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Last Wednesday, Paul Seymour (Photo right, with President Andy Bell) regaled us with a treasure trove of images and stories of his recent Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE) to Pennsylvania. Together with the RC of Mermaid Beach, our club hosted a team over there in March this year. And that, in a nutshell, is what RFE is all about. Each party hugely profits not only by being hosted privately, but gains “insider’s” knowledge that go beyond that of an ordinary tour guide.Paul, quite understandably, was over the moon. Impressed by the hospitality the team enjoyed in what was the second state to ratify the US Constitution in 1787 they enjoyed various tours of local history. But there is also much seriously unusual stuff: Take, for example, the Amish Village. They might be doing everything the old fashioned way (horse & carriage, their own medical aid, and everything is in cash), yet the clan (is that the correct expression?) boasts some of the richest people in the world.
But there are also many more modern sites to explore. Take the Marlin Guitar Factory. Every single one is hand crafted, and takes about 2 ½ months to complete. Marlins are and have been used by dozens of the world’s great musicians from its inception in 1833. Say.. Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Neil Young, John Mayer just to throw about some names. Heard of Devon Gillfillian? Neither had I; he is one the new generation R&B, Hip-Hop and Soul artists… Want one? All yours for a mere US$ 3,999.00.
Too much to outline in detail in a club bulletin. Paul’s Photo Show is in the Download Section on the right.
Kudos to DG Lisa Hunt and her team for organising such an insightful and useful day stimulating our brain cells with The Rotary Foundation (TRF) intel. President Andy, PE Paul, Director of Fundraising Ross and myself as Director for TRF made our way down to Tweed Heads discussing the woes of the world as a warmup! 
Paul is one of our newest recruits who joined our wheelchair project team at Arundel only just last month, in October. Originally from the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Paul is a qualified Electrical Fitter and Mechanic by trade. He has worked in a variety of positions, ranging from ‘Housing Work Contractor, to Frequency Testing, Injection Moulding. For several years, specialising in Dialysis equipment, he was on call at Richmond Airbase (Western Sydney), to be flown out to wherever in Australia, including outback regions, a specialist with his skills was urgently required.
As we have done every year for decades, our club will again support the 
Yes, only 5 weeks to go! Graeme Isaacson has confirmed arrangements for this year's Christmas Breakfast. Here are the details:
Our Foundation Chair, Dr Elizabeth Celi, together with her team at today's District 9640 Seminar on 
If you ask 100 Rotarians "what is the problem with Club Assemblies?", 99 will reply "half the members won't turn up"... Well, NOT SO at Surfers Sunrise! We had a near record turnout. Of course, it could also be that people wanted to see a (mostly) recovered President Andy Bell back on his feet after his hospital stay, though still nursing a severely bruised ribcage. ☺
Paul Seymour is currently participating in a Rotary Friendship Exchange with District 7430 in Pennsylvania, USA. He sent us some photos. See Photo Album on the right. (More on his Facebook page)
At the last meeting, our freshly baked President Andy emphasised that he wanted to put the Four-Way Test back into the forefront of our 
Congratulation, Geoff Croad, on winning (yet once again) our club's top award! Well done, and well deserved. (For those of you who are not familiar with our system: This award is voted on via a silent ballot by all members of the club. Geoff won it this year with a clear majority).
Last week, the project shed sent off the 11,015th wheelchair. Just on 3 years since we celebrated the 10,000th wheelchair in September 2013. The Photo on the right is our regular project shed worker Al Sirovs pointing out the number on the world map. The photo above shows some of the regulars, taken this morning. The wheelchair displayed is not exactly the 11,000th (that one is already on the way), but nobody needs to know... Third from left is Des La Rance OAM, who invented the concept and delivered the first 10 to Fiji in August 1997, 20 years ago! - See report in the 
So, keep your soft drink bottles, stubby bottles, aluminium cans, milk cartons etc. As a general rule, most drink containers between 150ml and 3L can be returned for a refund under Queensland's container deposit scheme. Containers should be empty, unbroken, the lid removed and display a 10-cent refund marking on the label. Something like the image (right), but many others are simply marked as suitable for recycling. Note: they must NOT be crushed. See image above what is and what is not accepted. For details of what can / cannot be returned for cash, and where the locations are, 
