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Upcoming Speakers
Jul 30, 2018 12:30 PM
Exercise physiologist, The University of Queensland

Exercise physiologist, The University of Queensland

Aug 06, 2018 12:30 PM
Member in the spotlight
Aug 13, 2018 12:30 PM
Conductor of the Qld Pops Orchestra
Aug 27, 2018 12:30 PM
Cyber Safety, Social Media and online Fraud
Sep 10, 2018
Leading a Not-For-Profit in a challenging environment
Sep 24, 2018
Advancing our knowledge of PTSD in Defence Force Veterans
View entire list
Upcoming Events
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club, Level 4
Jul 30, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club, Level 4
Aug 06, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Aug 13, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting - Club Assembly before Board Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Aug 20, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Aug 27, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting Cancelled due to Cocktail Meeting
Sep 03, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Cocktail Meeting - United Services Club
United Services Club
Sep 07, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
 
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Sep 10, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting - Club Assembly before Board Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Sep 17, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Burnett Cup - City vs Country in Mundubbera
Mundubbera Golf Club
Sep 22, 2018
12:00 PM – 10:00 PM
 
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Sep 24, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting Cancelled - Public Holiday
The Brisbane Club
Oct 01, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
Lunch Meeting
The Brisbane Club
Oct 08, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
 
President's Message
 
Dear fellow Rotarians and friends of the Club, 
 
We had a most interesting and enjoyable meeting on 23 July with the highlight being Jaquie De Lacy’s “Member in the Spotlight” presentation. There were quite a few present who were very jealous of Jaquie’s around the world voyage with her family on a 43’ sailing catamaran some years before her migration to Australia. Jaquie also gave us a heartfelt insight into her life in South Africa and the many problems which people face there. 
 
With a number of the Board members unable to attend, we did not have a quorum, and therefore the next Board Meeting will be the August one. There will be a Club Assembly immediately prior to that meeting which will receive the Director’s reports and allow those attending the opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions and put up new ideas or projects for the Board to consider. 
 
At present the United Service Club is booked for our meetings at 5.30 pm on Friday 7 September and Friday 7 December, and consequently there will not be the normal lunch meeting at the Brisbane Club on Monday 3 September and 3 December. I may also try to arrange the first meetings of October and November for Friday at the United Service Club, but will confirm this at a later date. If these meetings are successful, I will switch the first meetings of each month to Friday at the U.S. Club for the remainder of the Rotary year. 
Australian Rotary Health is mounting a major campaign on mental health in October—“Lift the lid on Mental Illness"—and is asking all Rotarians for their support. Statistics show that more work hours are lost as a result of mental illness than for any other reason. 
Work on the "Kyeema Foundation Chicken Breeding" project in Papua New Guinea is progressing, and I am hopeful that this will evolve into a major benefit for the people of Papua New Guinea and eventually the Solomon Islands as well. We have also agreed to support two students for the upcoming “Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN)” weekend.
 
Finally, we need all members to log into the "Clubrunner" account and, if you have any problems, Mark Williams is happy for you to email or call him and he will cheerfully help you with the process. 
 
Yours in Rotary,
Chris Muir
Meeting Responsibilities
23 July - Meeting
 
Chairperson
SMERDON, John
 
Minutes Secretary
WILLIAMS, Mark
 
30 July - Meeting
 
Chairperson
STEPHENS, Michael
 
Minutes Secretary
DE LACY, Jaqui
 
6 August - Meeting
 
Chairperson
TAMASCHKE, Rick
 
Minutes Secretary
SHEPHERD, Clive
 
13 August - Meeting
 
Chairperson
WALKER, Warren
 
Minutes Secretary
WILLIAMS, Mark
 
20 August - Meeting
 
Chairperson
WATTS, Keith
 
Minutes Secretary
DE LACY, Jaqui
 
Meeting - August 27
 
Chairperson
WHITMORE, Graeme
 
Minutes Secretary
SHEPHERD, Clive
 
3 September - Meeting
 
Chairperson
WILLIAMS, Mark
 
Minutes Secretary
DE LACY, Jaqui
 
17 September - Meeting
 
Chairperson
ADLER, Dan
 
Minutes Secretary
WILLIAMS, Mark
 
24 September - Meeting
 
Chairperson
VANKOV, Daniel
 
Minutes Secretary
WILLIAMS, Mark
 
8 October - Meeting
 
Chairperson
BISHOP, Wal
 
Minutes Secretary
DE LACY, Jaqui
 
15 October - Meeting
 
Chairperson
BURRIDGE, Robyn
 
Minutes Secretary
SHEPHERD, Clive
 
ClubRunner
Stories
Last Week's President's Message
[There was no bulletin last week but nevertheless President Chis wrote us a President's Message. -ed]
 
