Weekly Bulletin

Meeting Notes October 18^th 2011

President Liz

Welcomed guests, Alan Murdoch; Betty and Jim Fish from Metung.
RC Ringwood request volunteers for the Hanover ConnectEast Cycling Event on Sunday 13/11/11. Hanover Welfare Services help homeless people. Helpers are required in shifts from 5.30 a.m. to 2p.m. Please contact fran.mclean@bigpond .com 5.pm. 26/10/11 if interested.The Salvos have requested green bags with donated goodies to be brought on the lolly packing day, Dec 6^th
Pat Murdoch was inducted and mentioned many reasons for joining Rotary. We are delighted to have her join us.

Helen Wragg –District Conference

Attended launch and visited Docklands Shed 14 –the function rooms, and the NGV – Saturday’s gala dinner.
Registration is opening soon and we are urged to register early. There is an early bird prize of 2 night’s accommodation in the city.
Registration will be available online.
All club members are invited to Friday night’s dinner.
H has asked that those of Hampton who are not attending the Conference due to the Farmer’s Market, may be able to attend the gala dinner.

Farmers’ Market

1. Sam Upleger

A survey has been sent out regarding the Farmers’ Market. The feed back was mostly positive. 2 negative issues were cited: parking, and more tables and chairs. It was decides that the 2^nd would be detrimental to the 1^st.

2. Ros Bodley

Last Saturday’s gate takings - $3670.00. We don’t know the takings from the BBQ. The money spinner raised $88.60 for the Mobi Chair.

3. Ian Tuttleby

We badly need more trained traffic controllers.

Geoff Tickner

RC Brighton is seeking nominations for the Vocational Excellence award. Please let Geoff know any possible candidate.

Greg Wragg

Visited RC Collingwood for the Fiji Project. They have only 5 members attending, but are a wealthy club who manage the annual Xmas Puddings.

Jennifer Newton

Reminded us all that November is Centurion Giving month. If you have not received recognition from RI for your $100.00 donation in the past, please let her know.

Lou Rodriquez

Our annual Golf Day has sadly had to be cancelled due to lack of numbers.

Meeting Focus

PE Helen Wragg An updated Behind The Badge.

Helen lost her parents when they were relatively young, and she is envious of those with aged family members.

She completed secondary school, wanting to be a hairdresser. However her parents dissuaded her from this career path, and she started clerical work with a large firm. Over the years she had many jobs in business and retail, before finally starting her Travel Agency in 1990. She specialises in school group tours. She is a keen traveller herself, and has visited Fiji more than 50 times. She said the wonderful Fijian people exert a huge pull.

She married Greg in 1972, and has 2 daughters and 2 grandchildren.

During the children’s school years, Helen became heavily involved with many St. Leonard’s projects and Mothers’ Association.

Helen is a charter member of RCOH and has been President twice and an Assistant Governor. She left out Club for about a year due to business pressures, but has rejoined and is now our enthusiastic President Elect.

Meeting Notes 4 October 2011

The meeting was held at the Highett Community Centre. The meeting allowed for discussion of Club issues and no Guest Speaker was present.

Reports

Greg is continuing his visits to other clubs to raise awareness of the Fiji medical Centre project with the hope that more funds can be generated. He reported that RCH has been successful in the application for a grant of $5000 from the District Designated Funds and we are awaiting the outcome of an application from District 9920 for a further grant from that district. The Rotary Club of Knox is organising a Trivia Night in aid of the Fiji project on Friday 28 October. Hampton members are encouraged to attend. A flyer with details will be circulated.
Jennifer Newton has stepped down from her role as Treasurer in favour of our highly credentialed member, Ros! Jennifer will take over as Foundation Director.
Lou expressed concern about the lack of progress in obtaining sponsors for the Golf Day. Unless a sufficient number of sponsors are found the event will be cancelled.
Phil reported that next month' s Farmers' Market will pose a challenge in terms of parking as there are other events on that day at the Yacht Club. Visitors to the market will be encouraged to come by bike.

