Acting President’s Report– Last week we heard from Graeme Maddox about his RFE trip to Taiwan.  Graeme and his wife Chris have been on several RFEs, so ask him how it works if you want more details.  Rotary Friendship Exchange is a Rotary International program open to all Rotarians, that several of our members have been involved with over the years. Graeme gave us an insight into the culture, hospitality and wealth the team experienced with their various hosts … Rotary involvement by members differing to that of Australian Rotary … Taiwanese have a strong work ethic … and a love of golf !  If you have time and want to try it, all you have to do is ask. We have a busy weekend coming up, as we have a barbeque at Harvey Norman and the Winery Walkabout work at Stanton and Killeen Wines. Thank you in advance to all who will be working on these projects. I trust that the Captains of each work group have checked on availability and preparedness of the members who will be working on their shifts.

Acting President’s Message – What a great show of head gear we had last week for Hat Week.  The meeting looked very colourful. I am reasonably sure everyone who attended was a Rotarian, but some of the “disguises” were so good that I can’t be 100% sure. Don’t forget to send me or Gordon your suggestions for community groups that deserve our support. The board will decide on recipients for funds raised by our club in coming weeks. If you are a club director or committee chair then you should be preparing your submission for the annual report now, so it is ready for Peter Merkesteyn next month.

Acting President’s Report – Thank you to all who worked at the Million Paws Walk on the weekend. Don’t forget that this is hat week.  Wear a hat, bring a partner wearing a hat, and sit with friends wearing hats.  Please let Ian Harrison know if you are bringing a guest.  If you wear a hat you will have to pay a small fee, that will go to Rotary Mental Health Research.  If you don’t wear a hat, you will pay a large fee to go to Rotary Mental Health Research. While you are paying for you lunch and hat fees, buy some raffle tickets to support the Hospital Carers’ Accommodation project at Albury Base Hospital. And while you are there you might as well get an “End Polio Now” lapel pin as well.

Acting President Steve thanking guest speaker, Lucinda Rhook who spoke on Betty’s Place, Women’s refuge & other programmes

Acting President’s Report – Thank you to those who volunteered to work on the winery walkabout weekend.  I think it will be “a good little earner” for the club, it will keep Rotary in the public eye, and it won’t be very hard work.  That makes it a win win for us. Midnight basketball has started another season.  If you haven’t been to an evening of Midnight Basketball then I urge you to go along. Assistants are always welcome, but you are also welcome to watch the basketball and workshop for an hour or two to see what goes on. I expect you are all preparing your headgear for hat day in a couple of weeks.  The standard of elegance set last year will be hard to match, but I have every faith in you being able to do it.  I implore you to invite your partners to our hat day lunch, as that always improves my view from the lectern.

Our District Conference was held on the weekend in Melbourne. It was a different format to previous conferences, but included very impressive speakers and a lot of information about large and small projects carried out clubs in our district and in other parts of the world. I would commend attendance at a district conference to all members as a great social occasion and a great way to become familiar with the range, scope and scale of projects in Rotary. The next Conference will be in Ballarat in 12 month’s time. Check with any of our members about what they gained from the Conference.

Please give some money to Julie for her Easter Shut-ins project. The next season of Midnight Basketball starts soon. Past President Steve McKewen