Week 31 - 1 March 2023

 The Ides of March...

VP Brian advised March is Rotary Water, Sanitation and Hygiene month.

- The Rotary Foundation has invested over $148 million globally in over 2,000 projects world wide.

-  1^st March is Barista Day and World Compliment Day, so get two-for-one when you order your coffee…!

Guest Speaker - Ros Thomas, Journalist and Author

Ros Thomas is a journalist turned author from Perth, Western Australia.

After twenty years in national and international television current affairs, working from Sydney, London and Los Angeles, she became a long-running columnist for The West Australian Newspaper with a weekend readership of 350,000 every Saturday.

 Her first book, an anthology of favourite columns, was University of WA Publishing’s best-seller for 2014.

In 2017, she gave up her weekly writings to care for her mother, newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. During this time she began writing her first novel — How To Shame The Devil— the story of an elderly man who finds himself embroiled in a #MeToo scandal from his past. Published in 2021 by Night Parrot Press, it sold out its first edition in eighteen weeks.

Ros is also the prize-winning author of short stories and flash fiction. In 2021 she was named the winner of Britain’s Staunch Prize from an international field for the best short fiction of the year. She was also awarded a 2024 Churchill Fellowship to study effective interventions in the identification and management of chronic loneliness.

As a passionate advocate for dignity in aged care, in 2018 Ros was the ambassador for Alzheimer’s WA and joined the board of the WA Government’s Carers Advisory Council where she advises the Minister on the needs of carers.

Ros is now hard at work on her third book, again set in Perth and is married with three children, none of whom read anything she writes!

In her address to the Club, Ros remarked that asking a writer if they enjoyed writing is like “asking a duck if they like pate…” and she writes every day, saying "it’s like practicing golf”.

At age 15, she wanted to be an actress, dressing up like Debra Winger in Officer and a Gentleman”.

At age 16, she was sick of being asked “what do you want to do when you grow up?” so she answered “an astronaut", and when asked where she wanted to go?, she answered “Uranus!”

At least it stumped the adults…

As her school Work Experience she chose to be a Dental Nurse (for the pink uniform….) and her work experience consisted of making cups of tea until the last day. She then assisted the Dentist with an elderly male patient. This turned into a disaster with the suction hose stuck to his tongue and dental instruments being scattered everywhere!!

After being sacked from work experience she decided to become a Journalist instead.

30 years later - how did she get here?

Ros' words of wisdom included :

• Writing is like a blank page, you have to create magic. Keep turning the sentences over.

• There is no problem with failure, it is success you have to worry about…

• Be prepared to fail often. Many people fail to be Astronauts, but they are still good and decent people.

 Ros observed you write to connect to your readers and included some classic anecdotes and one liners...

• It’s like marriage - “one is right and the other is the husband….”

• The best thing is when you read something you think is only you. 

• Books are who we are, how we live and die.

• There is the sheer beauty of words, where arrangements matter, sentences flow.

• Writing is best done surrounded by people in cafes, not at home surrounded by dirty socks!

 Ros then spoke of the novel versus mediums such as Netflix. Literature has the power to stay with you. However, due to social media people’s attention span seems shorter.

The publishing trend is towards the shorter “Novella”.

When asked what is the future of investigative journalism v opinion? she answered the old news cycle of '12 hours' is now '20 minutes'. There is no time to validate, so who do you put your faith in?

Ros thanked the club and took a number of questions.

Directors' Reports and Announcements

VP Brian: Rotary Action Day 13 April, 20 Expressions of Interest for International Dinner. Link via TryBooking (https://bit.ly/RotaryActionDay). No table booking offered at this stage, so suggest registering and we will work on the seating plan…

Ross S: Ronald McDonald House dinner locked in for Sunday 17^th March - be quick one place left.

Gerry M: SKG Vocational visit now Wednesday 13^th March.

