Bulletin 4 RCoBS (Aug 01, 2019)

Week	7-Aug	14-Aug	21-Aug	28-Aug
Location	Bridge Hotel	Bridge Hotel	Bridge Hotel	Bridge Hotel
	07:00 for 07:30	07:00 for 07:30	07:00 for 07:30	07:00 for 07:30
Speaker	Katherine Chernov "Rotary Changed My Life"	Kate Wright CASA	Chris Lacey Victorian State Manager- Reclink	Rob Stephenson Bendigo Head of Campus-La Trobe University
Chair	Rob Rosaia	Barb Mitchell	Doug Lougoon	Rob Rosaia
Welcome	Ned Upton	Ray Carrington	Bruce Fraser	Paul Henderson
Set up	Nick Christian	Liz Commadeur	John Harkin	Brian Hinneberg
Set up	John Cannon	Ted Gretgrix	Philip Harris	Gerard House

Our meeting this morning was vibrant as usual and we were aptly directed/controlled by our Chairman Doug Lougoon. Doug managed to maintain law and order, as well as time -keeping throughout, to keep our meeting on schedule. Our Special guests this week were DG Grant Hocking and his partner Melissa, as well as AG Ron Payne (Goldfields North).

The PHF-Sapphire pin was presented to Bruce by District Governor Grant Hocking.

The highlight of the meeting was the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow – Sapphire to Bruce Fraser in recognition for his long contribution to Rotary as a member of the Bendigo Sandhurst Rotary Club. Bruce has been instrumental in the preparation and ordering of product for our barbeques for many years. He has also been known to cook his fair share of hamburgers, sausages and vegie burgers along the way.

Bruce was President of our club in 2003-2004 and has been a Board Director in different portfolios many times. As well, Bruce is currently on his second stint in the very important position of Bulletin Editor.

Our Guest Speaker this week was DG Grant Hocking, who thanked the RC of Bendigo Sandhurst in the “name of Rotary” for our continued Rotary work.

In this year’s theme “Rotary Connects the World”, Grant envisaged the possibility of the Cluster Clubs working together to achieve a Rotary Centenary project. The last cluster meeting mooted the possibility of having a Rotary Float in the Easter Festival next year; this will be a special 150-year celebration of the Easter Parade in Bendigo, which has operated continuously in all this time.

DG Grant encouraged members to attend the District 9800 Conference which will be held in Bendigo and stated that attendance fees had now been set. The Early Bird fee is set at $300, and there is a reduced price of $250 for those Rotarians attending a district conference for the first time. Grant encouraged Rotarians, if they were thinking about attending the Rotary International conference in Honolulu, to book as soon as possible, as accommodation was already starting to become a bit limited. Members interested in attending the conference can log on to My Rotary and follow the link.

Grant mentioned a quote by Paul Harris, asserting that the world is a changing place and Rotary needs to go with it. The message for us is that if we don’t consider doing things differently, we are in danger of becoming irrelevant. Hence, Rotary needs to keep evolving in order to keep up with inevitable, inexorable change.

In that spirit, he told us of 3 new clubs in our district, as outlined below:

Macedon Ranges have formed a new club which is “Project” focused. They meet fortnightly and do not incorporate meals;
Passport Club, where only 30 Volunteer hours are required for membership. These hours can be accumulated with any organisation. Grant gave an example whereby the volunteers who go to help pack containers etc. at Donations in Kind would qualify as members; and
Parents Club: parents and their children meet on a Sunday morning (this group has had only one meeting so far).

District 9800 has also formed two new committees. These are: -

Cultural diversity & Ethnicity group
Sustainability Group.

Foundation

DG Grant is aware that most Rotary Clubs donate generously to Foundation; however, he is also encouraging all members to individually contribute $5 this year for the “Give Me Five” campaign.

Members deep in Contemplation during Presentation

Raffle Prize was drawn by DG Grant Hocking and won by Melissa Hocking!!!!! It wasn’t arranged – just good luck …………. We hope Melissa enjoyed her prize.

Board Members attended a meeting with DG Grant Hocking and ADG Ron Payne at the conclusion of the meeting. It was an information-sharing discussion, with appreciation coming from both Grant and Ron of what we do, along with their commitment to assist us in any way possible if required.

After this meeting Graeme, Toni and Adrian met with the new managers of the hotel and were assured that they are in full support of the current arrangements and will honour these. Also, storage and sound system enhancement was discussed and supported.

Snippets from the board meeting include: a heater has been purchased for the Ranch to accommodate the knitting program; a portable BBQ for smaller events such as RecLink; the development of grant applications to provide scholarships; to collaborate within the cluster to support Rochester and to agree on a centenary project.