With Gold Coast airport closed and Brisbane with just one runway, President Paul has been stuck at Townsville Airport for most of the day, finding one flight after another getting canceled... I write this message on his behalf.
At last Thursday’s board meeting, Mario Fairlie provided us with a detailed outline of the status of the Mauna Health Centre project, our joint project with the Rotary clubs of Broadbeach and Gold Coast. In essence: the project is very much alive and kicking! Stage 2 – purchase of equipment is under way. Mario presented a detailed budget. In total, over $AUS 77,000 is expected from Rotary International Grant money, and our clubs are to raise $17,500. In addition, we need to raise the funds for the shipping cost. It is also worth mentioning that our local Federal Member of Parliament, Angie Bell (she’ll be speaking at Surfers Sunrise in two weeks time) and Senator Zed Seselja have been instrumental to help us make arrangements for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vanuatu government. We’ll invite Mario to give us a full presentation at one of our meetings in the near future.
Board meeting minutes will be published on our website shortly, which can be accessed by all members (you need to log in - if you don't have one, please let me know).
Do you know any potential guest speakers? I’m looking for speakers for meetings from mid April onwards. Please contact me directly so I can make contact and allocate a slot.
We hope that the massive rainfalls we had in the past couple of weeks have not caused any serious damage at your place. Please stay safe - remember: if it's flooded, forget it.
Ashleigh is one of our Corporate Members representing Wilsons Advisory where she works with Charles Thomasson at the local branch of this major company specialising in... financial advice, of course! (She is also our club's most prominent famous personality - see picture from last Saturday's Gold Coast Bulletin ☺),
She will briefly introduce herself and then talk about one of her passions. (Or perhaps about her professional forte, Private Wealth Advisory?)
Treasurer Doug Lipp advises that there are still a number ofhalf-yearly dues outstanding; they are overdue now. Thank you to all who have paid. If you haven't yet: We'll have the Square Reader terminal at this Wednesday's meeting, so you can pay by credit/debit card.
This is an annual fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation - HOTA will donate $10.00 of your ticket! (That means, in essence, you get to see the movie for ten bucks, and you donate ten bucks to the most efficient major charity in the world, The Rotary Foundation). And with one of my most favorite stars, Helen Mirren, starring in the lead...
Last Friday's Bunnings Sausage Sizzle was very successful, despite the rainy weather. (I wonder how many people, particularly men, go for a good ol' shopping therapy session when the weather is inclement? And those same people are, of course, our very target market! ☺) Picture shows the last shift of the day: Anne O'Connor (foreground), Neil Thurlow, Doug Lipp and Andy Bell. Other helpers on the rosters were Brian Pearson, Uwe Seifert (RC of Broadbeach), Mitch Brown, Paul O'Neill, former member Richard Smith and wife Sue, Al Sirovs, Ross Augustine. Special thanks to organisers Geoff Croad and Angus "Onion King" Miller who organised and delivered the sausages, bread and onions, chopped according to Angus' secret cutting method... ☺
This year's event is going to be a real country affair, it's in Tenterfield! Go to the Expo Website https://rotary9640.org/page/district-conference and check out what's happening. There you find the program, a brief summary of all the Keynote Speakers, and of course, you can register. But of course, one of the big attractions of attending a conference is always the deep feeling of Rotary Fellowship. Being in the country, formalities will be kept to a minimum. There is a lot more to a District Conference than Keynote Speakers and Rotary business. There is lots of social interaction:
Friday morning is the District Governor's Golf Challenge
Friday night is the Welcome Dinner - held at the historical Tenterfield Railway Station
Saturday night is a Dinner Dance (and yes, you can drink; they have organised bus pick up to/from your accommodation place)
Sunday morning are two styles of breakfast: one the Champagne Breakfast up near Bald Rock (image right), the other at the Historic Walk with PDG Harry Bolton
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
Ashleigh is one of our Corporate Members representing Wilsons Advisory where she works with Charles Thomasson at the local branch of this major company specialising in... financial advice, of course! 
Treasurer Doug Lipp advises that there are still a number of half-yearly dues outstanding; they are overdue now. Thank you to all who have paid. If you haven't yet: We'll have the Square Reader terminal at this Wednesday's meeting, so you can pay by credit/debit card.
Wednesday, 16th March 2022, 7:00 pm
This year's event is going to be a real country affair, it's in Tenterfield! Go to the Expo Website 
