Last week’s formal meeting was excellent and was a great showcase for all that is good about Rotary and our club. It was my pleasure to induct Trent Belling into Rotary, I’m sure Trent will make a valuable contribution to Rotary over the coming years. Jeremy Bishop from SEQ Water did a great presentation on rain and the SEQ water grid. We now also all have a better understanding of the huge amount of work going on with the Vanuatu Health Centre Project thanks to Dr Graham Sivyer, Ben Loots and PP Mario Fairlie. And finally Craig Parker from Digital Connections presented the all new ‘Surfers Sunrise Wheelchair Trust’ website to us – once launched this extremely professional new website will help the Wheelchair Trust raise funds (alongside our other efforts) going forward.
The Bunnings Sausage Sizzle went well despite the rain. All up we raised almost $400 (with some stock left over) for our Club Projects – a good outcome for a few hours work. Thanks to Geoff Croad and Angus Miller for organising and to everyone who helped on the day in the wet conditions.
The Rotary Centenary Baton Relay is less than a month away – Surfers Sunrise will be participating on Friday 16th April between 9.30-11.30am at Broadwater Parklands. We have ordered 11 shirts so far but if you would like one please let me know ASAP. You don’t need to wear a Baton Relay Shirt on the day however it will look great if as many of us as possible are wearing them.
See you all Wednesday morning at 7am for a Social Meeting at the Surf Club.
This Wednesday 24th March, from 07:00 am, we'll have a social meeting at the Surfers Paradise Surf Club, downstairs Bistro, on the northern side. See you there!
At last Wednesday's meeting, President Charles Thomasson inducted our newest member, Trent Belling, under the Vocational Classification of 'Information Technology'. Proposed by Simon Brook, Trent holds both a Bachelor of Laws as well as a Bachelor of Commerce. About 7 years ago, he joined Griffith University, where he works in an IT Management capacity. Before that, he worked in IT with UQ. Watch this space - we'll advise when Trent will give us a deeper insight into his persona when he'll do his 'Rotarian behind the Badge' presentation.
When I got up early on Wednesday morning and put on the kettle, my still foggy brain didn’t give the slightest thought on what makes it possible for me to simply turn on the tap. Nor dare I say did 99.99% of the 30-odd people present at our meeting, nor the 600,000 residents of the Gold Coast, nor the 3 Million people who are daily relying on SEQ Water to fully function. Turn on the tap and sweet water pours out. Yet, just visualise for a moment the consequences of the water not running, say, just for a couple of days. Not having your morning cuppa would be the least of your problems, particularly if you live in a high density area!
Jeremy Bishop, who describes himself as an ‘Engagement Advisor’, together with his co-worker Katrina Lambert, provided us with a very professional, concise presentation on the huge organisation which quietly ensures that such a nightmare scenario will not happen. In control of some $11 Billion worth of dams, water treatment plants and pipelines, SEQ Water doesn’t just provide drinking and bath water, but also irrigation water to 1200 farmers.
Remember the “Millennium Drought”? It wasn’t pretty. The Hinze Dam (at that time Stage 3 hadn’t been built yet), as well as overall dam levels in South East Queensland went on average to around the 20% mark. Meanwhile, we have a Desalination Plant and Stage 3 of the Hinze Dam, built in 2011, doubled its capacity to over 310,000 Million Litres. Our ‘Water Grid’ boasts some 600 Km of bi-directional water pipeline. Space does not permit to outline Jeremy’s seminar in detail, but on the Download Pages (right side) you will find a PDF of his PowerPoint which is very interesting reading indeed.
(Photo, from left: Chairman of the day, Peter Morgan, Katrina Lambert, SEQ Water, Jeremy Bishop)
Ramez Salib was at the door [good to see you, Ramez! 😊], Peter Morgan was Chairman and Ian Mayberry was Sergeant. We had apologies from Gerald East, Adam Sheppard, Tash Price. In view of the super-packed program, there was no club business discussed, nor director’s reports.
President Charles Thomasson welcomed all members and guests Ben Loots, Craig Parker, Kristen ‘KJ’ Jewson, Matt Hayward and directly moved to the induction of our newest member, Trent Belling (separate story above).
This was followed by the presentation of our guest speakers Jeremy Bishop and Katrina Lambert from SEQWater. We received a very professional outline of their massive organisation which provides some 3 Million people in South East Queensland with reliable water, 24 hours a day (separate story above).
This was followed by the presentation of an Excellence in Workmanship Award to our ‘Sparkie’ Volunteer Ben Loots
Following Jeremy and Katrina, we received an update on the X-Ray Unit project for Vanuatu, provided by Ben Loots, Dr Graham Sivyer and Mario Fairlie. Ben Loots, who is a professional Electronician specialising in Medical Equipment, indicated that the budget we have been set “only allows for approximately half of the cost of a new system”. (see download file).
Last but not least, Craig Parker and KJ Jewson outlined the progress of the new website for the Surfers Sunrise Wheelchair Trust. Craig Parker is the owner of Digital Connections, a company specialising in website development for Not for Profit organisations. Development has well and truly started. In addition to Craig, the volunteer team, which also includes several members of the Burleigh Heads Rotaract Club, has already held multiple planning meetings. Watch this space for a more detailed update. Photo right: President Charles Thomasson, with some of the development team: KJ Jewson, Craig Parker and Matt Haywood.
In short: we'll have a dedicated website for the Wheelchair Trust, the Project Shed, the volunteers and all the stuff we do. You'll hear more about it at next week's meeting, when Mario Fairlie, KJ, Dr Graham Sivyer et al will give us an update.
We are looking for photos relating to our Wheelchairs, various buildings we put up over the years etc etc. If you have any, please upload them directly to a shared Google Drive KJ has set up for this: Click here - it's dead easy - simply drag the photos from your folder into the 'Drop files here' field.
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
My friend whinged that he can’t afford to pay his water bill and he didn't know what to do about it. So so I sent him a card: “Get well soon.”
Shame, I do believe, is the most powerful emotion known to man; most discoveries and journeys of importance have been accomplished because of the ignominy that would be the result if the attempt was abandoned. Amitav Ghosh – Gun Island
If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read 'President Can't Swim'.Lyndon B Johnson, 36th US President
If the formula of water is H₂O , then what is the formula of ice ? H₂O cubed.
This Wednesday 24th March, from 07:00 am, we'll have a social meeting at the Surfers Paradise Surf Club, downstairs Bistro, on the northern side. See you there!
At last Wednesday's meeting, President Charles Thomasson inducted our newest member, Trent Belling, under the Vocational Classification of 'Information Technology'. Proposed by Simon Brook, Trent holds both a Bachelor of Laws as well as a Bachelor of Commerce. About 7 years ago, he joined Griffith University, where he works in an IT Management capacity. Before that, he worked in IT with UQ. Watch this space - we'll advise when Trent will give us a deeper insight into his persona when he'll do his 'Rotarian behind the Badge' presentation.
When I got up early on Wednesday morning and put on the kettle, my still foggy brain didn’t give the slightest thought on what makes it possible for me to simply turn on the tap. Nor dare I say did 99.99% of the 30-odd people present at our meeting, nor the 600,000 residents of the Gold Coast, nor the 3 Million people who are daily relying on SEQ Water to fully function. Turn on the tap and sweet water pours out. Yet, just visualise for a moment the consequences of the water not running, say, just for a couple of days. Not having your morning cuppa would be the least of your problems, particularly if you live in a high density area!
Last but not least, Craig Parker and KJ Jewson outlined the progress of the new website for the Surfers Sunrise Wheelchair Trust. Craig Parker is the owner of 
