27 August 2009

Meeting Report
25 August 2009

 61 Members present
 1 Visiting Rotarians
 1 Guests
 1 Partners 
 

Email all apologies to Philip Lambers or call Philip on 9499 7407 ah or 9829 1512 bh

Click here to view all rosters

For a hard copy of this newsletter please print this email.

CLEAR AIRWAYS OVER OMAN

If you are anything like me, you have probably taken little notice of that harsh piece of land known as Oman, on the southern tip of the Arabian continent, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.  As it happened, I did  have a hazy knowledge of the locality, based on the grim stories of poverty and desertification my naval lieutenant brother brought home following patrols along the Persian Gulf during the second world war.

 So it was a huge surprise when our own Michael Dobson, as an Air Traffic Instructor, told us of his recent experiences of present day Muscat, a modern city in Oman, enriched by recent oil revenues and now endowed with luxurious trappings of modern society.   Michael told the meeting that this dramatic change began when the son of the aging Sultan returned from schooling in England at Eton, Sandhurst Military Academy and British army service.

``With visions of a modern Oman, he overthrew the reign of his recalcitrant father, establishing himself  as the modern Sultan QABOOS bin Said al-Said.  Soon modern roads criss-crossed Oman, a modern medical service was established, and schooling for boys and girls was free to all Omani’s”, he said.  It seems that this is a moderate Muslim country, which allows Christian churches, Anglican, Baptist and more to be active. Women must not conceal their faces when working for the government in public but they may wear designer jeans under their burkas. 

But this modern infrastructure is all staffed by expatriates – Canadian, Australian, British.  And this is where Michael Dobson Air Traffic Controller instructor stepped onto the stage for 10 weeks in an edeavour to train some 10 locals.  Said Michael; “Only one passed – and he would have failed in an Australian class”.

The training included the usual methods of keeping separation between aircraft, 2000ft vertically, for example, which is lifted by 1000ft in turbulent weather. Air traffic controllers in Oman deal with a lot of traffic, it being at a `choke point' on the route between the Far East and Europe. 

He pointed out that the stress for air traffic controllers can be dire and few continue beyond the age of 40. Pictures he showed of the system in Australia in wihch three banks of computers and screens in a room in Melbourne looked after aircraft movements in three different time zones in Australia. 

To give an idea of the concentration of air travel in the world today, an image of a map of the world centred on the MIddle East appeared to be infested with white glowing fleas, each an aircraft on its way across the Atlantic, Europe or Africa and with Oman a central hot spot with its own concentration of aircraft.  

Owen Tassicker 

It was with regret that he learned of the passing of Olive Moore, the wife of our late Past President Doctor Tom Moore. Olive was a great supporter of Tom and Rotary. A dignified, delightful, Lady. May she rest in Peace. President Bill and a number of Rotarians and partners attended the funeral.

Don Jones is presently in Epworth having an ankle reconstruction. The operation was actually today - Wednesday.

Also in Epworth is Tony McCarthy, having continued medical assistance to regain good health. Tony has had a rough time but determined to over come all the problem that have been hitting him.

The Sergeant informs us that Jim Kylie is home after his operation and doing well. 

Julie Gray is moving house and we wish her well with all the stress involved.

A Past President of our Club, Ian Clarke, has been a mover and shaker in Probus Club of Balwyn Central. His work has been recognized by Probus and he been made a Life Member of the Association.

Another friend of our club, Gordon McKern of Rotary Club of Eaglehawk,a past District Governor, has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in Queens Birthday honours. We were some years ago involved with Eaglehawk in a number of projects.

Congratulations are also in order for the Curries. They have gained the award of "GRANDPARENTS'. Well done Catherine and Michael.

Finally, having completed his term successfully, Immediate Past President Andrew Mitchell and Shirley this week are to Be married in Port Douglas of Friday. The families are all travelling north to participate in the celebration. To you both the Club extend sincere good wishes for a happy and successful marriage.

Keith

Because recent changes have not all been formally communicated to members, we list below members who have resigned from the club this year.

George Menassa, Bill Abbott, Henry Sammut, Tony McCarthy, Diana Lorbach & Barbara Paton.

Rotary Club of Balwyn donated over $60,000 in a Rotary Matched Grant last yer to the Eva Tilley Residential Aged Care Centre in Burke Road North Balwyn.

The Eva Tilley Residential Aged Care Centre is holding a theatre night to Mao's Last Dancer at the Balwyn Cinema. While the theatre night clashes with the Rotary Club of Balwyn's weekly meeting and dinner, some of the members' partners could be interested at $20 a head at 6.30pm. Light refreshments can be purchased at the theatre.

Regards

David Cheney,

Chairman, board of management, Eva Tilley (North Balwyn Rotarian.)

District Governor supports Boroondara Cares

… at Tahbilk Planning Seminar

Forty delegates attended a most successful planning seminar at Tahbilk Winery on Tuesday 18^th of August. Rotarians from thirteen Rotary Clubs were joined by Councillors from the City of Boroondara and Moira Shire, farmers and community group representatives. District 9800 Governor Colin Muir and District Community Service Chairman Ross Butterworth attended and contributed to the meeting.

DG Colin praised Boroondara Cares. He thanked the member Clubs and other participants for their work to date and promised continuing support from District 9800.

The seminar was held in the charming Victorian age museum in the winery grounds. Delegates were surrounded by the history of Tahbilk wines as they were welcomed by John Purbrick, Chairman of Tahbilk Wines. All facilities were generously made available free of charge by Tahbilk and a light lunch was provided at modest cost in the architecturally stunning restaurant located next to the wetlands rich in wild-life. (A visit to Tahbilk winery is highly recommended.)

