RCME BULLETIN 14 JULY 20, Vol 50, No 3 (Jul 09, 2020)

The Rotary Club of

Mount Eliza

Chartered 1971

Service Above Self

Tuesdays at 6:00 PM

ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCE

Mt Eliza
Mount Eliza, VIC 3930
Australia

Phone:

0419 386 900

Send Email to Club

District Site

Venue Map

Jul 21, 2020

Club Night

Club Service Director Neil Heron Chair

Jul 28, 2020

Scott Walker

CEO Carers Victoria

View entire list

Meeting Responsibilities 21 July

Club Night - Chair Club Service Director

Heron, Neil

Meeting Responsibilities 28 July

Chair

Morris, Linda

Three Minute Speaker

Welsh, John

Sue Voss

Hi everybody

Members will remember that before the first COVID-19 lockdown, we had planned to hold a Club Visioning evening.

"Club Vision" is a dynamic management tool that provides a long-term direction, creates a framework to establish goals and objectives and optimises the use of resources.

A Vision is needed for a Club for the following reasons:

* Rotary's tradition of annual cycles without smooth transition breaks continuity, consistency and consensus;

* Clubs end up "re-inventing the wheel" instead of moving forward;

* Vision keeps forward motion on critical issues; and

* A Club with Vision "sees" the reality of today with the possibilities of tomorrow.

Using a facilitator all members of the Club are encouraged to actively participate remembering that there are no bad ideas, we should respect the opinions of others and we can all have good ideas.

The following testimonials have been provided by Rotarians who have participated in a Vision exercise:

"The evening was perfect to give us creative ideas to set our goals and objectives."

"They came and did a 'session' with our Club, helped us to 'think outside the box' and produce some visioning ideas through interactive brainstorming activities."

"It's amazing that we came to consensus in such a short time from such a diverse group."

Over the next couple of weeks I will provide more details on the Club Visioning process which we will be utilising as soon as we can start meeting in person again.

Until next time

Yours in Rotary

Sue

District Governor Mark Humphries and Past President Linda Humphries

Welcome to Rotary year 2020-2021, the year Rotary turns 100 years of service here in Australia. A year where Rotary Opens Opportunities.

We have certainly hit the ground running and it is exciting. We have so many wonderful projects across our District being done by our fantastic clubs. Changeovers are amazing, this is where you get to meet and listen to people and hear about their passions and how they are engaging in community. You not only hear about how the are working with their local communities, but how they are engaging with national and international communities.

I have been privileged to hear about many new Paul Harris Fellow recipients. Both community and club recipients. We have amazing people who really do live up to the Rotary ideals of service above self.

Last Friday was the launch of the Rotary Centenary Baton, a project that came out of our District. We had Governor General Hurley presented the Baton to Rotary Club of Sydney President Fatima Ali and then Mrs Linda Hurley then presented the Baton on to Rotary Club of Melbourne President Marion Macleod. (via some electronic wizardry). This event was beamed across the globe and witnessed by nearly 2000 Rotarians.

Watch it here

I am unsure how often I will get to write something for the club’s newsletter, in the coming months, so please look out for the District newsletter that will be published towards the end of each month.

Remember, Stay Safe

Three Minute Speaker - Caryl Coulthard

Our Three Minute Speaker on 14 July was Rotarian Caryl Coulthard.

Caryl spoke about her concern at the use of chemicals in food production and other agriculture.

In particular she talked about the company, Monsanto. Among its many products, this company produced Agent Orange (which was used indiscriminately during warfare), Roundup, a glyphosate based herbicide, which was used to spray on seed crops from 1976 onwards.

Unfortunately Roundup kills almost all species of plants both wanted ie crops, mainly wheat and unwanted ie weeds.

Unfortunately it is water soluble so leaches into the water table - causing problems for livestock, birds and animals and through to human beings.

It has also been found that Roundup causes some forms of caner and maybe a cause of autism in children.

In 2018 Monsanto was sold to the German company Bayer (also spraying seeds with 'Liberty' which is a stronger chemical.)

Bayer have a world-wide monopoly and other chemicals that they produce result in:

- Apeels (edipeel & invisipeel) - transparent coatings on non-organic fruit and vegetables.

- Shellac and vaseline are also used to coat fruit allowing it to be stored for months.

- Insecticides and systemic pesticides entrenched in the soil to kill, harm & repel.

