Friday 27 January 2023

Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 1st February 2023


VALE PDG TONY HOLMES
It was with great sadness that members learnt of Tony's death in a farming accident. Tony was a member of our Club whilst serving as District Governor in 2003-04..  Our sincerest sympathy is extended to his widow and family at this tragic time.

THIS WEEK'S MEETING
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for a Dinner Meeting with Guest Speaker our own Renee Harris on "My Story."

APOLOGIES
Apologies please to Bernice before noon on Tuesday.

DUTY ROSTER
                       1st Feb         15th Feb         1st Mar
Duty Officer    Keith R         Michael G
Assist DO       Rick V          Sherryl G
Registration   J
ohn McL     James McC
Fellowship      John W        Bill H

WOOLWORTH SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
04Feb   0730 - 1030  Brian A   Sherryl G   Phillip S 

            1030 - 1330  Jeff C   Rick V   Andy S 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Ric Townsend, Greg Williams and myself attended the Sunshine Coast Australia Day Awards last Friday January 20 to see our fellow Rotary member, the consummate gentleman, John Whan, receive his certificate for being nominated for the Senior Citizen of the Year.


Unfortunately, John didn’t win however it was a wonderful morning with his children, Peter, Helen and Janet there as well, and they all went off to lunch afterwards at one of the surf clubs on the coast. Photo with Andrew Powell who came up to congratulate John as well.

Just a short note to thank the members who attended the Australia Day activities at Ziza Field - more at the meeting. The ShelterBox tent was safely erected - and dismantled, our marquee was well laid out and the sausage sizzle was well patronised.

MINUTES OF MEETING OF 18TH JANUARY
Being the first business meeting for the year, it was a relatively short meeting as many activities are yet to crank up for the new year. Updates on the following issues were discussed.
• Price of meals: As of next meeting the dinner fee will be $22.00 following an increase in the cost from the Hotel. This is the first increase for many years.
• Australia Day Activities: The Club will have a spot an the MDSR Precinct to display a shelter box and provide a free BBQ. Still a lot of uncertainty about the event and Club members  will be kept informed by email.
• Rick Townsend reported that Judith Ross-Smith has a chair that needs to be repaired and asked for volunteers to help.
• Australia Zoo parking was very hectic over the Christmas and New Year period with the club doing some 20 shifts.

PDG Michael Gregory was invited to give an update on Rotary International business and the Rotary Foundation. He advised that Regionalisation in Zone 8 has been put on hold because of the failure of a vote last year. Other zones are now up and running with our zone being left out.
• Global water supply and health hygiene are hampering many global disease programs; water will become a major priority in many developing countries and will be a focus for the Rotary Foundation
• Polio Plus: Still a lot of work to do to reach the target of eradication. Global upheaval will hinder progress.
Despite successful funding activities by Rotary Clubs in 2022 raising $4.3M, it fell short of the target of $5.0M with the shortfall being made up by RI.
A Polio Plus Society Program has been formed under the Paul Harris Society Program which will allow easier donations and pledges to the program. Also a new vaccine has been developed to eliminate the vaccine derived outbreaks which are now occurring. The new vaccine is more stable and easier to transport.
• Rotary Builds Peace program has been given a priority by RI as the General Secretary of RI is a Ukrainian. The Club supported these activities last year; overall $15M was raised worldwide.
• Malaria programs could deserve our support in 2023 to raise funds for many countries to assist with control programs.

FUTURE MEETINGS AND EVENTS
08 Feb  Board Meeting

15 Feb  Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for Business Meeting

01 Mar  Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for Dinner Meeting with Guest Speaker TBA

BIRTHDAYS FOR FEBRUARY
18th Jeff Cornfoot  

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
AN UNUSUAL TRAFFIC INCIDENT

Two Brisbane Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on the Cunningham H/way, just west of the Amberley Air force Base at Ipswich. 


The officers were using hand held radar devices to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill. The officers were suddenly surprised when their radar guns began reading 500 kms per hour. 

The officers attempted to reset the radar guns, but they would not reset and then turned off.  Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to an RAAF F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low flying exercise near the location. 

 Back at the Queensland Traffic Control Headquarters the Patrol Sergeant fired off a complaint to the RAAF Base Commander.   

The reply came back in true RAAF style:

 Thank you for your letter. 

We can now complete the file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down. 

Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment location. Fortunately, the Senior Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defence system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position.

 The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cursing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high tech. Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the left radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster 

 Thank you for your concern.

 Wing Commander Brown, SFO RAAF, Amberley, Ipswich, Queensland.

 


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