Greetings, fellow members, associate members and friends of Surfers Sunrise Rotary,
I'm writing this on behalf of our President Paul Seymour, who is (again) in hospital, this time with some sort of a blood disorder. "The knee operation went well" he reports, but some sort of a bug flattened him again and he advised that he is "full of drugs". Our best wishes go out to you, Paul, for a swift and complete recovery.
The club recently invested in a professional class emailing system, to send out direct emails and updates to our valued Wheelchairs Trust donors. Following the broadcast of our project on Channel 9 - 'A Current Affair', we had almost 300 donors responding. Last night (Sunday), we sent out a "formal" thank you to our donors. It was lovely to receive, almost immediately, a reply from one of our donors:
"I intend to keep donating in the future due to enlightenment that A Current Affairs had about your journey really touched my heart, not only the inspiring workers that were interviewed but the project was just outstanding all round keep up the great work and God bless you all. Kind regards Graham C"
which was accompanied by another donation of $50.00. Thank you, Graham C!
Note: This week's meeting is at the TRYP by Wyndham Hotel - seel details below.
NOTE:The meeting is at the TRYP by Wyndham Hotel, 59 Meron Street, Southport, NOT at the Surf Club.
Andrew Csabi is best known for his surviving of horrific injuries he sustained in the 2002 Bali bombing. This time, however, his presentation will be closer to home: Situation and awareness training and de-escalation of violence in the workplace. Having survived (barely) the injuries he sustained at Kuta Beach, now he is running a Security Company, AGC Pro-tec. In addition to the major aspects of commercial security, he also specialises in Occupational Violence and Agression (OVA) training. Andrew is a leading member and Past President of the Rotary Club of Gold Coast.
The 40-foot container with some 300-plus 'Rough Terrain' wheelchairs is on the way to Durban, South Africa! (Yes, it IS full!) The Rotary clubs in the region will take care of the distribution into the South African Hinterland.
A big THANK YOU to our donors who make this possible.
Before retirement, Darren was a qualified Electrical Fitter and Mechanic, and he assures me that he still has a current license. Originally from the Central Coast of NSW, he moved north around the year 2000, initially to a Brisbane suburb. He moved to the Gold Coast about 6 years ago. A medical condition resulted in his forced early retirement from work some two years after arriving here on the Gold Coast.
Darren is an “all-rounder”, but he has an affinity for the refurbishing of bikes suitable for resale, and he is happy to deal with clients who come to our door looking for a bargain (and there are plenty of bargains to be had! See photo: a good row of them, all ready to go.)
Digging a bit into his past, one finds out that he used to do this for a private business as well, acquiring used bikes from sources such as Marketplace, refurbishing them and reselling them again. Hobbies? An interesting combination indeed: ‘Post Classic’ motorbikes (he used to race a Suzuki T250), classic watches (as in pocket watches) and... classic mobile phones – yes, the old Nokias and early iPhones, for example. To keep him in a good mood, he listens to 4CRB (our favoured station, they give us a plug every now an then), with The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd his favourites. Welcome to the Wheelchair Trust Team, Darren!
Channel 9 'A Current Affair' started it in 1997. Other TV stations (incl Channel 7) featured our signature project, including ABC TV in August 2015. The transcript is still on their website - click here.
Duty Roster - note: subject to change - please check every week. Note: Fellowship duty also is expected to be at the Project Shed on the Saturday following the meeting
[Theme of this week's guest speaker: Workplace violence (about how not to argue about stuff that doesn't need to be argued about. Ed. ☺]
I'm glad I learned about Sinusoidal Functions in High School Maths instead of how to do my Tax Return. It comes so handy during the Sinusoidal season.
Let me give you some counsel, bastard… Never forget who you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.George RR Martin, ‘Game of Thrones’
For his birthday, I took my kid to an orchard, and we stood there for half an hour looking at the trees. Not the Apple Watch he was expecting, apparently.
NOTE: The meeting is at the TRYP by Wyndham Hotel, 59 Meron Street, Southport, NOT at the Surf Club. 
The 40-foot container with some 300-plus 'Rough Terrain' wheelchairs is on the way to Durban, South Africa! (Yes, it IS full!) The Rotary clubs in the region will take care of the distribution into the South African Hinterland.
Before retirement, Darren was a qualified Electrical Fitter and Mechanic, and he assures me that he still has a current license. Originally from the Central Coast of NSW, he moved north around the year 2000, initially to a Brisbane suburb. He moved to the Gold Coast about 6 years ago. A medical condition resulted in his forced early retirement from work some two years after arriving here on the Gold Coast.
