Last Thursday, members of the club's Service and Governance committees met in Breakout Groups on Zoom to make their plans for the 2020-21 Rotary Year. The plans will be compiled into a draft Strategic and Action plan document over the coming weeks and be ready to drive club programs by July. Thank you to all those current and incoming committee chairs/ directors for their work in reviewing the 2019-20 plans and having considered suggestions ready for their breakout groups.

Last Thursday, Rotarian Frances Clark provided members with an overview of how things are going at GELC (Goldfields Employment and Learning Centre) during this COVID-19 period. She outlined the current program of producing complete nutritious meals and delivering them to local and district people in need. GELC receives donations of food packages from organizations such as the Salvation Army and then purchases further ingredients to make up the meals. Last Monday, our club Board approved a $500 immediate grant and then further $100 payments for the next six months to assist with the purchase of ingredients for this worthy cause. President Leigh also interviewed a couple more of our members in his "How Are You Coping in the Crisis" series (see his report).

Members are reminded to return their preference for participation in a Governance committee next Rotary year, and also a Service committee. The list of options has been emailed to all members with details of how to return your preferences: either email back the completed selection sheet, or simply state your preferences in an email or a text or simply telephone. Send emails to merylandgeoff@bigpond.com or texts and phone calls to 0407 684 619

On Thursday, Leader of the Girl Guides in Maryborough, Lyn Curry gave club members an update on how the Guides are dealing with the Covcid-19 Pandemic. Lyn's talk is part of our Rotary Youth Month program, and she informed us that most Guide groups are meeting by Zoom - like so many other community organizations, but some individual Guides did participate in some of the recent, local Anzac Day wreath laying ceremonies. Attendance at Zoom meetings has been around 75%, and through the sessions, Guides are still learning skills in all of the key areas of Guiding such as Personal development, Leadership Skills, Outdoor skills and Service to others. Guiding in Victoria have made two important changes for our current circumstances. The first is that Guides do not have to pay fees during the Pandemic restrictions. Families would normally have to pay from $250-$300 a year, so that move is providing families with some relief. An interesting side effect is that there are a number of new girls joining in to see how Guiding works - this might lead to some increased membership post Covid. The other spin of of the Crisis is, "Girl Guides Victoria TV" This is an online learning program conducted by the Guides themselves. Apart from providing valuable learning for other girls in areas such as outdoor cooking, Semaphore, camping at home and art activities, the presenters are learning valuable skills in video production and presentation. Regardless of any relaxations in restrictions, the Guides are not planning to return to normal until at least the start of Term three.