| Easter Shut- Ins Remember that Anne would like some additional assistance this coming meeting to help fill and label the Easter bags for us ALL to distribute to those in need within Albury. If some members can be there from 12.00 noon onwards that would be really good. Then one can take their bag away with them and deliver it later on Wednesday or Thursday. Also a big thankyou to Anne for filling the breach caused by Julie’s incapacity.
District Conference 2014 Remember next year’s Conference is to be held at Shepparton from 20th to 23rd March 2014 … start putting entries into diaries so that one can attend at least the main day on the Saturday, which is usually pretty full on. Good listening to the various club members last week giving a ‘potted illustration’ re the various presentations from this year’s Conference, and to those who could not attend I hope you enjoyed what you heard and make that diary entry for next season. Club Donations Whilst there isn’t a huge kitty to distribute this year, please forward any suggestions re a local organisation(s) that might benefit from a donation to help them along with the good work they do. It is proposed to distribute this money at the next Board meeting in a few week’s time, so this is your last chance to get your application/suggestions into Justin.
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Club Meeting 13 March 2013
Guest Speaker: Sylvia McAra provided us with interesting information relating to her clinical trial research into Glyceryl Trinitrate and the effects and responses, following treatment of selected diabetics and those with impaired 
circulation. As a Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Sylvia is investigating a reliable method of improving blood flow to cold feet, a symptom of poor blood supply, which will also help treat foot ulcers and pains. Glyceryl Trinitrate, has been used for 150 years to treat the heart disease angina, causing blood vessels to widen and allow more blood to reach the area where patches containing small doses of the medication are applied. Early results are promising and suggest this is a useful treatment in many cases of impaired circulation. Sylvia indicated 100 participants are required to be her ‘guinea pigs’ … (“we need people who complain of cold feet” !) … only 10 more are needed … she asked members to keep her project in mind when networking amongst friends. Following completion of her PhD Sylvia believes larger studies of a similar nature will follow. Each participant will have a review of medical history and provision of information to their doctor, and blood circulation is checked during each visit. Sylvia also mentioned the new state-of-the-art clinic at CSU … high quality, low-cost foot care.
Club Meeting 6 March 2013
Albury City Councillor, David Thurley gave us an insight into the world of Astronomy, in particular the Transit of Venus, which took place on the 6th June 2012 … (if you recall those history lessons from long ago that is what James Cook observed in Tahiti prior to discovering Australia in 1770 !) David informed us that the next Tansit would be on the 11th December 2117 in case anyone of us is still around !! As President of the Albury Wodonga Astronomical Society David indicated a strong bond with CSU encouraging scientists and other speakers of note to visit the border for mutual benefit. David is a graduate of the University of Tasmania and has worked as Technical Manager for a large company, Industry Advisor to the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Director of a consulting company. He has worked in several overseas countries including France, Malaysia, Greece, Brazil, Canada, Sweden and Finland. I addition to him being President of the Astronomical Society he is also a board member of Age Concern. For a period he was an Honorary Probation Officer for the Victorian justice system. Every week he does an hour of science with students at two local schools in a hands-on environment with great experiments and fun while learning about science.
Albury Hume member and Member for Albury, Greg Aplin, presented our club member, Barry Young, with a NSW Government Community Service Award. A wonderful achievement and richly deserved … congratulations to Barry from us all.
Community Service
EASTER HAMPERS ….It is that time again …
This project gives every member a chance to visit some very isolated and lonely people in our community. Meals on wheels give us a list of Albury people who feel would enjoy both a visit from a club member and a Hamper from us. We ask each member to spend time delivering these Hampers on the Wednesday or Thursday of Easter. An Easter egg and approx. ten small household items are given to each household. We ask you to donate money towards buying these products and to spend some time on the Wednesday of Easter in helping to make them up. Donation can be made to Julie at the meetings and if anyone knows how we can approach Uncle Toby’s for perhaps some donations of breakfast cereal, I would be grateful.
Ian Murphy Memorial Debate
St Paul’s College were successful in an enjoyable debate last Wednesday night at Café Grove and now move on to the final at the District Conference in Ballarat on Saturday 16th March. They take the affirmative in the topic “That Social Media are a Social Benefit” The opposition have yet to complete their semi final to determine their opponent. There was good support from Albury Hume with ten members present (see photos) and also from the debaters’ families which was nice to see. This is the second year in a row that a team from St Paul’s has reached the final, which is excellent for a relatively small school.