(Please arrange a swap if you are not
able to carry out your duties)
Sat 13th August 2016
OIC Paul Milde, Greg Conkey,James Hamilton,John Hawkins,John Ireland,Nick Lewwood,Tim Macgillycuddy,Paul Murray,Josh Walsh,Rick Priest,James Ross, Darren Wallace,Bob Willis.
Sat 10 th Sept 2016
OIC Pat Ingram, Tim Barter, David Benn,David Byfield,Peter Crozier,Michael Eldridge,Michael Knight,Peter Mackinnon,Steve McCoy,Phillip McIntosh,Kerry Pascoe, Jonty Shuter,John Smith.
Sat 8th October 2016
OIC Geoff Breust, Daniel Burns,Hugh Campbell,Doug Conkey,Michael Georgiou,Gerry Gerlach,Jim Gibson,John Ireland,John Mason,Wal Paton,Neil Pinto,Ken Taylor
I have received information from Rotary Foundation headed Foundation Facts. They are titled "Did you know". The report states " It is intended that these facts be distributed to your Clubs so that there can be a weekly fact on the Foundation that the members can learn." I will therefore ask our bulletin editors to include a fact a week for members to read and learn. You could be fined by the Sergeant if you fail to comply.
So, the first one for this week is:
"Did you know that your personal contributions increase your PHF (Paul Harris Fellow) recognition amount to the same value AND give you PHF points at the rate of one point per dollar which can be transferred to create a new PHF or PHF level."
Birdsville Races
President Geoff noted that 13 aircraft going to Birdsville Races in September and there are seats available. If anyone is interested, please talk to Peter Clucas or any other pilots.
Lucky members draw
Lucky members draw was won by Belinda Wagner.
Visitors, Guests
and Apologies
Visitors: Belinda and Steve Wagner
Club Guests :Nelly Shephard, Willis Cheng, Andrew Hamilton
Apologies: Laurie Blowes, Graham Burmeister, Col Duff, John Egan, John Ferguson, John Flynn, James Hamilton, David Foster, David Pyke, David Hodge, John Ireland, Andrew Irvine, Steve McCoy, Phil MacIntosh, Rob Nicholson, Jeremy Riethmuller, James Ross, John Smith, Doug Sutton and John Mason
Geoff Hamilton introduced our guest speaker of the day, his cousin Andrew Hamilton. He noted that they grew up together on neighbouring farms and while Geoff could build a few things … Andrew went on to build himself an airplane. Geoff said that Andrew was here to speak to the club about an outback air race that he and Fiona participated in as a fundraiser for the Flying Doctor's Service.
Andrew started his talk noting that the club was pretty hard up for speakers, but he would be glad to help out his cousin. Andrew told members that listening to Exchange students brought back memories of his time as a Rotary GSE team member with Simon Terry and Michael McCormack in 1992.
He gave members a history of how he built a kit plane. He noted at the time, sales of kits planes were out numbering manufactured planes by a factor of 15 to 1. It took Andrew five years to complete the construction of the plane.
After building the plane, he found he was not using it as much as he hoped and came across a Outback Air Race to raise money for the Flying Doctor's Service. The minimum amount required for participants to raise was $2000 per person so he and his wife had to raise $4000. On the first trip he and his wife raised $20,000 and there were 18 planes entered. The total amount raised was three hundred thousand dollars. The race is held every three years due to the amount of planning involved.
In his second trip, Andrew was exploring places he could visit between the starting point in Esperance and the finish at Hamilton Island. He found Davenport Downs Station … the largest cattle property in Queensland and it was owned by Paraway. He was familiar with Paraway since he had been using their breed stock on his own farm.
He contacted the local Paraway manager in the Riverina and asked if he could stop in at Davenport Downs during the race for a visit. The manager agreed to arranged the visit. It turned out that all of the entrants of the race visited the site and Paraway and their owners, Maquirie Bank came to become sponsors of the race...to the tune of $50,000, which grew to a total of $165,000 in donations from affiliated companies. In total, the last race brought in over six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) for the Flying Doctor's Service.
I thought it appropriate we commence this week's meeting with a short silence in recognition of all the people killed in mass murders around the world. Regrettably it appears these terrible events are more prevalent this year and our hearts and prayers go out to all those who have lost loved ones.
The efforts of Phil McIntosh and Tim Barter in seeking funding assistance from the Wagga Wagga City Council have paid off in spades with a grant of $20,000 approved by Council this week to assist with the promotion and marketing of the Gears and Beers festival in October. The marketing will be conducted in the metropolitan areas - Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in particular. Last year Gears and Beers had 760 entrants with some 3 -3,500 attending the festival and this year it is expected entrants will grow to some 1,200 riders and over 4,000 at the festival. Well done to Phil and Tim and all members involved in the Committee and the event. last year some 115 volunteers were involved in hosting the rides and the festival.
