Maleny Rotary Bulletin 22 August 2012

"THE RANGE"  Vol. 54 No. 6

Wednesday 22nd August 2012

THIS WEEK'S MEETING

Club Assembly at the Masonic Hall in Tamarind Street at 7:00pm - no dinner.

APOLOGIES

Please tender meal apologies to Lionel Tilley by noon Tuesday.

DUTY ROSTERS                   

                            22 Aug                29 Aug                   Sep 5

Duty Officer         No roster            Angela G                Andy S  

Registration                                   John W                    Debra L

ADO & Scribe                                 Jeff C                     Keith R                    

Fellowship                                     Sherryl G                Charlotte G                  

SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER

1st September
Keith Rogers (Leader)  John Whan   Lloyd Larney

15th September
Rick Townsend (Leader)  Andy Schouteten  Chris Brooker

LAST WEEK’S MEETING

The meeting was a very special night to acknowledge 50 years of Rotary Service by member and Past District Governor Peter Wilkinson.
President Karen welcomed special guests. Firstly guests of honour: Peter and Kay Wilkinson; DG Elect Trevor Taylor and Robyn from the RC of Glasshouse Mountains; 4 guests from one of Peter’s former clubs – the RC of Cleveland; Albert Benfer and wife Alison, Bob Mackie (who was actually born in Maleny and his brother was a member of our club at one stage), and Dan Holsapel. It was also good to  welcome former members: John Bolton and Heather, Brian Doyle, Judy Fredricksen, and Charter member David Wilson and Danni and Partners – Gillian Allen, Beth Whan, Elaine Atkinson, and Judy Tilley. Malcolm Baker brought a guest – a former Rotarian in PNG.

Apologies were: Ian and Pat Crane RC of Cleveland, Pivas RC of Cleveland, PDG Tony Holmes from RC of Woombye, Bob Hall, Russ Thomas, Eddie Vann, Mike Keane, Roly Neiper, David Burnett, Jobyna Matthews, ADG Helen Fox.

After the meal, Vice President Michael Gregory acknowledged the visiting members from the RC of Cleveland. Michael had done some research and found that their club had the highest contribution to The Rotary Foundation in Zone 8, and was the 7th in the world for contributions to the TRF. Michael read out a Biography of Peter’s Rotary involvements and accomplishments over 50 years.


1956  Charter member Apex Nambour – President 1958-59 chartered Maleny Apex and started Sundale Garden Village.
1962  Joined Rotary – charter member RC Salisbury (sponsored by Stones Corner) – classification Timber Processing.
1968-69 President RC Salisbury
1970  District Vocational Committee
1971  Charter secretary RC Mt Gravatt (sponsored by Salisbury) – secretary District Youth Exchange Committee.
1972-75 District Youth Exchange Chairman.
1975-76 Governor District 263 – river south to Byron Bay and west to Charleville – 50 Clubs – RI President Ernesto de Mello (Brasil) – theme To Dignify the Human Being.
1976-78 IPAC Director and FAIM Northern Region Secretary.
1977  District representative to Council on Legislation in San Francisco.
1978-79 Member of RI President Clem Renouf’s Youth Advisory Committee.
1982  Retired from business.
1985  RC Cleveland.
1988  Charter President Probus Club of Bayside/Redlands.
1992  Moved to Montville.
1994  RC Maleny.
2001  Charter member Probus Club of Blackall Range.
Rotary Benefactor
Attended 14 Conventions – first in Houston 1972 – last Glasgow 1997
Hobbies Model engineering

Peter then responded. He said he had really enjoyed being in Rotary. He was so excited to see members of his former club RC of Cleveland whom he had not seen for 20 years. Peter said  possibly his greatest enjoyment in Rotary was his involvement with Youth Exchange. He was the Australian representative to an International Youth Advisory Committee in the US in 1978. He said it was a pleasure to be  District Governor. He and his late wife, Joan, had visited every club in D 263 twice in his year as DG.

President Karen then presented Peter with a framed letter from the current RI President Sakuji Tanaka from Japan, congratulating him for his outstanding service to Rotary over 50 years. Karen also presented Peter with a commemorative plaque from the RC of Maleny acknowledging his 50 years in Rotary. Club Service Director Sherryl then presented Peter’s wife Kay with a potted plant, thanked her for her support of Peter and said that she was very much a member of our Rotary family.

Karen invited others to speak. DG Elect Trevor Taylor congratulated Peter and thanked him for all the work he had done in Rotary.  Bob Mackie from the RC Cleveland also congratulated Peter and acknowledged his work in Rotary as well as his role as a mentor to many members of his club and said all were sorry when Peter left the club on his retirement.

