Tuesday 10 August 2010

Tuesday 10 August

Guests: Hayden Schembri (Adam's son), James Hundy (Macquarie Tutorial Centre), Ruth Aubin (Jack's lovely wife), Laura Arrow (Young Citizen of the Month for August) with her parents Ann & Kevin Arrow.

Apologies: Steve Ellery, David Nicolls (OS), Eric Drinkwater, Peter Francis (extended leave) & Jack Aubin (sick, but on the mend)

Heads & Tails: Bob Pardy, which was kindly donated to our guest Ann Arrow who smartly chose the bottle of white.

Reminders & Upcoming Events

David Weekes informed us about a Membership Seminar which will be held on 28th August in Young. Thanks Adam and Anthony for putting your hands up with interest. If you could let either Ros Ceddia (crceddia@bigpond.com.au) or PDG John Egan (johnandmariaegan@gmail.com) know if you are going to attend asap. They would appreciate a reply by Friday 13th August (this date has already passed!), but I'm sure there are still places if anyone is keen.

Bob Pardy again reminded everyone that subs are due asap, although he did own up to not having paid his own!

Anthony read out some correspondence from the Rotary Club of South Wagga Wagga. They are celebrating 50 years on 18th-19th September. See Anthony for more details if anyone would like to attend.

RI have approved the Club Builder Award. This new award honors those Rotarians who have made a significant impact in supporting and strengthening their Rotary Clubs, and fits in well with the goals of the Rotary Coordinators to help create Bigger, Better, Bolder clubs. District Governors may nominate one candidate from their districts each year. To be eligible a Rotarian must have be active and in good standing, with at least 10 years of membership, they must have served as a club president, and have been a member of a Rotary club with at least 30 members in the 3 years immediately preceding nomination.The specific criteria for the award are as follows:

Personally recruited at least five members who are active Rotarians at the time of nomination
Participated in Rotary training in their club
Participated in at least one meaningful club-level vocational service project
Attended at least two district meetings in the three years immediately preceding nomination
Fellows, if this sounds like you, then please notify Pres. Pete.

Again it is obviously the wrong time of the year for Birthdays, Anniversaries etc …. as we don’t have any. There was a debacle with some incorrect information on this subject so I have now emailed out for new correct information. Day and month being compulsory fellows. There is no need to blame anyone, we just need to correct it before the sergeant cleans up again!

Bathurst Regional Council are investigating the matter raised in relation to the erection of a new service clubs sign. They will in due course make contact to discuss this matter further. As a community service project the Rotary Clubs would like to be involved in the preparation of the design, and possibly even the construction of the signs at each entrance to the city.

There is a good number of excellent candidates who will be interviewed this Sunday (15th) for the GSE teams to the Philippines (Feb 2011) and Oklahoma (Mar 2011). Final selection will be at Young on 28/29 August.

DG Neal Fogary to attend our club meeting August 30.

Eric D will represent the club for information on the upcoming Edgell jog this coming Wednesday. The Edgell Jog is again on Sunday, September 12.

Next it was time to present our Jack Aubin Young Citizen of the Year, Laura Arrow with her award. Rob Barlow read out some of Laura's achievements which are very commendable and highlight as to why she was chosen to fulfill this role. Laura is an enthusiastic person in all aspects of her life who volunteers her time freely for many things including Legacy and Red Sheild, College Yearbook Video Committee and the combined college service group addressing social issues. She attends MacKillop College and is a Welcoming Prefect, along with a peer support leader and also uses her hospitality skills for community projects.

Bob Pardy then gave us an update on the Shelter Box program, it is up and running again. He also investigated the Disaster Aid website which didn't give much information about this project. Might be best to chat with the DG when he vists to gather some more information on both of these projects, and then as a club decide which is the best way to go.

Raffle time: the lucky winner was one of our guests, James Hundy from the Macquarie Tutorial Centre with ticket number 61. Anthony did try and claim the prize as he was handed both tickets and kindly gave 61 to James, good try Anthony!

Congratulations to Danielle B. who became a ‘friend’ through our contribution to Rotary Health. All our club members are friends of the fund. Danielle was given her certificate and badge.

