Dear Santa, I already have everything I could possibly wish for this year. Got my family, good friends and love. Please take care of those who need you more...
As a final get together for the year, this weeks Christmas breakfast is at QT's... and it's our last chance to donate toys for those who need them more! Can you believe that throughout the year the simple coffee catch up after our breakfast meetings has raised over $400.... all of which is used to purchase toys for the Anglican Church's St John's Drop-in Centre. So to those who have stopped by for a coffee through out the year, thank you for your contribution... every cup helps!
One last simple reminder for the year... Bunnings BBQ, this Sunday, Southport, Santa hats welcome!
To everyone in the team, the families and friends of Surfers Sunrise, thank you for your hard work this year and your commitment to making this club the greatest. We've kicked some goals, kicked some arse and most of all, had a kick arse time. I hope you all enjoy the festive season with family, friends and loved ones. Make sure you get some down time, to reflect, relax and reset because we got a huge 2017 ahead of us!
...and remember, it's all fun and games til Santa checks the naughty list!
Note: No meeting at the RSL Club this Wednesday morning. Instead, this week we have a joint meeting on Thursday evening with Gold Coast Rotary Club. DGE Darrell Brown will be the main presenter, outlining his vision of his upcoming year 2017 - 18, with primary focus on his District Conference in 2018.
So you want to start a successful franchise organization... And the people whom you want to attract to your franchise model are told that they'll have to work without pay. And you tell them that they will have to work with materials that other people would consign to landfill. Yeah Right. If you are a conventional business person, you'd say "No way!!" No way. But Tania Potts is not a conventional business person...
No way? How about establishing franchises in 47 countries, in locations from Margaret River to Minneapolis, from Dandenong to Dunsbury to Denmark, in just a couple of years? Lord Howe Island just coming up. Would you agree a market has been found?
Tania Potts (see picture above, with our Wheelchair Guru Des La Rance), together with her co-founder Jordyn de Boer, kicked off Boomerang Bags 3 years ago. The concept is deceptively simple:
Take fabrics other people don't want (anymore), inclusive stuff like the huge banners which advertise an event hanging off a building. Fulfill a need for people to be active in helping to conserve the environment, recycle perfectly good materials and come up with a product which is not only very useful, but unique. Some 80 Kg of materials come into their Burleigh Heads factory every week, where a volunteer team operating 15 industrial class sewing machines convert them to... bags. Each one is really unique - they recycle advertising banners, coffee bags, jeans. Jeans?? Yes, they also teach young students from Mary Mount High School to design apparel. Result: a truly unique bag - cut off the legs, sew it all up, reuse the some material to make a strap and - Hey Presto! you have a totally unique bag. A lot of the bags are provided to people at no charge, but they also cater for commercial needs such as conferences.
In addition to the volunteers, Tania is involving Correctional Centres (Nunimbah) and is connecting with organizations such as Orange Sky Laundry and Oz Harvest. But Tania urgently needs helpers with "expertise other than sewing". Can you assist in any of the following:
This coming Saturday at 8:00 am in the morning, Channel 11 will broadcast a segment on our wheelchair project on their 'Totally Wild' series. Yes! Just for once you are permitted to watch morning TV! Don't miss our very own TV Stars Daryl Sanderson, Des La Rance, Bob Harrison and the wheelchair volunteers!
Sometimes we might get a feeling of detachment, sort of "yea, another load of wheelchairs going off to some corner in the world, be that Sri Lanka, some African country, Solomon Islands or Vanuatu. But have a look at the photo on the left, sent by Rhonda Fordham - via Chantal Clarke - from West Santo, Vanuatu: This little boy is 12 years old (he looks 8, doesn't he?) and his mother had to carry him everywhere. He suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Whilst he occasionally has control of his upper body, his legs are totally twisted.
Do you think that wheelchair made a difference to him and his parents?You bet! To all the volunteers at The Shed: give yourself a pat on the back!
Des La Rance was at the door, Graeme Isaacson was Chairman and Andy Bell was Sergeant.
We had apologies from Adrian Crowe, Neil Thurlow, Ray Higgs, Chris Thurtell, Simon Brook, Tania Laird and Tony Bird.
