Greetings, fellow members, associate members and friends of Surfers Sunrise Rotary,
A big thank you this week goes to Grand Motors Toyota for their generous donation. Our Certificate of Appreciation was presented by Charles Thomassone to Katherine Unwin, whose husband Tim Unwin is the Dealer Principal of this company. [Full article to be published soon. Ed.]
Last Wednesday our new Rotary Exchange Student, Annabelle Worboys, together with her father Jeff, introduced themselves. We wish Annabelle our good wishes and success. Our quest speaker, Federal MP for Moncrieff Angie Bell, herself was a Rotary Exchange Student (see article below). Thank you Angie.
Key dates to remember this month
A joint board meeting of the current and incoming board for 2026/27 has been called for next Tuesday 2 June at TRYP at 08:00 am
Our District Changeover will be held on 28th June 2026 at 11.30am Currumbin RSL and I encourage members to celebrate the day
We have another Bunnings BBQ on 27th June 2026. Ross will forward roster list
Our club's Changeover Luncheon this year will be at TRYP on the 12 July 2026, details and booking via Trybooking to follow
Surfers’ Sunrise Golf Day will be held this year on 26th October 2026 at Surfers Paradise Golf Club. Brochures are now available in the Download Section for any member and guests looking to play on the day or provide sponsorship
This coming Wednesday 27th May will be a social meeting at the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club. Come along for a cuppa and/or breakfast. If the weather is nice we might sit outside, (otherwise on the ground floor, at the northern end). Lots of good banter and laughter, and - believe it - sometimes there are more club related matters discussed and solutions determined than on a formal meeting!
Last Wednesday, Angie Bell MP, Federal Member for Moncrieff and Shadow Minister for the Environment, Shadow Minister for Youth, and Shadow Minister for the Arts (yes, ask her what she does in her spare time... ☺), honoured our club with her visit to Surfers Sunrise Rotary. And, with her usual aplomb, she carried the room. Over the years, Angie has been instrumental in facilitating our club's projects, including liaising with relevant government authorities in Vanuatu for the X-Ray Unit at Mauna Health Centre our club built on Pentecost Island.
Did you know that, at age 17, she was a Rotary Youth Exchange Student to Denmark? There was no doubt in her enthusiasm for the YE project and how much of a difference that made for her! It set her on course. One of the "cherries on the pie": Just imagine: welcoming Danish Royalty, accompanied by a large number of "heavy lifters" from that EU nation, and greeting the visitors in their own language. And what was the theme of her speech? As one would expect, she forcefully advocated the policies and views from the Opposition's side of the Treasury benches. However, since Rotary is strictly non-political, forgive me for not elaborating on details.
Photo: Angie with Graeme Isaacson, who gave a very elegant vote of thanks, (left) and President Paul Seymour.
Annabelle and her father Jeff introduced themselves at last Wednesday's meeting of Surfers Sunrise Rotary. She nominated either France, Switzerland or Germany as her preferred destinations. As our guest speaker was no other than the Gold Coast's most famous Rotary Exchange alumna, Shadow Minister Angie Bell MP (to Denmark, at age 17), Annabelle couldn't have picked a better day!
Ah.... to be at an age to qualify for a Rotary Youth Exchange...!
"MUNA? What's that?" I hear you ask. It stands for Model United Nations Assembly, an annual event that is held in various Rotary Districts throughout Australia. It will be held at the Tweed Heads Civic Centre on Saturday, 30th May 2026.
As the name suggests, it is meant to simulate a United Nations Assembly, but with one big difference: Three year 11-12 students that make up each nation's team do come up with solutions that make sense and (wish it were real) could well produce results were they deployed in "real time". The teams debate selected resolutions from each country’s perspective in a simulated United Nations Assembly. The debates reproduce genuine UN debates, often with a fine flow of rhetoric, points of order, motions of dissent and bloc walkouts! The debates are way better than anything you hear from the real even in New York!
Our club will sponsor Trinity Lutheran College to put up three teams, and I understand that Elizabeth Celi will serve in the capacity of one of the judges. All are welcome to attend - click here for full details.
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
The getaway car has been located. It has an incomplete set of golf clubs in it. Police are still looking for the driver.
“We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”― Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission
In the olden days, horse riders would hang a lantern from their saddle, so they could find the track.
Last Wednesday, Angie Bell MP, Federal Member for Moncrieff and Shadow Minister for the Environment, Shadow Minister for Youth, and Shadow Minister for the Arts 
Annabelle and her father Jeff introduced themselves at last Wednesday's meeting of Surfers Sunrise Rotary. She nominated either France, Switzerland or Germany as her preferred destinations. As our guest speaker was no other than the Gold Coast's most famous Rotary Exchange alumna, Shadow Minister Angie Bell MP (to Denmark, at age 17), Annabelle couldn't have picked a better day!
"MUNA? What's that?" I hear you ask. It stands for Model United Nations Assembly, an annual event that is held in various Rotary Districts throughout Australia. It will be held at the Tweed Heads Civic Centre on Saturday, 30th May 2026. 