- Neonics toxic to bees & beneficial insects

- Rodenticides -kills rats & mice + native fauna

- Fungicides & Microbials also used in non organic crops

India and China the largest manufacturer of these chemical products.

Medical practitioners are concerned about the uses of these chemicals.

It has been noted in America that problems for humans include neurological symptoms from headaches, nausea ,vomiting to depression, anxiety, autism, respiratory problems including asthma

diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, brain fog and alzheimers.

Farmers groups in USA are fighting back as many of the farms are no longer owned by the families but by

the promise by these companies was that the chemicals would increase yield and feed the world .

However American farmers yield has actually deteriorated since the introduction of GM and these chemical additives to crops.

Caryl's concern having grown up on a farm where "we didn't use chemicals so food was "safe", now in my opinion the optimum nutrition in food has been compromised and we are having far greater medical cost due to disease".

Caryl would like to encourage people to grow their own organic and safe produce and live healthier lives.

Reminder - $20 Payment

Members are respectively reminded that the next $20 payment was due on 1 July to cover Heads & Tails and Club Fines with monies going towards the year-end hampers organised by Trish Stamp.

The payment should be made into the Club General Account - BSB 633 000 Account number 152 498 093.

Thank you for your support.

Women in Rotary

Our Club has had a number of women who have served as President of whom Sue Voss is the latest.

Rotary started inducting women as members 33 years ago in 1987.

Since that time thousands of women have become Rotarians around the World.

In our Club at Mt Eliza we have a large number of experienced, active woman members who make a significant contribution.

Rotarian Trish Stamp was the first female member of our Club on 18 September 1998.

A range of active female members have taken on responsibility for key positions this year including George-Ann Sullivan doing Rosters and Kay McCauley working with Judy Coultas to organise our weekly guest speakers.

We have Pauline McFarlane (Secretary), Linda Morris (Community) and Carolyn Such (Fund-raising) as members of our Board of Directors.

There are now four women directors of Rotary International: Johrita Solari (California USA), Virpi Honkala (Finland), Susan C Howard (Texas, USA) Aikaterini Kotsali-Papadimitriou (Greece).

A question that is often asked is: When will there be a female President of Rotary International?

Hopefully this will occur in the not too distant future when one of the many experienced woman members who have served on the RI Board will put their name forward.

Of course, as Jennifer Jones, who served as RI Vice President in 2016/17 has said, "we need to find qualified people regardless of gender and there are any number of qualified women out there! ... We just have to find the right people who are worthy of our organisation."

As a male Rotarian and Editor, I look forward to the day when we have a woman as President of Rotary International.

Guest Speaker Dr Stuart Kininmonth

Our guest speaker at the Zoom meeting on Tuesday 14 July was Dr Stuart Kininmonth from the University of Queensland.

Stuart's mother Carolyn and cousin Bronny Donnelly also joined the 31 members of our Club for the Zoom meeting.

Dr Stuart Kininmonth addressing us via Zoom

Stuart has recently completed a three and a half year stint as the Senior Lecturer at the School of Marine Studies at the University of South Pacific (USP).

Stuart holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Melbourne University, majoring in Zoology and Genetics, a Masters in Resource Science from the University of New England and a Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Queensland.

Stuart has an extensive history of marine and ecological research.

He has over 20 years experience in marine and coral reef ecology and he has led teams conducting surveys and experiments in the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea.

Among a diverse range of global activities, Stuart has active ongoing collaboration with the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University in Sweden and has modeled Baltic Sea fisheries.

Stuart is a Level 1 accredited diver, teaches scuba diving and hold a commercial boat licence.

His topic for the evening was Challenges in Small Island Developing Countries.

Stuart talked about living in Fiji whilst at USP. He took on the role there because he wanted to explore the peoples and culture of the Pacific islands.

USP has twelve member countries that all share the one university.

The islanders are warm, welcoming and vibrant.

Stuart outlined his meetings and dealings with the Council of Chiefs.

While the impact and potential impact of climate change is serious and will cause major problems for Pacific Islands, there are a host of other problems as well. These include high rates of diabetes, medical mismanagement, environmental issues, third rate sewerage systems and the impact of modern technology.

While there its a strong desire for cars, phones and roads, many of these things have been introduced in a haphazard manner without the necessary supporting infrastructure.

