21 November 2014 From District Secretary Annette Mackay email:

21 November 2014
From District Secretary Annette Mackay email: annette.mackay@bridges.com.au
Please Circulate this information as widely in your club as is possible.
The archive of this communication is available on the District website www.rotary9650.org.au
Important Dates
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Rotary Foundation month – November
YEP Outbounders Briefing 21st -23rd November 2014
Port Macquarie Craft & Design Expo 29th – 30th November 2014
Closing date for Inspirational Woman Awards 1st December 2014
Honeywell Engineering 1st–6th December 2014
Rotary Institute in NZ 2nd–7th December 2014
Polio Plus Movie Night 25th February 2015
New England Tech Fest 4th-6th March 2015
District Conference Inverell 13-15th March 2015
RYLA 21st-28th March2015
RYAG Sheep 25th- 29th March 2015
Rotary International Convention Sao Paulo Brazil 6th-9th June 2015
Council on Legislation
Dear President, Secretary and Club Members,
The Council on Legislation, is tentatively scheduled for 11-15 April 2016 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and will
be the next opportunity for clubs and Districts to submit legislation to our Rotary “Parliament”. It would
be excellent to see some wise legislation put forward by the clubs of this District. Rotary International
must receive proposed legislation, including confirmation of the district’s endorsement from the
governor, by 31 December 2014. Proposed legislation should be submitted to Rotary through the online
form here: https://rotary.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_86x9bQkfU8vwXIh
To help you and our district prepare legislation, Rotary has developed a new “How to Propose Legislation”
course in Rotary’s Learning Center. The course can be found by going to My Rotary>Learning &
Reference>Learning Center.
I last wrote to you in August proposing a time line for legislation to be dealt with in the District. To date I
have received no responses from Clubs although I am aware that some Clubs would like to amend the
Constitution to allow fortnightly meetings of Clubs to be legitimized.
Whilst the legislation is due at RI Headquarters no later than 31st December 2014, any proposed
legislation from our clubs or District must be approved by all clubs prior to being submitted. As we will not
have a District Conference, at which this proposed legislation could be endorsed, prior to that date, it will
be necessary to circulate any proposed legislation to clubs for endorsement by a Ballot-by-mail in
December.
After further consultation with DG Greg Moran, the following time frame, for proposed legislation to be
21 November 2014
From District Secretary Annette Mackay email: annette.mackay@bridges.com.au
Please Circulate this information as widely in your club as is possible.
The archive of this communication is available on the District website www.rotary9650.org.au
submitted has been amended and will be effective in District 9650.
Friday 5th December: Proposed legislation to be with PDG Ken Hall by email hallkr@bigpond.net.au. This
will give a one week turnaround and allow Clubs to debate at their Annual General meeting held in
December if they have scheduled this for the first week in December.
Monday 8th December: Proposed legislation circulated to all clubs in a Ballot-by-mail with time enough
allowed for all clubs to clarify and discuss any proposed legislation.
Friday 12th December: Ballot-by-mail closes and proposed legislation sent to Rotary International
allowing plenty of time due to the busy Christmas mail period.
Should you have any questions regarding any aspect of the forthcoming Council on Legislation, please do
not hesitate to contact me on hallkr@bigpond.net.au or one of the above phone numbers.
Yours in Rotary Service PDG Ken Hall - District 9650 Representative at Council on legislation 2016
Port Macquarie Craft and Design Expo 29th and 30th November 2014
A fantastic community event with something for the whole family and great for Christmas gift
shopping. Please see the attached flyer from the Rotary Club of Port Macquarie Inc.
Containers loaded with community spirit
In a burst of community spirit, one local group has gathered hospital and school supplies from all over the region to
give to those less fortunate. Calala Rotary member and Wantoks International founder Jim Levy is sending more
than a dozen shipping containers with hospital beds and school supplies to Papua New Guinea.
Local man Jim Levy has just sent off 10 shipping containers loaded with hospital beds and school chairs to Mount
Hagen and Alotau in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, with another three ready and waiting.
Mr Levy spent his childhood at a coffee plantation in Mount Hagen with his family.
After a 30-year absence, Mr Levy embarked on a nostalgic trip back to the Papua New Guinean highlands and was
devastated to see the state of the local primary school where he was educated. “I was shocked at how things had
deteriorated since we were there. They didn’t have desks, chairs, chalk – they were sitting on the floor,” Mr Levy
said. “The teachers were doing a fantastic job with what they had, but they just didn’t have anything. “The hospital
was in a similar way.”
