Ian Mayberry was Chairman, Peter Morgan was at the door and Andy Bell was Sergeant. We had apologies from Gerald East, Al Sirovs and Adrian Crowe.
President Jo Winwood welcomed all members and visitors: Honorary Member George Keily and our recent RYTS (Rotary Youth Transition Seminar) awardees Caleb Mercer and Jasper Abel, together with their mums Lisa and Sam, (see picture right) as well as Poppy, Jasper's sister. Jo provided us with a brief update on last Monday's Board Meeting, issues relating to the Project Shed renovations, the Defibrillator etc. We also have received a donation from the Australasian Order of Old Bastards (AOOB) for $1,500, as well as a donation of $2,000 from an anonymous source in support of our wheelchairs project. Thank you! One of the many items on the list for the upcoming months is an enhancement of participation in the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program, aiming to get more schools to participate in this excellent day long course.After our Guest Speaker David Lomman's presentation (see above), Simon Brook presented the RYTS awardees Caleb and Jason, who both expressed their thanks to the club for sponsoring them. Our club has sponsored RYTS students for decades, to the tune of $590.00 each. As always, both the boys were very enthusiastic about what they got out of the seminar (have yet to have one who isn't!). We are awaiting a brief outline from both Jason and Caleb to be published in the bulletin shortly.
Honorary Member George Keily provided an update on the fundraising efforts by Apple Marketing for our Wheelchairs Project: a total of $9,275 has been raised, and another donation of $1,000 and one of $100 were received from an anonymous source. And, as he has done for decades, George has again collected spectacles by the box full, including 15 boxes of brand new spectacles, which he forwarded via Col Laurenson to Donations in Kind (DIK). DIK will ultimately ship them to various places where they find good use, such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomons etc.
Richard Smith elaborated on the upcoming Excellence in Workmanship Award night coming up on 20th February. We have so far 8 nominees, which will make it a great night. It is, as always, also a social night - please come along with your partners. Details of the venues are being finalized very shortly.
Treasurer Mark Twyford advised that the Club Dues will be invoiced very shortly, and Paul Seymour will organize a working bee at the Project Shed to establish an Asset Register.
Finally, again running short of time, Sergeant Andy Bell came up with a novel general fine for everyone: Name the worst Christmas Present you received, or alternatively name the New Year's Resolution you have already broken... Quite a number of interesting items surfaced: one of the girls received a Perfume Pack - from ALDI - which apparently was not her style... Richard Smith got a Clock Radio, but the dials are so dim, he can't read it... Larry Murray got a pencil which on the other side has an implement designed to remove the fluff from his belly button...