Another major issue is the over nutrification of reefs caused by over usage of nutrients.

While one thinks of Pacific islands as being pristine, rubbish is a huge problem. In Fiji Stuart came across 200 kilograms of rubbish for every 100 metres of beach. There is a lack of understanding of recycling and other methods of rubbish reduction. Some areas tried burning rubbish with disastrous consequences.

A general hunger for infrastructure in the Pacific sees an insidious approach by China where locals are given loans that they cannot afford to repay. Loans have to be paid back and there have been a number of defaults leading to China having significant control in some areas.

Australia, on the other hand, gives money through foreign aid and doesn't expect it to be paid back.

The largest tuna fishing industry in the world occurs in the Pacific and a number of countries have been trading off their tuna right to China in return for hospitals, bridges and roads.

The impact of COVID-19 has been horrendous, especially on the tourism industry.

The University of South Pacific is endeavouring to teach the skills and tools necessary for them to make informed decisions about their future. People need to control their destiny and shape their future.

Stuart's highly informative session was finished with a number of questions from interested Club members.

Page one of the Zoom attendees

Ross Schweitzer presents

'Ross Schweitzer presents' is my new column. Editor Jim [and I] believe that le plumier, as a title, has been well and truly plucked.

It will be free of anything you can read elsewhere, or see on the television 'news'. There are always other matters of interest that you never knew you cared about; or for that matter had ever heard of in the first place.

Apart from the people in East Gippsland for whom my good wife Evelyn and her sister Val are still knitting pure wool beanies. the other people with whom beanies are identified are builders. Why do they shave their heads, then?

When I was much younger, I went to a building site with my late father. In those immediate post - War days, a lot of homes and small suburban factories were being constructed; if you wanted furniture, clothes, or rope even , you bought Australian.

We were watching Fred, a brickie, working on the facade of a cabinetry factory in Oakleigh. He was two storeys up, loading a few excess bricks into a wooden barrel so he could lower the lot to ground level, via a beam and pulley system. Just then, a gust of wind sprang up and dislodged the barrel. Fred immediately grasped the rope as it went though the pulley, in order to stop the barrel. He received rope burns on his hands and jammed his fingers in the pulley.

Luckily the barrel hit the ground at the same time, thus releasing the pressure on Fred's fingers. When the barrel made impact, some bricks were ejected, making Fred heavier than the barrel of bricks. Still clinging to the rope [like a drowning man to a straw] Fred descended. Half - way down, Fred met the barrel, with some bricks protruding, coming up. He received severe injuries to his ankles, shins and groin. This impact somehow caused Fred to lose his presence of mind, and although he was not quite at ground level, he let go of the rope. As misfortune would have it, Fred landed upon the previously ejected bricks. These inflicted deep lacerations to his buttocks, and further ones elsewhere.

Of course, the ascending barrel became heavier. After a pause, that seemed of an extended time, but was in fact a micro second, my father and I saw the barrel and its remaining bricks plummet earthward. Fred emitted a plaintive cry and put both injured hands over his head. Whether or not this act was to protect his beanie, we shall never know.

Notable Rotarians

It seems that the holder of the office of President of the United States (POTUS) is almost always a Rotarian; either directly or as a result of being awarded honorary membership.

While Presidents Clinton & Obama are not Rotarians, Presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush (x2) were all members of Rotary while the current POTUS, Donald Trump, is a Past President of the Rotary Club of New York 6.

Recognised as one of America's greatest Presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was a member of the Rotary Club of Albany, New York.

Elected in 1932, Roosevelt took office as the 32nd President in 1933 and led the USA through the dark days of the Great Depression and then through the even more challenging times of the Second World War.

The only US President to serve more than two terms, Roosevelt was elected four times and he died in office in April 1945 just as the War in Europe was ending and four months before the end of the War in the Pacific.

Born in Hyde Park, New York in 1882 Roosevelt attended Harvard University and Columbia Law School.

On St Patrick's Day, 1905, he married his fifth cousin, once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt.

FDR greatly admired another fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt, and he entered public service through politics. However, while Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican, FDR was a Democrat.

Roosevelt was elected to the New York Senate in 1910. Thereafter, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him Assistant secretary of the Navy and he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1920.

In the summer of 1921, disaster struck when, at the age of 39, he was stricken with poliomyelitis.

