Our Last Meeting
Venue: Damien on Fisher
Guest Speakers: Caitlin Selge, Anais Stephens and the Adelaide High School F1 team
Guests: Graham Ey, Michael Selge and the F1 team of Sonia Huynh, Trevor Warner, Marketa and Madeleine Berryman, Ying Stokes, Ivy Bell
Attendance: 20 members and 10 guests
President Trevor's Announcement
Trevor reflected on the conflict at the US-Mexican border.
The Scout Jamboree is being held 4-12 January 2019 at Tailem Bend with 8000 - 9000 scouts attending. Each day busloads of about 1200 will descend on Woodhouse which caters for a number of activities such as ropes and Challenge Hill. Our club and Seaford have volunteered to provide catering for food delights not found in their snack packs. Over the period there will be 3 shifts each day requiring 4/6/6 volunteers.....84 shift personnel in total. Please utilise the dial up registration form sent out by Jerry today.....volunteer soon and volunteer often. This project is expected to raise $10-15k to be shared by the clubs. Maybe we can rope in some rellies and put a zing into their boring holiday time.....
Guest Speakers: The F1 team from Adelaide High School
The team of Sonia Huynh (team leader and marketer), Ying Stokes (engineer), Ivy Bell (graphics) and Madeleine Berryman (logistics) are year 9 and 10 students at Adelaide High. Their task was to build the fastest CO2 powered little car over 20 metres. There is a State, national and international competition to build the quickest car on the planet (
after the mini cooper s) which can lead to educational glory. Their team,
Lickety Split, finished 3rd and qualified for the national titles.....
Ray which was the team we sponsored finished 4th. Innovation is the key! Team leader Sonia outlined the challenges and applied learning experience, particularly in teamwork, ICT and programming. Engineer Ying described how some of the rules were manipulated with blue tack for a positive result. Brighton High School is the team to beat. At the 20 metre mark the car is travelling at 70+kph.
Guest Speaker: Caitlin Selge - On the One and All
Judi Corcoran introduced Caitlin Selge who is a 15yo year 10 student at Mitcham Girls High School and who has been in scouts since the age of 6. Caitlyn was sponsored by our club for the 5 day sailing adventure in September.
Caitlin provided a daily snapshot of life on board the vessel which accommodated 21 youths and 10 crew....just a tad squeezy. The One and All is a 43 metre tall ship based in Adelaide, and rigged for twelve sails, which are controlled by 100 lines. After being launched in 1985, she took part in the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage as part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations, travelling from Rio de Janeiro back to Australia.
Before departure from Port Adelaide on Day1 the rules of engagement were explained, and groups assigned to watches. Caitlin had the Port Watch (for the uninitiated it is the LHS of the ship facing forward). The watch determines when you eat, sleep, coil the ropes, swab the decks and galley duty.
Day1 was mainly about orientation, rope coiling, mast climbing and steering.
Day2 most got sick! Goal setting and team games were the order of the day. Caitlin set the goal of climbing to the top of the mast.
Day 3 was about rescue at sea......man overboard took 11 minutes to retrieve. Plenty of baby dolphins. The task for the day was to drop an egg from the top of the mast to a frying pan below without cracking it. Port Watch had a poor catcher but the egg survived unscathed.
Day 4 was a beach on Kangaroo Island.....plus riddles, navigation and examination of Watch performance
Day 5 was a complete rainbow....all about safety checks, navigation and letters back home (to be posted in a year's time).
Caitlin did climb to the top of the mast and loved the teamwork and leadership experiences......the sloping toilet was another matter.
Guest Speaker: Anais Stephens - RYLA
Leonie Kewen introduced Anais Stephens who is a 19yo second year student in the Batchelor of Law and International Relations at Adelaide University. Her interests are learning, music and sport. She had spent time in Granada learning Spanish.
RYLA which ran from 22-28 September 2018 started with meet and greet of participants, directors and secretaries (responsible for the fancy newsletter) and confiscation of mobiles....difficult for some! There was a broad spectrum of young people from different walks of life and ethnic origins.....all melding together and forming long term friendships. RC Victor Harbor was the host club and ensured that no-one starved....Anais managed an extra 3kg [Please note that Trevor is presenting Anais with a box of chocolates??]. Directors and secretaries were all warm and encouraging. The first session was an ethics panel examining issues like climate change, sustainability, multi-culturalism, and political correctness.
There was an interesting line-up of speakers including Mark Aiston (media and overcoming black dog), Sally Paech of OrganiQ (natural skincare), and Rosslyn Cox who canvassed issues of personal importance...self improvement topped the list. A major highlight was learning about what it means to be a global citizen....to be a participant in the world at large with all its challenges. Protecting the planet and helping those less fortunate are high on the agenda. Leadership is vital. The best quote of the week came from D'Arcy Lunn... "The more I throw myself at the work, the more it tends to catch me"
RYLA was excellent!
