WEDNESDAY 20 AUGUST 2014
THIS WEEK'S MEETING
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with Guest Speaker Alan Wilson on "My Story".
APOLOGIES
Please tender apologies to Bernice by noon Tuesday.
DUTY ROSTERS
20 Aug 3 Sep 17 Sep
Duty Officer Mike G Jim A Jeff C
Registration Bernice M Robin T Andy S
ADO & Scribe Keith R Chris B Angela G
Fellowship Lionel T John W Alan W
SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
30 August
Malcolm Baker (Leader) Jeff Cornfoot Bill Hankinson
13 September
John Whan (Leader) Andy Shouteten Ric Townsend
27 September
Lionel Tilley (Leader) Rick Vickers Angela Griffin
MINUTES OF MEETING OF LAST MEETING
President Ric opened the meeting with the normal formalities and welcomed our Guest Speaker Audrey Raymond.
New member induction:
Incoming President
President Ric announced that Jeff Cornfoot had accepted this position. The AGM was reconvened and Jeff was elected unopposed.
Men's Shed
President Ric announced the proposal to lay a concrete slab for the new Men’s Shed. Michael G. proposed putting in an application for a District Grant to assist with costs.
BowelScan 2014
Lionel reported that overall it was a successful year, however the number of kits sold (260) was down on the last two years (344/280). The return rate was 84% which was an improvement on the usual 75%. Disappointingly the younger demographic (none below 45) are giving the scheme a miss with 82% of participants being 60 years of age or older.
The good news is that across the project area only 11 positives were detected – one being in Maleny. Next year we will be using a different type kit (Eiken immunological) which should prove a bit easier to use and the samples will be analysed at the Sullivan Nicolaides Lab in Toowong. Not sure yet of the cost but it will be slightly higher than this year. He thanked Jim for his assistance early in the program when I was holidaying.
Calendar
Lionel gave a report on the calendar progress. He will be calling soon for volunteers to assist to hang the photos at Maple 3.
Guest Speaker
Audrey Raymond from the Buddies Refugee Support Group gave a passionate account of the organisation she belongs to and how they make a difference to refugees living on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane areas. Audrey also went through a long list of myths about asylum seekers, boat people and refugees – some of her information was very confronting and disturbing. She provided lots of statistics and personal accounts to back up her talk.
Buddies Refugee Support Group based on the Sunshine Coast was established in 2001, offering refugee support services which include hospitality, picnics, exchange of letters, phone calls, a weekly bulletin, education opportunities, advocacy and lobbying. They also fundraise to assist the financial plight of refugees on bridging visas, as they have very little money, are not allowed to work or even do voluntary work. The organization has had a growth spurt in the last 6 months increasing their member base from 250 members in December 2013 to 800 members at present.
Some of the myths that Audrey dispelled were:
• Boat people are illegal
• Boat people are queue jumpers
• Boat arrivals are not genuine asylum seekers
• Boat arrivals present a security risk
• Asylum seekers who can afford to come by boat are economic migrants
• Mandatory detention is necessary for border security
• Australia has one of the most generous refugee intakes in the world.
She handed out a brochure with more statistics and facts to dispel the myths. Some quotes form the brochure “ With over 15 million refugees worldwide and only 80,000 places allocated each year for resettlement, if all the world’s refugees were to join a queue, the wait would be more than 190 years….”. “Australia stands alone as a democratic developed nation which imposes mandatory indefinite detention on asylum seekers who arrive legally without visas”. Sources cited for more information include:
Refugee Council of Australia: www.refugeecouncil.org.au
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre: www.asrc.org.au/resources/mythbusters
Chilout (Children out of detention): www.chilout.org/myths-and-facts
Refugee Action Coalition Sydney: www.refugeeaction.org.au
FUTURE MEETINGS & EVENTS
27th Aug
Masonic Hall at 7:00pm for Club Assembly with $10 meal.
3rd Sep
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with Guest Speaker Melissa Borich on Healthy Lifestyles.
10th Sep
Masonic Hall for Board Meeting.
13th/14th Sep
Parking for Real Food Festival at Maleny Show Grounds.
17th Sep
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with Guest Speakers Maggie & Steve Lowe on Goat Co-op Project. Please go to www.ecogoatsqld.com.au for background information.
24th Sep
Vocational visit to IGA.
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY FOR AUGUST
29th Angela and Mike
BIRTHDAYS FOR AUGUST
17th Malcolm Baker 20th Jocelyn Brooker 29th Lionel Tilley
NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
TALES FROM A MONASTERY
A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"
The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound; a sound like no other that he has ever heard.
The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say "We can't tell you because you're not a monk."
The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes on his merry way.
Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.
The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car.
That night, he hears the same strange mesmerizing sound that he had heard years earlier.
The next morning, he asks what the sound was, but the monks reply "We can't tell you because you're not a monk."
The man says, "All right, all right. I'm dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?"
The monks reply "You must travel the Earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk."
The man sets about his task. Some forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I have travelled the Earth and devoted my life to the task demanded and have found what you had asked for. There are 371,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth.
The monks reply "Congratulations, you are correct, and you are now considered a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound."
The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says "the sound is behind that door."
The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks "May I have the key?"
The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.
Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man requests the key to the stone door.
The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it.
Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. And so it went on until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.
Finally, the monks say "This is the key to the last door."
The man is relieved to be at the end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is astonished to find the source of that strange sound.
It is truly an amazing and unbelievable sight ...........
..... But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.
DON'T SWEAR AT ME!
With acknowledgement to Dave Allen
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