Guest Speaker Jenny Tanner – Friends of Cumberoona. Jenny gave an over view of their group which has been formed to save both the Cumberoona and Uiver. Both are significant in the history of Albury. She started off with a summary of what is happening with the preservation of the Uiver and then went on to talk about the Cumberoona and a possible solution to rehouse it in a purpose built dry dock at the edge of Mudge’s canal which would allow it use on the river during high river and be a static display at other times. More information is available from their web site http://www.cumberoona.com.

Pictured are Jenny Tanner and Geoff Sawyer from Friends of Cumberoona.

Guest Speaker Sandra Moon -2AY Radio – Sandra Moon, a country girl from Deniliquin gave an interesting overview of how she has become the early morning radio presenter on Radio station 2AY Albury and an inside into her roll at 2AY. Besides doing the Breakfast talk from 5.30am to 8.30am she also pre records an hour Rural programme for Western District radio stations which is run mid-day. In addition she is the assistant General Manager for 2AY.  Sandra graduated with a BA of Performing Arts in Ballarat then joined a theatre company working with children promoting them to read. This show did some stints in PNG and Singapore which gave he the travel bug. She gave an insight into her 5 years of travel and working overseas and the work she did on her return before she returned to Deniliquin to take up her first job in radio. Radio has taken her to many regional areas, but she loves Albury and is hoping to stay here for a while.

District Governor, Philip Clancy and Helen club visit.

Fellowship.  We should meet and greet our guests well. Fine sessions should be with dignity and respect. The food should be satisfying and cost within member’s budgets, taking care not to preclude members of modest means. Do we support our club executive with timely reports and read & support the bulletin editor.

Service New measure of service is number of hours per member per month plus funds raised. This is important if we are to get support from the corporate world. (e.g. Bill Gates support is based on funds raised by Rotary) The service should be appropriate, efficient, sustainable and ongoing. Attendance is important, not to district but to the health of the club. If members are not attending it could be they are not enjoying attending?

Diversity Are we doing enough about diversity across age groups. Rotary has already tackled the gender issue and it is working well. He mentioned a possible untapped diverse group that live in  in Thurgoona. “Diversity is a broad as we can make it.

Leadership Rotary leadership Institute commenced last year with 78 graduates. Stand for district leadership. AG Steve and Past AG Terry mentioned. Nominate a DG. Share information; keep up to date with rotary information. Elders in Rotary have a responsibility to share their knowledge. How well do we market Rotary? We wear cloths with makers and other logo’s why not have a Rotary badge on them?

Integrity Integrity is the foundation to Rotary work and needs to be maintained. Plan for good jobs for the right reason. Rotary is about us. Should involve and engage the community.

Philip then introduced his wife Helen to explain her partners plan for 2013-14.

Helen Clancy Helen explained she was previously a nurse and midwife working predominately in the rural community. Helen said she was well aware of the needs associated with maternal and child care in our local communities. She is also pleased to note that maternal and child care has been designated a key focus area for rotary service. For her project she would like to invite each club to choose and then support a project that addresses a local need. Clubs may even wish to join with other rotary clubs or community organizations to address a more regional need.She gave a number of examples, but the project we have started in Wodonga addresses that need.

Guest Speaker Julie Wright gave a polished and informative talk detailing the work of the Albury Wodonga Health, Parents and Baby Service. She acknowledged the work done over the last 30 years by the Mercy Hospital and their change to away from Parent and Baby care to their key business of Aged and Palliative care. She went on to give statistics for the AWH Maternity Service.: 1723 births for 2012/2013, 470 admissions to Special Care Nursery, 140 staff, Catchment area of 7 local government areas in NSW & Victoria and the Ronald McDonald accommodation. She talked about Vulnerable families and the support they offer. Also the Parents and Baby Support Service and how it operates. Then she gave projected plans for the service after which Julie answered numerous questions. Greg Pearl also gave a short talk about the AWH commitment to build an appropriate facility on designated land apposite the Maternity Unit.