Nine Rotarians and partners attended the District 9780 Conference in Ballarat over the March 25-26 week-end. This pic shows the nine who attended the Saturday day program which was quite outstanding. See "Read more.." for more pix and information.-
09_MARCH - WATER & SANITATION MONTH - Chair TBA
Mar 01, 2023 – Mar 31, 2023
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#37 The Importance of Honesty - Dr Jordan Peterson
Mar 30, 2023
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Nine Rotarians and partners attended the District 9780 Conference in Ballarat over the March 25-26 week-end. This pic shows the nine who attended the Saturday day program which was quite outstanding. See "Read more.." for more pix and information.
16 Rotarians ventured out to 370 Old Tullaroop Road on Thursday to enjoy a fascinating visit to the Centre State Asphalting Works. The company was started in 2003 by Barry Trait, and was acquired by the VSA Group in 2014. In 2015, the site was upgraded with specialized asphalting equipment to make processing quieter and more efficient, and thanks to the assistance of a state government sustainability grant, the company constructed a new Recycling Facility. In 2018, they replaced aging bitumen storage tanks with new, large capacity and highly efficient Benninghoven tanks and can now produce over 135,000 tons of asphalt a year. The site employs around 40 people and has a turn over of 3 million dollars a month. See "Read more..." for more pix.
Service committees met on Thursday March 16, and after planning upcoming projects, considered three questions posed by President Garry. 1. How have we been going as a committee? 2. What have we actually achieved over the last year in terms of doing good in our community and the world? How could we do better in the future? Some valuable discussions followed and the fruits of those discussions will be seen in the club's plans for the next Rotary year. More photos in "Read more..."
In what will be the first of many "Classification" 3-minute talks, Rotarian Max Berry shared how he currently sees his Rotary classification and how he came to adopt that understanding. All members are invited to participate in this 3-Minute Talk Series where you get a chance to describe how your employment shapes the way you do good in the world with Rotary. Please be ready to volunteer for one of the sessions which will feature in coming meetings. The complete text of Max's talk can be read by clicking "Read more..."
We haven't completed our projects for this Rotary year yet, but we need to at least start thinking about how we want things to develop in our standing committees after July 1st this year. Accordingly, the committees' meetings next month will involve both the Governance and Service Committees in making a list of the projects and issues they want to address in the 2023-24 Rotary year. All members are encouraged to think about how you would like our programs to be tweaked in the coming year, and ensure that the chair of the relevant standing committee hears about your thoughts.Please note that we are not looking for huge changes this year since we are finishing off the previous Strategic planning period. A completely new plan will crank up around this time in 2024. Having said that, this is the time for final tweaking of our current plan.
Look out for emails about the planning process in the near future, and the new Planning Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 28th. The new planning committee volunteered at our meeting on Thursday, and currently includes PP Garry, PDG Anthony, PP Thea, PP Martin, Rotarians John Williamson, Rebecca and Adrian, and PDG Geoff.
Members who attended Rotary on March 9th experienced a real treat - all to do with toilets! Mark Balla, aka the "Toilet Warrior" shared his moving and amazing story via Zoom, and everyone in attendance went away impressed and inspired. Largely as a result of Mark's efforts, thousands of young people in India and other developing countries, especially girls, have a greatly improved chance of being properly educated and living healthy lives than they did before Mark's work started. See "Read more... for more details and pictures. Mark has given this talk over one hundred times and you can find one example on YouTube at this link: 
Three of our members, Alison Teese, Meryl James and Thea Allan attended the gathering at the Maryborough station for International Women's Day - on the day itself. Here they are with organizer, Marg Flowers. I wonder if members have noticed that the three colours on this year's Rotary Theme banner are Purple, Green and White - the colours of International Women's Day! Imagine a woman being World President of Rotary!
Members are encouraged to have a word with any employers they currently know and suggest they think about nominating an employee for the Pride of Workmanship award this year - particularly for work done during the Covid Pandemic period. An article was in the advertiser last Friday, and an advertisement in the week before that. Nomination forms are available from PDG Geoff James, and they need to be completed before Easter.
On Thursday, March 2, members and spouses enjoyed a relaxing evening at the home of Murray and Sally Henderson with good conversation and great food. Thanks for your great hospitality, Murray and Sally. More pics in "Read more..."
