14th - 19th July - Bendigo Sheep & Wool Show (setup & event) Volunteers needed.
29th July - Industry visit. See details below
30th August - Federation Picnic.
27 - 31 May 2027 - Rotary Barham Weekend, Barham Caravan Park. See Kevin Reade for more details.
Welcome to Issue 1 (2026-27) of our weekly bulletin. Find out about our upcoming events, our guest speakers, what we covered during the last meeting and more!
Can't make our meeting in person please join us via Zoom:
Opportunities to volunteer -for non-Rotarian friends and volunteers:
* Upcoming BBQs - Contact Kevin - 0428 996 619
Week 3
15-July
22 July
29-July
5-Aug
Speaker
TBC
Club Morning
Industry Visit – JL King & Co Food and Produce
Samantha Wittenberg
Health & Wellbeing
Meeting Location
Peppergreen Farm
Peppergreen Farm
Peppergreen Farm
Chair
Kevin Dobson
Rob Rosaia
Doug Lougoon
Computer
Doug Lougoon
Cathie Miller
Allie Lyall
Set-Up 6.45am & pack up
Ray Carrington
Liz Commadeur
Stan Hendy
Welcome, raffle & roaming microphone
John Cannon
John Harkin
Phil Harris
CO-PRESIDENT REPORT
President Report for 8thJuly 2026
The Club’s annual Changeover Lunch The Club’s annual Changeover lunch last Sunday provided an opportunity to reflect with pride on everything that has been achieved over the past year. Members enjoyed celebrating the Club’s accomplishments while also looking ahead with enthusiasm and optimism for the opportunities and challenges of the year to come.
Club Meeting Wed 8th July Members were treated to a very interesting and lively presentation from Georgie Pell at Wednesday’s meeting. Her entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude clearly impressed those in attendance, and her inspirational vision for the future of View Street generated considerable interest and discussion among members. Preparations are well underway. This is a major fundraising event for the Club next week. Doug reported that the roster is shaping up well, although he would still appreciate some additional volunteers on Sunday afternoon (12th ). Environment Director Phil reminded members that this year the Club will be partnering with Epsom Primary School to conduct a National Tree Day Schools event. Students will take the lead in planting activities under the supervision of their teachers, while Club members will coordinate the project and provide support throughout the program. To accommodate the school schedule, there will be two planting sessions during school hours in the week commencing Monday, 20 July. Phil will provide further details and volunteer information at next week’s meeting. Kevin Reade confirmed that the Club will once again support the Federation Picnic this year (Sun 30th August). Finally, it was wonderful to see Georgia Wiegard at this week’s meeting. Her presence was warmly welcomed, and members hope to see her attending more often throughout the year.
Roles Within the Club Our new directors have been busy establishing their teams and planning activities for the year ahead. Please speak with the Directors about their interests and skills, and to let them know where they would like to contribute. This is a great opportunity for everyone to become involved in areas that are both rewarding and enjoyable.
Madeleine Schoo receiving a very deserving Paul Harris Fellow award
Madeleine has been volunteering for MANY (40+)years across a wide variety of interests.
Some examples are: multiple groups associated with the Dutch community for 23+ years, 2 different Primary Schools and a kindergarten in a variety of roles, 2nd Bendigo-St Andrews Scout Group, Meals on Wheels, Little Athletics, Volleyball coach & trainer, CentaCare, Lifeline, Bendigo Uniting Church Outreach, Bendigo Community House, community choir, Dunkeld Mosaic of Arts committee, Clean Up Australia Day, Landcare, Bendigo Palliative Care Auxiliary as well as everything she has done with our Club.
An inspiration to us all Madeleine. Congratulations.
Phil Britton and Colleen McCarthy receiving District awards
The incoming Board (that is Phil Britton hiding)
See our Facebook page for more great photos.
A message from Ray Carrington, Chair of the Changeover Function committee:
I would like to thank all the members of the Changeover team who worked together to deliver a most enjoyable event last Sunday at Camp Getaway. Over a period of about 3 months, and a few face-to-face meetings, the team sorted out what needed to be done, by whom and by when. So, to Colleen, Cathie, Evelyn, Liz, Ted, Paul H, Toni, Adrian, Madeleine, Allie and Judy, thank you all very much for the effort you put in to make this important day possible and so successful.
Ray Carrington
Guest Speaker - Georgie Pell
Georgie is the proprietor of Pink Honey, a women's clothing store, in View Street opposite the Art Gallery. With the downturn in business which has coincided with the building works at the Art Gallery Georgie is currently teaching at Catherine McAuley College. Georgie is heading up a campaign to rejuvenate View Street while the building works are underway. Members were treated to a rendition of "I'm Still Standing" including Georgie's very nice dance moves using the iconic buildings of View Street as a backdrop. This little piece spoke of the determination of business owners to see through this period with the expectation that business will pick up dramatically when the Gallery reopens.
