What a wonderfully weekend. Saturday the weather was with us and it was a great morning at the Shed. Lots were to be done and lots were achieved. Lots turned up; some at 7:30 and others at 08:30. The majority of the work pertained to the yard outside and the packing of the 40foot Container destined for PNG.
The old tyres were packed into the three very large bags. Later in the morning John Dobozy of MOLECTRA came again to collect the tyres. He brought with him two additional bags and they were quickly filled with tyres and he will pick those up next Saturday morning. I think the total number will be about 2,000 tyres. John has indicated that after all the tyres have gone he will leave us with a few of the large bags so that when these are full we can call him to pick them up.
A stack of bikes unsuitable for wheelchair or worth re-building were disassembled and cut-up. I was a little worried seeing an accountant with an electric metal saw attacking the bikes. [Nothing to it - easier than cutting through the Taxation laws! ☺ Ed.] All these were packed into the large skip as scrap. Even, Franz at a one point was inside the skip, re-packing it to get the maximum bikes parts in. Most importantly was the packing of the container. Tanya & Mark Twyford disappeared into the container at about 8:00am and packed every item while Col Laurenson kept the paperwork together. Others feed the wheelchairs & materials in. Mark & Tanya appeared for morning tea but were both quickly back packing just over 200 wheelchairs, student desks (for a full classroom), a teacher's desk and student classroom chairs together with several sundry items including walkers for the aged. A very big thanks to Tanya & Mark. Also, thanks to all those that turned-up to lend a helping hand. The place looks really good and I believe everyone felt that we had achieved something very worthwhile.
What else happened last week?
Meeting 7:00 am to 9:00 am Breakfast Friday “Connecting the Community”, Rotary International and Southport Chamber of Commerce and other Rotary Clubs in the area. Approximately 150 attended. Each Club gave a presentation. It was a great opportunity for each Club to inform other Rotarians of what each club was endeavouring to achieve. Present were Councillor Dawn Crichlow, Margret Grumitt (past City Councillor & Rotarian) & Angie Bell MP (Local Federal Member & Rotarian). It is important for us to remember the contribution Margert Grumitt has made to the Project Shed in firstly helping the Club to secure the shed and her long-term support of the wheelchair project.
Also Friday, Dr Graham Sivyer (President of Broadbeach) and myself had a meeting with Angie Bell (our local federal member) to seek her support for the project in Vanuatu but more importantly the support for the Gold Coast Medical Association conference in 2020. One of the objectives of the conference will be to involve as many Pacific Island doctors and medical professionals in the conference. Therefore, the we were seeking Federal Government funding to help assist with these costs. My belief is that this type of involvement can only assist in the longevity of our project at the Mauna Hospital, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu.
Next, is the meeting this Monday evening 6:00pm at 59 Commodore Drive, Paradise Waters for the Vanuatu. The purpose of the meeting is to select the management team for the roles of Project Manager, Building Manager, Grants Manager and Manager- Medical Equipment (Definition & Acquisition). Treasurer (Doug Lipp) and Manufacturing Manager (Des La Rance) have already been nominated.
This Wednesday, after our normal breakfast meeting Geoff Croad, Franz Huber, Gerald East and Tracey Zimmerman (our newest Associate Member) will spend most of Wednesday supervising approximately 65 students from the Australian Industry Trade College for RYDA training. The training program will include: Road Choices (Police), Crash Investigators, Stopping & Drive SOS and Genevieve’s Story and 'I in Drive'.
Thanks… a great week… this is what Rotary is about… making a difference… and … connecting with our community.
Look forward to seeing you all this Wednesday 28st August at 7:00am at the Surf Club.
This coming Wednesday 28th August, we'll have Andrea Simmons (picture right) and Leeanne Butcher (picture left) from the Australian Anti Ice Campaign. They will present on their organization's aims to expose the drug Ice for what it really is, an insidiously poisonous chemical concoction that eventually, and often rapidly, destroys the physical and mental health of almost everyone who uses it, with the destruction of families and friendships, and often suicide, as the ultimate outcome.
And to make it even more interesting, we may also have Keith Woods, the Digital Editor of the Gold Coast Bulletin (you may recall he presented a few months ago) there too. Keith recently published an incisive article in our local paper about the parlous situation on the Gold Coast. Might have a very interesting questions and answers session too!