Meeting Focus

The majority of the discussion time was devoted to the Farmers' Market. Dick and Ian have had long meetings in which they have examined aspects of the market and made recommendations for improvements. These include:

the branding as Rotary Bayside Market,
the purchase of a mobile phone for the coordinator to be contacted by volunteers,
a stronger identification of Rotary volunteers through the wearing of individual "badges" containing a photograph of the volunteer with relevant contact numbers ob the reverse side. Ian is able to organise these badges.
the wearing of branded jackets,
more 'A-frame' signs which can hold interchangeable messages,
a central RCH marquee which can be used as a meeting point/place for lost children/lost property,
a weekly free raffle, entered by the submission of an email address for advance notice of the market and for feedback following the market,
the provision of a brief set of job descriptions for the different volunteer roles.

All the above items were discussed in more detail and action will be taken to implement some of the suggestions in due course.

Meeting Notes 27 September

President Liz welcomed members and guests and performed the official induction of new member, John Basrin who has transferred from the Rotary Club of Brighton. John has received prestigious awards for his work on multi-cultural affairs including the Premiers' award and the ANZAC Peace prize.

Reports

Marie reported that Hampton continues to assist other clubs with their constitution updates and so far has donated $1000 from the proceeds of this venture to flood relief in District 9780 (includes the town of Charlton).
Phillip reported that the proceeds of the Farmers' market were to be distributed among the 3 organisations,( RC of Hampton, RC of Sandringham and the Coast Guard) that assisted with the September market. $1500 goes to Hampton from the gate receipts. Car parking will be more difficult at the October market as the Sandringham Yacht Club also has a function on the same day.
John Skerritt is organising the next "Guess who's coming to dinner" function on 8 October. 18 members will be attending at 3 venues.
Jennifer reported that the Golf Day has only 2 silver sponsors at present and is only 6 weeks away. Members are encouraged to contact any businesses that could be involved.

Meeting Focus

Guest speaker Andrew Rouse is a former student at St Leonard's College and is currently studying mechanical engineering at Melbourne University. Andrew began his association with Rotary when he was 15 years of age and went on a Rotary Youth Exchange Program to Belgium. This was a very positive experience and gave Andrew an excellent command of the French language. He has recently continued his association with Rotary, this time as a leader in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).

Young people, between the ages of 18 and 30 attend the camp for a week. RYLA provides a supportive, non-judgmental environment in which young people are helped to develop their leadership skills through a program which provides challenges to encourage communication and cooperation. Practical team building activities together with inspirational talks from visiting speakers form part of the program. Andrew described some of the challenges and explained how some of the RYLA participants were helped to overcome some of their fears.

Andrew was strong in his praise for the RYLA program and felt that it was important to continue to invest in the youth of today - the leaders of tomorrow.

Next week's meeting at the Highett Community Centre

Meeting Notes 20 September 2011

President Liz welcomed members and guests and passed on messages from Jenny Fox, Helen Wragg
and Geoff and Prue Tickner who made a group telephone call from Turkey during the meeting. All
travellers are well and enjoying their holiday immensely.

Reports

The Farmers' Market was a success with $3650 approx being collected from entry donations. The BBQ was also successful and the money spinner received donations sufficient to buy3 children's wheelchairs. Two donations were received which will cover the full cost of 2 wheelchairs.

Greg is in the process of talking to other Rotary Clubs about the Fiji medical centre with the hope of generating more funds for this project.

Lou reminded members about the need for Golf Day sponsorships.

Dick reported that the Farmers' Market needed to emphasise that it is the Hampton RotaryClub that is the major organiser. More visual signs to recognise Hampton are needed.

Greg has 194 names of people who have expressed interest in the RC of Hampton. Help isrequired to telephone these potential members. Anyone able to assist should contact Greg.

Dick is investigating conference accommodation and has a hotel in mind that would charge$80 per night. Conference attendees will need to book quickly to take advantage of these rates.

