THE ROTARY CLUB OF DINGLEY VILLAGE BULLETIN From the President Once again we had a great night with 2 of our Rotarians giving talks Behind the Badge We are all complex humans with interesting journeys through our lives and many different influences make up our character and beliefs. Last week we learnt more about Malcolm and Roland. Thank you so much for the interesting questions and sharing your answers peeling back the layers gives us greater insight into who you are it was a great night. Our outgoing Exchange Student, Natasha, has left for Brazil. This promises to be an exciting and interesting year for her. Brazil is the 5 th largest country in the world both in population and geographical area. It was a founding member of the United Nations. Originally inhabited by tribal nations it was claimed by Portugal in 1500 and achieved independence in 1822. It has 26 states and has been the world s largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. We wish Natasha a wonderful year & look forward to hearing about her experiences on her return. Thought for the week: Never judge what you don t understand. Let us join the conversation and Light up Rotary. Cheers Gail 4th February, 2015 This Week February 4 th Peter O Brien (Bushfire recognition) Chairman: Vic Smith Coming Week February 10 th (Tuesday) Youth Services Seminar at Dingley International 6:30 Start Note: No Wednesday meeting Diary Dates - 8th February Fellowship trip to Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk, Seymour 10 th February Youth Services Seminar at DI 17 th February Board Meeting 21st February (Sausage Sizzle Safeway Dingley Village) Conference March 13th to 15th (Ballarat) 16th May 2015 (Sausage Sizzle Bunnings Keysborough) 26 th March (Thursday) RC Dingley Village Charity Golf Day Anniversary February 16th Roland and Ingrid February 19 th Norm Hurrey & Jan February 25 th Brice & Joan Birthday Celebrations February 16th Helen Smith February 26th Denise Elliott Notes from last week Apologies - Dudley Podbury, Bruce Whitaker, Zeya Poya Heads and Tails Winner Jan Kennedy Gail reminded board members that the next board meeting is on 17 th February Gail mentioned that the RC Noble Park have two events coming up that they have invited us to, details will appear in the bulletin Melvyn gave an update of his week Page 1
Coming Events Invite your friends and neighbours to play in this great event! Download a registration form at www.rc-dingley-village.org.au Club Meeting Information Weekly: Every Wednesday at 6:30pm (Dinner meeting) Place: Dingley International Hotel Boundary Rd, Dingley Village (Melway Ref: 88 A5) Club Contact Details Website: www.rc-dingley-village.org.au Address: PO Box 100 Dingley Village, VIC 3172 Mobile: 0488 079 878 Bulletin Editor: Heather Winch Page 2
On to Conference Club Meeting Information Weekly: Every Wednesday at 6:30pm (Dinner meeting) Place: Dingley International Hotel Boundary Rd, Dingley Village (Melway Ref: 88 A5) Club Contact Details Website: www.rc-dingley-village.org.au Address: PO Box 100 Dingley Village, VIC 3172 Mobile: 0488 079 878 Bulletin Editor: Heather Winch Page 3
Fundraiser End Polio Now Join Members of the Rotary Club of Hampton at a Premiere viewing of the ON: Thursday 26th February 2015 AT: DENDY BRIGHTON CINEMA Church Street, Brighton TIME: 6.00PM FOR 6.30PM SCREENING Enjoy a glass of wine or soft drink prior to the screening STARRING: Maggie Smith, Judy Dench, Diana Hardcastle, Ronald Pickup, Richard Gere to mention a few of the star studded cast. All funds raised will be going to the End Polio Now Rotary International Project Cost: $25 per ticket includes lucky door prize ticket & glass of wine or soft drink Call Heather on 0419 155 357 to reserve your ticket. Brighton Theatre Thursday 5th March Chapter Two Synopsis A recently widowed spy novelist and divorced actress unexpectedly fall in love in Neil Simon's autobiographical comedy. Ticket cost still $25 per seat. Please contact William Belt via email williambelt@bigpond,com or phone 9558-2933, if you wish to make bookings. Page 4
Future Brighton Theatre Dates Thursday 4th June, CAUGHT IN THE NET A Comedy. TIME STANDS STILL a play about changing relationships. Thursday 12th November BAREFOOT IN THE PARK by Neil Simon, nominated in 1964 for the Tony award for the Best Play A newly wed saga. Announcement Page 5
An Invitation from RC Beaumaris The Beaumaris RC will be holding an Anzac Day event on Thursday 23rd of April, 6.30 pm at the Beaumaris RSL. The speaker is Prof Peter Darvall who will speaking about Sir John Monash. Dr John V. Basarin President, Rotary Club of Hampton, 2014/15, D-9810 & Australia/NZ Liaison for Gallipoli 2015 Rotary Peace Conference RSVP ASAP Mobile: 0438055056 Page 6
Coming Events continued As part of the ANZAC Centenary Celebrations this year the Rotary Club of Dingley Village will be looking for Dingley Village residents who are descendants of World War 1 Veterans. It is not necessary that the veteran was a Victorian. We intend recognizing these veterans by name and details of their service and having descendants lay a wreath at the ANZAC Day Service. So we are looking for anyone living in Dingley Village who s Grandfather, Grandmother, Great Uncle etc. who serviced in the AIF during World War 1. If anyone is interested in learning more about the project they can contact either Sue Hilton on 0403 313825/95516188 or Kevan Thomas on 0417050312/95580950. Email enquiries may be made to hiltonds@bigpond.net.au or kevanandlila@gmail.com. Page 7
