Important Dates DG Jottings

28 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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Port Macquarie Craft & Design Expo 29th – 30th November 2014
Honeywell Engineering 1st–6th December 2014
Rotary Institute in NZ 2nd–7th December 2014
New closing date for Inspirational Woman Awards 14th 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
DG Jottings
A big thank you to Dorrigo Rotary Club for inviting Sue and me along to their very enjoyable evening
combining with Guyra and Armidale North at Ebor. Nick Wright saved us the drive home in the dark by
kindly hosting us for the night and then showing us around his beautiful property the next day. Thank
you Nick. The photo shows me with the three presidents Joanne Liu, Margaret Skye and Wendy
Mulligan.
Sue’s Partner’s Projects
A big thank you to all those clubs and individuals who have already donated money towards Sue’s
projects, Shelterbox and Australian Rotary Health, Parkinsons research. Clubs have also been planning
special fund raisers for these Rotary Partners. Inverell East held a very enjoyable Sunday luncheon
recently with proceeds for Shelterbox and Inverell club is planning a Sunday luncheon in February with
proceeds to Australian Rotary Health. These special functions are a great way to invite people along
who may be interested in joining Rotary and also for having fun interclub visits. If any club has a
cheque for either part of Sues partners program, could they please forward the cheque clearly
indicating the project and forward to the District Treasurer.
Inspirational Women’s Award
As Sue and I are away in New Zealand attending the Zone Institute Conference and training and won’t
be home for a couple of weeks , Sue, as the main organiser for the Inspirational Women’s Award is
prepared to extend the deadline for entries until the 14th December. This is a great opportunity for
Rotary clubs to honour those women in the community who do an outstanding job in the community
or in overseas work above and beyond the requirements of any paid profession. If you missed the
28 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
entry forms etc that were
published in the
Illuminator several weeks
ago please email
Community Director Barry
Mason and he will email
them back.
Foundation District Grants
to Clubs PDG Jo Wilkin will
have full details of grants
to Clubs for the 2014-2015
year in the next issue of
the Illuminator. Watch this
space.
RYAG Sheep 2015
28 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
An inspirational program for Years 9 to 11 school students interested in the sheep industry. Students from
across northern NSW participate in a four day camp near Walcha, during which they visit a range of
industry research facilities and innovative sheep farming operations. All aspects of best practice sheep
and wool production techniques are demonstrated in very hands-on sessions which include:
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Pastures and grazing strategies
Sheep classing for wool and meat sheep
Breeding & Genetics
AI &Twin scanning
Condition scoring
Parasite Management and monitoring
Electronic tagging, data recording & drafting
Cooking sheep meat
Animal Handling and Welfare
Marketing Strategies
Based at Europambela Woolshed and Shearers’ Quarters and supervised by Rotarians, the students
travel by bus to various facilities, studs and farms where industry experts conduct the sessions.
The program cost is approximately $250 per student, after Industry sponsorship, and it is hoped
that Rotary Clubs will further sponsor their nominated students.
RYAG SHEEP 2015 25th to 29th March, 2015
For more information contact:- Peter McNeill on 6777 2856 europambela@bigpond.com or Liz
Gill on 6777 9127 liz@brookmount.com.au
Adopted from a Centenary Project of the Rotary Clubs of District 9650 Cluster 5, now run by the
Rotary Club of Walcha.
From RI Pacific office
I regret to inform you that after some time Joy Walker has decided to go back to her home in country New
South Wales. She has tendered her resignation. I have asked Joy to delay her departure and she has agreed
to stay until February 19th. I will be sending her to Wellington as the head of the RI staff team and many of
you will be able to say goodbye to her personally. Joy has been with the South Pacific & Philippines office for
8 years and has been an important part of the team.
28 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
Other items of note:
 It is pleasing to see the normal November surge of donations from the Philippines for The Rotary
Foundation.
 Please don’t forget to remind your Presidents that Club Billing starts 1st January 2015 and it is
important that they update their records by December 31st.
 The RI Director Gullier Tumangan is looking forward to coming to Wellington and is trying to plan a
trip to visit most Australian Districts in August/ September 2015.
MIXED POLIO RESULT SENDS A MESSAGE
There has been a downturn in giving due to an extraordinary contribution last year to the Eradicate Polio
Program but when you consider there are again 15 out of our 39 districts behind last year it starts to ring
bells. We need to step up the pace to play our part in getting this job done. Consider these figures as at
November 12th:
 Global cases 279 (334 last year)
 Endemic country cases 260 (119 last year)
 Non –endemic country cases 19 (215 last year)
While we’ve seen an improvement overall, the pendulum has swung from non-endemic to endemic and
Pakistan remains the major problem. Major gains have been made in Nigeria, and Afghanistan is at
manageable proportions, but Pakistan has gone from 59 cases at this stage last year up to 236 cases this
year. Pakistan will require a lot of attention and that’s why funding is so important. Clubs need to contribute
at least $1,500 each, individuals should give polio their consideration, and District Governors need to
strongly consider using their DDF to make that 20% commitment. We are this close but as long as one case
remains we are a million miles away from victory.
28 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
My Rotary for ALL ROTARIANS
All Rotarians who have a unique email address that is not shared by another Rotarian ARE
encouraged to sign up for My Rotary, even if they are not officers.
There is a wealth of information that is available on the www.rotary.org website, but some of it is
restricted so that it can only be accessed by Rotarians.
It is really becoming essential that club officers (President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chair
and Foundation Chair) are registered and regular users of My Rotary. Without doing so they are
really only accessing half of the tools that are available to assist them with their role.
Any Rotarians in your district experiencing difficulties with My Rotary, or with registering, could
contact MaryJayne.Desmond@rotary.org or Barbara.Mifsud@rotary.org or call +61 28894 9800 OR
District Secretary Annette Mackay.
WRAP WITH LOVE
Greetings all, a thank you from Wrap with love for our club’s contribution in sending about
30 pallets of blankets via our friends from R&T transport. Although not an official Rotary
project, we help bring comfort & warmth to those who’ve lost so much. Reg Pierce DIK chair
28 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