Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 15th July 2020

"THE RANGE"  Vol. 62 No.2

WEDNESDAY 15TH JULY 2020

THIS WEEK'S MEETING
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for a Business Meeting.

APOLOGIES AND MEALS
Apologies please to Bernice before noon on Tuesday.

DUTY ROSTERS                
                               17th July          
Duty Officer            Bill H                               
Assist DO               Keith R          
Registration            James McC               
Fellowship              John W            

SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
None at present.

MINUTES OF ZOOM MEETING OF 1ST JULY
Guest visitor - Asst District Governor Jan Lawton – we were fortunate to have Assistant District Governor, Jan Lawton, present, and she invited Club members to join Rotarians Across Australia on 10th July for virtual (Zoom) fellowship, as well as meet the R100 Centenary Ambassadors, the Governor General and Mrs Hurley who would be launching the National Centenary Campaign. Jan explained that by joining Club Members would witness the “Passing the Baton” ceremony. The baton will carry the symbols of the centenary which will travel far and wide across Rotary clubs and Districts in Australia and New Zealand.

- Our newly minted President Greg Williams greeted and welcomed members to his first meeting as President and he acknowledged it would be challenging to meet the high standard of chairing set by IPP Sherryl Gregory.
 
-  A Rotary International Promo video that was played reinforcing the message of the International President Holger Knaack from Germany that “Rotary Opens Opportunities” encouraging Rotarians worldwide to seize the many opportunities Rotary offers to enrich their lives and the communities they serve.

-  Ebenezer Project: it was confirmed that the project, which was initiated as an International Project in 2008, is now complete and the opening of the new school would be held this month. The Club had been key in establishing the proposed school development as a RAWCS project in response to the recommendation of the then Club’s International Chair Bob Hall.

- Maleny Education Support Fund: CL and Angela gave a report on the progress of the project which was established in 2018 and initially funded by the Club, APEX and MCU Charitable Trust. Since then the Lions have more recently donated.

The Fund is auspiced by the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre and donations are held in a Maleny Credit Union Account. The fund accepts applications from Maleny State School, Maleny State High School, Maleny Independent School, and River School. Conondale State School has recently been included though no applications have been made so far.

Only School Principals can apply for funds, and only they know the names of recipients and parental or family contribution has to be made to each application: monetary or other suitable support e.g. portion of Centerlink payment paid directly to the school. A panel of donors assesses the applications which are confidential and only the Principal knows who the recipients for funding are. 21 applications have been approved from commencement.

Initially, applications were primarily for attendence at school camp but over time the requests have been for contributions to the costs of materials etc that families are now required to provide each year e g at the Maleny High School for access to books and equipment depending on course preferences; or in the case of Maleny State School where it is mandatory for parents to provide on the first day of school each year- a box of basic requirements such as reams of paper, glue sticks, headphones, back pack etc at costs ranging from $135 to $190 per student. This may be related to the Federal Government adjustments in funding for State Schools.

- Blues Festival
Discussion took place on volunteering responsibilities for the planned Blues Festival at The Showgrounds.

FUTURE MEETINGS AND EVENTS
16th July Blues Festival

22nd July No meeting

29th July Possible vocational activity

6th August Probable meeting at the Hotel.

13th August Board Meeting

29th August Pride of Workmanship Awards Dinner

BIRTHDAYS FOR JULY
8th Peter McGuirk  11th Roly Neiper and Jacinta Townsend  20th Beth Wann

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
HOW ANIMALS ARE RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC

    

      

Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 1st July 2020

THE RANGE"  Vol. 62 No.1
WEDNESDAY 1ST JULY 2020

THIS WEEK'S MEETING
A Zoom meeting has been arranged starting at 5pm.  Log in details have been circulated separately.

APOLOGIES
Apologies please to Bernice as soon as possible.

SCRIBE FOR THIS MEETING
Angela Griffin

SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
None scheduled at present.

