What a busy month its been! I’m now into my third month as your President and the pace hasn’t slowed down. Your Board and their committees have been very busy - from building an interesting and diverse speaker program, planning special events (think Footy Night), responding to requests from community members for support, delivering ever more BBQs, assembling more Aquaboxes, researching and planning international projects to support, and now hunting for a new home for Club meetings. As promised at the last Club Assembly, we will give a summary of Club activities/achievements every quarter and the next report is due at the end of this month. Most Club members belong to one or more Committees. Every Director and committee could do with more support, so for those not currently allocated to a committee, please consider offering your assistance.
As you may have heard, there have been devastating floods across much of South Asia particularly affecting Nepal, Bangladesh and India. In terms of loss of life and displaced people, the floods are much more devastating than those currently affecting Texas, yet we’ve heard a lot about the crisis in Houston and not much about the catastrophe in Asia. The one thing I’ve heard consistently though from news reports is the urgent need for clean drinking water and the imminent threat of water borne diseases such as cholera. This is of course where Aquabox comes in. We have boxes already assembled in the shed ready for dispatch and Dale and the Aquabox team are in touch with our friends at Aussie Aid Abroad to see if we can send these to affected areas as soon as possible.
The hunt for a new venue continues and I will keep you informed of developments. For the time being, and until we let you know to the contrary, we will continue to meet at Third Chapter. The exception this month is 21 September which is of course our Footy Night at Heidelberg Golf Club. Tickets are selling fast for this event so gather your family and friends and book early. Please see the details below for booking details and the link to Trybooking.
Cheers, President Judy
Lower Eltham Park BBQ 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
You are responsible for finding a replacement if you are unable to do your rostered duty and to notify Lyn Truran ljtruran@bigpond.com
This week the club welcomes Jim Connor, president of the Eltham District Historical Society, who will present a talk entitled ‘A Muddy History'. While buildings constructed of earth have been a significant feature in the post Second World War history of the Eltham area and the lifestyles of community members, the use of earth in building is just so much older. It is estimated that one half of the world’s population —approximately three billion people on six continents — lives or works in buildings constructed of earth. Jim will speak about some of the early history of this building material, as well as its more contemporary use……there might even be a little bit of Eltham Rotary history thrown in!
1.Alan McCleary: We need a team captain for the ELP BBQ trailer on 10 Sept. We also have the opportunity for a Rotary Health table at Bunnings on the 7th & 8th of October, please contact Alan if you can support.
2. Ian Toohill: Club members can donate to Wheelchairs for Kids through the club.
3.Jill Ramsay: Planning for the upcoming festival on the 11th and 12th of November is progressing well.
* The council is considering mobile toilets to assists the event this year
* Show bags will continue again with a greater percentage back to the club
* A spit roast and the BBQ trailer is being considered as an additional fund raiser this year.
4.Alison Cooper advised the following speakers and events for upcoming meetings.
* 7 Sept - Jim O’Connor from the Eltham Historical Society
* 14 Sept - Neil Bannister on non- financial planning in retirement
* 21 Sept -Footy night – book your spot via TryBookings online
* 28 Sept - CFA Be ready for the fire season
5.Ann Lynch reminded us that the emergency contact list needs to be updated and all members need to provide the appropriate information to enable a complete listing.
Also, can members who have not completed the Working with Children check please complete; it is easy to do on line and Ann can assist if you are unsure.
The Festival Committee members have been working away behind the scenes for many weeks now. With less than 10 weeks to go, and the ‘bringing it all together’ phase ahead of us, it is now full speed ahead! I continue to be in awe of the work the committee members have been doing and thank each of them for their fantastic focus and commitment to their areas of responsibility.
Our weekly updates at Rotary have hopefully kept members informed along the way and please, if you have any queries and/or you would like to jump on board and assist any of our committee members, then please let us know. We would love to share some of the load. Both Dave with operations and Judy with PR, would certainly be very grateful for extra assistance.
Both Rotarians and partners do a magnificent job in helping out over the festival weekend every year and we hope that 2017 will be no exception. Paul Kelly is already working away on a draft roster and, as he’s previously advised, he assumes that Rotarians will be available to help out on both Saturday and Sunday, unless he’s been advised otherwise. So please make sure you have checked your calendar as we need to have accurate information and know how many volunteers we have as early as possible. Please also advise Paul of partners who are able to help too and on what days.
As we did in 2016, the two Thursday meetings before festival weekend (2nd & 9th Nov), will be devoted to festival organisation and planning. At these meetings, members and partners will be briefed about everything that needs to be known ahead of festival, including safety and emergency management planning along with key team roles and responsibilities. The plan is to get to festival weekend with the knowledge we all need to ensure another fantastic RCE Festival.
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