NEXT WEEK WE HAVE COTTAGES 4 COUNTRY CARE - SPEAKER DIANNE FARRELL
Our Last Meeting
Venue: Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: Club Assembly - No Speaker
Attendance: 27 members
Chair Jerry's Announcements
President Trevor is an apology for the meeting and is suffering from a particularly nasty bout of influenza.
District Assembly at Unity College Murray Bridge on May 5 . Anyone wishing to attend who needs transport to contact Jerry Casburn or Sorel Coward.
On May 14th there will be a Social night for members, partners and guests with a particular emphasis on inviting anyone who might wish to find out more about Rotary and in particular our club. It will be lots of fun with many surprises, hopefully all pleasant.
For Board members, the meeting planned for tonight has been cancelled given President Trevor's absence. The meeting will likely be held after the meeting on May 7th.
Behind the Badge - John Kikkert
John gave a comprehensive picture of his life and career, telling us that having been retired for some year,s he is no longer defined by career but more by background and relationships.
John's parents were married during WWII and he was born after the war ended. The winter of 1944 was one of the worst on record and the Netherlands was split in two, Americans in the South, and there was little food. John recalled stories of his father cycling 80 km into the countryside, on a bike with no tyres, The trips took him through German checkpoints and he traded goods for bags of wheat. John said that he learned NEVER to waste food.
After the war his father started a building company which grew into a large business, enabling lots of holidays into Europe each year. The business got into trouble and in 1962 they moved to Adelaide. After completing high school, John won a scholarship to Adelaide University where he achieved a Ph.D in Science. He says he played lots of sport, badly, specifically Aussie rules and cricket, don';t believe it, badly that is!!! Holiday jobs in Woolworths, fruit picking, John Martin's, ICI research and the Weapons Research Establishment in the propulsion section.
His first job was with AMDEL, working in X-Ray analysis. John was married and started a family. In the late 70s he was approached by Philips electronics, the leading manufacturers of X-Ray equipment. He progressed to Product Manager for X-Ray equipment, which is used in a variety of industries. A great job,developing high tech equipment working with Philips Research and involved extensive international travel.
Continuing his passion for sport he took up soccer which continued for 20 years.
Tjhe travel was hard on his family and the choice was made to leave Philips and a new career as GM of a small laboratory services company. Following a number of mergers he was back with AMDEL as General Manager of their laboratories covering 12 testing facilities around Australia.
Seven years later he left AMDEL and spent a few years resurrecting Campion Books,in Melbourne, after it went into receivership, and also as GM of a robotics company in Brisbane.
Parents were getting older and it was time to return to Adelaide. John said he had grown larger with too much time travelling Australia and spent in airport lounges. Serious gym and yoga reversed the process.
After a marriage separation John met his wife, Karen, instantly clicking, they have a very special relationship. Karen is John's best friend and they love doing things together. They live in a lovely 1910 cottage, in Mile End, with a beautiful garden
The last fifteen years of his career were spent working with, and helping, growing technology companies. John retired a few years ago, having thoroughly enjoyed his working career.
John joined Rotary to contribute to society and t volunteer. He looks forward to his continued involvement, save for six weeks in Europe in two weeks time.
Club Assembly....
Reports
Were provided by Robin Carnachan (Community Service), Leonie Kewen (Vocation and Youth), Jerry Casburn (Membership) and Pam Trimmer (Treasurer).
Community. Robin Carnachan gave a run down on activity. Some $21, 409 has been spent with a number of local organisations, including, the Salvation Army, Angel Flight, Mobile Showers, TocH providing holidays for underprivileged children, Blaze Aid and provision of a baby car seat for a birthing unit.
Vocation and Youth.Leonie Kewen gave the following report:
GSE went well. There will be a debrief to ensure if it happens again any problems will be prevented and club concerns discussed. Cost to the club $2,200. Broken down to $1600 outgoing and $600 incoming visitors.