MINUTES OF MEETING OF 17TH JUNE
Our fifth Zoom meeting commenced at 1700h and, after overcoming some technical problems, President Sherryl welcomed 23 members and guest Judith Ross-Smith, Immediate Past President of the Zonta Club of Blackall Range.  Unfortunately one member was unable to resolve her problems.  The meeting commenced with President Sherryl reporting the death of Past RI President Sir Clem Renouf who was a long time mentor to PDG Michael, wrote the forward to our Club history, and attended our 50th Birthday celebrations to launch the book.  As a tribute to Clem we then viewed the Polio Eradication video from the 7.30 Report some years ago.

President Sherryl then introduced IPP Judith of the Zonta Club who updated us on the progress with the combined services club’s Domestic Violence initiative.  She thanked us for successfully getting a District Grant and contributing Club funds towards the project and, in answer to a question on Council approval for the erection of signs, mentioned that they had no problem with Brisbane Council who installed all the Zonta signs for them.  However, locally they have not as yet been able to get the signs into public toilets so would be contacting our Councillor to seek his assistance.  The incoming President of Lions is keen to join Rotary, Zonta, and Quota in this combined community project.

Paulette updated us on the proposed Winter Blues Concert scheduled for 18 July at the Showgrounds.  A submission has been made to Council.  It is proposed that there will be up to 200 cars in the oval with big screen and radio/phone audio links and room for 100/140 in the hall.  Food will be pre-ordered, supplied by the Hotel, and delivered to cars and tables.  There will be a bar.  Four well known bands including the High School Youth Band are booked to perform but the sound system is still a work in progress.  Many helpers will be needed on the day to set up, park cars in designated spaces, man the bar, meet and greet, and clean up afterwards.

PEGreg and PP Alan have been walking the streets canvassing businesses about our Pride of Workmanship Awards scheduled for 29 August at Tranquil Park.  Advertisements have also been placed in all local papers.  Greg outlined plans for our Changeover which will be a relaxed affair at the Sport and Rec Clubhouse 1200 for 1230 on Sunday 28 June.  It will be BYO food and drink but gourmet sausages will be available and there will be music.  Maximum attendance will be limited to 40 – 20 inside and 20 outside.

Roly then treated us to his memorable moments – mud bathing in the Dead Sea and Opera in Cathedral Gorge deep in the Bungle Bungles NT – a highlight of the Kimberly trip he recently went on.  It does have amazing acoustics and many tourists are moved to sing there.

In general business Lionel informed us that all advertising slots for the 2021 calendar have been filled with many advertisers electing to continue to pay full price.  Rick reported that the enclosure at the back of the  Food Stall at the Showgrounds has been completed thanks to Malcolm and his four helpers.  Bernice reminded us that the annual meeting at the USC would now be by Zoom on 24 June.  PE Greg advised that he had attended the District Zoom meeting the previous Friday, the Budget had been approved, and meetings would in future be monthly.  Paulette brought up the subject of the Interact Aprons but this needs to be discussed further.

President Sherryl then thanked all attendees, especially the presenters, hoped those members with computer glitches would get them sorted out, and closed the meeting.

FUTURE MEETINGS
8th July Board Meeting

15th July Zoom Club Meeting at 5pm.

29th July Possible vocational activity

 FUTURE EVENTS
28th June Changeover 12:00 for 12:30pm at Sport and Rec Clubhouse.

18th July Winter Blues Concert at Showgrounds - duty rosters circulated.

29th August Pride of Workmanship Awards Dinner

BIRTHDAYS FOR JULY
8th Peter McGuirk  11th Roly Neiper and Jacinta Townsend  20th Beth Wann


AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Interesting facts about Railroad Tracks & space shuttles

The U.S. Standard railroad gauge  (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.
That's an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the U.S. Railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tram ways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So, who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?

Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.
Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
Therefore, the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
In other words, bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification, procedure, or process, and wonder, 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right.
Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.

Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, you will notice that there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank.
These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.  The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah.

The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit larger, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.
The railroad line from the factory  happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.
The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important!

Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 17th June 2020

"THE RANGE"  Vol. 61 No.24
WEDNESDAY 17TH JUNE 2020

THIS WEEK'S MEETING
A Zoom meeting has been arranged starting at 5pm.  Log in details have been circulated separately.