Vice President Ian Mayberry welcomed all members and guests Trinity McIntyre (Rosie's lovely daughter on school holidays) and Tania Potts, our Guest Speaker. Ian briefly reported on Tuesday's board meeting. One of the major decisions that, regrettably, had to be taken was to suspend the Vanuatu School Project for the time being. Due to the original major sponsor pulling out, the finances are currently not available.
Gerald East advised that the fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus campaign is all arranged: on Thursday 17th to Saturday 19th November, we'll "rattle the tin" at the Runaway Bay Shopping Centre.
Wheelchair Trust Chairman Daryl Sanderson presented his usual comprehensive report on the happenings at The Shed: The container sent to Sri Lanka has arrived and the wheelchairs are allocated to the local Celebral Palsy Foundation. Important: Wheelchairs will feature on Channel 11 on Saturday 08th October 2016 at 08:00 am. [Yes, you do have permission to watch TV as you are having breakfast this coming Saturday! Ed.] And some 180 wheelchairs are earmarked to go to Jordan. Ed.]
Des La Rance emphasised that, whilst the Vanuatu School has been put on hold, the School for Thailand is very much firing up. It would appear that Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is personally involved to make this happen. It will be on the South East border with Cambodia. Almost all the funds will be provided from their end - we'll donate a container valued at $2,500.
Graeme Isaacson confirmed that he has put his name down for 'Ocsober'. In essence: he won't touch any alcohol for the entire month of October (well, almost all of it, it starts on 4th October), sponsoring Life Education Australia charity of that name. You can sponsor Graeme, or you can join him! Just click on the above link for more details.
Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA)
This has been one of the most successful Youth Programs ever. It is a one week camp is specifically designed to develop leadership and promote personal and professional development. It is for young people aged 19 to 28. Note: Leadership Development - don't hesitate to apply if you feel you have it in you - you don't need to be the proverbial 'Alpha Male' or 'Alpha Woman'. Throughout the week, awardees will participate in numerous exercises involving inspirational speakers, team building and goal setting. Check out their website at this link: http://www.ryla9640.org/. You can download a summary of all of District 9640's Youth Service program:click this link.
Date: 20th to 27th January 2017
Cost $550
Venue: Tyalgum Ridge Retreat
Chair: Peter Clarke
0401 754 411
pjsclarke@bigpond.com
Graeme Isaacson, what was that? One whole month off drinks?? Guess whose birthday it is today: Mark Twyford! Congratulations! And guess who kept her birthday very quiet a couple of weeks ago? Jo Gorman! Des La Rance, at the door this morning, found that he owned Darrell Brown $10.00 change. He stuffed it down Darrell's shirt front. We had to physically restrain Darrell from taking his shirt off, just to retrieve his $10.00 bill... Mario Fairlie would be the most generous person known. At the recent board meeting, he turned up with a bottle of wine to contribute to the pool. This is the same Mario who is well known for having donated numerous bottles of Grange Hermitage for raffles and charity auctions. "I don't want it", said Mario. No wonder! it was horrible!... Doug Lipp went fishing. Guess how many fish he and his mates caught? 901 - or around 155 each member of the party.... Gerald East claims he is not the shortest. Well, how about the roundest? Ian Mayberry, welcome back! Richard Smith recently had his answers to 33 Questions published. Where ordinary people play golf, football or similar mundane stuff, Richard lists his passion as... Airplane Racing! Finally, Al Sirovs was fined for being the type of person that is simply impossible to fine for anything...
Considering their impact, you might expect mosquitoes to get more attention than they do. Sharks kill fewer than a dozen people every year, and in the U.S. they get a week dedicated to them on TV every year.
Bill Gates, speaking on his commitment of $US 500 Million to achieve the eradication of Malaria.
... and in celebration of the Bulldogs winning on Sunday: sorry, very rude, but I couldn't resist it!
So you want to start a successful franchise organization... And the people whom you want to attract to your franchise model are told that they'll have to work without pay. And you tell them that they will have to work with materials that other people would consign to landfill. Yeah Right. If you are a conventional business person, you'd say "No way!!" No way. But Tania Potts is not a conventional business person...
Sometimes we might get a feeling of detachment, sort of "yea, another.gif)
Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA)