Fines and Winner of Heads and Tails

• All those that were unaware we have gained an extra day this week. 
• In support of the celebrity’s arrival in Perth, all those attired in any shade or infusion of pink, or with tickets to attend the razzle dazzle show. 
• Current and ex public servants who will likely miss out on what they’ve always dreamed of - a  4 day week and 12% pay increase. 
• South Perth rate payers, in light of the argy-bargy between councillors over pre-selection for the future Liberal candidacy, and 
• A range of persons with skilled occupations that Dr Cook might call upon to assist with development of the new ferry service  'Metrowet' - under consideration!

Heads and Tails was won by our 'Global Supernurse' Raelene George.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attendance

33 attendees in all including Ros our guest speaker, guest Rhonda Kremmer, and soon to be members Diana Goh and Lydia Wong.

Men's sheds as a metal health resource

Our long time member Graham Rennie is heavily involved in the Manning's Men Shed and here is an article which helps us understand the implications and need of such a worthwhile project in our community.

WA Men’s Shed Magazine is a great way to keep in touch with their successes. Cut and paste the link into your browser if you would like to the story in full and more about Men's Sheds. 

 https://mensshedswa.org.au/

 

 

Week 30 - 23 February

Happy Birthday Rotary - 119 years young!

VP Brian noted today is the 119^th anniversary of Rotary. 

Paul Harris founded the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23^rd Feb 1905. The name “Rotary” came from rotating their meetings between the offices of the four founding members. The first project was construction of public toilets in Chicago.

It was good to see the "Sea of Blue" to celebrate World Rotary Day.

 Guest Speaker - Laureate Professor Peter Veth, Professor of Archaeology UWA."Desert People: the archaeology of NW Australia and the wider deserts of Australia" 

Peter Veth is a globally-recognised Archaeologist who has carried out research throughout Australia, Torres Strait and Island South East Asia. His research has engaged with desert and marine archaeology for over 35 years including pioneering work with colleagues on the archaeology of the Western Desert, Aru Islands, Timor Leste, Torres Strait, Dampier Archipelago and Barrow Island. 

He is currently a CI on a five year ARC LP awarded in 2021 Desert to the Sea; is an Laureate Fellow on the Desert People Project (2023- 2027) and a CI on the ARC Centre for Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (2024 - 2030).

Peter gave a fascinating talk on his current project and archaeologic field work in the Ningaloo and Pilbara area. Artifacts and carbon or sediment dating reveals records of the inhabitants dating back to 60,000 years. There is evidence the coastal peoples were trading up to 1,000Km inland with the desert peoples. He postulated whether the climate was the same then, noting the existence of more water points?

 

Peter detailed their work with ten different groups, corporations and traditional owners, which focussed on searching shelters and caves in coastal areas or digging for artifacts dating back 30,000 years. This also included artifacts from Barrow island, back to when it was joined to the mainland. It also gave an idea of cultural boundaries compared to cartographic boundaries.

His work also gave the opportunity to work with rangers and research students, as well as Tim Winton’s documentary on Ningaloo.

Peter’s full PowerPoint, including maps and photos of artifacts, can be viewed at: millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members only (password)>this link>Guest Speaker Presentations> VETH Peter – Desert People

Scott Dwyer informed Peter and the members about a wonderful link between Peter’s work and Mill Point Rotary Club, through one of our exchange students, Zenobia Jacobs. 

Zenobia was born in South Africa and prior to undertaking a twelve-month Rotary Exchange Program to Perth in 1994 she lived in Phalaborwa on the Western side of the Kruger National Park.

Her Host Families were Terry & Ken Mitchell, Graham & Robyn Rennie, Owen and Bev Ferguson and Scott & Robynne Dwyer. 

Arrangements were made for Zenobia to attend Penrhos College where she had a lot of fun and did little study. She undertook all the normal final school activities including a visit to Alice Springs organized by the Dwyers who ensured she was looked after her by the Rotary Club of Central Australia and the Mayor.

Zenobia returned to South Africa where she attended university, studied and majored in Archeology. She undertook further studies in Europe and the USA.

