last week re Albury Councils Christmas Carols, and she made to us some positive  suggestions which will be discussed at this week’s Board meeting. For interest, and marking up of calendars, the Carols are being held this year  on 19^th December , again at QE2 Square.  Naturally we’ll keep you informed. Finally, don’t forget about the District Conference being held in Ballarat next March. Our reliable information is that nearby accommodation to the Conference is filling up fairly fast. I went last year for the first time and it was really excellent. Some excellent Speakers and equally excellent opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians and exchange various points of view.  Also some female members also took advantage to visit a few shops on the Saturday morning, so there is something for everyone.