Dear Fellow Rotarians and Friends of the Club,
 
Dymphna and I have just returned from a most interesting and enjoyable trip to Papua New Guinea and even managed to undertake a number of meetings and discussions relevant to Rotary amongst our busy tourist activities. Ron Seddon from the Rotary Club of Port Moresby was happy to present the Kyeema Foundation Chicken Breeding Project to his club and felt that there were members of both this club and the Boroko Rotary Club who would be able to help with advice and valuable contacts in advancing the project. Ron also gave us an insight into his work as chairman of the five member “Rotarians against Malaria PNG” committee which has a budget of $26 million and has made significant progress in reducing the incidence of malaria in PNG.
 
In Kavieng, New Ireland, our meeting with Province Governor, Sir Julius Chan, and his personal assistant, mainly concerned possible help from our friends Richard and Sandra Pickworth’s Medical and Dental Supply firm to improve the equipment in a number of the hospital and health centre facilities. We spent a day visiting the main hospital in Kavieng and two outlying smaller facilities, a trip of over 400 km., and learnt a lot about the difficulties of providing very basic health care in this area. One small hospital had electricity for only three hours a day and repair and maintenance of equipment posed great obstacles even at the main hospital. We also had a good discussion on the most useful items which DIK could  provide to the New Ireland hospitals and schools and I hope we may be able to arrange a container of these to go to Kavieng in the next twelve months if DIK is operational. Two of the three hospitals have dental clinics but the more remote one had not had a dentist for about a year and the equipment in one of the two dental surgeries in the Kavieng hospital has been non functional for many months. Interestingly, when we returned to Port Moresby on July 16 there was a very impressive looking Chinese Hospital Ship at the dock near where we were staying and the local paper reported that it had already seen 400 patients, with dental and eye problems being the most common complaints. The activity of Chinese organizations was very evident generally, but especially in Port Moresby. I did give Sir Julius a summary of the Kyeema Foundation Project and a copy of its recent scoping report and he was interested in its potential for New Ireland if the pilot is successful.
 
Back in Port Moresby we had coffee with a retired National Government politician from the Highlands, Jamie Maxtone-Graham, who now owns a large health resort/hotel in Port Moresby and has a special interest in improving nutrition of the PNG population, especially the children. Jamie was very interested in the Kyeema Project as he is hoping to begin providing healthy nutritious lunches for the children in the three schools near his hotel and a reliable supply of chicken at a reasonable cost would be very helpful in this enterprise.
 
The people, geography, plant, animal and bird life of Papua New Guinea provide the visitor with wonderfully enjoyable, colourful and spectacular experiences but the country and its inhabitants do have many problems and as its nearest neighbour I believe we have a special responsibility to do what we can to help solve these. In this Rotary year I do hope that the RCOB can play a small part in this regard.
 
Yours in Rotary
Chris Muir
Meeting Notes 23 July 2018
Meeting chair for the day was PP Phil Gresham and he kept the meeting moving with humour, opening with the traditional grace and toasts before inviting President Chris to the podium to deliver the week's Presidential message, which is reprinted for you above.
 
After a short time for fellowship, Chair Phil asked for spots:
 
Mark Williams took a long spot to demonstrate how members can login to clubrunner and pay their dues. This half, dues invoices are to be prepared and distributed through clubrunner which also keeps track of dues receivable which will help treasurer Warren to chase you all with even greater efficiency. Also, a new option for payment will be available - online payment by credit card. The traditional dues payments of direct deposit, sending a cheque in the mail or paying by cash or card at the meeting continue to be available.
 
Mark also advised that the Burnett Cup City vs. Country golf had been postponed due to a clash with Mundubbera Rotary Club's major auction fundraising event. (Stop Press - a new date has been set: Saturday 22nd September.
 
