 President Paul handed over the reins to incoming President James Hamilton at a top night. Past President Paul outlined the work that he and the club had achieved through the year and made special mention of the great successes. All in all there was $178000 donated which shows just how important Rotary is to the community. His full report will appear soon on the website. PP Paul thanked his Board for their untiring work, and made special mention of Laurie Blowes (Food and Wine Festival), Phil Macintosh (Gears and Beers) and John Smith (Markets) | ||
  Our special guest was PDE Bruce Barber who responded to the Toast to RI. He was accompanied by his wife and E Club member Ruth. David Benn entertained us with his rendition of poetry. He read a sobering work from a contributor to a website he frequents which spoke of the battle some fight with mental health, and then lightened it up with the painful story of a man and his plastic chair! Both were very well received and brought tears to the eyes in more ways than one. | ||
 Another highlight of the night was the presentation to former member Craig Couzens and his wife Maggie for their gift over time of $10,000 to Australian Rotary Health. They were made Gold Companions and recognised as the longest continuous contributors to Australian Rotary Health in the whole of Australia..
 Attendance was another item. Paul Milde, David Benn, David Pyke, James Ross, James Hamilton, Neil Pinto , Michael Georgiou and David Byfield all had full attendances recorded.. David is 100% for every year of his membership. He was inducted to Wollundry on the very first Changeover. | ||
 Last night Phil Burgess became the second person inducted at a Wollundry Changeover. Congratulations to all and a warm welcome to Phil. PP Paul handed out Certificates of Appreciation to several hardworking members of the Club. These went to PP Michael Knight, PP Phil Macintosh, John Smith and PP David Byfield. He also recognised the Bulletin Editors, PP Michael Knight, PP Paul Murray, Peter McKinnon , PP Doug Sutton and PP John Egan. Each received a nice bottle of red. All of this was to the background slideshow that Paul Murray set up from his own and collected images. | ||
 President James then took over procedings and thanked PP Paul for his work through the year, then introduced his new Board. This fine body includes: James Ross (Secretary) ,Aidrian Whiting (Treasurer), David Byfield (Service Proj) Neil Pinto (Youth), Peter Green (Admin), Col Duff (Public Relations),and John Ferguson (Foundation). Paul Milde is Past President, and David Pyke is incoming President. It should be another top year with this balanced management crew. | ||
 It was a very good night with plenty of fellowship and friendship, as Rotary should be. Chairman PP John Gray did an excellent job. |
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Our Guest Speaker Peter Crozier with Di Hutchings, wife Gail and Tim Hutchings.
Being one of our own Peter or Croz needed no introduction and he launched straight into his talk on Antarctica.
M S Expedition 130 passengers and 59 crew
Antarctica is about twice the size of the United States. It has an average depth of ice covering of 1500metres. On leaving, there was a severe depression with 100 + gale force winds so we spent the night anchored in the Beagle Channel before exposing the ship to the two day trip across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula
-only 50people allowed on the 1st stop being the South Shetland Islands on the Antarctic Peninsula
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13 Zodiacs carrying 10 persons and 8 Kayaks
Two trips a day onto the Peninsula and the mainland of Antarctica. None of the cruise ships go into the Antarctic Circle.
Before you go onto the Antarctic land, you must disinfect your boots which are issued by the crew. Each time that you return to the ship, you must scrub your boots and wash them in disinfectant and have them checked by the crew for cleanliness.
On our first landing, we were welcomed by a lone Adelie penguin. But there were a few more.
Besides the Adelie penguins, there are Macaroni penguins (yellow tufts), gentoo and the chin strap penguins. There are no Emperor or King penguins on the Peninsula as they are on the mainland nearer the Ross Ice shelf or on South Georgia islands
The water settled down as we passed between islands and alongside icebergs which have fabulous blue colours. The strips are caused by oxygen trapped in the berg.