As he welcomed the attendees, Chairman PDG Don Jago spoke about the nature of Boroondara Cares as an informal forum of drought-concerned people led by Rotary Clubs. The project had no funds, no treasurer or the trappings of more formal structures. Its role was to consider, recommend and mount drought relief projects to be led by member Rotary Clubs once approved by their Club boards.

Proceedings began with a panel session of six Moira residents, mostly farmers and growers led by Kevin Bourke of the Rotary Club of Cobram. This informative and harrowing session reminded members that the plight of many farmers, rural businesses and families was dire indeed. If the drought does not break soon large numbers of farmers and orchadists, with little or no remaining equity will leave their properties. The personal and social consequences of the drought remain huge. Its effects are greater than events like flood and bushfires, yet there is little community interest in a decade long disaster.

The major purpose of the seminar was to discuss the future of Boroondara Cares. Should it continue, and what would its program be for the coming year? Yet again the zeal of the members was on show. There was unanimous support for a continuation of the program for the next year at least and for a review in a year’s time. There was wide support for another planning event “like this one” in a year’s time. An exhaustive (and exhausting?) program was tied down on a white-board in a session led by Boroondara Mayor, Jack Wegman.

A full report of proceedings of the seminar will be provided to members soon, together with recommendations to the Club put forward for board consideration. Meanwhile members can take some satisfaction from the great and continuing success of Boroondara Cares, one of the most important and successful initiatives of the Club in its recent history.

Rotary Club of Balwyn delegates were Lindsay Jones, Clarke Ballard and Bill Goodwin

The Rotary Clubs of Canterbury and Southbank are this year hosting a public stall for Rotary at the Royal Melbourne Show, between the 17^th and 27^th of September.  

The original offer has morphed over the past several weeks and has now gelled into two linked events.  In return for assistance with volunteers to man the RASV Great Tasting Experience in the Grand Pavilion we have been offered a free stand, also in the Grand Pavilion to promote Rotary and its many Projects (see below).  The Great Tasting Experience is located in two auditoriums where food preparation and tasting will be held in one where Master Chefs will prepare and offer tastes of dishes every half hour. Then on the next half hour there will be Wine and Beer tastings to show case Victorian  and Australian products in the adjoining auditorium.  Both these opportunities are a chance to participate in exciting food and beverage presentations topics in which we are all interested.

Rotary is being asked to provide a team of four people to assist with a brief introduction of the Chef or the wine and beer expert and to set out clean glasses and plates etc for each of the events on the half hour.  There are approximately 40 seats in each auditorium

Another team of four are required to man the Rotary stand as set out in detail below:

• Public Relations
• Providing information on Rotary and our community service and volunteer programs
• Selling raffle tickets
• Selling Community Helping Showbags
• Providing Literacy Program books to children
• Inviting people to have their blood pressure checked by medical specialists on site
• Briefing sessions will be run to ensure all volunteers are trained prior to the event.

Persons volunteering will receive a free admission pass for the day and we are asking volunteers to put in only a single shift of 5.5. hours and then participants could spend the rest of the day  viewing the show. RASV has also made Sunday Sept 20 a “Family of Rotary Day and Rotarians will be able to purchase a 2 for 1 pass for that day  There will be a function room for the exclusive use of Rotarians and their families to have a quiet break and sit down and a cup of tea  etc.  There will be orientation and  training provided  from RASV on Sunday 13 th at the Showgrounds so that people are familiar with the area and OH &S requirements.

All volunteers will have free passes for admission on the day or days of duty and will be provided with a Rotary Royal Melbourne Show long-sleeved t-shirt and cap.

As this is a large task and there are huge benefits in the opportunity to promote Rotary and its projects we have approached clubs in the Batman and Eastside clusters to provide assistance.  We look forward to your support!!

A roster for the eleven days is provided as an Excel spread sheet.  This can be printed and distributed at your clubs or this whole email can be distributed to all club members and they can provide a list of their availability.  I will be in touch to ask who might be the club champion for this event which we feel can provide huge PR benefits to Rotary as there are over 500,000 people attend the Show each year.

Gerry Cross

Rotary Club of Canterbury
212 Union Road
Surrey Hills  VIC 3127

Tel:03 98884922
Mob: 0418 130 499

I intend to live forever . . .     so far, so good.

Round.21 had its upset with the Saints losing AGAIN and the best score was 7 correct - however no prize. Commiserations to Kevin Walsh. 
The end-of-season race has beome clear with the leader Jim Hopper on 122 followed by Kevin Walsh on 121 and Henry Sammut on 120. They are closely followed by President Bill and Peter Blundell on 119 and no one else looks to be a chance.The prize for Round.22 is now $40 and it must be won. Good luck from

the Administrator

Meeting Program

1 Sep 09 - Behind the Badge . . .   Margaret Jack & David Harris

8 Sep 09 - Club Birthday. Click here for details

15 Sep 09 - 4-Way Test Speaking Contest

11 Oct - Sunday Lunch. Click here for details

For details of meetings beyond the dates above, click on the READ MORE link below

NOTE
There are many other Rotary events scheduled for the year. Please refer to the calendar in the club website for details. You can click on the "Agenda" tab for a summary.

District 9800 newsletter "Networker"

Click here http://www.rotarydistrict9800.org.au/Members/NetworkerArchive
You can subscribe to this one if you wish. Follow the link when you open this page.

Rotary International news

Click here http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/ridefault.aspx