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We were fortunate to once again have Dr Grant Bell, the Anglican minister from St John's in Wagga, address our meeting with a Christmas message. Grant was advised by James Hamilton that it should be short and "not too religious" . Grant acceded to that request and delivered an outstanding speech about the similarities between the work of the Church and that of Rotary. Having been a Rotarian at Glen Innes in an early posting, Grant said that he researched the history of Rotary and had a substantial knowledge of Paul Harris. The message was for each of us to work out what the spirit of Christmas meant. It meant different things to different people but, as Jesus said " it is more blessed to give than receive" The great difficulty for Grant was to work out what we give to friends and family who seem to have everything. If this is confusing then you can buy Dad another shirt as you did last year or Mum similar perfume or maybe adopt pragmatic approach buying something for your self, like a lawn mower for your wife, however, Grant's wife did tell him last week that she wanted a Ryobi leaf blower. That sat pretty well with Grant. Grant enjoyed the fellowship of Rotary but was determined to adopt the philosophy of Rotary as it married in with his Christian belief. He was impressed with the history of Paul Harris who was man of substantial faith. He delivered the very important message from Paul Harris who said " we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that, through his poverty, you might become rich. We need to provide for others and many other core values of giving. | |
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Mark Hillis was our speaker on Tuesday Dec 1st, and he took us back on a history trip reviewing 50 years of the Australian auto industry. In the 1970’s an average car was about $2200. Servicing was every 5,000 miles, plugs points, air filter, oil filter and oil. Australian manufacturing was highest in the 1970 with nearly 500,000 (10th in the world.) In 1975, the average car cost $4,300 and it took 49 weeks salary to buy that car. The average annual income in 1975 was $7600, in 1998 $48,412 and 2020 $89,000. ![]() 50 years selling cars was easy. Cars were status symbols. The top 2 were Ford and Holden. Men did the buying. Marketing was a simple theme. All male dominated. The key selling tools were horsepower and style. Hatch backs in the 80’s were all the rage. Women became the frontline shoppers. Many borrowed on their home loans to pay cash at the car dealerships. The idea was to own your car, and you’ve got it made…cash only. The banks loved it. People would sell the car in 2 years but continue to pay that car off over 25 years. At this stage the Button plan was introduced with the focus on reducing numbers built in Australia from 13 to 6 and providing Japanese and American companies with the ability to re Badge their products. European models were making their mark in Australia. Over the next decade we stopped buying large sedans and stopped building the models that sell. 4WD’s became all the go with dual cab utes replacing the family car and were all made in Thailand. Then women discovered they loved the 4WD’s and we took the male curse off and began to call them SUV’s. The last Falcon sedans were selling 2 a month at Hillis Ford. Parts and Service departments changed. Australian manufacturing could not survive. ![]() The future for Car Dealerships is less dealers, less brands, less parts and service, less finance. Today 50 brands, 1 major brand Toyota. Everyone else under 10%. The good news is that Chinese have not dominated. Challenges are: with electrical autos, fuel taxes contribute $10 billion in revenue. Its falling from 44% of motoring revenue to 39% 5 years ago due to efficiencies. Long distances in Australia make it difficult for electric cars. We all have tow bars and haul caravans. Food is moved by road not rail. Where is the power source for electric cars coming from? Mark Twain Quote: “The only constant in life …. Is change itself.” Mark was given a vote of thanks by President James. |
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Three major climate drivers affecting the climate of SE Australia
Is this shift in GSR (Growing Season Rainfall) climate change?
Summer rainfall appears un-affected? He included in his presentation a summary of projections from the Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning 2019 (DELWP). Victoria's Climate Science Report 2019 brings together the latest climate change science knowledge gained from the Victorian Government's ongoing investment in climate science, the Victorian Climate Projections 2019. |
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There were a number of questions throughout Dr Eberbach's talk as the subject is of concern to all. President James presented Dr Eberbach with a gift from the club and gave a vote of thanks on behalf of all the members. |
Our Guest speaker today was former Wollundry Rotarian James McTavish, currently NSW Cross Border Commissioner. James was one of the Armies youngest Lieutenant Colonel’s stationed at Kapooka.
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James McTavish was appointed NSW Cross Border Commissioner in July 2014 and as the NSW Regional Town Water Supply Coordinator in January 2019. He has been working in this dual role to advocate for border communities and address cross-border anomalies as well as to ensure every regional town in NSW has safe, clean drinking water. | |
James informed members that $250 million worth of infrastructure water projects were in process in various types of work such as bores, dam refurbishment and the like. In addition, regional water facilities were being supported with additional funding in the firm knowledge that the drought will be back and the long range impact of climate change will require new and innovative approaches to deal with the problem. James noted that the border closures had the single most dramatic impact on border communities in the areas of employment, shopping, culture, health and many other areas. At the peak of the problem, his office was receiving 500 communications a day on the subject. He suggested that we needed to see ourselves as Australians and not Victorians or New South Welchmen. We only have Australian passports. President James gave James a vote of thanks. |
![]() Tuesday was another very successful Hat day for Australian Rotary Health. Everyone attending wore some form of head attire and some were truly exceptional. The day brought in $200 and everyone, especially John Egan, the co-ordinator of Hat day, had a good time. Our winners are pictured below. |
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Tim Hutchings took First place and all the prizes |
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Ward Gaiter was wearing the crown jewels |
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Rick Priest was the Blooming Florist for the day |
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Our guest at Tuesday's meeting was District Governor Michael Moore. Michael visited our club using Zoom video conferencing and gave a 20 minute presentation on the coming together of District 9700 and District 9710 . Both districts have a long history and at one time were one district. Michael displayed the regalia that both districts have used for years and the new colour that will be used for District 9705 governors. He was well prepared with slides about Wollundry and a thank you to those members in Wollundry who work at district positions. A video copy of Michael's presentation is available by clicking here or on Michaels photograph. |
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What a great meeting. 36 members in attendance and everything went rather smoothly. Zoom meetings are easy to organize and easy to attend. |
Fellows: This bulletin has two videos within it. One is in the Prime TV story and the other in the story of David Benns ANZAC family photos. To view the videos you may have to go to the top of the bulletin and click ... Having trouble viewing this email...... |
The 2019-2020 Presidents of all the Rotary clubs in Wagga, along with Assistant Governor Elain Almond, have joined together this year to form a cohesive group holding monthly meetings and establishing a variety of valuable community projects. |
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One such project is the Wagga Service Clubs website. The new website is dedicated to providing a centralised information hub for the various Wagga service clubs and the general public. It also assists with the problem clubs have in scheduling their club events so that they don’t conflict with other local clubs events. Each club enters their calendar events as soon as they are determined, and effectively “claiming the date”. The site not only provides the community with service clubs events calendars, but it compiles a listing of all the service clubs major fundraising events, meeting schedules and a carousel of photos of cities Rotary Club Presidents. In addition to the 7 Rotary/Rotaract clubs in Wagga, the site also included contact details for the local Apex and Lions clubs. |
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James Ross Welcome to Wollundry Rotary Postal Address: PO Box 229 Wagga Wagga 2650 Email address: secretary@wollundryrotary.org.au Wollundry Rotary is home to the Saturday Markets, the Wagga Food and Wine Festival and the Gears and Beers Festival. |