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This just gives you an idea of a small berg. The iceberg that broke off the Weddel Sea on the east side of the Peninsula about seven years ago was 200 kms long.
There is one active volcano on the Antarctic mainland (mount Erebus) and we got the chance to walk up to the top of the cinder cone of the active volcano at Deception island entering through Neptune’s Bellows into the caldera.
Everyone was given the chance of diving into the 1 degree water. I must have been underwater when this shot was taken!
There are many stations on the Peninsula occupied by Russia, Chile, Germany, India and Argentina. Although there are certain areas of the Antarctic claimed by seven countries, there are about 30countries who have signed the Antarctic Treaty. There are 45 year round stations . the Treaty states that Antarctica is dedicated to peace and research only. There are no national borders and any country can utilise any part of Antarctica they wish. All up, the population in summertime is about 4000 and there are about 20 airstrips. The station that we went to is Brown Station built by Argentina ( and the inhabitants of the penguin colony). Note the white lines of guano from the penguins so don’t stand behind them.
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You will notice the quite extensive rocky areas around the coast line due in part to the ice melt currently occurring. In winter, the size of Antarctica and surrounding sea ice doubles from that in summer. There are lichens and mosses that exist on the rock in some parts.
Yes, there are seals particularly leopard seals and crab eater that love dining on the baby penguins when they take their first plunge into the ocean.. the sea was quite serene and calm most of the time giving ideal periods of reflection.
The penguins are very friendly as is one of the staff.
The scenery is spectacular and there are many birds to add into the photos
This is to show you that it was not all that cold with the passengers partaking in a BBQ on the stern
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This shot of the seal was too good to miss and I have to acknowledge the photographer on board for this.
There was cloud cover on most days which allowed for even light making photography a joy. There were a number of glaciers delivering their end load directly into the sea creating numerous crevasses as it flowed down the land.
Oh! Many whales that Gail enthused over. Just fantastic. Passengers were given the opportunity to photograph and record the area under the tail fin which is unique to each whale. This is then sent to a website to assist with recording of type and travel movements of these animals around the world. Do you know how large krill are? About six cms and like a prawn. Phytoplankton.
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We come to the end with a few of the birds captured in flight being albatross and shags of many types. I just had to put this one in, dressing up for a black and white theme night with my interpretation of a penguin. There were excellent lectures on the Antarctic Convergence, explanation of the many birds, seals, whales and penguins. Interpretation of what was seen each day and history lectures about the early explorers of Antarctica both before and after dinner were provided by the leader of the expedition and the many, very knowledgeable, mainly Canadian, on shore crew and Zodiac drivers.
Almost the end of the excursion passing Cape Horn.
Hope this stimulates you to consider visiting the cleanest, driest, windiest part of the world, a place of sheer beauty mainly portrayed in black and white, a superb area of the world for research both within the water and for astronomy clarity. May I suggest that you go by ship only as you may not see anything if you fly
President Paul thanked Croz on behalf of the club. Obviously members enjoyed Peter's talk as evidenced by the warm applause.
We opened our meeting by observing a minutes silence for reflection on the death of Hilda Bragg. She was the widow of charter member and Past President Ron Bragg.
Guests were introduced, with a good roll up of different faces.
Paul reported that we had 12 representatives at the District Conference, and we don't know why he was on the defensive, but he claimed that "what happens at conference stays at conference", but Paul was there with Margo - not much scope for playing up!!!!
District awards to Paul Murray and Doug Sutton were announced to the members, and recognised with enthusiastic applause. A presentation on Gears and Beers put together by Paul Murray was provided to the conference, and well received. The Conference next year will be in Griffith, in the year of DGE John Glassford.
The trip away to Jindabyne is getting closer, Mark Hillis and Rob Nicholson need commitment and final numbers.
Our tree planting exercise is now on Sunday June 24, but the venue has changed. New will now plant 1100 trees at the travelling stock reserve at Wallacetown, and after some rain, the ground will be softer and survival of our plantings more likely.
