Our first face to face meeting at the International Club since 9^th March was thoroughly enjoyable. We maintained our 1.5 m distance, sterilising our hands and signing in. The club even provided each of us with our own salt and pepper shakers. Julie told us she has been declared Covid free after tests were required when she went to the dentist. Melissa finally has a new shed after the fire destroyed parts of her property last September. The Netball Association has received a substantial grant to improve their courts and this will help with Julia’s project at Rotary Park adjacent to the courts in the coming year.  The Rotary Park sign will, at last, be painted by Rob, a friend of Julie’s. Guests included Fletcher Pascoe and Tom Hodgson.

 

 

  Our guest speaker, Hon James Lister MP Member for Southern Downs spoke about his career in the Airforce and the reasons why he went into politics. James had a number of jobs before he joined the  Airforce,  encouraged by his grandfather who had served in the NZ Airforce.  He spent 17 years in the air force and rose to Squadron Leader. During his career, James  worked in Defence Force Recruiting and was Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General and later to the Governor of Qld. The most enjoyable part of being in the Force is meeting lots of people and wonderful people . He said that it also involved lots of postings and that can be tough on the family, especially his posting to the Middle East near Dubai. James, after university, worked for the National Party  and was very involved in the Qld Young Nationals. When the Hon. Lawrence Springborg resigned, James decided to ‘throw his hat in the ring’ and won pre selection for Southern Downs.  Being a Member of Parliament is the greatest privilege  and 90% of his time is working for  and in the community. James recognised the support and wisdom of his Stanthorpe staff, Ian Jackson and Virginia Marsden and lately Ryan Burton Ree.  James acknowledged Belinda’s support throughout his time in the air force and now in politics. Thank you James for a very informative and personal story and thanks Belinda for the powerpoint photos.

Dave Hambly, will, finally, be inducted next Monday night after waiting for meeting restrictions to be lifted.  Ros Sutton will be inducted at the Satellite Club meeting on Wednesday evening.    It is so exciting to have welcomed three new members in the last months of my year as President.  Thank you to the Membership Committee for all your work.

 

I told my suitcases that there won't be any holiday trips this year.  Now I have emotional baggage...

 

"The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be. Accidents, crimes, natural and manmade disasters, threats of conflict, gloomy editorials - these still seemed to be the main concern of the millions of words being sprayed into the ether."  Extract from '2001 - A Space Odyssey' by Arthur C Clarke, published over 50 years ago. (Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.)Ed.

 

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

 

Quote:   Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.   Helen Keller

 

There is a link on the District 9640 Website Home Page to enable you to make a booking, see the General Sessions program and the Breakout Sessions program.

Our first virtual convention is open to all Rotary members and participants, FREE OF CHARGE.

To book to attend the 2020 Rotary Virtual Convention use the "Sign Up" link.

The link to the D9640 Home page is https://rotary9640.org/