President’s Report for May 20, 2010

NEW VENUE – FRANKSTON LIFE SAVING CLUB

Please note that our new meeting venue is Frankston Lifesaving Club at the beach end of Wells Street, Frankston, where our next meeting is be held on Thursday 20th May.  Thank you all for your attendance at the trial meeting and your positive comments about the venue and the breakfast.

Our guest speaker at the last meeting on May 6th – at very short notice –  was Laura Bird, the soon to be (the next night to be precise) President of the Peninsula Rotaract Club. Laura gave a very interesting talk about her experiences at MUNA where she and Janelle represented Australia in a debate against Japan about the pros and cons of whaling. Needless to say the Aussies won the debate! And Laura and Janelle are now set on careers as Ambassadors to the United Nations. Laura’s talk once again proved how invaluable these Rotary sponsored programs are for our young people, and what an amazing group of young people they re too!.

Speaking of amazing young people, I am very pleased to announce that the Peninsula Rotaract Club is now official with their very successful Charter Night held at Frankston International on Friday 7th May 2010.  The room was full of dignitaries with a PDG, a DGE and a DGN and later in the evening even a DGEN popping in for a visit. It was also great to see the President’s of the other Nepean Clubs who were  in attendance, along with the  District Chair of Youth Exchange, Anne Cox; the incoming District Chair for Rotaract, and the President of Casey Cardinia Rotaract Club, as well as various Rotarians, parents of Rotoractors and friends.

PDG Janet McCahon saw the completion of her 4 year old  ’dream come true’ for a Rotaract Club in our area when she performed the official Charter of the club and inducted Laura Bird and Carlee O’Hehir, the driving forces behind the formation of the club,  as joint Presidents of the Peninsula Rotaract Club. DGE David Piper and DGN Kel Hobby had a lot of fun putting pins on the 12 Charter Members.

Joint sponsor, Rotary Club of Seaford Carrum Downs President Natalie Graham and President Elect Louise Welbourne presented the new club with the lectern that had been presented to Louise as President of the Seaford Rotoract club in 1974  and now inscribed with the name of Peninsula Rotoract Club May 7, 2010.  I was very pleased to present them with  a cheque for $400.00 to kick start their bank account.

Mike Badwi, President of Mount Eliza also presented them with cheque for $250.00 and I think they raised a lot of money from the raffle and a $5 donation which got you a free bag full  of Summer Rolls.

All in all, a very successful and enjoyable evening was had by the 68 people who attended.

I know that they will go on to bigger and better things – so watch this space for more news about the Peninsula Rotaract Club.

The Alternate Schoolies Program is also going ahead quite well with 14 students registered to participate in the trip to Cambodia and all eagerly putting their name on the roster for  Sunday’s fundraising Spud Scorch at the Seaford Farmer’s Market.  Russell Ardley, from Mornington Youth Enterprises, has allowed us to use his Spud Van to help the students raise money for their trip. A small profit was made on the day with the hopes that we will make more money next month.

We are  sponsoring two students to attend the RYPEN Camp and I expect that they will come and tell us all about their experiences at Forest Edge.  We are also sponsoring a student to interview for the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF).

I have recently received a letter from Kananook Primary School thanking us for the money that was used for the purpose of three awards at the school at the end of last year. They are certainly very keen for us to continue supporting these awards.

We have  committed $250 to Neil Black, rotary Club of Frankston towards the cost of sending a container of hospital equipment to Cambodia.

Diary Notes:

The last Board Meeting for the year will be held at Caesar’s Restaurant, Nepean Highway, Frankston at 6.00 pm on Tuesday 8th June, followed by dinner if you can stay. this meeting is for members of the incoming and outgoing committee.

The Changeover Lunch is to be held at Frankston Lifesaving Club on Sunday 27th June 2010 from 12 noon.  The cost is $35.00 per head with drinks at very reasonable bar prices.  This will also be the official farewell for Nici so please, please make the effort to be there to say goodbye as she leaves on the 4th July and I need you all there for an official farewell photo!  Nici has been an absolute delight to have around and I know our family will be very sad to say goodbye as I am sure will all her host families. She has been a wonderful ambassador for her country and the Youth Exchange program as a whole.Our next fundraiser is to be an ‘Africa Night’ to be held on July 30th or 31st . The venue is still to be decided upon. Money raised will go to Aimee Carter’s Orphanage in Ghana and Gwen Harrop’s Orphanage in Tanzania – a joint venture with the Rotary Club of Frankston Sunrise.

The next Bunnings Sausage Sizzle is to be held on Sunday, August 28th 2010.

Our guest speaker at this week’s meeting is Nicola Von Hobe who is going to tell us all about her experiences on the Rock to Reef Safari. So make sure you are in attendance on Thursday 20th May – that’s this Thursday!

See you all at the Lifesaving Club!

Cheers

President Judy

President’s Report May 5 2010

Hello Everybody

We are just back from taking Nici and Lisi down to Apollo Bay, the Otway Fly; the 8 and a half Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge followed by the weekend at my sister’s holiday house at Lorne, where the girls had a lovely time checking out the local surfers and doing a bit of surfing themselves. Do make sure you read both Maddy and Nici’s reports – it is so wonderful to read about the experiences of these two girls and what a wonderful exchange they are both having in Australia and Germany.

This week will be a very busy one with our meeting on Thursday at Frankston Lifesaving Club and the Peninsula Rotaract Charter Night on Friday at Frankston International. I do hope that there will be a few of you in attendance that night to support this amazing group of young people.

Don’t forget it’s Mothers Day on Sunday 9th!

Also, the Rotary Club of Langwarrin are holding a Trivia Night on Saturday 15th May and they are hoping that a few other clubs will support them by attending this function to be held at St Jude’s Hall, Warrandyte Road, Langwarrin. time: 6.30 for a 7.00 pm start. Cost $10 a head.

I look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday. It seems like ages since I last saw you all, though I am sure I haven’t missed a meeting.

Cheers

President Judy (but not for much longer!!)

Nici’s Report – April 2010

This month I was on my big trip `Rock to Reef“ and it was amazing!! I’m so glad that I met all these lovely people that I already miss so much although it’s only two weeks ago that we said goodbye. Oh and I saw sooo much. Many of the places were so stunning and it seemed that I was in a dream for most of the time because it was just too beautiful to be real. I will never forget the good time I had in this three weeks and I would love to do it again!

When I was back from Safari I had an empty feeling in my stomage and it was hard to get used to my normal life again, although it was good to go back to school to catch up with everyone after the holidays. Beside school nothing really happened this month I met with my friends and we planned to go shopping but after Safari my budget was pretty much 0 dollar so we decided to do dvd nights instead.

I’m so excited for this weekend because I’m going with Judy, Allan and Lisi to the Great Ocean Road. My camera is charged so I’m ready for good photos so wish me luck for good weather.

Since the end of Safari it seems that everything comes to an end. I’m sending packets for at home, thinking about packing,organising stuff before I go and although there are still 2 month left it seems that the countdown is running now. This makes me a little bit scared because I don’t know how soon I’ll come back and how much I’ll miss all this but I probably won’t know until I’m home. On the other hand my parents and friends miss me more and more and they tell me often that it’s now enough for them and it’s time for me to come back now. so I’m of course excited to see them but I still have a sad feeling in my stomage when I think about leaving Australia for them. Well I knew it would come one day and I hope next two month will be enough time to say goodbye.