There is positive news on participation in Youth Exchange for 2018/19. We have four host families and await information on the student that we will host. The host families is only the first step - Rotary members that get involved by arranging activities like trips to cities, cultural or sporting activities and holidays spread the load. Congratulations to Darren Wallace for getting the project over the line.
Rick Priest wore the Rotary Information hat, and developed the theme along Rotary Experiences. He related his stories, then threw the tag line to John Gray - a great anecdote about former member Bill Zacharia getting a make up in Athens. Tim Barter had more to add, before Rick warned about makeups at Oxford UK.
Peter Clucas, as Sergeant was on early. He inspected dress standards of John Gray, and found them wanting. Those with Ties paid, and Richard Rossiter was fined for having removed his for the occasion. Doug Conkey came to the Sergeants notice - very slow to balance the Food & Wine Festival books. Richmond supporters paid, especially David Hodge.
Peter is travelling soon, needed travel insurance, and took out a policy that he had only recently become qualified - with Australian Seniors Insurance.
There was a cryptic reference to "how many bottles of wine between Milde and Mozart?" no further reference followed, so we await eagerly for a punchline.
Paul told us that there was an announcement pending about "dinners at Lillier Lodge". If we're cooking, I want to do some curries.
President Paul opened the Anzac Day meeting with a minutes silence, a toast to
the queen and welcome to our guests and returning travellers.
Congratulations to Our President elect for 2019-20 will be David Pyke.
Next weeks meeting is a vocational visit to ERIN EARTH Kildare ave 12.30pm.
Rotary Information - John Hawkins.
John gave us an insight into how volunteers for the Shelter Box program are
chosen. A rigorous 12 month program of training is used to select 20 people
from 350 applicants to assist with the program. Training is intense and covers
operations in the field, media work and liasing with authorities. Shelter Box needs
163 volunteers per year of which 20% are Rotarians.
President Paul Congratulates Claire Lawler on her entering the Miss Wagga Quest.
Claire reminded us that the Rotoract meeting is held on 7th May at CSU and members are welcome to attend and support the new club.
Seargants Session - John Gray
John stood in for Mark Hillis who stood in for Peter Clucas.
BBQ cleaners were fined, along with John Hawkins for scaring everybody away from
volunteering for Shelter Box programs!
Tim MacGillicuddy needs a big hole for recycling stuff China no longer wants!
Congo Global Grant - Doug Sutton
Doug gave us an update on the amazing progress achieved with a Rotary International grant that was supported by our club and partnering Rotary club
in Elvira District DRC.
The funds were used to create and stock a pig raising and fish farming enterprise
that was run by a local group of widows and dependents. The project provided a
stable food supply and a source of income for community.
The ANZAC on the Wall - David Benn
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Gerry Gerlach is the District Conference salesman, keen to take a large delegation of Wollundry members to Leeton for a weekend of taking Rotary to a new level of fervour.
There is one constant with District Conferences, we come back inspired by a great weekend, fired up to spread the word of our achievements and seek out like minded people to share our sense of pride.
Accomodation for Wollundry Rotarians has been reserved, in excess of current requirements, and Gerry must find candidates to use the rooms, or relinquish the bookings. The registrations for conference are being made later and later each year, so we need commitment, early commitment, from our members.
Gerry introduced District Governor George Weston. He outlined the topics that would be emphasised at the conference this year, and Youth programs were dominant. Youth Exchange, Rotaract, RYPEN, and RYLA were all acknowledged.
ABC sports personality Peter Wilkins will be among the speakers, along with the ambassador from Timor Leste, and Brendan Farrell who is the driving force behind the Burrumbuttock Hay run program to help drought affected farmers in Queensland.
The Dinner on Saturday night will be themed, with "Water" as the topic.
There is an "app" on the website to facilitate registration - just look for the red Text.