Rotary s innovative tribute to polio eradication in India breaks Guinness world record To eradicate polio in India, Rotary members displayed impressive coordination and commitment. So it should come as no surprise that Rotary members in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, were able to mobilize more than 40,000 people to create the world's largest human national flag. The tribute to the polio eradication effort qualified as a Guinness World "What impressed me most was that all of Rotary was represented: Rotaractors, Interactors, and Rotarians," says RI President Gary C.K. Huang, who participated in the event along with his wife, Corinna, and other Rotary senior leaders. "They brought their classmates, friends, and co-workers. I think that says a lot about how important it is to the people that India is polio free." Participants from all walks of life holding placards stood together on a local fairgrounds to form the Indian flag. Their display broke the record set last year by the Sports Club of Lahore, which organized nearly 30,000 people to form the Pakistani flag. After breaking the record, local Rotary members, who'd formed the blue wheel in the center of the flag, flipped their placards over to create Rotary wheels, and other Rotary members unfurled a large banner reading "Keep India Polio Free." The organizers, led by District 3230, estimate that another 50,000 people showed up to watch on large TV screens set up outside the event. Once the participants were organized, they had to hold up the placards for more than five minutes to enable the representative from Guinness to verify the new record. "The last 30 seconds, everyone started screaming [in encouragement]," says Huang. "I [felt] very patriotic, says Avanthika Iyer, a third-year student at Shasun Jain College in Chennai. "The five-minute period of holding the placard was difficult but made us happy." Says Huang: "When I was told how many people had to participate -- 40,000 to 50,000 -- I didn't think it would happen. When I saw the thousands and thousands of people [gathered] for just the rehearsal the day before, I realized it was possible." Page 8
Youth Exchange Update On Monday morning Pam Davies and myself had the pleasure of farewelling our outbound Exchange Student Natasha Pizzi, who left for Brazil. Natasha is being hosed by RC Acesita in District 4520 (Brazil, Minas Gerais State). Natasha with her family at the airport Heather, Natasha and her counsellor Pam Davies The State of Minas Gerais is in the southeastern region, the more developed part of the country. The area of the southeastern region is 924,935 km2, of which 586,624 km2 or 63,5% belongs to the state of Minas Gerais, which corresponds to about 7% of the whole Brazilian territory. It is the 5 th largest state of Brazil and 1 st in the southeastern region. Its area can be compared to France and Holland together. It is very rich in natural resources, especially minerals. The strategic position of Minas Gerais, near the main export harbors, favors the establishment of large industries, which manufacture products for other markets. Timóteo (the city was previously called Acesita ) is a wonderfull city, has good schools, a university and industries responsible for a large part of steel production of Brazil. Page 9
Roster for writing to Caroline Caroline Vitalis is a student at The School of St Jude in Tanzania who we have been co-sponsoring for several years. Caroline is now in her final year of High School and she hopes to be a doctor. She particularly enjoys receiving postcards so if you are travelling don t forget to pick up a postcard to send to her. Remember: If you send a letter to Caroline, the school has requested that you do not put your personal address on the letter. January Heather Winch February Jan Kennedy March Bruce Whitaker April Sue Hilton Details - Caroline Vitalis (student) The School of St Jude PO Box 11875 Arusha Tanzania East Africa Changing someone's life doesn't require a huge effort - just a willingness to help We need your old specs - it doesn't matter if they are for short sight, long sight, or magnifiers. You probably have some that are an outdated prescription hiding in your chest of drawers. Ask your friends and neighbours to help us. Two of the optometrists at SpecSavers in Keysborough travel to Bali twice a year and give the glasses to The John Fawcett Foundation for distribution to local Balinese people who cannot afford to purchase them. The John Fawcett Foundation is an Australian-registered incorporated organization, which works in Indonesia under the auspices of its Indonesian action arm, the Yayasan Kemanusiaan Indonesia (YKI). YKI receives Indonesia-wide recognition for its successful humanitarian programs, which are conducted in cooperation with Provincial and District Governments. The programs target people who are economically disadvantaged and all services are provided free of charge. The Foundation grew out of a number of Rotary projects established by its namesake, John Fawcett, in Bali, and is best known for its Sight Restoration and Blindness Prevention Project incorporating a Mobile Eye Clinic for cataract surgery. Note: Zeya will be collecting the spectacles each week. Invitation Page 10