Meeting Focus

The speaker was former Commissioner of Victoria Police, Neil Comrie. In February this year Neil was
appointed to lead a review into the Flood warnings and response following the devastating floods
that affected one third of Victoria.

Neil described the extent of the floods - 4000 homes were inundated together with 500km of
roads. He explained how the topography of Victoria resulted in the widespread flooding north of
the Pyrenees. The area was dependent upon the efforts of volunteers, many of whom were not
experienced in the work required but essential to combat the disaster. As was the case with the
2009 bushfires there was confusion about responsibilities and failure of communication at all levels.

The report that has been submitted by Neil's committee to the government has made many
recommendations to redress the shortcomings with major reform required.

More education is required to enable volunteers to work more effectively.

Individuals also need to be informed as to how best they can deal with natural disasters in their own
homes.

Changes in legislation are also required to establish a more effective system to deal with the
response to natural disaster.

The reforms which Neil's committee have recommended have now begun.

Meeting Notes 13 September

President Liz welcomed members and several guests including David from the Marysville Men's Shed. She announced that the GSE team from Texas would be hosted in Bayside 24 - 31 March 2012. Anyone interested in home hosting during this period should contact Liz.

The Trivia Night has been postponed until March 2012 at it would clash with the Farmers' Market in October this year.

Interest was sought for holding a stall at the Bentleigh Trash and Treasure market later this year. However, it was felt that the Farmers' Market was the main form of fundraising and another big commitment would be inappropriate at this time.

Reports

Jennifer reported that the installation of the accounting package, Quickbooks, with the assistance of Ros had made the Club accounts more efficient. The bank balance is healthy.
Lou reminded members to try to obtain sponsors for the Golf Day.
A Sportsman's lunch in aid of Gordoncare is being held on 14 October at the International in Bay Street. Tickets $150 + GST. Contact Kim if interested.
Carolyn gave results of the Footy Tipping Competition with Marie being the winner. The total prize pool was $325, half of which went to Marie and the other half to the East Timor appeal. Marie generously donated $100 of her winnings to the same appeal.
David from Marysville gave a brief outline of progress with the Men's shed in Marysville and brought with him 3 'A' frame signs for the Farmers' Market made at the shed.

Meeting Focus

Guest speaker Vin Savage spoke about an operators experience in the mining industry. Vin trained originally as a carpenter and ran a building company. Subsequently he became an accountant and turned his skills to management in a very different industry, mining. During the 20 years that he has been involved in this area Vin has overseen the set up, and on occasions the dismantling of several mining companies. His current project involves the launch of a gold mining development in West Papua. Vin outlined the logistical difficulties in mining in geographically remote areas and some of the socio-political issues involved. He also provided some insight into the practical aspects of the project with some entertaining anecdotes. Despite the cultural differences between Australians and the local people Vin emphasised the rewarding nature of learning to operate in a very different business environment.

Meeting notes 23 August 2011

President Liz congratulated all who assisted at the recent Farmers' Market and praised the work of Ian Tuttleby for his organisation and coordination of the event in Phil's absence. Ian reported that an increased number of people had attended and Jennifer confirmed that the $4281 taken at the gate was testament to the market's success. The advertising flyer produced by Sam was another factor in attracting patrons.

Reports

Geoff reported that Conference planning was proceeding with the theme for the Conference Dinner being "Into the Woods". As the Conference will clash with the Farmers' Market all members will be expected to be available to assist in one or both of the events.
Greg (membership Chair) is keen to expand Hampton's membership this year with particular emphasis on a broader range of cultural groups. He urged all members to work to this end.
Jennifer announced that complimentary tickets to the Royal Show had been received for 26 children and 6 adults from Gordoncare.

Meeting Focus

The recent visit to Fiji by a group including 5 Hampton Rotarians provided the opportunity for a most uplifting talk about their experiences. Illustrating their talks with photographs Jennifer, Bev, Lance and Helen gave moving accounts of their work.