George pointed out that Conference attendance is paid by the district, and the only cost for those attending is meals and refreshments.
A treat that few anticipated - Franzi was back in town, and Col Duff brought her along to our meeting.
She was here in 2014 / 15, then finished school in Germany, completing year 13.
Franzi will be in Wagga Wagga for ten days, go to the Gold Coast tor 14 days, and then look around New Zealand. When Franzi returns to Germany, she will commence University studies in Social Work starting in October.
Fencing the Food and Wine Festival boundaries used to be just a part of the set up undertaken by members of Wollundry Rotary.As club demographics changed, the need for professionals to fence the site became obvious, and Des Damme jumped at the opportunity to help us out. We do not pay Des for this work, but invite him to nominate a community project to receive comparable value in the form of a donation.
Des and his wife Sally were on hand to see his chosen project receive a cheque for $3000 at todays meeting.
Michael Stanley, and Catherine McDonald are representatives of Football 4 all, and accepted the cheque on behalf of their group. Michael started Football 4 all in 2014 catering for 18 registered players - children with special needs, and in 2017 they had 45 players registered. The football is based on soccer, but rules and offside are very loosely interpreted. To quote Michael, "there are no rules". Football 4 all is now also catering for adults with special needs.
Fundraising has been a challenge in the past - sausage sizzles and raffles, but our cheque will cover the cost of a Sydney trip for the group to play with similar kids, a highlight of the Footy season.
Michael and Catherine thanked Wollundry Rotary, and Des and Sally Damme for this boost to their fundraising.
President Paul thanked Des and Sally for their help with Food and Wine, with special acknowledgment of Sally, and her dexterity with a drill assembling the fences.
President Paul opened the meeting, we sang Grace and Toasted the Queen. There were originally two presentations on the agenda for today, but as Phil Macintosh was away in Sydney with work commitments, we had more time to deal with the wrap up of Food and Wine Festival business.
Some meetings, we don't attract a single visitor, but today we were overrun.
Stanley Palmer came along with Neil McMullen (South Wagga Rotary). Stanley is a member of the Rotary club of Two Rivers, in Wisconsin, which is part of Paul Murray's old stamping ground. Greetings flowed across the room.
Craig Bromley had his dad along as a guest. Scott Carson runs Riverina Ice, and attended todays meeting, perhaps as a prospective member.
Des Damme, who attended with wife, Sally, had constructed and deconstructed the fence at Food and Wine Festival. He was involved in todays program, as were Michael Stanley and Catherine McDonald. A seperate story on this!
But as a complete surprise to most members, and especially the president, our exchange student Franzi Treber from Germany walked in with Col Duff.
All we needed to really make the meeting really special was a District Governor, when, in a flash of Green, in walked George Weston, followed soon after by the mayor. What a team.
We didn't have a sergeant at today's meeting. You could say that their efforts Petered out, after both a Crozier and a Clucas declined to play a role. One ceremonial aspect of the sergeant session was observed. The plate was carried around among the congregation by a priest.
The latest report on Michael Georgiou is that he is in Melbourne for tests, and in his own words, he is "getting along". Michael is a fighter, a tough man and has the support of a great club. We must make sure that he knows it.
