Welcome to Issue 29 of the weekly bulletin for the Rotary Club of Bendigo Sandhurst. Find out about our upcoming events, who our guest speakers are, what we covered during the last weekly meeting and more!
What a dynamic speaker we had with Peter Brukner! Very enthusiastic about our health and future direction.
Our For-A-Meal project was great, 48 volunteers from all the Cluster clubs packing the meals. 12 members and friends attended from our club. Much fun and networking were enjoyed. A total of 11,000 meals were packed, allowing approx. 4 meals per bag.
Following the day, a dinner with DG Amanda, DGE Ron, AGs Rob and Alison and the Presidents of the Cluster Clubs was held at Pat’s pub. Lots of discussion re helping each other's projects and combining hands-on together.
Amanda presented Pat with a Gold Companion Award for his significant support for Rotary Health, especially with the Youth. A wonderful acknowledgement.
The weekend held a working bee at Camp Getaway, on both days with members from cluster clubs attending also. Thanks to our club members who attended.
Sunday was the BBQ at the Golf Course for the raceway people, Thanks to Chef Rob, Kev and their team once again.
Tuesday a brief visit with staff from the Elmore Event Centre which appears to be running smoothly. Now 150 vans on site with families. All meals are prepared and cooked at no cost to the occupants. Linen is supplied and 20 washing machines are available 24/7. Security is provided 24/7 also.
Supplies of Baby Formula, sandals and disinfectant are available from DIK and transport is to be arranged for these to be delivered, for the kindergarten and childcare centre now reallocated to Tongala and Elmore.
We now have an A team for the Operation Cleft project run by Bendigo Rotary, Captained by Ted. This project has been effective in helping over 800 infants in the past 7/12.
PP Wayne Smith and Tom Dobeli from Bendigo Rotary have discussed us joining with them in some car parking projects. This will be discussed at our next Forum meeting and details reviewed.
Further meeting with the Bendigo Council followed our club meeting re the Easter Markets, Ted will update us next week.
Stew will speak about the YEX and youth programs also at the Forum, so please make sure you have read all the information on this.
To those that are not so well, rest, fluids and call a friend if you need help.
Have a safe , happy and fun filled week.
- President Judy
ReminderPepper Green Farm Details
-Address 40-44 Thunder St
-Time 7am for 7.30am
-Parking Both at the front and in the larger car park at the back.
-Venue The Pod is to the side of the main café in a separate building.
-Ordering: On arrival go to the café, order your breakfast and bring your coffee/hot drink to the meeting room. Your breakfast will be brought over when ready.
It was another busy week for Bendigo Sandhurst Rotarians. In addition to our terrific guest speaker Peter Brukner, members attended the For-A-Meal day, the fundraiser golf day, and a two-day working bee at Camp Getaway.
A highlight of the week was a special Gold Companion Award, presented to Pat Sheehan for his ongoing and significant support for Rotary health programs.
Well done Pat!
Some of Dr Peter Brukner's tips for a healthier life.
Guest speaker - Dr Peter Brukner
Peter recounted many experiences working in the area of Sports Medicine with many sporting teams. Having realised that his engagement in sport was probably not going to be on the field, this provided a wonderful opportunity for him to be closely involved.
Peter grew up in the era of Ron Casey and "World of Sport". This was compulsory viewing in his younger years. He got his chance as a Sports Commentator filling a special comments role with ABC radio. Peter remembers fondly his first Olympics, Atlanta with the Australian team. He was privileged to spread time with Cathy Freeman after her magnificent feats in Sydney.
From his involvement with the Olympic team Peter went on to work with the Australian Cricket team, Collingwood, Melbourne, the Socceroos and Liverpool. He was part of Ashes victories, a cricket world cup win and a premiership with Melbourne. Peter in later years has become a Professor of Sports Medicine at La Trobe University and he is chair of Sugar by Half which is a not for profit organisation set up to promote the importance of health and the dangers associated with excessive intake of sugar. Australians on average consume over twice what is considered a safe level of sugar.
Peter recounted his own family experiences of diabetes. Some time ago he was overweight and realised he was not as healthy as he thought he was. He adopted a sugar free diet with a focus on eating real food. The transformation was amazing. He lost weight, stopped being hungry, slept better and his blood tests returned to normal. As a result of his experiences and his medical background, Peter was compelled to promote the importance of a sugar free diet and the prevalence of sugar in so many foods. Our generation has the highest proportion of obesity and diabetes.
Peter pointed out that the sugar epidemic has its origins in the 1980's when promotions such as the food pyramid stressed the importance of a fat free diet. What has happened is that sugar has replaced fat with even more devastating impacts. Peter stressed the importance of Just Eating Real Food (JERF) and checking carefully the make up on the labels of food readily available in supermarkets. Some "foods" are little more than a chemical concoction.
Peter was a very engaging speaker with a compelling message. We appreciate very much his generous efforts to be with us in person.
City sets up new local soft plastic collection points
John C found the following article in the Bendigo Advertiser (thanks John):
From January 1, 2023 the City of Greater Bendigo will provide free soft plastic drop off points at the Strathfieldsaye, Goornong and Heathcote Transfer Stations and at the Eaglehawk Recycle Shop at the front of the landfill following the recent pausing of the REDcycle soft plastics initiative at local supermarkets.
The new collection points will accept the same soft plastics that were accepted under the REDcycle scheme. The easy way to tell if plastic is soft or hard is the scrunch test. If it scrunches into a ball it’s soft, if it holds its shape it's hard.
City of Greater Bendigo Resource Recovery and Education Manager Brooke Pearce said all soft plastics collected at the new drop off points will be bailed by the City and collected by sustainable solutions partner Close the Loop.
“The City is also committed to buying the recycled product back for use in its regional road projects,” Ms Pearce said.
“Close the Loop will recycle the material at the completion of their new processing line, where it will be turned into an award-winning product called TonerPlas® - an asphalt additive used in road building that is manufactured in Melbourne.
The City is committed to using the product in our roads, in order to create demand for the recycled soft plastics product, as the lack of purchasing of products made from our recycling is a major limiting factor of successful recycling outcomes.
“TonerPlas® is a high-performance asphalt additive that helps roads last longer and require less maintenance than traditional asphalt. It is designed to melt into, extend and modify the bituminous binder in asphalt and improving the mechanical properties of the product, leading to improved durability and lower carbon footprint over the lifecycle of the road.
“In Australia alone, more than 300,000 tonnes of soft plastic is dumped into landfills every year. Not only is this bad for the environment, it is a massive waste of valuable resources that can be re-used and re-purposed into high performance products like “TonerPlas®.
“We are excited that Close the Loop have partnered with the City to recycle the soft plastics we collect at the new drop off points and we look forward to furthering our circular economy efforts by purchasing back TonerPlas® for use in our local roads.
“The City will continue to look at further opportunities for more soft plastics disposal points across the municipality in 2023.”
