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 19th 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.
Club Meeting 1 August 2012
Albury has a new head of police … Superintendent Beth Stirton began her new role in charge of the Albury Local Area Command recently. She’s spent most of her 30-year career in stations in and around Sydney, but is a country girl at heart having grown up in Orange. Supt Stirton joined the NSW Police Force as a trainee in 1982 at the NSW Police Academy in Redfern. She was stationed in Central Sydney in 1983 as a probationary constable and confirmed as a constable in 1984. Supt Stirton served at Sydney district personnel, eastern suburbs personnel, Hornsby, Establishment Control, North region command, Endeavour region and Kuring-gai until 2002 when she was promoted to the rank of inspector (duty officer) at Eastwood. She also served in this role at Parramatta and Kuring-gai before she was promoted last year to her latest rank as superintendent of the Albury local area command … she has been awarded an Australian Police Medal for services to Policing in NSW. Supt. Stirton gave us an insight into Policing in Albury with particular reference to alcohol related crime and the pleasing report that this has reduced over the last two years. Progress in this area has been assisted with on-going successful negotiations with the various licensed premises in central Albury.
Club Meeting 18 July 2012
At last week’s meeting we welcomed District Governor, John Gatt and his wife Eileen …John was born in Malta in 1949 and the family migrated to Australia in 1951. His family lived in the La Trobe valley until 1955 when they moved to the Western suburbs of Melbourne. He attended St Paul’s Primary School, West Sunshine and Sunshine Technical School. John’s working life started in 1967 as a Production Trainee at the sports goods manufacturer AG Spalding. John met Eileen when she answered a local newspaper ad for anyone interested in Rotary. As the Diamond Creek Club President at the time John inducted Eileen as a member in December 2005.In his address John encouraged us to follow this year’s theme, “Peace Through Service” … reiterating the words of Sakuji Tanaka, RI President, 2012–13 … “Peace, in all of the ways that we can understand it, is a real goal and a realistic goal for Rotary. Peace is not something that can only be achieved through agreements, by governments, or through heroic struggles. It is something that we can find and that we can achieve, every day and in many simple ways. Peace has different meanings for different people. No definition is right, and no definition is wrong, however we use the word, this is what peace means for us. No matter how we use, or understand the word, Rotary can help us to achieve it.”
Eileen introduced us to her project for the year …the ‘Learn Grow’ nutrition programme and urged our club to become involved in this worthwhile programme.
Learn Grow Program Launched in Solomon Islands. The Learn Grow Program, which promotes the growing of local food crops, took a major step forward with the launch of the program in Solomon Islands on 17th August 2010. Forty people were expected to attend the launch, but one hundred turned up. The event received wide media coverage in Honiara with reports and photos in the three Honiara newspapers and a report on the evening news. Centrepieces of the launch were the three high quality Learn Grow publications, the reference text “Food Plants of Solomon Islands”, and two field guides, “Good Gardening and Growing Root Crops in Solomon Islands” and “Leafy Greens and Vegetables in Solomon Islands”. Such was the demand for publications that some rationing was necessary. Reprinting of the publications is anticipated for future stages of the Learn Grow Program
River of Stories
All brochures, leaflets and entry forms have been delivered or posted to 16 secondary schools for their participation. Already 12 schools have indicated their interest. I have spoken to three schools thus far with four more requesting same – the interest is great. Workshops will be run in conjunction with the Writing Around the Murray Festival and I am finalizing workshops with the Wodonga council and library in respect of workshops for the Wodonga schools. We have lost John McDonald as a judge which he so much enjoyed but arrangements with another judge is in hand. The family prize giving day will be held on Saturday 20th October at 12 noon and hopefully we will see many members who will see first hand what the Rotary Club of Albury does for our border youth.
Club Meeting 11 July 2012
Great first meeting of our club year with a trio of speakers Nikki Grae, C E O of Country Hope, cancer sufferer Breanne Shaw and her brother Tyler Shaw, captain and head prefect of James Fallon High school, who is the fund raiser for his school for Country Hope. The speakers were exceptional with Breanne’s talk inspirational. Country Hope is a country based family centered support organisation for ch
ildren diagnosed with cancer and other life threatening illnesses …Nikki Grae gave us an insight into Country Hope and its many success stories … her presentation was supported by Breanne and Tyler Shaw speaking of their challenges … sister survivor and brother supporter. Breanne and Tyler are Grandchildren of our arry Young. Country Hope is continually seeking assistance to support the year round programs, so if you are interested in helping in any way, please contact 1800 007 880. At the conclusion of Nikki’s presentation Albury Hume presented her with a cheque for $500.00