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Wollundry Rotary and all the support organisations and volunteers came together again last weekend for another outstanding Food and Wine Festival. Click here for photos. The event has become the premier food and wine weekend for the Riverina/Wagga district and the planning and organising is a major effort. Hundreds of people put in countless hours of work to make the event a success, however no event can achieve this much without people stepping forward to lead the charge. Paul Milde, President of Wollundry Rotary and Laurie Blowes, Chair of the festival have gone above and beyond to make the festival an event that we all can feel proud to be a part of. Congratulations Wollundry and thank you Paul and Laurie. |
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The 40th Anniversary dinner of Wollundry Rotary was a very special evening. The highlight was the presentation of Paul Harris Fellows to Kathy Wallace and Chris Hillis for their outstanding and ongoing work in Cambodia. They were the drivers in several significant construction projects that have involved building a beautiful school which was previously located in a hut in a dump and relocating a village to a new building that was previously located downstream from an abattoir. The ladies confess that the Paul Harris Fellowship award came as a complete surprise to them. The award was certainly well deserved. |
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Kathy Wallace came to the podium to introduce the Guest Speaker and said that with the help of Rotarians a school in Cambodia was opened in June. Kathy was looking for another project and she became aware for “ Days for Girls” . This is a topic that is rarely raised at Wollundry Rotary .. menstruation. Kathy introduced Chapter Director Catherine Harvie who started Days for Girls in Wagga Wagga and their youngest member Georgia Booth.  Days for Girls distributes reusable sanitation kits to third world countries and have just distributed one million kits. Catherine has travelled extensively and young girls ask for disposable pads for menstruation. . Menstration can have horrible impact on young women when mothers do not explain the normalcy of beginning menstuation. Some young women are forced into a hut during their menstrual cycle due to local lack of education. Often girls are forced to stay home from school and to move out of the house or in many cases fear for their health due to lack of education. When Catherine and her team go into a community to distribute the kits they have to meet with the leaders... and they are usually men and there is an educational factor that is achieved in this interaction. The pads are made of new cotton materials, bright colours and if taken care of properly, they will last three years. The cost of the kit is $15. |
Georgia Booth came to the podium. “I am off a station and when I told my Dad that I was volunteering for 'Day for Girls … I was met with silence.”  Now, we communicate openly about the subject as he and my mother are very proud of my involvment. So, I started in my gap year and in 2017 I went with “Day for Girls” on a ten day trip to Nepal. It was then that I discovered that young ladies that are menstruating are made to live with animals and sometimes get bitten by snakes. Georgia will soon go to University and she hopes to continue her work with Day of Girls. She feels lucky to live in Australia where sanitary products are readily available and although we cannot change the culture in other countries .. “Days for Girls” strives to make life easier for women. Their motto is “Every Girl. Every Where. Period.” |
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| David Byfield, Peter Crozier and Catherine Harvie inspecting a kit. |
Paul Milde gave a very sincere vote of Thanks.
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Darren Wallace introduced our guest speaker Steve Barker. Steve is a Pome and joined the Royal Air Force at age 16 and spent 26 years in the service all over the world. He moved to Wagga in 2013 on secondment and fell in love with the city. He resigned from the RAF and started his own personal training business … “I am Enough Coaching”. Steve thanked Wollundry for inviting him back as he had been at the club ten months ago. On his last visit he met Darren and Daniel who invited him to speak at RYPEN. Steve told a story about walking down a road and falling in a hole several times and eventually learning from the experience and learning to choose another road. He helps people to be the best version of themselves. He, then talked about RYPEN. He began his involvement working with young people who had previously attended RYPEN and were chosen to help as leaders for the upcoming RYPEN. He was impressed with the quality of the young people who had completed the weekend in 2016. Steve complimented Darren and Daniel for writing the exceptional leadership course. |
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Moving on to the RYPEN in 2017 … Steve turned up not knowing what to expect. He talked about the common fear everyone has about how they would fit in or be perceived. Once, they realised that they were not alone … they could start relaxing and enjoying the weekend.
RYPEN provided a safe environment … no bigotry... everyone accepted for themselves. After each speaker, there were breakout discussion groups reviewing the talks and everyone could express their opinion. At the end of RYPEN, there were tears and much sharing of Facebook pages,etc. He gave Rotarians credit for raising money to be able to support RYPEN and stop kids going down the rabbit hole.
President Paul thanked Steve for his talk.
Hat Day October 10th at Wollundry Rotary in Wagga Wagga. Over $200 was donated by members with the club matching it totaling just under $500 going to Australian Rotary Health
Click on the video below to view Millenary Mayhem.
