Guests
Danielle introduced her guest, Prof Warren Summerville though not much introduction was necessary as we all know of him.
Danielle introduced her guest, Prof Warren Summerville though not much introduction was necessary as we all know of him.
Bob P introduced his guest, Mark. Mark contacted Bob with an interest in Rotary. Mark is a station officer with the NSW Fire Brigade.
We took apologies from Peter F (who was supposed to visiting us from the RC Beaumaris) Anthony J, Nev D, Adam S, David W, Chris B, and David N.
Reports
We got an update from Bob P regarding the Shelter Boxes. According to DG Neil, the shelter box program is now up and running again as a project of the Australian arm of Rotary rather than the UK. The issue has recently been forced due to the recent needs in Pakistan. We will send $1000 for the purchase of a shelter box.
Our banner had been purchased and is in our possession. It looks great, particularly with Prof Summerville in front of it with a PHF! Well done to Danielle for its design and to Pres Pete for finally getting this done… I know we’ve been talking about getting one of these things on and off for years (a banner that is, not Warren Summerville obviously).
Pres Pete let us know that the Duck Race is set and ready to go. All we need to do now is get the ducks out to be sold.
Steve E told us that the PCYC Breakfast Club will be back up and running soon. It caters for 30-35 kids on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These are typically the only days these kids actually make it to school. He’ll be looking for good role models for these kids to sit and have a chat with over some brekkie.
Eric D (sorry to refer to myself in the third person) attended the meeting for the Edgell Jog. This year’s event will be held on September 12. The big change this year is that each runner will have an electronic timing chip laced into their shoe. Runners will get a $50 fee in the mail if they leave with their chip so it will be our job to ensure they do not leave the finish area with their chip. This is obviously different from last year where we’d sit behind a desk to record times and it is the responsibility of the runner to come to us. This year, we’ll have to catch them! Here’s the plan to do it:
The finish gate will be only 5 meters across but will open into a Y about 15 metres wide… like a corral area. Chairs will be set up on the sides with a Rotarian at each chair; there will be a few Rotarians in the middle to marshal runners over to the chairs as they cross the finish line. Rotarians on the chairs will untie the runner’s shoe, take the chip and tie the shoe again. Runners will still need to drop their bib in the barrel to be in for the prizes draw so we should also remind them to do this.
This is obviously going to be a huge operation. Last year there were over 1200 runners. Helping in this exercise will be the three Rotary clubs, Quota, and Little Athletics. As a club, we’ll need AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE. We’ll meet at 10:20 (at the absolute very latest) outside the courthouse. Pres Pete: can you please start collecting names since I’ll be an apology at the August 24 meeting.
Pres Pete then presented Prof Summerville with the Paul Harris Fellow pin and certificate. Professor Summerville is a 40 year veteran of Rotary himself so was well aware of the significance of the award. Prof Summerville began collecting fossils and minerals at the age of 7 years old digging through piles of excavated earth at mining sites. “The disease got worse as time went on” to study geology at university. It was during this time that he was on the Canowindra Fish Fossil Find in which they found 3500 fish fossils in a single day of digging. The era of these fishes became known as “The Age of Fishes” and was of a richness similar to that of a find in Eastern Canada.
Warren is known as an “Expert Visitor” at 35 museums around the world, including ones in Russia, China, North America, and Europe. When he introduces himself as an Expert Visitor at the museum, museum curators will usually drop whatever they are doing to “talk shop”. It’s a huge honour to be named as an Expert Visitor at any museum, let alone 35 of them around the world.
Prof Summerville’s collection accumulated and he had it on show at an orchard in Orange. When he sold the orchard he was going to sell his collection too. He’d received an offer of $15 mil from China. However, he negotiated with the Vice-Chancellor of CSU to go on permanent display in Bathurst. The Australian Museum wanted and inland campus to form “The Australian Fossil Trail” from Sydney to Bathurst to Canowindra to Lightening Ridge.
To “pay” Prof Summerville for his collection CSU gave him his professorship. The agreement was they it was to be co-funded by the Bathurst City Council and the Australian Museum. CSU paid it for a few years and then asked other parties to kick in. This degraded into a sad story in which nobody is willing to honour the original agreement and Prof Summerville lives as a pensioner. He can’t even access his own collection which is now, technically, not his anymore.
I think we were all horrified at how, what started out as a wonderful story, turned into an absolute nightmare. I think we were all willing to help Prof Summerville in whatever way we can. This sounds like a horrible legal mess, but we should all put our heads together and see if we can come up with anything we can do to help.