Demonstrating great courage he fought to regain the use of his legs, especially through swimming.

At the 1924 Democratic Convention he dramatically came forward on crutches to nominate Alfred E Smith as the Democratic nominee for President.

Roosevelt became Governor of New York State in 1928.

Elected as POTUS in November 1932, to the first of four terms, when he took office there were over 13 million unemployed and almost every bank in the country had closed.

In his first "hundred days" he proposed and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those threatened with losing their homes, farms and businesses, under the heading of "The New Deal".

While many conservatives and neo-conservatives criticised him both at the time and retrospectively, there is no doubt that the application of FDR's programs and policies carried America and the rest of the world out of Depression.

Those who criticised him opposed public expenditure, allowing deficits and making concessions to labour.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 bringing America into WWII, Roosevelt directed the organisation of the US resources and manpower for global war.

During the War he worked with Churchill from Britain and Stalin from the USSR to ensure that the allies successfully defeated the axis powers.

Knowing that the future peace of the World would depend upon relations between the USA and Russia, he devoted a good deal of thought and planning that led to the establishment of the United Nations after his death.

A truly inspirational leader whose fireside chats on the radio provided succour to the American people, FDR's health deteriorated towards the end of the War and he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, on 12 April 1945.

A motivational speaker, he challenged people: "It is not just enough to want but you have to ask yourself what are you going to do to get what you want."

Laughter - The Best Medicine

A fellow went into The Rocks Restaurant in Mornington and asked for a lobster tail.

The waitress sweetly at him and said, "Once upon a time that was a handsome lobster who lived in the ocean ..."

Travelling in the outback a young chap ordered a boiled egg and toast for breakfast at the pub at which he was staying.

When the egg arrived it fell out of the eggcup and he noticed a message inscribed on the bottom of the egg in beautiful handwriting - I am a beautiful twenty-two year old woman and I am looking for a boyfriend. If you are single please ring this number. Below the message was a telephone number.

The young fellow was single so he rang the number while he was eating his breakfast.

"Thanks so much for ringing", said the woman, "However I was married 18 months ago!"

The oil company Chevron was drilling for oil in the Northern Territory.

An American manager and a group of US geologists had been flown in to take control of the site.

The company had hired several Australians as labourers, one of whom dropped his hammer down the drilling shaft.

All drilling had to stop for days on end until it was finally retrieved.

The American manager then assembled all of the team around the drill site shaft and called forward the young Australian who had dropped the hammer.

In front of everyone, with a sweeping gesture he presented the hammer back to the Australian.

"I want you to keep this as a memento", he said, "and hope that it will remind you of the trouble and expense that you have caused Chevron through your carelessness."

"So take it and leave. You're fired!"

"Do you mean I'm sacked?" asked the Australian.

"Exactly!" came the reply.

"Well I won't need this hammer," said the Aussie, dropping the hammer back down the the shaft again.

No one believes seniors ... everyone thinks that they are senile.

An elderly couple were celebrating their 60th Wedding anniversary.

The couple had married as childhood sweethearts, having met in primary school. To celebrate their anniversary they decided to visit their old school, Mt Eliza Primary.

It was towards the end of the school day and all the children had gone home. However staff members were there and they were allowed to go into the old Grade 5 classroom. There was the desk that they had sat together in.

Harry looked underneath and there it was - where he had carved Harry loves Sally more than 75 years ago.

On their way back home, an armoured car was leaving one of the banks. The back door wasn't properly closed and a bag of money fell out as the vehicle continued on its way.

Harry picked up the bag and they took it home where they counted it - $100,000 in $50 and $100 dollar notes!

Sally said, "We have to take this to the bank and return it."

Harry replied, "No, finders keepers", and he hid the money in the attic.

The next day police officers were canvassing the neighbourhood asking if anyone had seen the missing bag.

"No", said Harry and went to close the door.

"He's lying", said Sally. "He has the money and he hid it in the attic!"

"Don't believe her", Harry pleaded, "She's getting senile."

The officers turned to Sally and said, "Tell us what happened."

"Well", said Sally, "We were coming home from school ..."

One officer turned to the other and said, "We're leaving. I've heard enough. Let's go and ask the other neighbours!"

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P O Box 95 Mount Eliza 3930

We meet at 6:00 PM Every Tuesday at Toorak College