APOLOGIES
Apologies please to Bernice as soon as possible.

SCRIBE FOR THIS MEETING
Michael Gregory

SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
None scheduled at present.

PRESIDENT'S NOTES

Vale Clem Renouf, an Inspiring Rotarian:

 Sir Clement William Bailey Renouf, AM was an accountant and former President of Rotary International 1978-79. In this latter role he contributed significantly to the planned eradication of poliomyelitis worldwide. He was born in Ingham in 1921. He joined the Nambour Rotary Club in 1950 and remained a member. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1979, was knighted in 1988 "for outstanding service to the community" and awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched, using the resources of all four organisations -World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, national governments and other donors. At that time, wild polo virus was endemic in more than 125 countries. Now it's only left in two. Clem dreamed of living to see a polio-free world. We haven’t quite got there but we are very close. While he was titled and had received many awards, to those who met him he was simply ‘Clem’, a remarkable man. We will have a small tribute to him at our club Zoom meeting this week.

We have been successful in receiving recent approval for Rotary Foundation District Grants for two club projects. One is for a Solar Buddy light project, championed by Chris Brooker. We hope to partner with the Maleny High Interact Club in this project to assemble as many as 40 solar lights to distribute to a school in PNG or the Solomon Islands. If you are good at following instructions and assembling things from kits, please volunteer your time to Chris to help with this hands-on project.

The second grant is for a Domestic and Family Violence Project we are working on with the Zonta Club of the Blackall Range and the Quota Club of Maleny. The grant funding is specifically for DV emergency information signs for men’s amenities. The Zonta Club has already produced and sited signs in women’s amenities on the Range. This combined services project has a very active Facebook page with daily postings of current DV information, as well as resources. For example, there is a resource for Hairdressers who find a client needs DV help. There is also a Bystanders Resource to assist family members or friends who want to help in a DV situation.

The Facebook page is named: Combined Service Clubs of Maleny and the Blackall Range.

Alarmingly domestic and family violence incidents spiked during the COVID-19 lockdown period as revealed in a recent Monash University Report published in The Age this week:

·        Monash University surveyed 166 practitioners about family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

·        59 per cent said the frequency of violence against women had increased.

·        Half said the severity of violence increased as well.

·        42 per cent said more victims were coming forward for the first time.

·        Perpetrators are using the pandemic to inflict new forms of violence and control.

The United Nations Population Fund has predicted that for every three months lockdowns continue, an additional 15 million cases of domestic violence will occur worldwide.

I am pleased to report that another 25 bottles of hand sanitiser have been delivered to the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre (MNC) specifically for the ‘Women’s House’.  The remainder of the sanitisers will be delivered to the Maleny Flexi-school in the next week. This was a very handy little project funded by a Rotary Foundation District grant.

This will be my last Bulletin report as President in the RI year of “Rotary Connects the World”. We have had an extraordinary year in many ways. We could never have anticipated in July 2019 what events would unfold over the next 12 months. We have had to adapt to a ‘new normal’ over the last couple of months or so. I hope you have enjoyed our Zoom meeting programs. Thank you to Paulette for hosting these meetings. Restrictions are easing and I hope soon we can meet again face to face. Thank you all, for your support over the last 12 months.  I have great confidence that we are headed for an exciting year ahead with Greg Williams at the helm as President, with the RI theme of “Rotary Opens Opportunities”.

MINUTES OF MEETING OF 3RD JUNE
President Sheryl opened the Zoom meeting with a welcome to all Rotarians and to our special guests Barry, Micah and Eric. All together 21 people attended. Apologies were received from Melinda and Andy.

Rotary R100: A short video was shown celebrating 100 years of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand 1921-2021, sponsored by Caboolture Rotary Club.  Maleny Rotary has been challenged to decide on a project to support a century of Rotary Down Under
.
Maleny High School Chaplaincy: Micah Jones the current Chappy tuned in a little late because of the demands of a challenging day at the high school. He welcomed the opportunity to talk to us about what is happening at the high school. The health restrictions imposed on all schools because of Covid-19 have created a unique situation, both when the school was closed and now with the return of all students. Teacher have been anxious about the closure and the return of students, while students have been concerned with their future and re-establishing relationships with their friends after lock down. The school chappy is now a support to students/teachers/parents and families. Micah outlined his future projects to mentor students and develop leadership.