Caitlin, the F1 team and Anais were warmly applauded. What a marvellous array of young talent whom we have been proud to sponsor.
Spots
Dennis Liddle promoted the Carols at the Rotunda on 16 December.....posters will be ready for distribution next week and the banners will be flying by December 9. Help needed to distribute posters and on the day.
Robyn Carnachan received a plaque of appreciation on behalf of the club from Disability Recreation and Sports for financial assistance provided to wheelchair bound sport participants. She is also seeking volunteers for gift wrapping at the Unley Shopping Centre (proceeds to Salvos and Rotary) for the following shifts: December 10-14 and 17-21 from 1 to 4pm, and on December 22 from 11am -1pm and 2-4pm. Those that cannot gift wrap (like many of us) can help with the Salvos Christmas tree.
Stephen Baker asked everyone to bring along toiletries (male or female), as we do each year, to the next meeting.....for the Salvos to distribute to needy individuals and families for Christmas. Please leave the unwrapped.
Leonie Kewen announced that plans were progressing (vocational visits and entertainment) for looking after the GSE team from Kansas City Missouri in March next year.
The Finale
The cards were drawn and the king of clubs won the chockies…which the editor modestly accepted...justice prevailed! David and Margaret Payne are today celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary.
The power packed meeting closed at 8.06pm.....Trevor owes us 6 push ups next week!
Annual General Meeting call for nominations......get excited
The Annual General Meeting of the Rotary Club of Unley Inc. will be held Tuesday 4 December 2018 at Damien on Fisher, 123 Fisher Street, Fullarton. The business of the meeting will include the election of the following officers to fill vacancies on the Board for the 2018-19 year:
- President (2020-2021)
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
|
- Director (International)
- Director (Community)
- Director (Vocational and Youth)
- Director (Membership)
|
Carols at the Rotunda Sunday 16 December 2018
Christmas celebrations at La Tombola - Partners event 
Tuesday 18 December 2018
Rotary News
Who knew attempting a world record could transform our club?
More than 300 participants fill Palacio Hall for the Beetle game world record attempt.
By Joanna Chrzanowska, president, Rotary Club of Marabella-Guadalmina, Spain
The event planning team from the Rotary Club of Marbella-Guadalmina, Spain, was awed by the first sight of the hall they had to fill. We have drawn 80 people to our walks or events before, but aircraft hangar might be the best description for the room we were looking at. It had been generously donated free of charge by Marbella Town Hall, who have been very supportive of the expatriate community. The space was also free of tables, chairs, a sound system, a stage and several other necessities for putting on a large public event.
Founded in 2010, our club is English-speaking with members from a number of different nationalities, including many new Rotarians. We have been effective at fundraising for local and international charities, but why did we suddenly take this on?
Why we did it
We’d love to tell you it was part of a master plan for growth and community engagement. But the truth is it was more like a ball that started rolling and didn’t stop. A member suggested that we could aim for a Guinness World Record in a competitive game called Beetle, which involves throwing a dice and drawing parts of a beetle according to the numbers that fall. Sounded easy. Get lots of people together for a couple of hours. Give them a paper, pencil and die. And film the record attempt.
Several months later we were still working out logistics, how best to sell tickets, what else we would have to offer, how to promote the event, how to get tables and chairs to the venue, and so on.
There were some dark days, doubts and debates, a mountain of emails, and uncertainty until the very last that we would have enough people in the hall to even make the record attempt valid. A warning for severe rain on the day of the event didn’t help.
Team dynamics like never before
Just before the event, the team working on it pulled out all the stops; united by a strong determination to do the very best they could for the club. Our Events teams are used to working hard, but this was exceptional. Everyone worked effectively, and somehow managed to not fall over from exhaustion, driven by a unity of spirit that arranged furniture, audio, display stands, crowd control, refreshments, publicity, etc.
And yes, despite the weather, well over 300 people came to enjoy the displays, the entertainment, and to take part in the game, hoping to win the beautifully crafted Golden Beetle.
Reach for the moon. Even if you fail, you will be among the stars.
Things weren’t perfect that day. Yet the atmosphere was positive and we built a great connection with the local community. Sponsorship had already raised money for a charity for Alzheimer’s no matter what happened. The record attempt has still to be ratified by Guinness World Records, but people left the hall feeling it was a success.
The club has been a different place since this accomplishment. There is a feel-good vibe. Our horizons have expanded and our confidence has increased. We are prepared to be less insular, more organised, more dynamic. There won’t be another Beetle event for sure. But the Marbella Town Hall has said we can have the Palacio again next year. What will we do with it?