Georgie is a strong promoter of shopping in person. There is nothing like having the feel of the fabric and trying on the article of clothing to get a feel for how it looks and how it fits. Part of this promotion includes Pink Honey being a hub for community causes and a place where women connect and support each other. Pink Honey supports tourism and council initiatives and only sells Australian brands. Community projects and causes have strong support in areas such as sponsorship of sport and the promotion of safety for women through community walks and runs. Members of the Karen community are given the opportunity to practice their English through involvement in the store.
Georgie's presentation was a reminder to members of the important part which vibrant retail plays in creating an atmosphere where people gather in person and as such experience a sense of connectedness and civic pride. It is demoralising to walk through the city and come across vacant shops and not experience reasonable crowds of people going about their daily business. Georgie embraces the opportunities provided by E-commerce through clever use of Instagram and Facebook whilst at the same time promoting the importance of in person shopping.
Georgie is leading the way in building up a range of activities in the View Street precinct. Artists have been arranged for monthly concerts and an exhibition entitled "Women on View" will be held at Dudley House on August 1st and 2nd. View Street takes on different themes and colours from time to time and businesses support each other with theft and dealing with aggressive and abusive visitors who are currently coming in increasing numbers. It was refreshing to hear of Georgie's ":can do" attitude. There are lessons in her approach for our club and for ourselves personally. We thank Georgie for being our guest and we wish her all the best in her endeavours which go way beyond the benefits for her own business.
The Club's next Industry visit will be a tour of J.L. King and Co on Wednesday July 29th. Members are invited to gather in the foyer at 7.15am, our normal meeting time. The address is 21 Brickworks Road, East Bendigo. There is plenty of parking on the street, if you can't find space in the car park. Management has requested no jewellery and flat soled shoes. It is advisable to bring warm clothing as we will be passing through some refrigerated areas.
For those who are able we will gather for breakfast at Eastside Cafe, 40 Strickland Road, East Bendigo after the tour at around 8.30am. Again there is plenty of parking on the street. Please be in touch with Jim Rolfe (0407554263) if you have any queries.
WERN site visit
Friday afternoon Gary Pinner & Tony Plant RC Bendigo South, Trevor Bray RC Castlemaine and Cathie Miller RC Bendigo Sandhurst did a field visit to the Western Emergency Relief Network (WERN) and spent time with Ross Butterworth to see how their service functions.
There are 3 ERN' operating in Melbourne (WERN, EERN & RIMERN) and 1 in Ballarat.
The establishment committee for the proposed local ERN will meet again next month to progress the learnings gained from the site visits and plan the next steps.
The link below is for a recent documentary aired on ABC Compass about a similar ERN project in Sydney
Contact the email below if you are able to help out.
The Noticeboard
Each week various information come into the Bulletin email, small bits to add into the bulletin that doesn't really go anywhere else but may be good to know. Sometimes it's an announcement, an invitation, an update or advertisement.
Here are this week's tidbits:
EAGLEHAWK
60th Birthday Luncheon 8th August 2026
A luncheon will be held on Saturday, 8th August
to celebrate our club's milestone birthday.
More information will follow, but for now - pop it into your diary so you don't miss out!
BENDIGO
Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee 20th Anniversary - 18th Sept. 2026 at 6.00pm. For more info go to BMFC website see link here https://bmfc.org.au/
UPDATE
NEWS FLASH: The accommodation needed for two Malaysia Special Education teachers has been reduced to 13 nights, from 20 August to 2 September 2026
The teachers will be located at either the Bendigo Special Developmental School or at Kalianna School during their time in Bendigo. They will need to be transported to and from their school.
Please let me know if you can home host one or more of the teachers during that time and for how long. I can be contacted by phone (0416 192 032) or email (lj@joll.net). Lindsay Jolley (IPP, Rotary Club of Bendigo South)
To finish off our bulletin for this week, some humour from John Cannon
Cluster club meetings
Bendigo
Tuesday 12.30pm for 1.00pm, an evening meeting on the 4th week - 6pm for 6.30pm start.
The Bendigo Club, 22 Park St. Strathdale
Bendigo South
Thursday 6.00pm for 6.30pm
Boatshed Function Room, Lakeview Hotel, Bendigo
Eaglehawk
Wednesday 6.15pm for 6.30pm
Mechanics Institute, California Gully
Kangaroo Flat
Monday 6.00pm for 6.30pm
Rotary Gateway Park, Kangaroo Flat
Inner Wheel Bendigo
2nd Tuesday, 11.00am – lunch after meeting
Mechanics Institute, School Street, California Gully
Phil Britton and Colleen McCarthy receiving District awards