Maleny Neighbourhood Centre: Barry Smith gave us an update on the MNC Women’s House Project which provides temporary accommodation for women and children in desperate situations. He thanked Maleny Rotary for the ongoing support of the project which is wholly funded by the community with no government funding. Since opening, 14 women and 12 children have been provided with temporary accommodation. A report on the project has been sent to the club.


2021 Calendar: Lionel indicated that preparations for the 2021 calendar were going well; advertisers have been locked in and the photo competition will close on 12 June. If anyone has a photo for the competition, Lionel would be please to see it entered.

Rotary Foundation: Eric Wood, District Chair of the Rotary Foundation, was given the honour by President Sherryl of presenting a Paul Harris Fellow to a member who has always put up his hand when there is a job to be done.

Congratulation Lionel Tilley from all club members on being award a Paul Harris Fellow with sapphire.

Eric gave an update on the strain being placed on the Rotary Foundation because of the global needs for Covid-19 projects. He also gave an outline of the changes in the way the Foundation will operate with Global Grants and the need for clubs to become familiar with the new system.

Club History: Chris Brooker gave a history of the Club’s involvement with the Mary Cairncross Park starting in 1959 until the current day.

Other Items:
•    Change over on 28th June at the MDSR Building, more details soon.
•    Pride in Workmanship Award starting up soon.
•    Building the back wall on the Rotary stall at the showgrounds on 17 June, contact Mal.
Meeting Closed at 6.30pm

FUTURE MEETINGS
28th June  Changeover

1st July  Zoom Club Meeting at 5pm.

8th July Board Meeting

15th July Zoom Club Meeting at 5pm.

FUTURE EVENTS
20-26 June Rotary International Virtual Convention

BIRTHDAYS FOR JUNE
1st Mike Edwards 

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES FOR JUNE
1st Chris and Judi Ross-Smith  16th Alan and Mary Wilson

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING STILL WITH US, HOW IS THIS FOR
INNOVATIVE DESIGN?

ADVICE SHOULD FACE MASKS BECOME COMPULSORY

Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 15th April 2020

"THE RANGE"  Vol. 61 No.19
WEDNESDAY 15TH APRIL 2020

LATEST NEWS
All meetings and Sausage Sizzles have been cancelled until further notice.

PRESIDENT'S NOTES
Easter greetings to all our members and families. I hope everyone is managing as best they can in these unprecedented times, in our lifetimes at least. Can you remember just some months ago when we could stand so close to each other as in the photos here?

They say “take time to smell the roses”. Well we’ve got that time now so let’s make the most of it. Michael and I have been taking more time to look out for the amazing variety of butterflies around at the moment.

Rotary is still in action and clubs are connecting in lots of different ways. The board is meeting next week on Zoom, so I’ll be able to report next bulletin on some of the outcomes of that. The club will still be presenting the schools with books to honour Anzac Day as we have done in previous years.

We have received 11 applications for the community grants, so while we may not be able to enjoy our Community Grant Dinner scheduled for May, as we have done in the past, we will still be processing these applications and funding as many as we can to assist a broad range of organisations on the range. Our fundraising will be severely curtailed this year, with the cancellation of the Maleny Show and the Wood Show and no sausage sizzles to bring in a few dollars. However, we are hoping the annual Rotary calendar will still be produced to boost club and community spirits. I’m not sure if everyone has an IGA Community Benefit number to use when they shop there? Maleny Rotary does benefit financially from those who have assigned the club as their beneficiary. If you don’t have a number and do shop at the IGA ask there about getting a number to link to the Rotary fund.

