A small group of our members attended the Rotary D9685 Conference in Cowra this past weekend, and what a fantastic weekend was had by all. Our members were John and Margaret Cameron, Ken and Margaret Broadhead, Mentie Knowles, Gabrielle and myself.
Overall, there were several hundred in attendance. The Friday night event and Saturday (morning, afternoon, and evening) events were held in the Pavilion at the Cowra Showground. The Sunday morning event was held at the Cowra Japanese Gardens. Both locations were excellent, especially the Japanese Gardens. More information to follow. As usual, I combined this with a PCYC road trip visiting clubs at Lithgow, Bathurst Cowra and Hawkesbury.
Bobbo is on this coming Sunday 26 March and thanks to John Collins for the Bobbo ppt presentation last Wednesday. If you still haven’t registered to volunteer on the day, and you are available, please contact Peter Smith ASAP. (a registration link in the Bulletin)
One of the things the Board is looking at is how to best allocate roles and responsibilities, especially for major projects. We need to engage more members across a range of activities rather than have a few members carrying more of the workload.
It’s interesting the connections we make and people we meet in our day to day activities. Recently I gave a didgeridoo talk to Rochelle’s Probus Club. This led to a didgeridoo talk at an Ikebana Society meeting whose Patron is the Consul-General Tokuda Shuichi. I had the pleasure of talking with him and his wife. At the Cowra Conference I had a brief chat with the Japanese Ambassador Yamagami Shingo who is a close friend of the Consul-General. With a karate background and having visited Japan a couple of times that included training and competition, I have an interest in Japan and Japanese culture.
As mentioned last week, the PCYC police officers are engaged in a gala day event this Tuesday 21 March at Knox (Field 1). This is a league tag gala day that involves NRL, 14 secondary schools, NSW Police and PCYC. There will be a BBQ from 10.30am to around 1.30pm and our members are welcomed to help out with the BBQ. There will be some volunteers from Westfield Security assisting.
The PCYC was founded on 1st April 1937. As we are approaching the 86th birthday, the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC will hold an Open Day on Saturday 1st April 9am to 12pm and there will be a range of activities including a Star Jump fundraiser. We are welcomed to have a Rotary display and take part in the activities.
Our speaker at this week’s meeting is Chris McMillan who will give an update on the Senegal project.
Thanks very much to all who responded to my ‘expression of interest’ email about going to a Pymble Players production. Looks like it’s a goer!
I have booked 40 tickets for ‘Table Manners’ as follows:
DATE: Sunday 20th August TIME: 3pm COST: $25 ADDRESS: 55 Mona Vale Rd, Pymble (entrance via Bromley Ave)
AFTERWARDS: Hornsby RSL for an early dinner (optional of course)
I must pay for the tickets at the end of June, so get your booking in now and put it in your diary! Ian will make up an event item (see link below), so please respond and pay as soon as you can as it will be ‘first in, best dressed’, as it were.
Club account is: BSB: 032 189 Account Number: 790267
Here’s a brief synopsis of the play:
Annie has arranged to spend an illicit weekend away with her sister Ruth’s husband Norman. Her brother Reg and his wife Sarah have been asked to look after their invalid mother and the house without being aware of the real circumstances. What ensues is a dysfunctional family gathering filled with confusion, conclusion-jumping and mayhem! And very little food!!
This entertaining romp will have you in stitches. Not all (illicit) plans are best laid!
Winner! 2009 Tony® Award for Best Revival of a Play - Winner! 2009 Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Play Winner! 2009 Outer Critics Circle Outstanding Revival of a Play
Bookings are NOW open for this event.
Please confirm by clicking on the Event - here - to register your intention to join us (incl. guests).
(for payment details see above - mark your "Name" and 'Theatre")
Further to the announcement at the meeting last week requesting your nominations to recognise the wonderful people in our community who do extraordinary things and those who excel in the chosen vocation - please let either Ian Cameron (Community) or John Collins (Vocational), know people of whom you are aware achieve great things supporting our needy community and/or have shown dedication and commitment to their chosen vocation.
Gaia - Sustainability in Action in Kaffrine, Senegal (West Africa)
Last year Chris McMillan spoke at the RCW about the Gaia project in Senegal. This project sets out to improve the Kaffrine (Senegal) villagers' response to the
challenges of food security, resource scarcity and climate change.
Like most countries in the Sahel (semi-arid region of Africa covering the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea), Senegal suffers from diminishing and unreliable rainfall (associated with climate change), poor soil quality, unsustainable farming practices, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, intense livestock grazing, rapid population increase and public health issues, such as malnutrition.
These stresses are leading to increased levels of poverty and vulnerability to climate change, especially in the rural areas of Senegal.
The projected output from the project includes moringa (useful in fighting malnutrition), tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes, mint and lemongrass, okra, mangoes, onions, chillies, honey, and citrus fruit, with enough output to feed the local people and sell produce in the markets.
We have now completed all the paperwork including making Gaia a Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) project so tax deductible donations can be made. For donations you can use the details below.
Go to RAWCS website and search for the Senegal project – it’s the only one!
The RAWCS number for the project is 41-2022-23: Gaia – Sustainability in Action in Kaffrine, Senegal (West Africa) (RAOAF).
Who can men turn to when facing the ups and downs of life....moving house, changing jobs, dealing with family pressures and so on. The answer lies in Mentoring Men whose CEO Simon Jarvis explains. www.mentoringmen.org.au
hallenges of food security, resource scarcity and climate change. 