SA Police Officer of the Year Awards 2019 will be at the show on 6th September 2019. The ceremony will be at 11.30 with a light luncheon in the Board room to follow. All members welcome! Brendan Kenny helping with the award. Nomination period commences the first week in June and will run until 19th July 2019.
RYPEN 2019 April 12-14th. Two applications received through central office: one from Glenunga high school, Rodger Luomeng, and Jeevika Nagpal from Unley High school. Cost $ 575
Fish Tank Youth Project In total there were 14 applications received with 9 presenting at the Unley Town Hall on Thursday 4th April. Invitation to attend was sent to the whole club via club runner. It was a free event and the opportunity was available for us to talk about youth projects in Rotary. Judi Corcoran did the presentation. We received Club exposure in printed material & also verbally several times on the night. It ticked a lot of positives for the club certainly as far as youth involvement & club exposure. I am meeting with council next week regarding what they are planning to do next year. The committee will then meet to decide whether we will reinvest in the project again. Cost to the club this year $1,000 towards prizes.
Pride of Work. Scheduled for October 2019. The structure will be as in prior years. Promotion will commence in August of this year. The project will be managed by Jerry Casburn
Membership. Jerry Casburn advised that Joe Evangelista's application for membership has been approved and we have yet to establish a date for his induction.
Fourteen names are currently on the list of potential Rotarians, only three are showing interest in taking their interest further. The remaining names are being contacted and will be culled from the list if no progress.
Two other possible members were booked in the Thrift shop and will be encouraged to attend a meeting.
Jerry advised that this was his final year on membership and that Heather Kilsby will take on the role in the new Rotary year.
Treasurer.Pam Trimmer provided a comprehensive update on the club’s accounts. We currently have combined accounts of $$63,430, with $40,000 of that on term deposit which matures in August. In addition the Trust Fund has $20,000.
International. Dennis Liddle was not able to attend this week and President Trevor will approach him to give a report at a future meeting.
Thrift Shop. This was the key element in this Assembly with Jerry Casburn opening the discussion. He explained that we needed to explore options for the Thrift Shop when the lease expires in February 2020. The process was to hear first from the Thrift Shop Manager, Pam Trimmer, followed by feedback from members on the pros and cons of continuing operations. Pam gave a short presentation starting with financials which showed that with one exception I the 15/16 financial year, the profits from the shop were in a range from $21,000 to $27,000 in any year.
Pam also explained the current plans to run a number of feature weekend with the first being based on a Paris Flea Market, with the possibility of the Finos Snack Bar selling Coffee and Croissants.
There were also ideas to attract more donations by approaching Real Estate Agents to offer a service for the clearance of items being discarded in house moves. The agents approached currently had also offered to vet the homes to see if clearance would be a worthwhile exercise.
Pam also explained that she was working with Rajat Nagpal to create a Facebook page specifically for the shop. Rajat walked through plans and the expectation that he would train Pam in updating the site.
Pam also wants to brighten the front of the shop with the artistic graffiti on the low front walls and walls surrounding the front windows.
Following the presentation, it was agreed by all in attendance that we should not give up the Thrift shop. A number of suggestions were made:
That we dedicate one complete meeting to discussions on the future opportunities to improve the shop.
That the meeting should commence with Small Group discussions on options with feedback consolidated at the end of the meeting.
The lease be investigated to seek leverage opportunities with lease renewal negotiations.
Review of options to move to larger premises.
Jerry Casburn will speak with President Trevor to set up such a meeting.
Spots
Patsy Beckett and Valerie Bonython gave the club an update on the Pink Ribbon lunch, supporting breast cancer research, which will be held on Friday 11th October. On display was a stunning new pull up banner. There will be an associated raffle and tickets will be printed by next week. A great range of prizes will be on offer. Support is sought from members on two counts. First to take and sell one book of tickets. Secondly, Bunnings have given the opportunity for ticket sales over eight Saturdays and volunteers are needed to support sales. There is no requirement to spruik only to ensure names and contact details are on sold tickets and to handle the collection of funds.