It is important that members keep abreast of information sent out by Bernice, such as District newsletters, updates from Rotary Health etc. Rick V attended a teleconference last week of a special COVID-19 meeting of the Sunshine Coast Human and Social Recovery Sub-group. The club had been contacted a few weeks ago by the Sunshine Coast Council to see what capacity we had to assist with emerging community needs in this emergency situation. Some of the interesting facts that came out of the meeting (from reading the minutes) are:
• About 21,000 people have signed up in Queensland to be part of the Care Army.
• IFYS (Integrated Family and Youth Services) on the coast is generating 500 meals a day through their Feeding Families Program to deliver across the coast.
•The Department of Housing and Council have secured 125 rooms across the coast for those who are sleeping rough or in an immediate housing crisis.
• A number of national hotel chains have put their hands up to assist rough sleepers.
• The Community Recovery Hotline has received a lot of referrals including 972 for emotional support and 4,276 for practical support as of 7 April.
• The Red Cross reported that many seniors are feeling “helplessness and frustration”.
• The Dept of Housing has had a big demand for the Rental Grant Assistance.
• The Caloundra Community Centre has an issue with USC international students who are struggling to pay rent due to job losses.
• The Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre has had lots of requests for food supplies and food hampers. A key issue for them is finding accommodation for those who are homeless.
• Family and Child Connect had key concerns about escalating family and domestic violence, and an increase in new families that haven’t used support services in the past.

One way we personally could help with food hampers is to donate a couple of items when we shop, to the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre charity bins at IGA and Woolworths. They are looking for items such as pasta, pasta sauce, oatmeal, UHT milk and baked beans.

As I said earlier we now have time to look and admire nature that surrounds us. That’s when we’re not working from home, Face-timing, Messaging or phoning the family, checking the virus updates on the news, reading emails on the computer – and this does take a chunk of time. As Chris B started the ball rolling with some funnies to entertain us, I’ll start the ball rolling with the backyard pic of the week. Check out the reptilian visitor we had at our bird feeder last Thursday.

Stay safe and stay connected to Rotary.

CANCELLED EVENTS
2-4th May  Parking for Wood Expo.

9th May Smart Living's Gangsters and Flappers Night.

31st May  Maleny Show 

FUTURE MEETINGS
None scheduled

BIRTHDAYS FOR APRIL
1st Nancy Baker  4th Phillip Stark  12th Chris Brooker  23rd John McLennan  27th Chris Ross Smith & John Whan

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES FOR APRIL
13th Jeff & Jan Cornfoot  16th Brian & Gillian Allen 26th Bill & Marlene Hankinson

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
THE WORLD IS AWASH WITH CORONAVIRUS JOKES AND I THANK THOSE MEMBERS WHO HAVE KEPT ME WELL SUPPLIED.  LET US HOPE THAT LAUGHTER KEEPS IT AT BAY!

Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 1st April 2020

"THE RANGE"  Vol. 61 No.18
WEDNESDAY 1ST APRIL 2020

LATEST NEWS
All meetings and Sausage Sizzles have been cancelled until further notice.

PRESIDENT'S NOTES
With concern and anxiety swirling around us during this COVID-19 pandemic, I feel it is very important while we are not physically meeting as a club to keep contact as Maleny Rotarians. Thanks to Chris B for getting the funnies rolling around and good to have a smile amid the gloom, even if it mainly revolves around the crazy run on toilet paper. Who would ever have predicted that? Good news is that the Vickers are safely back in Maleny from Morocco and I’m sure there will be a story to tell there about their journey home. We will still be having  board meetings in some electronic form  to make sure we continue to attend to club business and this will be reported in the next bulletin.

The rain over the last few days will be good to settle in the new plantings at the Settler’s Green area at the Precinct. Jim has received the account for the plants, landscaping and irrigation system to be paid from the $20,000 grant we received for the project. If you get a chance and need to get out for some fresh air, take a walk or drive to look at the progress of the project. I took a photo a week ago of the heritage camellia section and I was very happy to see a couple sitting on one of our Rotary seats under the big fig tree.