I was proud to move the vote of thanks to Prof Summerville, noting that it was a significant matching between he and Paul Harris, both having wonderful vision that established a lasting legacy.
We got an update from Bob P regarding the Shelter Boxes. According to DG Neil, the shelter box program is now up and running again as a project of the Australian arm of Rotary rather than the UK. The issue has recently been forced due to the recent needs in Pakistan. We will send $1000 for the purchase of a shelter box.
Our banner had been purchased and is in our possession. It looks great, particularly with Prof Summerville in front of it with a PHF! Well done to Danielle for its design and to Pres Pete for finally getting this done… I know we’ve been talking about getting one of these things on and off for years (a banner that is, not Warren Summerville obviously).
Pres Pete let us know that the Duck Race is set and ready to go. All we need to do now is get the ducks out to be sold.
Steve E told us that the PCYC Breakfast Club will be back up and running soon. It caters for 30-35 kids on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These are typically the only days these kids actually make it to school. He’ll be looking for good role models for these kids to sit and have a chat with over some brekkie.
Eric D (sorry to refer to myself in the third person) attended the meeting for the Edgell Jog. This year’s event will be held on September 12. The big change this year is that each runner will have an electronic timing chip laced into their shoe. Runners will get a $50 fee in the mail if they leave with their chip so it will be our job to ensure they do not leave the finish area with their chip. This is obviously different from last year where we’d sit behind a desk to record times and it is the responsibility of the runner to come to us. This year, we’ll have to catch them! Here’s the plan to do it:
The finish gate will be only 5 meters across but will open into a Y about 15 metres wide… like a corral area. Chairs will be set up on the sides with a Rotarian at each chair; there will be a few Rotarians in the middle to marshal runners over to the chairs as they cross the finish line. Rotarians on the chairs will untie the runner’s shoe, take the chip and tie the shoe again. Runners will still need to drop their bib in the barrel to be in for the prizes draw so we should also remind them to do this.
This is obviously going to be a huge operation. Last year there were over 1200 runners. Helping in this exercise will be the three Rotary clubs, Quota, and Little Athletics. As a club, we’ll need AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE. We’ll meet at 10:20 (at the absolute very latest) outside the courthouse. Pres Pete: can you please start collecting names since I’ll be an apology at the August 24 meeting.
Pres Pete then presented Prof Summerville with the Paul Harris Fellow pin and certificate. Professor Summerville is a 40 year veteran of Rotary himself so was well aware of the significance of the award. Prof Summerville began collecting fossils and minerals at the age of 7 years old digging through piles of excavated earth at mining sites. “The disease got worse as time went on” to study geology at university. It was during this time that he was on the Canowindra Fish Fossil Find in which they found 3500 fish fossils in a single day of digging. The era of these fishes became known as “The Age of Fishes” and was of a richness similar to that of a find in Eastern Canada.
Warren is known as an “Expert Visitor” at 35 museums around the world, including ones in Russia, China, North America, and Europe. When he introduces himself as an Expert Visitor at the museum, museum curators will usually drop whatever they are doing to “talk shop”. It’s a huge honour to be named as an Expert Visitor at any museum, let alone 35 of them around the world.
Prof Summerville’s collection accumulated and he had it on show at an orchard in Orange. When he sold the orchard he was going to sell his collection too. He’d received an offer of $15 mil from China. However, he negotiated with the Vice-Chancellor of CSU to go on permanent display in Bathurst. The Australian Museum wanted and inland campus to form “The Australian Fossil Trail” from Sydney to Bathurst to Canowindra to Lightening Ridge.
To “pay” Prof Summerville for his collection CSU gave him his professorship. The agreement was they it was to be co-funded by the Bathurst City Council and the Australian Museum. CSU paid it for a few years and then asked other parties to kick in. This degraded into a sad story in which nobody is willing to honour the original agreement and Prof Summerville lives as a pensioner. He can’t even access his own collection which is now, technically, not his anymore.
I think we were all horrified at how, what started out as a wonderful story, turned into an absolute nightmare. I think we were all willing to help Prof Summerville in whatever way we can. This sounds like a horrible legal mess, but we should all put our heads together and see if we can come up with anything we can do to help.
I was proud to move the vote of thanks to Prof Summerville, noting that it was a significant matching between he and Paul Harris, both having wonderful vision that established a lasting legacy.
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