Dear fellow members and friends of Surfers Sunrise,
Everything is easy when you are crazy about it, nothing is easy when you are lazy about it! And as we storm through to the end of the year, things are getting crazy, we got so much coming up there is no time to be lazy. As we roll into the biggest weekend on the Gold Coast calendar, V8 Superstar Chaz Mostert is coming to chat to us... CHAZ MOSTERT!!! Also this weekend we have our sausage sizzle at Southport on Sunday, for those who have snagged a spot on the programme... love ya work... it's going to be a great day (crazy aprons welcome!) For those who missed out, don't worry we also have the Gold Coast Pre-Ramble on Sunday and we need you, your family and friends to help us test this event before the real deal next year. It'll be a bucket load of laughs, check out the FB page for details, download the app... or come and see me! So this weekend, don't make it a lazy one, rather make it a crazy one!!! Happy week to you all!
He is of the quiet sort... Here is a man who has experienced several worlds:
Al was born in Latvia, leaving with his family in 1944 as the Russians advanced to reoccupy Latvia from the Germans. The Sirov’s were displaced persons from 1944 to 1949 when they boarded a ship from Naples to Sydney and spent time in the Bathurst Migrant Camp, before moving to Toowoomba where Al attended school and learnt English. Hear about how Al’s career started by selling records in Music Masters in Brisbane and how he met his wife whilst working at HG Palmers. They went on to have two sons and eventually Al began his own Electronics store before retiring in 2000.
Download Al's answers to 33 Questions in the download section on the right!
Some guest speakers are definitely worth having double the members attending. So we did double our numbers... Hope Island Rotary Club joined us, introducing their youngest Rotary Disciple Riley (Clinton & Amy Ford 's 6 months old daughter). And if ever somebody tells me that Rugby players have trouble stringing a sensible sentence together, I'll send them Mat Roger's way! What a refreshingly smooth, eloquent and humorous presentation!
Mat, a former star Wallaby and Gold Coast Titans player, is manager of Volunteer Engagement for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. "Rio has 65,000 volunteers", Mat exclaimed, "but Rio has a population of 6.3 Million. The Gold Coast, with a population of just 600,000, needs 15,000 volunteers". This is the first time that such a major event has been held at a regional town. And whilst they will receive applications literally from all over the world, preference will be given to locals, for a number of reasons, not least being that it is expected that availability of accommodation will be scarce.
But why would you want to volunteer? "There is no doubt that the volunteers are a crucial part of such an event", Mat said. "They made a lasting impact on the Sydney Olympic Games, as has been attested time and again. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You are the "face of the games", you will meet lots of interesting people, you'll be part of the biggest event in Australia in 10 years, you'll become an Ambassador for the Games."
So what are the pre-conditions? Not much other than what makes perfect sense: Be available from 4 - 15th April 2018 for a minimum of 10 days, 8 hours per day, as well as for 3 - 4 days of training. You'll need to pass a background and Police Check, be friendly and cheerful, flexible, have a 'can do' attitude, dedicated, resilient, motivated (anyone got a thesaurus? ☺) There is a well laid-out website specifically dealing with the volunteering of the games, where you can register your interest as well as research an exhaustive list of Frequently Asked Questions: https://gc2018.com/take-part/volunteering
What is the timeline? Applications open in February 2017 - they expect about 40,000. Interviews will be conducted in the Q2 of 2017 with about 25,000 expected, in Q3 the offers will go out, in Q4 there will be 'role specific' training and in Q1 of 2018 will be 'venue specific' training. You can email Mat, either at mat.rogers@goldoc.com or volunteer@goldoc.com.
Al Sirov sent me this photo from last Saturday's celebration at The Shed: Wheelchair Trust Chairman Daryl Sanderson was presented with a birthday cake by his daughter and granddaughter. [Not sure if just five candles on the cake are an adequate representation though... ☺]
Gerald East was at the door, Paul Seymour was Chairman and Andy Bell was Sergeant.
We had apologies from Tony Bird, Angus Miller, Chris Thurtell and Fred Hamblen.
This was a joint meeting with the Hope Island Rotary Club, and President Simon Brook welcomed all members of both clubs, as well as our guests former Councillor Margaret Grummitt, Rosie McIntyre (guest of Andy Bell), Sue Smith and Helen Morgan (the better halves of Richard Smith and Peter Morgan respectively), and of course our Guest Speaker, Mat Rogers. Simon reminded us that on 24th August we'll meet at The Shed.
Hope Island President Gareth Hunt returned the greetings and invited us to participate in their Charity Golf Day on 16th September, to be held at the Links, Hope Island.
To provide our Guest Speaker with the maximum amount of time, Director's reports were suspended. However, it was important for Mario Fairlie to give us an update on the status of the School for Vanuatu. Talking about chasing paperwork... Signatures have been obtained in 8 days! Memorandum of Understanding between the Dept of Education of Vanuatu and Rotary - via Sydney. We'll be looking for gifts in kind - a list will be published shortly.
President Simon Brook was reminded yet again, for the umpteenth time, about his omission of the Sergeant (and Membership Director) Andy when introducing his new board. [Perhaps it would be best if Simon was to start negotiations with the Sergeant about a bulk fine covering the remainder of the year? Ed.]Gerald East, poor man, all by himself... Mitch Brown is again channeling The Hobbit.. Mario Fairlie: health report? "Cracked ribs are on the mend..", Bob Harrison, the nicest guy ever, what can I possibly fine you for? Tania Laird, our "first lady": came in late! ["I had to talk to the tomatoes as I was leaving the house, she said...]Peter Morgan confirmed that both his knees are coming along just fine... Daryl Sanderson, no need to be upset just because you missed out on your usually thorough report today! Paul Seymour's daughter is competing at Rio in Dressage. But... she is competing for South Africa! And our guest speake Mat Rogers was not exempt: apparently he spoke to a Maori once, now he qualifies as a New Zealander...
If you are not involved in it "at the deep end", you would not be aware of the amount of work that goes into pushing through the paperwork to get approval for a major Rotary project grant... And rightly so, Rotary is one of the very few organizations where you can totally depend on your donation ending up at the coal face, not as an inducement or even a bribe. Mario Fairlie has done an incredible amount of paddling under the surface to assiduously collect signatures for the Vanuatu School project (see website and last week's bulletin) from all over. It is my understanding that we have now got the lot, and thus it is quite certain it will all proceed as planned. Below is Des La Rance's 3D rendering of his design: coming out of the container, how it is stacked up inside the container, and how it looks like when fully assembled.
Shall we then judge a country by the majority, or by the minority? By the minority, surely. ‘Tis pedantry to estimate nations by the Census, or by square miles of land, or other than by their importance to the mind of the time.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life
When your computer tells you to type something to prove that you are human, and then you get it wrong: Isn't that already proof that you are human ?
He is of the quiet sort... Here is a man who has experienced several worlds:
Some guest speakers are definitely worth having double the members attending. So we did double our numbers... Hope Island Rotary Club joined us, introducing their youngest Rotary Disciple Riley (Clinton & Amy Ford 's 6 months old daughter). And if ever somebody tells me that Rugby players have trouble stringing a sensible sentence together, I'll send them Mat Roger's way! What a refreshingly smooth, eloquent and humorous presentation!
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President Simon Brook was reminded yet again, for the umpteenth time, about his omission of the Sergeant (and Membership Director) Andy when introducing his new board..jpg)
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