Looking to the past for inspiration, I checked my Rotary folder for March 1999 to see what the club was up to then. Well we took a trip down to Chandler in Malcolm’s plush new coach to the District 9600 Conference. We had a good representation there from our club that year. One of the guest speakers was a priest from Aitape reporting on the rehabilitation work being carried out there by Rotary FAIM teams, following the devastating tsunami. Trevor Taylor then a member of our club was one of the first Rotary volunteers to go into the outlying areas to rebuild homes.

Another interesting dinner meeting that month was our Year 10 night organised by the Youth committee where a teacher from the high school brought a group of students to the meeting. The focus was on Rotary youth programs such as RYPEN, Youth Exchange, and the New Zealand Matched Twin exchange. Speakers included Gillian Baker, daughter of Malcolm and Nancy, who spoke on her year in Brazil and Keira Orr who spoke on her term in New Zealand. Maybe this is an idea we could revive in our program. The Heads and Tails winner that week was Reg Linton.

It’s the time of the year where Presidents-elect attend the President’s Elect Training Seminar (PETS) to plan and be informed about the next Rotary year. This year it was to be a combined seminar with D9630 for the last weekend in March in Toowoomba. Now it is being held electronically. We wish Greg well for this training as he prepares to take over as Club President on 1 July. 

While the world's focus at present is fighting the virus, Rotary International is still operating and good works are still happening through Rotary in communities around the world. This message is on the rotary.org main web page at the moment:

ROTARY MONITORS THE GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
Read how Rotary is responding to the impact of the global COVID-19 crisis. We are closely monitoring updates and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure the safest and most appropriate actions are taken by and for our members and the communities they serve.

They are recommending that members who want to be more informed on Rotary programs and further skilled in Leadership, could do an on-line course in the Learning Centre on the website. All courses are free. We need 2 people in the club to do the Grants course and so far we have only had one member do it, so if you are interested, email Michael and he can explain how to access it on the website.

So Rotary is still open for business, albeit in a totally different way than we could have expected a month or so ago. Please send any interesting articles to Keith for the next bulletin - maybe more ‘blasts from the past’ and old club photos. We are very lucky to be living in this beautiful part of the world and despite the crisis around us, the hills are still green, the white cockatoos are still eating the nuts on our pecan tree and the cobbler’s pegs are still growing great guns in our paddock. Stay safe and importantly, keep connected to family, friends and Rotary.

NOTES ON INTERACT CONFERENCE
At the recent Earlyact/Interact conference at St Columbans College, Caboolture on Sunday 8th March, the Interact group from Maleny State High School were in attendance and with the other groups managed in half an hour to assemble 75 of the Solar Buddy lights which are an Australian made product.

These were added to others and will be sent to the Solomon Islands to help other children with their studies as many of them don't have electricity in their homes. As can be seen in the photos, 1.4 billion people in the world have little or no access to electricity.

Our thanks to Paula for this report.

CANCELLED EVENTS
2-4th May  Parking for Wood Expo.

9th May Smart Living's Gangsters and Flappers Night.

31st May  Maleny Show 

FUTURE MEETINGS
None scheduled

BIRTHDAYS FOR APRIL
1st Nancy Baker  4th Phillip Stark  12th Chris Brooker  23rd John McLennan  27th Chris Ross Smith & John Whan

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES FOR APRIL
13th Jeff & Jan Cornfoot  26th Bill & Marlene Hankinson

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND NOT ABOUT THE VIRUS
DID YOU KNOW?
BIG CHEEKS.

Do you know of "Big Cheeks”?

He was a grandson of slaves,who was born in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans known as the "Back of Town."  His father abandoned the family when the child was an infant. His mother became a prostitute and the boy and his sister had to live with their grandmother.

Early in life he proved to have a gift for music and with three other kids he sang in the streets of New Orleans.  His first gains were coins that were thrown to them.

A Jewish family, Karnofsky, who had emigrated from Lithuania to the USA, had pity for the 7-year-old boy and brought him into their home, initially giving him 'work' in the house and feeding this hungry child. There he remained and slept in this Jewish family's home where, for the first time in his life, he was treated with kindness and tenderness.

