The passion of the Scots !!! Dr Tom Haig was introduced by Chairman Simon Sickerdick as having migrated to Australia in 1974, as a Doctor of Education, former Murraylands TAFE Regional Education Manager, also worked at the Mildura Community College, Manager of the Murraylands Migrant Resource Centre, and Rural City of Murray Bridge Councilor. He is also a JP and member of the Caledonian Society as well as a past Rotarian member of our club. His topic of discussion was "Robert Burns and Henry Lawson Could they have been soul mates". They were both great men of literature in their own cultures. Robert Burns was born in 1759 and Lawson 108 years later. They both died relatively young 38 and 55 respectively having had precarious existences, their schooling was limited, and both enjoyed a drink and mates. Tom passionately recited verses from both. Both men rose above there circumstances, showed strength of character, regardless of social rank and status. They experienced the highs of recognition and the lows of depression. Tom spoke about the Scottish Kilt and the rest of his dress and the various armaments. We were also treated to an Address the Haggis performance with such passion. Tom is a great example of the Scottish culture.
John Scarvelis
Badging The Bridge
In the background of your Club there had been a small group addressing how we can “Badge the Bridge” from a Rotary perspective, when serendipitously a District Grant offer appeared offering the District Clubs monies that were surplus to requirements.
The guidelines were in brief: -
Show how your project will promote the Rotary brand within the Community
How your project will collaborate with other Rotary Clubs and/or other organisations
Supports one or more areas of Rotary’s areas of focus
The “Badge the Bridge” committee (which included reps from the Mobilong Club), morphed in to a group dedicated to developing a plan or project to garnishee this money from the District coffers ($5k plus one third of our own ie $6.6k total per Club or double if combined with Mobilong).
Our recently appointed Club Marketer in Steve Walker was challenged with putting together a presentation to this small group with a view to finding a project that would give us a very real chance of scoring some lazy dollars from District.
Keeping in mind that time is of the essence (the Grant has to be submitted on 31st of March 2022 and finalised by November 2022).
Monday night Steve regaled us with all sorts of ideas and signs and badging which in the end he distilled down to a project which was: -
Badging all the recycling wheelie bins in Murray Bridge with a large sticker which says “Rotary supports recycling” and the badge might contain the Rotary Clubs Logo, it might contain the Rotary website landing page, it might contain in small print the business that printed the stickers etc.
Steve will follow up on the costs, and present that detail together with an abridged version of his presentation to fellow Rotarians tonight with a further outline in two weeks time. This will give you all an idea of where this small committee is heading thus far.
Here’s the rub. We need you, fellow Rotarians, to give us some feedback on what you think of the idea. PLUS if you have a project that might better fill the bill then this will be the time to stand up and give us your idea. Indeed any project that you think might be worthwhile will be considered, if not for this Grant then perhaps later in the year.
Projects are the life blood of Service Clubs like ours.
The Swap Meet Ode
By Jacquie Best
Rotary hosted a Swap Meet in Feb Selling burgers & sausage & bacon & egg. Wimpy had organised the start to be early And had set up the site extremely securely. The team opened gates & let everyone in And made sure lots of money was put in the tin. The cooks turned on gas so cooking could start The bacon, sausage & onions, a real work of art. The salad and bread were ready to sell And Roger was set to put sales in the till.
The smell of the food wafted out in the air
And brought people in droves to see what was there.
Was it onion with that or sausage without,
Steak with the lot, oh sorry forgot
That you didn’t want egg & a roll and not bread.
And so it kept going so busy we fed
With crowds lining up it just would not end.
Roxanne made her burgers quick as a flash,
But Malcolm and lettuce continued to clash.
He’d put it on top & it’d fall on the bench,
Then the wind would come through & he’d get rather tense.
Just put on the lid and hope for the best
That the customer didn’t care what order he’d sent.
Now Jim had control of cooking the eggs, So many were used shells spilled round his legs. Darryl had tongs in his hand ready to fill The orders with purpose and obvious skill Sue would sanitise with a cloth in her hand Wiping & cleaning keeping everything grand. So we continued serving like well-oiled machines Selling & cooking, serving customers in streams.
So thanks to you all, you’ve served Rotary with pride. The money will add to the balance you’ll find, To pay for the projects that this year will bring, Helping others that Rotary has proven it’s King.
Solomons Project
The project in the Solomons is chugging along, despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, riots and political unrest. Fortunately, Dalousu community where the project is being implemented is free of covid. Situated on the island of Malaita no one from that community were involved in the riots.
The boat is being used to transport people from Dalousu to Auki for various things – visits to hospital, shops, and markets and also to take their fishing catch to market. See photos attached – red boat is the one which was purchased.
Information provided by Trevor McQuirk of the Unley Rotary Club.
CALENDAR WINNERS 1st MARCH 2022
$100
712
Kylie Hutchings
Klemzig
$30
651
Sue Jaensch
Murray Bridge
$20
249
J & G Scannell
Murray Bridge
Object of Rotary
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
End Polio Now
In 1985 Rotary launched PolioPlus to immunize every child in the world against polio. Working with our partners and members of the global health community, together we will end polio.
Through the science of vaccines, Rotary & partners have saved nearly 19 million children from becoming paralyzed by polio. Learn more about our work to End Polio Now and how you can get involved: https://on.rotary.org/3eqtrrr
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years, and we’ve made incredible progress in the fight to rid the world of it forever.
It’s crucial to eradicate polio from the last two countries where it remains endemic and to keep other countries polio-free.
If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
What is polio?
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can then attack the nervous system.
What's happening on our Facebook page
John Scarvelis has been posting up a storm with some great content.