She accepted a position at the Wollongong University sponsored by a University in the USA. She subsequently became an Archeologist of world note. Her studies took her to numerous diggings worldwide including the Kimberly in WA and the NT.

She married her boss, Bert, in Wollongong and was given away by five Fathers. Her true Father and four defacto Rotary Fathers. She later became Australian and has an Aussie Passport.

She works very closely with Peter Veth from the UWA, our Guest Speaker. Mill Point can claim to be an integral part of her growth and achievements.

Directors Reports and Announcement

Vice Pres : World Rotary Day at South Perth food trucks 6 PM onwards. Noted high forecast temperature and advised up to members if they choose to attend.

Rotary Action Day 13^th April. EOI sheet circulating for all four activities. 19 so far for International Dinner.

Call for nominations for Rotary Community Group Leader. Each club will then vote on the nominated person.

Rick S : called for more meals for PICYS. Containers available.

Welfare : Michelle L noted she now knows what it’s like to be a “sore thumb” being the only member in a yellow Rotary shirt….

She provided member updates:

Roger Davey back in Bethesta Care, would love visits

Peter Stevens doing well and. Is in Cervanties with family

Dietmar Mazanetz bright and cheerful, appreciates messages

Vocational: Gerry advised Alan Eggleston is “chirpy as always”…

SKG Vocational visit rescheduled for 13^th March, details to come.

Community : Ross advised Ronald McDonald House Dinner locked in for Sunday 17^th March.

Treasurer : Lyn M will be away and Kim Paine will be acting Treasurer. She has access to the Treasurer email.

Fines – Wayne M will be like an Archaeologist and “go digging”       

• Those few members not wearing Rotary shirts
• Michelle L for being the lone yellow shirt
• Scott D for a newspaper headline complaining about transport emissions, that turned out not to be him…
• Brian A for his new hairstyle. A little longer and he will look like Trump…
• Wayne noted, those seeking Peace build “urinals”, those seeking War build “arsenals”….

Winner of Heads & Tails – Bill Boekeman

 

 

 

 

 

Attendance:

35 attendees in all: 29  members; 1 visiting Rotarian Bill Boekman (Wongan Hills), and 4 guests including guest speaker Robyn Conway, Diana Goh, Lydia Wong.

Regionalisation Update #1

 Transforming Rotary - Part 1

Here's an update on how we are seeking to transform Rotary and Rotaract in Zone 8.

 

This is our zone - 16 countries - and we are one of only 2 regions the RI Board is supporting to pilot a new operating structure.  The other is Rotary Great Britain and Ireland.

 

Here's an update and overview of what is happening with our regionalisation pilot and how this will support and benefit you us as a club. 

 

 

 

The objective of this page is to inform you about what support is being provided to clubs as we head towards the full implementation date of 1 July 2024. 

 

Rotary in our zone is in free fall - we have fewer clubs with fewer members although not all clubs are declining we cannot be complacent.

 

We need an energy boost and we need it fast.

Where might that come from? 

1. New clubs and satellite clubs

2. Boosting numbers and energy via collaboration.

3. Growing Rotary through increased community impact; raising Rotary's profile and attracting and engaging new members. We can achieve this via our Rotary Community Groups (RCGs)

 

Our club will be a member of a Rotary Community Group, along with several other clubs that have a meaningful connection to our area, and the ability to grow Rotary in that area by scaling up. 

 

Rotary Community Groups will be supported in several ways:

1. Most importantly, at the centre, will be an elected Rotary Community Leader (RCL) for each RCG

2. Portfolio Committees which support each of the functions on the Regional Council will be convened

3. A network of Rotary Specialists will share their experience and expertise when requested

4. District Governors remain for the pilot but their roles will change over time as district responsibilities transfer to the Regional Council.  They will however have a particularly important role supporting and promoting the Rotary Foundation – none of the roles that support you around TRF will change

5.And we will continue to work closely with the excellent RI staff at RISPPO and Evanston.

 

This is our Club Support Network .