When he went to bed, Mrs Karnovsky sang him a Russian lullaby that he would sing with her. Later, he learned to sing and play several Russian and Jewish songs.

Over time, this boy became the adopted son of this family. The Karnofskys gave him money to buy his first musical instrument; as was the custom in the Jewish families.  They sincerely admired his musical talent. Later, when he became a professional musician and composer, he used these Jewish melodies in compositions, such as St. James Infirmary and Go Down Moses.

The little black boy grew up and wrote a book about this Jewish family who had adopted him in 1907.  In memory of this family and until the end of his life he wore a Star of David and said that in this family, he had learned "how to live real life and determination."

You might recognize his name. This little boy was called:

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong.

Louis Armstrong proudly spoke fluent Yiddish!  And "Satchmo" is Yiddish for "Big Cheeks”!!!

Did you know that?

Rotary Club of Maleny Bulletin for 18th March 2020

"THE RANGE"  Vol. 61 No.17
WEDNESDAY 18TH MARCH 2020

THIS WEEK'S MEETING
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for Business Meeting.

APOLOGIES AND MEALS
Apologies please to Bernice before noon on Tuesday.

DUTY ROSTERS              
                         18th Mar      1st Apr          15th Apr
Duty Officer      Alan W        Malcolm B     Jeff C             
Assist DO         Angela G     Michael G      Bernice McL  
Registration     John McL      Melinda M    Bill H
Fellowship       John W          Keith R         Lionel T
   
SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
21st March
Chris B (Leader)  Keith R  Andy S

4th April
Malcolm B  (Leader)  James McC  Paulette S

PRESIDENT'S NOTES
March has been quite a busy month. Thanks to the members who helped with the Clean-up Australia working bee along the Obi on 1 March. It was good for the club to be active in this community event again, as it’s a while since we have been involved. The collaborative spirit on the morning was great. Another really good teamwork opportunity was the Settler’s Green Tree plant on 5 March and we had good club representation on that morning as well. The area is going to be a real asset to the community space when the plants develop and fill the space out a bit. The Heritage camellia section I believe will be a real drawcard for garden clubs.

We had good news this week that the new RAWCS project that we are sponsoring in Nepal has now been officially registered. The project is titled the Business Entrepreneurship Training and Support for Women with Disability - Kathmandu, Nepal. The project will particularly target blind women. Thanks to CL for her passion and valued expertise in international development projects, and for getting this project registered so quickly. We look forward to hearing more about it from her.

I have been working over the last week with the Presidents of Zonta and Quota on a Domestic and Family Violence awareness and action project for the Range (a 3 Presidents Project). We are planning a Domestic and Family Violence Focus Group at the RSL in the coming weeks, where we have invited a range of service clubs on the range to attend. We are hoping that the outcome of this will be a concerted communication campaign, and collective support for more awareness about resources available for not only persons who are experiencing violence, in any of its forms, but for engaged bystanders. We are planning to produce a DV poster for men to display in public amenities, similar to the Zonta DV Awareness project which has put DV Help contact numbers into Women’s Toilets around the Sunshine Coast.

 The Interactors from Maleny High Interact Club had a productive time at the District Interact Conference last week. It is always a good opportunity to network with other club members, and also to showcase their projects and activities. Thanks to the members who also went along to support them. The District Conference is on in Brisbane this week.

If you know of any budding young photographers on the range, alert them to the Sunshine Coast Children’s Photographic Competition, a project of RC of Caloundra. Closing date 30 April, categories- Animals-environment, Portraits (local photos preferred), 3 age groups, up to 12 yrs, 12-15 yrs, 15 yrs+. Open to all Sunshine Coast children.

You would have seen that advertising is underway for our Maleny Rotary 2020 Community Grant Applications. Tuesday 31 March is the closing date for the Grant Applications, so please spread the word around as it is a very good opportunity for organisations on the range to get small grants for their immediate needs to benefit the community.

At the Board meeting this week we discussed the emerging COVID-19 situation and how it may affect the club’s operations. At present all we can do is to exercise caution and to strictly follow the Government Health and Emergency Guidelines as they emerge.

