President Graeme Hemming opened the
meeting. Chairman for the evening Dianne Honey
proposed the Toast "To the privilege of
community service". President Graeme welcomed
members, PDG Tim and Jane Moore, guests
Peter Hargreaves and Shaun
Lennard. Apologies were Ted Mitchell
and Helen Lanigan who are both on leave of
absence.
Graeme gave a report on the National Tree
Planting Day which was hosted by the WSC. Over
1000 plants were planted at the Island Reserve
by Scouts and other interested member of the
public. Three Rotarians represented Maffra RC.
They were Roger Malouf, Graeme and Dianne.
Volunteers for the next market are Graeme,
Kirsty Synder, Roger, Dianne &
John Osborn.
President Graeme thanked PDG Tim and Jane,
members and guests for attending the
meeting.
Arthurs Swindle Would
you believe Neil Wishart drew #13 which is Neil!
Congratulations Neil!
Attendance 9 at our
meeting, 4 Guests, while 3 were at the National
Tree Planting Day
Meeting Report Chairman
Dianne welcomed PDG Tim. It's appropriate for
Tim to be talking to us because August is
Membership month. Tim had collated the Club
Health Check forms. He commented on the positive
attitude in the room with people keen to keep
Maffra Rotary continuing. He said most Rotary
Clubs were suffering the same way as our Club,
along with numerous other service organisations.
He suggested we look for ways to connect with
our community while encouraging members to show
the public how Rotary is changing. Our members
had a good positive discussion on how to go
about PDG Tim's suggestions.
In Australia, farmers are the lifeblood
of our country and they are in crisis. Record
breaking heat and lack of rain means farmers are
struggling to feed sheep and cattle, and keep
crops alive. Families on the land are suffering
and they need our help. Channel 9 and Rotary
Australia have partnered with the National
Farmers’ Federation, launching an appeal to big
business and everyday Australians, so we can
provide some emergency relief. 100% of donations
goes to the farmers and is tax deductible via
Rotary and RAWCS.
September is recognised across the
world in Rotary as Literacy
Month. In particular, 8 September
is International Literacy Day
and celebrated widely, not just by
Rotary. Maffra Rotary club will be
providing a book to each kindergarten child
going to primary school in our local district.
Watch this space for dates!
Did you know there is a Rotary Action Group
for literacy? It's called The Literacy -
Rotarian Action Group ( www.litrag.org ) Have a look
at it!
Required Aug 17th
John Osborn to deliver and Nathan Smith to pick
up
Princess Anne, speaking at
this year’s Rotary International Convention in
Toronto, thanked Rotarians for their work in
fighting polio. She praised Rotary’s
achievements and the respect Rotary has earned
at the highest levels of government around the
world. The Princess Royal said she was grateful
that Rotary and its partners have very nearly
succeeded in full global eradication of the
disease. She added that because of the
logistical difficulty of getting 1.2 million
Rotarians together in one place, she thought it
best to take advantage of the organisation’s
annual convention to say, "Thank you for all the
good work you do."