A report will be provided to the Board and a method of handling sales on EFTPOS is being sought.
To volunteer call Patsy or Valerie.
Reno Elms is in the middle of planning an handling the Red Shield appeal. He is on a sleepover to kickoff proceedings this coming weekend. Sponsorship is sought from members and family.
President Elect Jason Booth advised that changeover is planned for June 25th at a Nepali restaurant at a cost of $25 per person. More details to follow.
Rhonda Hoare requested feedback from members on their likes and dislikes for meetings and to offer suggestions for speakers of interest.
The Finale
The winner of the poker game was John Russell with the eight of hearts. The Chinese consider the number 8 to be lucky, John must be related. Bob Mills told another funny story to round out the night.....and we finished at late at 8.10pm.
Jerry's thought for the week, a quote from Mark Twain,appropriately, "If voting made any difference, they would not let us do it."
Rotary News
Sushil Gupta resigns as RI president-nominee
My Fellow Rotarians,
It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as the president-nominee of Rotary International. While it was my dream to serve as your president, my health prevents me from giving my absolute best to you and the office of the president at this time. I believe Rotary deserves nothing less than that from those elected to represent this great organization of ours.
I have made this difficult decision after much soul searching and conferring with my family. This is not only a disappointment for us, but I am also keenly aware that this will be a disappointment for many Rotarians in India who were so proud to see someone from our country again named as president. I know that this is what is best for Rotary International.
I have been a Rotarian for more than 40 years and it has given me everything I could ask for. I can think of no higher honor than to have been selected by the Nominating Committee as president of Rotary for the 2020-21 Rotary year. I will continue to proudly serve as a Rotary member and pursue some major initiatives that I wanted to accomplish during my year as president, because I know that we are poised to achieve more great things in the future.
I wish nothing but the best to the candidate who succeeds me as president and thank you all for the support and encouragement you have shown me in the past year.
-Sushil Gupta
Our Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday 7 May 2019 6 for 6.30pm at Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: Dianne Farrell Cottages 4 Country Care
Chair: Bob Mills | Set-up, Welcome & Attendance: Leonie Kewen & John Kikkert
Tuesday 14 May 2019 6 for 6.30pm at Damien on Fisher
Occasion: The Social Event of the Year
Chair: Bob Mills | Set-up, Welcome & Attendance: Heather Kilsby & Chad Leader5
Apologies to: Jerry Casburn by e-mail jerry@thecasburns.com.au or 0407 646 396
Meeting Enquiries to: Secretary Greg McLeod on 0417 811 838 or email to unley.secretary@rotaryclub.org.au
Venue Set-up Enquiries to: Bulletin Editor Stephen Baker on 0403 687 015
Saturday Thrift Shop Roster
Early Shift: 10.00am to 1.00pm Late Shift: 1.00pm to 4.00pm
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Pam Trimmer & Ken Haines
Week 4: 25th May 2019
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Rhonda Hoare & Jason Booth
Week 5:
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Jerry Casburn & Reno Elms
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Pam Trimmer (T) 8293 2612; (M) 0415 238 333; e-mail: pamela.trimmer@bigpond.com
Bunnings Mile End Barbeque
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
The next Mitre 10 BBQ (now first Saturday of each month) will be on 4 May
Detmold BBQ on 9-10 May
The Tale End.……
Another true story (Believe it or not)
Sam goes to the doctor for his yearly checkup. “Everything is fine”, said the doctor, “You’re doing OK for your age.” “For my age?” questioned Sam, “I’m only 75, do you think I’ll make it to 80? “Well” said the doctor, “do you drink or smoke?” “No” Sam replied. “Do you eat fatty meat or sweets?” “No” said Sam “I am very careful about what I eat.” “How about your activities? Do you engage in thrilling behaviors like speeding or skiing? “No” said Sam taken aback, “I would never engage in dangerous activities.” “Well,” said the doctor, “then why in the world would you want to live to be 80?