A very special welcome to Willis Cheng our exchange student from Taiwan. Willis received an enthusiastic greeting from his host family and Wollundry members when he flew in last Thursday. He commented that it had been the longest flight of his life and he was very tired. No doubt Willis will have a great time in Wagga Wagga and Australia and will engage in a wide range of activities - the first may well be skiing and I'm sure he will have the opportunity to go flying with Wollundry members.
I'm lucky that my ascendance to this job has been facilitated by 2 Fellowship meetings in a row without a market so I am getting in the swing of it. PLEASE all Directors or Committee Chairmen ensure you can upload your report to the proper place in Club Runner. If you dont know how speak to me or Paul Murray NOW to get a lesson.
My thought for the week was " A never failing way to get rid of someone is to tell them something for their own good".
Please pay your fees asap as we seem to be a little cash flow poor, and please also ensure you are being pro-active in all your club committees and other club roles and activities. It is most rewarding and good for club morale.
At the beginning of the meeting President Geoff announced a grant of $20,000 from the City Council to the Gears and Beers Festival. Tim Barter was doing an interview with WIN TV at the time and would give the members more details later in the meeting.
President Geoff Breust presented Past President Geoff Hamilton with the President's CD holding all of the bulletins for his year.
Rotary Information
Greg Conkey came to the podium to talk about Rotary Information and the subject was money. He noted that last year both Rotary International and Rotary Foundation Investments lost approximately five millon dollars each.
He went on to state that, in spite of the losses, Rotary International's investment values were 128. 5 million and Rotary Foundation was 946 million.
Wollundry Rotary has donated over one million dollars in the last 7 to 8 years.
Sergeant's Session
David Benn was the Sargeant and he started out passing out a fine from former Secretary Laurie Blowes who is vacationing in Queensland. Laurie said because “he has to be in Queensland and not in Wagga, then everyone else has to pay a fine.”
Bob Willis carried the box for a lunching Dave Wishart. He fined the Councillors Pascoe and Conkey because there are no lights along Lake Albert. He fined Kerry Pascoe again for attending Rotary two weeks in a row suggesting there may be an upcoming election. He fined all of the cyclists and then proceeded to tell a story of friends in his back of Bourke days.
He promised a "heads and tails" next week with a prize of bottle of olive oil.
Nelly Shepherd - Our next Outbound Exchange Student
Mark Hillis introduced to the club our next outgoing Exchange Student, Nelly Shepherd, who will be travelling to Sweden. Mark noted she was an outstanding candidate who had “exchange student” written all over her.
Nelly came to the microphone and said she lives in Wagga and has taken a job at Foodworks to help pay for her trip. She hoped to gain an insight into the culture of the Swedish people and especially their food. She plans to bring back recipes to try out on her family. She thanked Wollundry Rotary for supporting her exchange.
Willis Cheng - Our new Inbound Exchange Student
Darren Wallace introduced Willis Cheng from Taiwan … our newest inbound Exchange Student. Darren invited all Wollundry members making Willis's stay in Wagga an eventful experience by inviting him along whenever they are travelling.
Willis came to the podium and greeted everyone. He spoke in a quiet voice and said he is very happy to be here.
Forrest Centre Movie Night
Doug Conkey came to the podium and noted that he was wearing his hat as a member of the board of the Forrest Centre, and his plan was to flog tickets to a fund-raiser movie night on the 18th of August.
He said that the Forrest Centre Board is trying to raise 5 million dollars for a ten bed pallative care unit. They have a variety of events that they are planning. The movie night will be showing “The Free State of Jones” which is a true story during the American Civil war.
Anyone interested, please contact Doug Conkey.
Grant of $20,000 from City Council
Tim Barter came to the podium for an update on Gears and Beers. He re-announced the Wagga Wagga City Council grant of $20,000.
He noted that Phil McIntosh had put a lot of work into applying for this grant. He said that we should all be aware of the importance of Council partnering with us to, not just to support the Gears and Beers, but to grow it and bring in outside entrants to the event.
The 20,000 will be used to market the event in the Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra metropolitan areas. The long range objective of the committee is turn this event into a three day event. He encouraged members to give council the recognition they deserve for their strong support of the Gears and Bears festival.
Doug Conkey came to the podium and noted that he was wearing his hat as a member of the board of the Forrest Centre, and his plan was to flog tickets to a fund-raiser movie night on the 18th of August. 
They have a variety of events that they are planning. The movie night will be showing “The Free State of Jones” which is a true story during the American Civil war. 