There are three important roles for us to interact with either as an individual club or through our Rotary Community Group (RCG)

 

Timeline of key activities in Regionalisation.

We are now preparing to nominate and elect our Rotary Community Leaders.

For now it is important to understand the reasons for Regionalisation and the benefits it will bring to RotaryWA and Zone 8.

 

For more information  go to https://creatingtomorrowrotary.org/community-groups

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 29 - 16 February

The Land Down Under

February is the month of Peace Building and Conflict Prevention month and I’m happy to say I’ve just spent a week doing just that building peaceful relationships with our Kiwi counterparts in Auckland, as well as building bridges across the great divide – yes I mean the Eastern States – as well as commiserating with the Tassies on their early election – just showing support for our fellow Rotarians!

Something for everyone this week...

If you’re a music lover then I guess you are aware that Taylor Swift landed in Melbourne yesterday – who’s Taylor Swift? You may well ask!

If you’re of the Catholic persuasion – Wednesday was Ash Wednesday - meaning it’s the start of LENT – so you need to determine what you are giving up until Easter Sunday – hope it’s not Rotary!

Book Lovers – it's International Book Giving day and also Library Lovers Day – a double whammy for Bibliophiles!

And if you’re into fashion and/or a golfer then you will be aware that Tiger Woods has developed a new fashion line of which the critics are, well, critical - saying it lacks style. After ending his 27 year partnership with Nike, one critic said the new line should have the tagline “Just Don’t Do It!”

 

 

Guest Speaker - Geoff Baker MLA "Clean Energy"

Geoff Baker grew up in Como before his family moved to the suburb of South Perth when he was a teenager. 

He  was elected to the Forty-First Parliament for South Perth on 13 March 2021. Geoff is co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends of Clean Energy which is one of many Parliamentary Friendship Groups which are established by Members of the Parliament of Western Australia to raise awareness of, or increase liaison with, a particular group, organisation or issue.

 

The objectives and aims of the Parliamentary Friends of Clean Energy are:

-       to advocate for and promote the development of clean energy in Western Australia;

-       to identify opportunities for clean energy development in the State;

-       to quantify and promote the role clean energy can make to the State’s climate change response;

-       to engage with experts in the field of clean energy;

-       to inform Members of Parliament of the potential that clean energy represents.

In his address to the Club, Geoff spoke of WA and the Clean Energy Future. He outlined how Energy requirements are changing and how Technology is evolving.

 

The perception is “WA is too small to make a difference to world wide greenhouse gas emissions, so why should we make so much effort when it won’t change anything?”

However, WA is one of the best places in the world to produce solar and wind energy.

 

In comparing the energy sources, Geoff said SOLAR is the cheapest then WIND.

HYDROGEN and NUCLEAR  are very expensive. 

 

To demonstrate the daytime draw on the Grid is going down, but overall draw is going up, Geoff showed the “Duck” graph.

The load on the Grid drops from 6 AM as household Solar feeds in, then peaks at 6 PM.

The governments aim is to shift the load to later.

In discussing alternate sources, Geoff discussed:

HYDROPOWER – this requires mountains and water, which WA lacks in combination

BATTERIES – expensive

GAS – there is increasing worldwide demand as a source for clean energy.

 

Geoff then again addressed the potential for WA. 

He stated “The south-west United States and Mexico, northern Chile, the Middle East and north Africa, south-west Africa and north-west Australia are identified as the regions with the lowest renewable Hydrogen cost potential.”

Additionally, there are four WA private solar/wind projects at Pilbara, Gascoyne, Midwest and Eucla.

 

In summary:

 

“WA is perfectly positioned to make a difference to world wide greenhouse gas emissions, so shouldn’t we let private enterprise build profitable new industries and become the clean energy superpower for Asia?”

 

Geoff’s PowerPoint can be viewed at:

millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members only (password)>this link>Guest Speaker Presentations>BAKER Geoff – Clean Energy.

 

Announcements and Directors' Reports

Vice President : Rolling announcements on the screen for upcoming events. If any Director has an event coming up then forward to BJ for inclusion.