Jennifer was involved with re-organising the library, cleaning, painting, cataloguing and generally making the school library a more attractive place for the students and teachers.

Bev used her teaching expertise to work with Year 7 and 8 students. The different teaching methodology from that in Australia took Bev back to her own education which was more formal, using textbooks and rote learning.

Lance needed all his engineering and project managing talents to supervise the re-building of a bure (destroyed by a cyclone) without appropriate tools and power.

Helen used her formidable negotiating skills to persuade the villagers that a sewing machine could make use of the solar power to use a sewing machine without compromising the power supply! The result was a delighted group of women able to appreciate the wonders of the machine.

The common feeling from the speakers was one of immense satisfaction that they had been able to support, not interfere with the life of the village. Of course, benefits of such an endeavour are two way; Bev has adopted the Fijian school motto for her own classroom "Learn to love, love to learn".

Meeting Notes 17^th August 2011

From the President:

Welcomed the Guest Speaker, Herb Greenwood from RC Central Melbourne Sunrise and John Maskiel from RC Brighton.
She attended the Presidents’ Meeting where Dick Garner and DG Juliet gave an excellent presentation on next year’s Annual Conference.
The next world convention will be held in Bangkok. David McKenzie of RC Montrose is putting together a tour of Thailand.
District Simplified Grants – our Mobi Chair was cited as a good example
The Bayside Cluster is hosting the Texan incoming GSE team for their 1^st week -24/3-31/3/12. Hosting and program needed.
Jenni Heenan announced she is moving to the Gold Coast, Qld. in October. We will miss her and wish her well, but welcome her back to RCH whenever she is in Melbourne.

Guest Speaker

Herb Greenwood – Architect in Shanghai

Herb gave a fascinating talk on the difficulties of setting up a joint venture in China with the Chinese. His firm entered a competition for the best residential development in China in 1997, and won. Learning to play the ‘game’ according to Chinese business practices took some time, and getting their money out of the country has always been difficult. Buying leaseholds of land in Shanghai is difficult and the prices have skyrocketed over the past few years. He explained that all business meetings seemed to involve drinking vast quantities of strong alcohol to establish a level of rapport.

China has undergone massive change and these days they like luxury goods and are spending far more of their income on these. This domestic market is driving their growth. They are also investing heavily overseas with a long term view, especially in those countries that, besides Australia, also have coal and minerals.

Meeting Notes August 9^th 2011

The President requested a member to attend a meeting at the Sandringham Bendigo Bank regarding Community grants on August 23^rd. Jenny Fox volunteered.
Geoff Tickner reported on a District meeting about Conference. There has been a change in Conference Chair – now Kevin Harrison and John Williams. GT will be in charge of the Global Village.
Donations of medical equipment from Masada Hospital will be sent to Fiji and DIK. Thank you to Ros Bodley’s son for this very useful donation.
Ian Tuttleby and Lindsay Morgan emphasised the need for more qualified Traffic Management people for the Farmers’ Market.
Marie Laney reported another sale of a Constitution Update to the RC Torquay.
Dick Garner suggests ads for the Farmers’ Market on Golden Oldies radio station. $5.00 each.

Meeting Focus:

The Guest Speaker for the evening was Massoumeh Wake. Massoumeh was born in Iran. In 1979, the Shah was deposed and the country taken over by an Islamic Sect. As a politically involved university student she was imprisoned for a week, then became a refugee and had to flee. She left her country on the back of a motor bike with her fiancée via Pakistan and ended up in Spain. She married and completed her education as a chemist in Europe. After her marriage failed she moved to the US, where she completed an MBA and finally ended up working in New York for Uni Lever. She met and married her Australian husband there and now lives in Hampton. She has a New York based business developing natural skin care products, based on the long standing herbal remedies from Iran.

Massoumeh finished a fascinating talk by generously giving each member a small bag of sample skin care items.