Our Last Meeting

President Trevor's Announcement

Trevor warmly welcomed the many guests.

The operation of the Café at Woodhouse for the Scout Jamboree had been an exhausting but successful undertaking. Each day about 1200 scouts and their leaders were bused into Woodhouse for a day and night of adventure in the green oasis......in comparison to Tailem Bend. Trevor read out and thanked all the club members, relatives and friends who had helped in the café. It was a humbling experience talking to scouts from many overseas countries and especially those from Bangladesh.  He paid tribute to the good manners of our customers. What Trevor did not tell you was that the biggest sales in the café were for the unhealthiest but tastiest of food and drinks...aint youth grand!

Guest Speaker: The Honourable David Pisoni MP, Minister for Industry and Skills - The State of the State

Stephen Baker introduced David who was educated at Salisbury High School, undertook a furnishing trades apprenticeship and was employed by Norman, Turner and  Nottage until starting his own furniture manufacturing company. In 2006 he was elected as the Member for Unley. He served as Shadow Minister for Education when he identified significant deficiencies in child protection and when appointed as Shadow Minister of Planning, Infrastructure held the State Government to account on a range of issues. He is now the Minister for Industry and Skills. David has been a passionate advocate for organisations, charities and businesses and the local community. He is married with 2 children.

Since coming to government in March 2018 there has been a major change to portfolio management......each department is accountable to a single Minister unlike previously when there were multiple reporting responsibilities and one department had 6 'bosses'. There is a commitment to humility, accountability and delivery.

In this portfolio jobs and private sector development are a priority. It was pleasing that there were 12000 new jobs created in the year ended November 2018 and hours work improved by 2 million. The lifeblood of the State are the 143,000 small businesses.

The Liberal State Government is making $200m additional investment in trainees and apprenticeships. Employers are looking for effective vocational pathways. Rising areas of demand include traineeships in digital security and in support of NDIS.....right now there are 6000 trainees needed and a scheme is being commenced in partnership with SCOSA. The civil construction industry is about to provide a new apprenticeship scheme. Employers of hairdressers are concerned that only 100 graduates were produced last year.

The Training and Skills Commission has ben revamped and Skills Councils reintroduced. And the workplace is changing rapidly. For example Netflix services require different skilled employees. Aerospace and defence industries with massive investments will require highly skilled technically proficient employees. Demands for food space, wine tourism and aged care are changing rapidly with aged care the biggest ticket item.

The Government has provided much welcomed payroll tax relief for small business with an annual wage bill below $1.5m. Whyalla is getting a new high school which will deliver to Year 12. There are plans to massively expand steel exports from Whyalla. Lot 14 will become an entrepreneurial hub with the $41m national space agency as one of its first tenants. There will be a big expansion in launching of small special purpose satellites. It is an exciting future.

David was thanked by acclamation. 

Induction - Brendan Kenny

Jason Booth had proposed and introduced Brendan for induction. Brendan was born in Parkside and has spent 42 years in the SA Police Force. He is (to quote Jason) attempting retirement from his duties as senior sergeant in the traffic division. Brendan is expert in traffic management and spent 10 years in the highly taxing major crash division. He had maintained a relationship with Unley as a patrol officer and as a member of the Unley Road Safety Committee. He is a member of the concert bands of Unley and Holdfast Bay Councils. He has been married to Bronwyn for 36 years, has a son and daughter and 2 grandchildren. Brendan is a natural volunteer and has accompanied Jason on trips to Nepal.

Spots

The Finale

THE GALLERY FROM WOODHOUSE

 

 

Rotary News 

What a Rotary club can do with even a little bit of money

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Rotary International

 

Joi Burton takes a drink from a new well during a trip to Kenya. A grant project between District 5790 and Homa Bay, Kenya, provided the well.

By Joi Burton, International Service Chair for District 6170 and member of the Rotary Club of North Garland County, Arkansas, USA

I have always had a dream of going to Africa. Soon after I joined Rotary in 1991, I noticed an article in The Rotarian that a Rotary club from Eugene, Oregon, was going to Kenya to work on some projects. They were inviting people to go with them, and when I contacted them they accepted my offer. We visited several Rotary projects and a Rotary Club in Nairobi. That was the beginning of a long and productive relationship between my club at the time, Arlington South, Texas, and the people of Kenya that demonstrated the impact even a small club can have through the magic that is Rotary.

I enjoyed the Kenyan people so much I decided I wanted to go back and live with them for a few weeks.

A fellow Rotarian introduced me to his friend from Bondo, Kenya. The friend said if I was willing to go to her village, she would make the arrangements and have a relative, Moses, pick me up at Nairobi airport, and that I could stay in her house.

Before I went, the Rotary Club of Arlington South gave me $500 to do a project in her village. It took a day’s drive from Nairobi to reach the village. We arrived at night and were met by all of the villagers, each with a lantern. This was an area with a few houses, several huts, a school, and a church, but no electricity, no water and several miles from the nearest road.

The next day I told Moses I had “a little bit of money” from my club and asked if there was something they needed. They told us they needed concrete to replace the floors in the school, as the children were getting their uniforms dirty from having to sit on the floor all day. Moses and I went to the nearest town and purchased gravel, sand, and cement. After it was delivered, the villagers completed the floors in all the rooms.

Each weekend, Moses would come from Nairobi to see if I needed anything. The second week I again let Moses know I still had “a little bit of money” and asked if there was something else they needed. They wanted glass to replace windows of the school, all of which had been broken. We bought large plates of glass. They were able to cut and fit all the windows of the school.

The third week, Moses informed me the villagers wanted some metal paint to paint the tin roof of the school as it had rusted. Having some of that “little bit of money” left, we purchased paint and brushes and they were able to make ladders with sticks and rope and painted the roof.

On the last week I approached Moses to let him know I still “had a little bit of money” and asked what they needed. They said they needed books for the school. They had only a few. We were able to go to a larger city, an overnight trip, to purchases some text books. We were able to purchase one teacher textbook and one student textbook of every subject for every grade kindergarten to eighth grade. With our last few dollars we purchased two cases of chalk. We had the back of the pickup truck completely filled with school books. What a wonderful time the students and teachers had as we drove up into the school yard. We later learned they were completely out of chalk.

This experience built the foundation for other efforts. The Texas club and Rotarians in the district went on to put together other grant projects to benefit the people of Kenya including two grants that provided wells for drinking water with the Homa Bay club. Several members made their own visits to Kenya after that initial outlay of $500.

What a difference one small, 30-member Rotary club can make with “a little bit of money.”

Our Upcoming Meetings

Saturday Thrift Shop Roster

Bunnings Mile End Barbeque

The next Mitre 10 BBQ (now first Saturday of each month) will be on February 2

The Tale End.……

 

 

Good investment

 

To start the year off on a positive note we are back to the editor's teaching of wisdom

• You have the right to remain silent....Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.
• I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
• Honk if you love peace and quiet.
• Pardon my driving; I am reloading.
• Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool.
• A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
• Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
• If they find water on Mars that would be interesting. If they find beer on Mars that would be REALLY interesting.
• You might be a redneck pilot if your aviation wardrobe includes spurs.
• It's now possible for a flight attendant to get a pilot pregnant.
• If we are what we eat, then some pilots need to eat more chicken.