Last Saturday we had a huge working bee at the Project Shed. While our regular Associate Members followed their "regular" jobs, our principal task was to load a container destined for Papua New Guinea with wheelchairs, school desks and chairs. We had very good numbers responding to the call and by 10:45 am the container was not only loaded to the rim, but we also assisted in dismantling some bicycles to separate the aluminium from the rest, pack up the old tyres for collection etc. All in all, a very productive morning. Good to see one of our newest members, Karen Holland, as well as our regular visitor Ann O'Connor participating very much hands on, and a big Thank You goes to Tanya Twyford, who, together with Mark, stacked wheelchairs, inside school desks, inside tables all morning! According to our Logistics Guru Col Laurenson, these are the numbers: 206 wheelchairs, 3 Wheelie Walkers, 59 School Chairs, 7 School Tables, 53 School Desks and 1 Teacher's Desk. All into just the one 40' container! A huge Thank You! to all the people who helped: in addition to the people already mentioned, the following members rolled up their sleeves (in no particular order): Adrian Crowe, Geoff Croad, Al Sirovs (good to see you back, Al!), Mark Twyford, Larry Murray, President Mario Fairlie, Darrel Brown, Angus Miller, Andy Bell, Charles Thomasson, Doug Lipp and yours truly. Photo (from left): Adrian Crowe, Andy Bell, Ann O'Connor, Mario Fairlie, Angus Miller. More photos in the Photo Album - see right side)
"Geez, this has been going for a while...! "I thought when my trusty computer reminded me that this Wednesday, together with another 2 members of our club, I am committed to assist in "herding" young students at the RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) event at the Southport Community Centre. So, I started digging through my old bulletin records and - lo and behold! - it started almost exactly 10 years ago. Here is an extract from (then) President Darrell Brown's (yep, that's him on the right!) message in the bulletin of 16th September 2009:
The RYDA project is off with a bang! We have 4 schools committed to a week of training from 23rd to 27th November (Schoolies Week). Committed clubs are Mermaid, Broadbeach, Southport, Robina, Parkwood, Surfers & Gold Coast Central. There will be a lot of work to be done, distributed amongst the clubs with me being Committee Chair, Margaret Grummitt - School Bookings Coordinator, Michael Cullen - Presenters Coordinator, Graham Jones - Rotary Volunteers Coordinator, Ken Gosney & Lisa Lock - Fund Raising / Sponsorship / Media Coordinator, me - Secretary, Bob Harrison - Treasurer, Ian Mayberry - Day Manager, Graham Jones, Ken Gosney...
Since then, thousands of kids have undergone this one day instruction course on Road Safety, specifically designed for the 17 year old age group. I'd dare to say it made a difference, probably saved numerous lifes. Proud to be associated with this great program. Give yourself a pat on the back, fellows!
Main photo above: some of the initial RYDA helpers in action 10 years ago (from left): Peter Baruch, Ray Higgs, Geoff Croad, Geoff McCoombe, Angus Miller, Ken Gosney.
Duty Roster - note: subject to change. Please check every week:
New duty: Fellowship / Project Shed. What does it entail? There are two aspects to this:
a) At the club meeting, your job is to ensure that all members, in particular new members, visitors and guests, and in particular the Guest Speaker, are welcomed, are introduced to other members and are comfortable. If required, explain the usual procedures, e.g. when we have our meal, when the speaker is expected to be at the rostrum etc.
b) This person is also to attend the Project Shed on the following Saturday, as the representative of our club and to assist in the general management.
"Among other things, although he was incapable of standing, he threatened to kill everyone with a chainsaw. Nobody paid the slightest attention to his ramblings. They’d all seen such behaviour in the middle of Southport before." Keith Woods, Digital Editor of the Gold Coast Bulletin, in a recent editorial.
A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”
The barber puts a 5 dollar bill in one hand and two 2-dollar coins in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?” The boy takes the coins and leaves.
“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream parlor.
“Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the coins instead of the 5-dollar bill?”
The boy licked his cone and replied:
“Because the day I take the bill, the game is over!”
This coming Wednesday 28th August, we'll have Andrea Simmons (picture right) and Leeanne Butcher (picture left) from the Australian Anti Ice Campaign. They will present on their organization's aims to expose the drug Ice for what it really is, an insidiously poisonous chemical concoction that eventually, and often rapidly, destroys the physical and mental health of almost everyone who uses it, with the destruction of families and friendships, and often suicide, as the ultimate outcome.
Last Saturday we had a huge working bee at the Project Shed. While our regular Associate Members followed their "regular" jobs, our principal task was to load a container destined for Papua New Guinea with wheelchairs, school desks and chairs. We had very good numbers responding to the call and by 10:45 am the container was not only loaded to the rim, but we also assisted in dismantling some bicycles to separate the aluminium from the rest, pack up the old tyres for collection etc. All in all, a very productive morning. Good to see one of our newest members, Karen Holland, as well as our regular visitor Ann O'Connor participating very much hands on, and a big Thank You goes to Tanya Twyford, who, together with Mark, stacked wheelchairs, inside school desks, inside tables all morning! According to our Logistics Guru Col Laurenson, these are the numbers: 206 wheelchairs, 3 Wheelie Walkers, 59 School Chairs, 7 School Tables, 53 School Desks and 1 Teacher's Desk. All into just the one 40' container! A huge Thank You! to all the people who helped: in addition to the people already mentioned, the following members rolled up their sleeves (in no particular order): Adrian Crowe, Geoff Croad, Al Sirovs (good to see you back, Al!), Mark Twyford, Larry Murray, President Mario Fairlie, Darrel Brown, Angus Miller, Andy Bell, Charles Thomasson, Doug Lipp and yours truly. Photo (from left): Adrian Crowe, Andy Bell, Ann O'Connor, Mario Fairlie, Angus Miller. More photos in the Photo Album - see right side)
"Geez, this has been going for a while...! " I thought when my trusty computer reminded me that this Wednesday, together with another 2 members of our club, I am committed to assist in "herding" young students at the RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) event at the Southport Community Centre. So, I started digging through my old bulletin records and - lo and behold! - it started almost exactly 10 years ago. Here is an extract from (then) President Darrell Brown's (yep, that's him on the right!) message in the bulletin of 16th September 2009: 