On February 23rd, our club members celebrated the 118th Birthday of Rotary with a cake and an exploration of the importance of peace within the world and within ourselves. Small groups reflected on how we find peace in our lives and how the world might become a more peaceful place. Members found peace in their gardens, in the bush, by the sea, with family members, through absorbing manual work, by playing cards, self-reflection, having a sense of purpose, having a sense of self worth, being supportive and unconditional giving. Click Read more... for more pix and text.
15 or so members gathered at the club's storage shed on February 9th. to clean out accumulated garbage and trim the surrounding weeds and occasional bits of grass. It was a great effort by all, and it didn't take long to fill a truck with land fill or items that might be sold on ebay. Thanks to Tyson Ohlsen for bringing the truck and to all members who helped clean up or cook the barbie meal enjoyed at the end of the night. Pictured is President Garry thanking members for their efforts and a tidy shed. See "Read more..." for a picture of the truck.
Morning AllIt has been a couple of months since I last wrote to you all and I hope that I have not missed anyone on the ever growing list of supporters.
It is now almost 12 months since this war began in Ukraine and it is still going unfortunately.
We have come to the end of our initiative for now. I have done a "final" newsletter for your perusal.
My main problem is work and lots of it is not Rotary related, such is life.
Anyhow my sincere thanks to all of you who contributed and supported the Sunflower Seeds for Ukraine above all our thanks to Doug Bruckner for the seeds last March!
Yours in Rotary
PDG John Glassford
See Read more for the newsletter.
Friday the 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day around the world - as a Rotarian, that should be easy!See the YouTube video about the day by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju3ygNPFH98&t=14s
You may recall that last year Rotarian Kate Ashton went on a 500 km bike ride in Thailand to support a charity called "Hands Across The Water", well Kate's on the go again, this time with friend Graeme plus quite a few others who support this charity. They intend riding 535 km's over 5 days.
As a preliminary event Kate and Graeme are organizing a free bike ride from Maryborough to Dunolly and back to Maryborough, around 50 km, joining Kate and Graeme will be Peter Baines OAM, the man behind the charity. Peter is a NSW Police forensic scientist with an incredible background and reason for the charity. The date of the ride is the 19th of February
As well as the bike ride there is an evening with Peter on the preceding Saturday night.
Kate and Graeme are also having a fundraising trivia night on the 3rd of March.
At our February 2nd meeting, PP Alison reminded members of Rotary's significant commitment to peace in the world. She highlighted the work of Rotary Peace Scholars, the move to create Peace Parks in various cities of the world (See the pic of the Peace poles on the TV screen) and the ever-present urgency of banning nuclear weapons. The photo's below are of the launch of the Rotary Peace Square in the centre of Kyiv, Ukraine. The project was completed in March 2021 Tree planting commenced in the Spring of 2021 and continued throughout the Summer and Autumn.There was a grand opening which was attended by all the Rotary clubs based in Kyiv and the District Governor of D2232 officiated.
In the Spring of 2022, Ukrainians in Kyiv planted Pink Apple Blossom Trees which signify Peace. They planted these trees a few weeks after Kyiv was bombed. It gave all those who participated in the establishment of the Peace Square a lot of hope for the future of Peace in Ukraine.
A remarkably sprightly bunch of members turned up at the Maryborough Hub on Australia Day to hand out muffins to attendees and try out the club's brand-new smaller marquee. Members and marquee all performed beautifully! Thanks to all members who helped out, and the muffins were great, Garry and Julie! More pics...
There was much discussion after January 19th club meeting as members considered the Service committee plans put in place for the second half of this Rotary year. There was also discussion about the new catering system to be trialed by the club. One member from each dining table will need to collect food from the chef and assist its distribution to those at the table. At the end of each meal, the table members are responsible for cleaning the table and returning items to the kitchen area. This trial is part of a new catering agreement being negotiated with our hosts, the Mill House. Pictured are recent members, Grace, Lowan and Adrian talking with PP Meryl about the changes.
Older members will remember the Fellowship Roster system pre-covid. Three members are rostered on each week to assist with the administration of the club meeting. Each week, one of those members will be removed from the list and the next one on the club's alphabetical list will be added to complete the Fellowship team. Two of the members will collect meeting fees from members and welcome them to the meeting, the other member will manage sales at the bar. At the end of the meeting, all three will be responsible for cleaning up - i.e., putting away the club lecturn trolley, the public address system, the club calendar, and returning unsold drinks to the refrigerator. If a member is not able to fulfill their rostered spot, it is their resposibility to swap their time with another member. Those on duty will be included in each week's bulletin. Since the Administration committee is responsible for the roster, they will start the process. Geoff, Murray and John Williamson will start next week - from then on, the roster will move through club members alphabetically by surname.