PP Keith Watts announced that the 2018/19 Membership team would consist of himself as chair, PP Phil Gresham working on membership engagement and retention, Luke Marshall working on recruitment strategy, Dan Adler in charge of marketing and Bruce McNaught from the Albany Creek club acting as external advisor.
 
After spots, Jaqui De Lacy took the floor for her "Member in the Spotlight" presentation. Jaqui showed us a photo presentation, taking us through the story of her childhood under apartheid in South Africa, Rotary Exchange in Argentina, work in the UK, a circumnavigation in a Catamaran with her family that had many members tinged green as they listened - and it wasn't sympathetic seasickness - through to her present life in Queensland and work in the banking industry.
Jaqui De Lacy accepts the certificate of appreciation after her presentation to members.
 
Mark's spot and Jaqui's presentation had everyone so riveted that they hardly noticed that the meeting went 15 minutes over time, so acting Sergeant Michael made some perfunctory but nevertheless swingeing fines before Chair Phil went to the drawing of the raffle. Michael Stephens held the ticket but the Joker continues to do a Scarlet Pimpernel. Pres. Chris closed the meeting with the national anthem.
2018 Charity Golf Day Breaks Records
The Rotary Club of Brisbane Charity Golf Day was again held in fine sunny weather at the Virginia Golf Club this year on 15th June, the course was in good condition, and fairways were a bit more forgiving. quality of greens was generally good.  The club’s golf co-ordinator, Andrew Halliday had all the necessary paperwork and sponsors' banners in place, motorised carts all individually named, with the help of John Smerdon selling raffle tickets and myself attending to the registration of players, the pre-game issues of the day were quickly attended to. Breakfast was served, bacon and egg muffin with coffee, and players were briefed on the day, its purpose and method of scoring. The clubs golf co-ordinator then identified where the special prize holes were, advised there was a map of the course on scorecard and then directed the field to the respective start holes.
 
This year we again had a grand raffle as well as our multi draw prize table with some great prizes.
It is important to note that several of our clubs’ members helped with prizes on the day and these include:
 
Rotarian Georgina Bishop for providing two beautiful bangles which would have pleased some players mother, girlfriend or partner when they got home, one was on the raffle table and one was allocated for ladies nearest the pin.  
 
Rotarians: Michael Stephens, John Smerdon, Don O’ Donoghue, Gerald Holtmann, Graeme Whitmore all of these members provided cash donation’s, I sincerely thank them for their generosity and financial support to our day, where practical these cash contributions were paid into a PAF for future use, and finally to Price Line Pharmacy ( James Delehunty) & Jacqueline Page ,for raffle prizes.
 
This year we also received cash donations from persons outside the club, and they included Mr Paul Wall, Mr Derek Morell, & Mr Earl & Marg Ryan, these have been acknowledged by the issue of certificates which have been delivered or posted.
 
Attendance report:
 This year we keep the day to a Friday morning, hoping that this would increase the numbers along with a return to Virginia Golf Course. Attendance this year was better, with 59 players finally teeing off, the good thing is that we only had one defection, and mor importantly ten ladies were in the field. The challenge for day was a four-person Ambrose event, with a special double Perrier system of handicaps. This makes the scoring fair as the handicaps for the day are taken on six hidden holes selected by the club.  This was the second time in eight years that I have played and was intending to defend our teams title, but alas it was not to be. Part of last years’ winning team with some new players (two ladies) teamed up, and were close but not quite there, although they took out a few of the major prizes.
 
Most importantly, a good day was had by all and in excess of $8000 was raised for doing good in the world.
Read more...
Retreating to advance peace

By Mayer Ngomesia, 2006-07 Rotary Peace Fellow, Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

Participants in the Peace Fellows Retreat represented nine nationalities who had worked in more than 100 countries.

After a two-hour drive from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu along a winding road, 10 Rotary Peace Fellows and I from around the world gathered in the village of Nagarkot, nestled in the Kathmandu Valley at the foothills of the Himalayas for the third Rotary Peace Fellow Leadership Retreat. It was a rare opportunity to step back and reflect on the difficult realities and high-stress environment of our peace work, and to ponder, why the work we do matters.