Friday 23 Feb  is 'Wear Your Rotary T-Shirt Day" to celebrate World Rotary Day. Wear your Rotary T-Shirt to the meeting next week and join Rotary at the South Perth Food Trucks, from 6pm or bring your own picnic. Parking at Coode Street Carp Park 14. (see Upcoming Events page)

International Dinner, Rotary Action Day - Saturday 13 April, The Rise, Maylands. Be on our Tables of 10 to show our strength and support at this event. Check list circulates each week, cost is $55 pp. (see Upcoming Events page)

Community : Ronald McDonald House dinner - 10 volunteers needed, date to be advised (under negotiation at the moment)

Vocational : SKG vocational trip being re-organised after cancelling last year due to Covid. 2 groups to tour the premises followed by dinner. Dates being negotiated, previous participants will be given priority.

Rotary T-Shirts - Gerry has a plethora of them and will bring to meeting next week.

Fundraising : Dial A Santa coordinator Margaret Walton reported on the Dial A Santa success for 2023.

Mill Point RC took over the running of Dial-a-Santa from Rotaract in 2015.  2023 was the 9th year and we had 14 Santas visiting clients, including 7 from Mill Point and 7 external Santas.

Thanks to Phil Cordery from Southern Districts RC, Steve Lennox from Ballajura/Malaga RC, Mark Horwood, Russell Lanyon, Chris Herrmann, David Smith and Geoff Day (Northern areas).  Santas were assisted with their events by Elves or a Mrs Claus.

Many new events were booked via the website as well as repeat bookings from previous years.   Multiple events were booked for the Good Grocer/IGA supermarkets (20).  Suburbs covered were from Rockingham to Ashby and Wooroloo – family day at the Prison.

There were 8 free Community visits including Kids Cancer Support Group, Visability Playgroup, CANTEEN, Senior Citizens Centre, Homelessness We Care, Hannah’s House, Mt Pleasant Uniting Church and 1 private event.

Our Santas were represented at a wide variety of events starting with Christmas in July, then through November and December to early January, plus an Easter Bunny repeat at a shopping centre – many thanks to Debbie.   

Types of events once again were:

Private families and multiple family groups.

Child Care and Early Learning Centres, Kindergartens, Playgroups, Schools. 

Corporate Christmas Parties, Bars & Restaurants, Sports Clubs, Greyhounds, Rotary Clubs.

Shopping Centres and Supermarkets.

Elizabeth Quay Fun Fair (Christmas Eve)

Total for 2023 – 115 visits raising $22,670 (a similar result to last year). These funds are donated to our various children’s charities and programs.

Grand Total since 2015 = $168,000  

Many thanks once again to all our very willing Santas and helpers and especially to our external Santas for their invaluable assistance in ensuring another successful year for Dial-a-Santa.

 

I'm Fine(d)...

"Xīnnián kuàilè" (新年快乐),  or "Happy Chinese New Year" as Jenny fined all those born in the year(s) of the Dragon (1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988 and 2000). Only one person owned up even after learning that 'Dragons' included Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Bruce Lee and Mr Putin!

Valentines Day party poopers - all those who forgot or missed out on - too many takers! Shame!

Bali Fans - now costs you $16USD to enter Bali, $1 goes to Rotary and $15 to Border Police - so what's new!

Rotary Peripherals - Santas, Elves/Mrs Claus, and Margaret Walton - for making a difference and being such good sports!

Buy the Box - Gorby for his contribution to the "Year of The Dragon"  with a grandson - Welcome to Blake Beaumont!

Heads and Tails Wine Winner of the Week

Angus Florence was last man standing (and I mean that literally) - Well done Angus!

Thanks to Lyn and Margaret Metcalf for supplying the wine!

Attendance

42 attendees this week including Geoff Baker (guest speaker), Rotarians David Smith, Phil Cordery, Russell Lanyon, Peter K2, and guests Steve Lennox, Peter McDowell, Lidia Wong, Norm Cardoz.