Around twenty Rotarians and friends visited and toured the Maryborough Advertiser premises last Thursday to hear a fascinating account of how the local paper publishing process occurs from our own Rotarian, Riley Upton (pictured). One surprising fact we learned was that often, the paper is actually printed in Morwell, and then transported to Maryborough overnight. After the tour, participants adjourned to the Bangkok Thai Restaurant for a delicious meal together.
Around 20 Rotarians and partners enjoyed a meal at the Bull and Mouth Hotel on New Year's Eve and then adjourned to the home of Meryl and Geoff to see out 2022 and welcome 2023. A few couples danced, a number watched the muso's, everyone had a good chat and three talented Rotarians got up and performed a couple of songs (pictured). You can even watch a video of their performances if you click on the following YouTube link: https://youtu.be/pCdnbqmyowo 
Twenty Rotarians and partners enjoyed a great night of dining and chat at the home of President Garry and Julie Higgins on January 5th. The get together was the first Maryborough Rotary club meeting for 2023. All present agreed that Garry and Julie's brand new barby worked a treat! Thanks to both of you for your hospitality! See "Read more..." for more pix.
January is Rotary Vocational Service month and as this new image from Rotarian Debbie Vance says, this month focusses on the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, high ethical standards in business and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society. As part of this focus, next week we will visit the workplace of Rotarian Riley Upton, so gather at the Maryborough Advertiser office carpark by 6pm next Thursday. A meal will follow at a venue yet to be confirmed. Look out for the details via text or email.
A jolly crowd of around 40 gathered at the Railway Cafe and Tracks Bar last Thursday to celebrate the Christmas season and the first half of our 2022-23 Rotary year. Members and guests enjoyed good food, great company and a Christmas "Pass the Parcel" from our Fun Co-ordinator, Trace, (Thanks Trace!) and a "Sing the Next Line of This Christmas Carol" game from PDG Geoff. The club will take a two week break from weekly meetings and will resume again on the first Thursday in January for a social event at the home of President Garry and Julie.
A pleasingly large crowd attended the opening and dedication of the Maryborough Aeromedical Transfer Station at the Maryborough Airport on Friday, December 9th. Major donors, including Maryborough Rotary Club were thanked on the day and President Garry responded on behalf of the club saying that when the issue was raised with members, there was no hesitation in the club committing $10,000 of its funds to the venture. Local Paramedics informed those in attendance that the Transfer Station will be a fantastic asset to the community, although we all hope we never have to use it. See "Read more..". for more pics.
All Maryborough Rotary members and their partners are invited to our get together's on New Year's Eve, but we need to know numbers this week and by the latest, next Thursday night at our Christmas party. We plan to have dinner at a local Restuarant - to be confirmed - from 6pm to 8pm and then have a night of fun and dancing from 8 to 12.30am. Please let Meryl or Geoff know if you're coming to firstly, the dinner, and /or if you're coming to Meryl and Geoff's for the party. We need both sets of numbers. Call Geoff on 0407 684 619.
On December 8th, members witnessed a very powerful message from local Salvation Army Captain, Ron Stobie. Ron thanked members for the boxes of food provided over recent weeks and then went on to paint a concerning picture of the current needs of the poor and the declining number of volunteers to do something about the problem in our Central Goldfields area. See "Read more..." for more information and pictures.
On December 1st, members were treated to a fascinating talk about the history of the Bristol Hill Tower by local historian and Councillor, Geoff Lovett. Geoff reported that he was delighted when he heard that our club was interested in seeing the tower area restored to its former glory, and he encouraged members to follow up their interest with a commitment to seeing the job through as an important Rotary project. See "Read more..."
The club's new marquee was set up for the first time, last Thursday morning in readiness for the Energy Breakthrough. The picture shows members gathering around the tent during our Thursday night meeting. For more Photo's see "Read More"
Whilst visiting the club on November 3rd, District Governor Kathy Rivett inducted our newest member of the club, Grace La Vella. Grace was proposed by President Garry, will have the classification of "Local Government - Councillor", and PP Thea Allan will be her mentor. A warm welcome to Maryborough Rotary Club, Grace!
Motto: Service Above Self
Maryborough, VIC 3465
Australia