Made possible by a generous donation from The Benter Foundation, the retreat was both simple and complex. Jenn Weidman and Charlie Allen (Chulalongkorn Class of 2010) from Space Bangkok, an organization working to promote resilience and innovation, facilitated the retreat. On one level, it was a straightforward opportunity to ponder the uncertainties of our field and build our resiliency. Yet, on another, the complicated nature of our work, and the diversity of our perspectives, added a rich complexity to the event. 

From cooking to jazz

Collectively, we represented nine nationalities who have lived and worked in over 100 countries. We currently serve on the ground in some of the most intractable situations including ongoing conflicts from Afghanistan to South Sudan or post-conflict Columbia. We manage socioeconomic development and political affairs initiatives across the world, from Laos to Ethiopia. Our stories are even more multi-layered, considering that our experiences include swimming across a Norwegian fjord, performing as a jazz musician, earning respect as a traditional Thai martial artist, and earning national acclaim as a cooking guru.

Like most retreats, various tools were used to evoke reflection. As people who are by nature skeptical to any formulaic assertions about our work, it could not be taken for granted that the haikus, wood carving, exercise, poetry, meditation, hiking, introspections, etc., would create their intended purpose. Yet Space Bangkok, the retreat facilitators, made it work. The complex mix of experiences amplified the point that working for peace is indeed multidimensional. This is central to the Rotary Peace Fellowship, which uniquely forges multifaceted, global clusters of Peace Fellows.

Inevitably though, the question that arises is: Why does this even matter? Turns out, that is maybe the simplest part of all. Peace does matter. To you, me, and especially to those for who it matters most. Sometimes, creating the space to ponder our complicated role in it all is one of the most important things we can do.

Learn more about Rotary Peace Fellowships

Source: Rotary Voices

MusiCamp breaks down barriers one student at a time

By Sharon Bay, a member of the Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club of San Diego, California, USA

I had only been a Rotarian for a year, and was eager for another opportunity to serve, when I was asked by the committee chair of District 5340’s MusiCamp Youth Exchange if I would be interested in hosting two talented musical students for three weeks that summer. My husband and I had hosted an exchange student from Bolivia several years prior and had enjoyed the experience. This would only be for three weeks, and we felt we knew what to expect, so we enthusiastically said yes.

We hosted two high school boys who both played violin; Jonas from Germany and Jon from Canada. Jonas spoke enough English to have a conversation, but after three weeks he was at ease. We loved having classical music in our home and our neighbors also enjoyed it. The boys quickly became friends with the 18 other members of the Musicamp, and performed in three public concerts, before enjoying the sights of San Diego – theme parks, shopping, and surfing on the beach.

Every evening we ate dinner and talked about Germany, Canada, and the United States. As they shared their home experiences, we found many similarities. I tried to introduce them to many different foods.

Two years later, Jonas emailed me that his sister, Paula, one of six siblings, was accepted to MusiCamp and asked if she could stay with us. We felt honored that he had had a good experience with us. Paula arrived with her cello and Isabella, who interestingly was Jon’s sister, from Canada brought her violin. The girls quickly became friends. We again enjoyed their our hosting experience.

A worldwide ensemble

Each year the program is similar. In 2016, we hosted Grace from Ireland (violin) and Sylvia from Spain (cello). This last summer Clara, number three from the same German family, played violin and Hannah from Ireland, played the cello, filling our extra bedroom.

My husband and I were fortunate to go to Germany this past summer and stay with the German family. It was great knowing some of  their close-knit family before we went. Their grandpa spoke a little English while we were there; which the grandkids had never heard him speak before.

The program is now in its fourteenth year. In the past, students have traveled from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Russia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Taiwan, Hungary, Mexico and many other countries.

We are hosting number five this summer, but as yet unsure who we will be lucky to host. This music program is breaking down barriers one student at a time. Musical friends are becoming REAL friends.

Learn more about Rotary Youth Exchange

Source: Rotary Voices

Generation Gap

Club Officers

President                   Chris Muir
Secretary                   Mark Williams
Treasurer                   Warren Walker
Imm. Past President  Daniel Vankov
President Elect          Michael Stephens
Sergeant-at-arms       Luke Marshall
The Rotary Club of Brisbane Inc.
ABN 75 152 438 499
GPO BOX 2909 Brisbane Qld 4001
District               9600
Club Number   17787

Brisbane City Cluster Assistant Governor

Lisa Bateson

District Governor

Wendy Protheroe

Rotary International President

Barry Rassin