Recognising a dire need for basic school supplies and hospital equipment, Mr Levy joined Calala Rotary and founded
Wantoks International in 2006. The charity has been sending a shipping container every year to our island
neighbour, but the effort was bolstered this year after the donation of 450 beds, which will see 13 containers sent.
Mr Levy said Hunter New England Health hospitals had replaced old manual beds with electric ones, meaning that
several beds from Moree, Armidale and Tamworth would find new homes in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Levy said the hospitals in Mount Hagen and Alotau were still using beds from 1973.
He said 15,000 hospital uniforms had been donated, as well as school uniforms, reams of photocopy paper from
Tamworth Public School, books from Boggabilla and Toomelah, and towering stacks of chairs.
Mr Levy will follow the containers when they land at Papua New Guinea and help with the unpacking process,
ensuring the region’s gifts end up where they are most needed. He was grateful for the community effort – from
21 November 2014
From District Secretary Annette Mackay email: annette.mackay@bridges.com.au
Please Circulate this information as widely in your club as is possible.
The archive of this communication is available on the District website www.rotary9650.org.au
students at Farrer who had helped pack containers, to the shipping company, which had agreed to ship the goods
free of charge, and even to a local woman who had knitted soft toys for children. Mr Levy has already received
generous donations of wheelchairs and walking frames from Moonbi House and St Andrews Village, which will
make the voyage next year.
Dorrigo Rotary Club Socialising
At the tiny village of Ebor in days gone by the Dorrigo Rotary Club has met with Armidale North Club and the Guyra
Club for a meal, renewal of old acquaintances and the raffling of Bob’s Old Bag. Over the years it became harder to
organise; Armidale North had not come for some time.
This year it has all changed: Armidale North and Guyra came in force, and unexpectedly the District Governor Greg
Moran and Sue. All up there were 48 people and “Fuss Pots” was full!
Guyra’s David Pearson updated the group on Rotary Against Malaria, an initiative which has caused malaria
infection rates in the Solomons, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea to drop spectacularly. Greg spoke about a pet
project of his, the Kokoda Hospital which he and other Rotarians have been building and extending. We hope that
one of our members will join the next expedition to complete the electrical work.
Then it was time to raffle Bob’s Old bag. “Bob” is Bob Jury, our honorary member now residing in a Sydney aged
care facility but the writer has never seen an “old bag” yet. They have all been new as was the latest one provided
by Nola Tyson and won by our Clare Muldoon. It was a great night – a lot of renewing of old friendships and a lot of
forming of new ones. Our thanks go to Marion Cook for organising the function and to Fuss Pots for handling the
inundation of Rotarians so well.
21 November 2014
From District Secretary Annette Mackay email: annette.mackay@bridges.com.au
Please Circulate this information as widely in your club as is possible.
The archive of this communication is available on the District website www.rotary9650.org.au
New England Tech Fest – Save the dates 4-6 March 2015
New England TechFest is an initiative of the North Armidale Rotary Club. It is designed to showcase a
diverse range of technologies for the consumer, business and enterprise markets whilst raising
awareness of these technologies, promoting the New England and North West regions and to raise
money for local and national humanitarian projects.
By having businesses present the latest in cutting edge technologies we aim to provide a structure
which allows open dialogue between these businesses and their customers. We are aiming to
facilitate sales between stallholders and guests with this event. We are also aiming to encourage
businesses to deal with local enterprises and to showcase the significant local talent present here.
Armidale is one of the major launch sites for the NBN, and also the first mainland city to be fully
connected to the NBN fibre network. This has helped market Armidale as a cutting edge town,
attracting many businesses to open or relocate here to take advantage of the connection and
proximity to the University. Other notable advancements which are taking place include the recent
acceptance of a development proposal for a high-end secure data centre being built by Australian
Data Centres.
Some of the technologies we are showcasing are 3d Printing, Virtual Reality, Medical Technologies,
Technologies integrated with the NBN, Home Entertainment and Communications, Educational
Programs and Business Products to name just a few.
By attending TechFest you guarantee your exposure to thousands of people from the New England
region who are interested in what you have on offer. You also guarantee your exposure to numerous
high technology businesses with significant yearly turnover. Imagine the impact signing one of those
businesses could have on your enterprise.
The Armidale region boasts spectacular waterfalls, gorges, world-heritage national parks, coolclimate vineyards and a fascinating and diverse cultural heritage. Canyoning, mountain biking,
birdwatching, trout fishing and other outdoor adventures take on an exciting new dimension up high.
And you’ll be delighted all over again when you come inside to discover our galleries, museums, fine
food and wine. Come up and see us soon!
http://www.armidaletourism.com.au TECH FEST 2015