The group then had a quick discussion about the new mobile speed camera's which are popping up all over the place. So just a warning to be careful, they are mostly all Ford Territory's and as of the 19th August the warning period will be over, so watch your speedo.

Now for the guest speaker, none other than our very own gliding extrodinare, Mr Chris Bennett. Chris explained that he would probably take a bit longer than usual as he had a video to show the group called "Windborn". It is the story of a family of 4 generations of gliders, and focusses on the father teaching his daughter to glide and take her first solo flight. Chris told us about "attitude" when gliding and to watch out for the two types in this movie; the angle of the glider to the horizon (technical term) and the attitude of the daughter towards the father as he is trying to teach her (I can definately understand this, it was very similar when I was learning to drive!).

My eyes, along with nearly everyone else's were glued to the screen for the entire 45 minutes of this documentary. It was fascinating to see how these planes with no engines "glide" through the air relying on bubbles of hot air in the atmosphere called 'Thermals" to stay up. Basically the gliders ride the pockets of air like waves in the ocean.

After only a very short period learning how to fly a glider, the daughter attempted her first solo flight and did a great job. She started off very nervoulsy, but glided through the air with ease and made her landing very easy, bouncing along the ground finishing up not far from her father.

The next part of this movie was about the father and daughter teaming up with her uncle, a world famous glider to tackle the never before attempted Milford Sound. Quite amazing actually, and nail biting stuff at the end when the father & daughter had to land on the beach, just making it to the sand!

This movie was a great insight into the world of gliding, and now we can understand the passion Chris has for his hobbie. After first learning to glide 30 years ago, he has passed on his skill to both his children. His son is now an aircraft mechanic working on helicopters, taking the hobby and turning it into a career.

Chris kindly offered everyone to head out to the airfield and experience the rush that is gliding.

I for one am still sceptical about being in a plane up very high with no engine, but would be willing to take the plunge I think.

Thank you so much Chris, from what I could tell everyone enjoyed this talk and opened our minds to the world and thrill that is gliding.

Next Week: Professor Warren Somerville will be at our meeting to accept his Paul Harris Fellowship and also have a chat to the club. He is always an interesting man to listen to, so please bring someone along with you to "partners" night.

Did you know?????
Here are some real uncanny resemblences:
In 2006 Bathurst had a population of 12,714.
- Bathurst is a Canadian city in Gloucester County, New Brunswick.
- Settled: 1600’s
- Town Status: 1912
- City Status: 1966
- Dwellings: 6,158
- The community was named by the Governor, Sir Howard Douglas (1823-1831), in honor of Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst (1762-1834), Secretary of State for the Colonies of the British government.
- English and French is spoken throughout the city.
- is situated on Bathurst Harbour, an estuary at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay.
- It is the site of Canadas first electric street light.
- Bathurst International Airport is just outside of Bathurst, about 3 KM north of the city.
- Paul Joseph James Martin also known as Paul Martin, Sr., noted lawyer, politician and father of former Prime Minister Paul Martin was raised in Bathurst.
- Bathurst has many murals depicting local history and culture located around the city.
- Located just 20 minutes from Bathurst, the Recreational and Tourist Center at Atlas Park is located on the edge of an old quarry thirty meters deep with a surface of 26,000 square meters filled with cool, clear water offering a great number of activities. During the summer, Atlas Park offers the following activities: scuba diving, fishing, rowboats, paddle boat tours, walking paths, an amusement park for children, barbecues, and picnic grounds.
- New Brunswick has a mining & mineral interpretation centre.
- Farmers market on Saturday mornings.
- The city is home to the annual Old Time Fiddling and Step Dancing Festival that happens Labour Day weekend at Riverside Park. There are often up to 1400 RVs parked there for the week preceding the event. Award-winning fiddler/step dancer April Verch is a Bathurst native.
- The opening of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada in 1876 provided a fast connection from the port of Bathurst to the rest of North America which was essential for developing the region's principal industries in forestry and zinc mining.
- Highest elevation: 62metre or 203 ft
- Lowest elevation: 0 – sea level

- At present the temp range is 15 to a top of 24 with 72 % humidity.

For the record; Pres. Pete has been in contact with the Rotary Club of Bathurst – Canada.