While the meeting venue in the Hotel restaurant area (where the club used to meet in the days of Vi Engle and Lisa) turned out to be less than desirable, due to excessive background noise, it will remain as a very special club night to honour the significant Rotary service of Peter Wilkinson. Well done Peter – not many of us will ever achieve such meritorious service to Rotary!

REPORT ON POLIO IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan is making progress against polio in the face of challenging, sometimes tragic circumstances, including the recent killing of a local community polio immunization worker and wounding of two others - a staff member of the World Health Organization and an international consultant -- in Karachi, Sindh. In addition, leaders in a small region of the northern part of the country have banned polio vaccinations.

WHO issued a statement expressing condolences to the family of the worker who died, adding, “The partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative remain committed to supporting the government of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan in their efforts to eradicate this devastating disease.”

Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria are the only remaining polio-endemic countries in the world. The incidence of polio in Pakistan has dropped by more than 60 percent this year, with 23 cases reported as of 12 July, compared with 59 cases during the same period last year.  “Pakistan this year has perhaps the best chance ever to achieve success, because tremendous new efforts are being undertaken, led by the government, in implementing a national polio emergency action plan that mobilized all government and civil society resources,” says Robert S. Scott, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “There is strong evidence that implementation of the emergency plan is showing results, particularly in key reservoir areas such as Balochistan and Sindh.” 

In support of Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts, Rotary recently installed two mobile clinics at checkpoints between Karachi and other parts of Sindh. The clinics are staffed 24 hours a day and supervised by WHO. Rotary also provided 45,000 vaccine carriers to the government in April. “Rotary’s district governors and Rotarians at the club level are in the forefront of Pakistan’s drive to become polio free,” says Scott. “They are organizing health camps to vaccinate children, meeting with local politicians to urge their support, and sponsoring walks and putting up posters to promote the country’s emergency action plan against polio. I salute them for their commitment and tireless efforts, which are making a real difference.” 

Rotary is also working to organize a committee of ulema, or Muslim religious scholars, to help correct misconceptions about the polio vaccine. Rotary successfully used this approach to overcome resistance to the vaccine in Muslim communities in India, which WHO removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in February.  In June, health officials from both Pakistan and Afghanistan visited India to learn firsthand about its proven strategies. Past RI President Rajendra K. Saboo, Rotary Foundation Trustee Ashok Mahajan, and India PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur briefed the Pakistani delegation on India’s eradication efforts. The Rotary representatives focused on the role of infrastructure, coordination of immunization campaigns, and lessons that could be applied in Pakistan, whose terrain, climate, and socioeconomic conditions are similar to India’s.

Pakistan’s national PolioPlus committee and Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan have joined forces to build awareness of polio. The company provided 14 billboards promoting National Immunization Days in July, signs to be placed in shops in districts where the wild poliovirus has been reported, and vans to transport polio vaccine and water to toll booths.  “On behalf of 1.2 million Rotary members worldwide, including more than 5,100 in Pakistan, I would like to extend my thanks to Coca-Cola Pakistan for its generous support and dedication to ensuring that all children are reached during our national polio immunization campaigns,” says Pakistan PolioPlus Committee Chair Aziz Memon. “Working together, we are one step closer to a polio-free Pakistan, and a polio-free world.”
International cricketing superstar Shahid Afridi, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, has also joined Pakistan’s anti-polio effort. A participant in Rotary’s “This Close” campaign, Afridi is from the Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and a Pashtun. In 2011, Pashtuns accounted for more than 75 percent of Pakistan’s polio cases, but the group only makes up 15 percent of the population.

“We have seen the support that celebrities of this stature can bring to national awareness efforts in other countries, and we have no doubt that Mr. Afridi will boost interest in the campaign and in ensuring that every child in Pakistan is vaccinated,” says Memon.

• Read a Rotary Voices blog post by Robert S. Scott, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee, on Pakistan’s progress in polio eradication. 

FUTURE MEETINGS & EVENTS
 
29th Aug  Social night with partners – Maleny Rotary Travelogue – Masonic Hall at 7pm with BBQ dinner at $10 head – funds to International projects.

5th Sep   Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with Guest Speaker Kerry Brown on "History of the Big Pineapple".

9th Sep   Real Food Festival

12th Sep  Board Meeting

BIRTHDAYS FOR AUGUST

12th Tony L  17th Malcolm B  20th Jocelyn B  28th Lionel T

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES FOR AUGUST

29th Mike and Angela

NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

THE IRISH 999 CALL

An Irish woman is cleaning her husband’s rifle and accidentally shoots him.  She immediately dials 999.
 
Irish woman:  ''It's my damned husband! I've accidentally shot him, I've t'ink I've killed him!''

Operator:  ''Please calm down Mam.  Can you first make sure he is actually dead!''

*click* .. *BANG*

Irish woman:  ''Okay, I've done dat....................  What's  next?''