MINUTES OF MEETING OF 4TH MARCH
President Sherryl welcomed 29 members and guests to the regular dinner meeting held at the Maleny Hotel. Among the guests was a visiting Rotarian Monica, from the RC of Varberg-Bocksten District 2360 Sweden. Monica was visiting her daughter Miriam who is married to Chris, the Pharmacy Manager of the Maleny Star Discount Chemist. Chris and Miriam met in Cloncurry when Miriam was working in the local hotel while back-packing around Australia and Chris was the Chemist in Cloncurry.

Sherryl thanked those members who assisted in the “Clean Up Australia” event which was held in Maleny on Sunday 1st March. She also advised that the Interact Conference was being held at St Columbans on Sunday 8th March and the District 9600 Conference would be held in Brisbane from Friday 13 to Sunday 15th March.

Lionel called for volunteers to help in the tree plant at “Maleny Settler’s Green” which was held on Thursday 5th March.

Paulette advised the meeting of a “Casino Night” being run as a fundraiser for Smart Living Society Ltd, to be held at the Maleny RSL on Saturday May 9th.

Chris Brooker advised that Nick Zillman, who has been invited to be the Keynote speaker at this year’s ANZAC day ceremony at the Maleny RSL, is the nephew of Past President David Burnett and the grandson of founding member Rixson Burnett and his wife Peg.

Lionel introduced the Guest Speakers for the evening, Joanna Rickards and Sue Krucker from the Maleny State High School Flexi School. Jo has addressed the Club several times over the 21 years that the Flexi School has been operating, while it was the first time that Sue has addressed the Club. During their PowerPoint presentation they explained that the Flexi School, which has a limit of 20 students and a waiting list, provides a welcoming learning space for students that struggle in the normal school environment. They respond to students' needs by providing a broad scope of learning, such as music & singing, writing workshops, hospitality and food preparation, service and volunteering, craft, healthy eating to name but a few. The Flexi School was instrumental in organising the annual “Youth Festival” in Maleny, which has become an important community event.

Sue then explained that her role as a “Youth Support Coordinator” is to manage each student’s emotional challenges through the Flexi School’s “Integrated Wellness Programme”. This program has been developed with the understanding that the students emotional wellbeing corresponds directly to their academic performance. Sue is one of thirty “Youth Support Coordinators” on the North Coast. 26 of these positions are funded by the State Government, but unfortunately her position in Maleny is not one of them, which means that the School has to fund raise if they wish to keep her. Sue sees her role as a conduit between the students at the Flexi School and the Chaplain at the MSHS.

The Maleny Flexi School has been recognised by the Qld Department of Education as one of ten “Spotlight Schools” in Queensland, and as such they received $10,000 to assist with the running of the School. Over the 21 years that the School has been operating they have educated 400 students who otherwise may have “fallen through the cracks” had they remained in the more formal environment of the MSHS.

Jim thanked Jo & Sue for bringing the Club the latest information on the Flexi School and presented each of them with a Maleny Rotary “Black Bag” as well as the ever popular Rotary Calendar.


The meeting closed at 8:55pm.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
2-4th May  Parking for Wood Expo. This is a major fund raiser for the Club and multiple shifts will be needed.

9th May Smart Living are running a Gangsters and Flappers Night at the RSL. 

FUTURE MEETINGS
25th March
No meeting

1st April
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for Stuart Mason on Hand Hygiene for Health.

8th April
Board Meeting at the Masonic Lodge.

15th April
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm for Business Meeting.

BIRTHDAYS FOR MARCH
5th Judy Tilley  26th Rick Vickers

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES FOR MARCH
6th John & Beth Whan

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
SHOPPING PROBLEMS

There have recently been stories of mayhem in supermarkets with empty shelves following panic buying of toilet paper.

As a contrast, consider this report from Canada. A short while ago, a new supermarket opened in Calgary.  It has an automatic water mister to keep produce fresh.

Just before it goes on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

  When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh mowed hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks with onions. 

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread and cookies.

I don't buy toilet paper there anymore