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Guest Speaker:
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Phil Maylin, Grand Final
Week Breakfast
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Topic:
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Past
Carlton and
Footscray VFL Player tells “Great Football Stories”
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Chairman:
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Ralston Wood
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Desk Duties:
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Ralston Wood, Andrew Forgas, Kerry Barrett
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Roving Reporter:
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Tony
Stokes
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Congratulations to the Cats and the Hawks – may the best team
win!
and congratulations to the winners of the
2008 RCBHC Footy Tipping Competition:
The Winners are:
First prize Jeff Enlund
Second prize Tony Enlund
Third Price Ralston Wood
President Greg’s
Report: The Week in Review:
Well
the final countdown is underway to our annual Grand Final breakfast. It will
be an entertaining morning and it’s not too late to invite a friend or
colleague (just make sure you let Tony know in advance).
With
two members hospitalised in a week, there’s been cause to think about more
important things than a possible financial meltdown. Both are now improving
and it was great to see that Peter seems to be well enough to be planning on
a return to work Monday. In considering our own mortality, give thought to
how we can improve somebody’s life today (and every day) starting with our
own family. It’s often the little things that count.
In
considering other items for my report, I’m swayed by the following anonymous
quote: “There’s nothing wrong with having nothing to say – unless you insist
on saying it”.
President
Greg
Report from Last week’s meeting (Sept 17th) by Roving Reporter
Michael Kirk:
Operation Cleft – Progress in Bangladesh
It
was with justifiable pride that PP Brian Martin, as Chairman of Operation
Cleft, introduced Naanki Pasricha, the project manager of Operation Cleft, to
talk to us last week. We were soon very much aware that we have an
outstanding person to oversee the second phase of our wonderful Club project.
Naanki
is a speech therapist and she is in the process of introducing speech
training as an adjunct to the extraordinary impacts of the surgical
procedures that have changed so many lives in Bangladesh through Operation
Cleft. This is no ordinary development for it requires introducing speech
therapy into the country as a new paramedical discipline. This course of
action has been necessary because it has been recognised that our surgical
work has for many patients been largely cosmetic unless there has been follow
up therapy to assist the patients to talk clearly in order to live normal
lives.
Naanki
joined Operation Cleft in 2007, recruited by the redoubtable Colin Macfarlane. What a great selection! Speaking
clearly and effectively, she outlined the nature of the problems facing the
clients, about her analysis of the difficulties, and her ideas on how they
would be addressed.
She
commenced by telling us that there were estimated to be 300,000 unrepaired
cleft palates in Bangladesh,
and that the were some 3-4000 children born each year with clefts. Up to now
there had been little attention to them in that country because they weren’t
considered life threatening. It is generally understood that the ratio for
clefts on a global scale is 1:800 live births, sadly in Asia the ratio is
considerably greater - 1:500. It is unclear why this should be so, but it is
postulated that this may be caused by genetic factors, or environmental (poor
quality water e.g arsenic contamination; or a lack of folic acid in the
mother’s diet), or a combination of genetic/environmental factors.
Operation
Cleft is currently undertaking 800 – 1000 operations each year. It has 8
surgeons contracted to undertake 10 operations each month plus 4 major
surgical camps scheduled. Operation Cleft has a commitment to sustainability.
This is helped by :
- Partnering
with a local NGO
- The
recruitment of an ‘in-country’ program manager
- Training of
locally based surgeons
- Training of
local speech and language therapists
- Training of
community health workers
- Encouraging
mothers to take their babies for early treatment of clefts.
Naanki
told us there are now 50 people being trained as speech and language
therapists, and that Operation Cleft is looking to employ some of the
graduates of the course. She related that to establish a plan of action she
had interviewed 163 clients at 3 of the surgical camps in the past year. From
this she had identified :
- The average
age of cleft repairees was 5.5 years
- The average
distances travelled from the client’s home to the point of operation was
between 20 – 50 kms.
- 87% of parents
had basic literacy
- Less than 50%
were aware of community health workers in their area
- It was a
common belief that a child born with a cleft palate was caused by the
pregnant mother cutting up fish during a lunar eclipse!
The
challenges were seen as being:
- No qualified
speech and language therapists
- No Bangladeshi
assessment tools
- No access to
appropriate feeding aids
- No access to
scientific diagnostic tests
- The need for
greater involvement of community health workers
- Limited access
to orthodontists (she noted that if a person cannot close his/her lips
properly because of misshapen teeth, then that person cannot speak
properly)
To
address some of these difficulties Naanki has organised a Speech Camp to be
held 18 – 23 October which will draw together at the Lam Hospital
- 4 speech & language therapy
trainees; 20 clients/guardians; 10 community health workers; and a number of
surgeons and orthodontists. The participants will be involved in examining
the nature of the problems and developing strategies to implement change.
Questions to be asked are :
·
What do we do if the child needs more surgery or
orthodontic work?
·
What do we do if the guardians are illiterate?
·
Will the clients undertake their treatments/exercises
at home?
·
How to meet the need for effective follow up of the
clients in order to monitor improvements?
·
How much improvement is it reasonable to expect?
Naanki
told that she didn’t anticipate the Speech Camp would come up with all the
answers, and that the outcomes would not be perfect the first time. The camp
was however a start and she anticipated that it in the long run it would
result in greater co-operation between the various health professionals in
the care and rehabilitation of children with cleft palates.
Finally,
she reiterated that Operation Cleft was endeavouring to ensure that its work
was sustainable in the long run, and that its clients were able to develop as
normal young people free from both obvious physical defects and long term
speech impediments.
In
closing it was noted that instead of presenting Naanki with a certificate and
advice that we would make a donation to Operation Cleft, President Greg gave
Naanki – A PEN!
Thanks
for a great talk Naanki. All of us who have been involved with Operation
Cleft were greatly encouraged by your talk. Well done!
Naanki inspired us
with her enthusiasm, drive and commitment to her work with Operation Cleft
helping to improve the future for the Cleft Pallet suffering children of Bangladesh.
The Club
acknowledges the visionary and dedicated leadership provided by Brian Martin
to the successful Operation Cleft program in Bangladesh.
President Greg
Cooper thanks Naanki for her presentation and her excellent work with the
development of Speech Therapy training programs in Bangladesh.
Attendance Report for
Last Week’s Meeting (Sept 17th) by Geoff Limmer:
Listed below are Apologies for and Make-ups advised for the
August 27th meeting. Remember that to be counted towards attendance,
Make-ups may be made 14 days prior to, or following, a missed meeting date.
Notice of Apology prior to a meeting should be made to Geoff Limmer,
email rotary@airportbus.com.au or Tel:
0419 329 218.
Likewise if you are bringing a guest, similar notice would be
appreciated beforehand if at all possible.
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Apologies: (6)
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Maurice Benington, Tony De Fazio,
Paul Evans, Lin
Martin, Brian McPhail, Garry Randall.
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Leave of Absence:
(8)
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Murray Baird, Ken
Clark (10/9/08 – 22/10/08), Trevor Dalziel, Peter
Enlund, Vici Funnell, Jim
Killeen, John Maddock,
Ken Rice.
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Absence: (0)
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Present:
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20 /34
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Visiting
Rotarians:
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NIL
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Visitors:
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Sue Martin
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Make-ups
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Sausage Sizzle –
13/9:
Andrew Forgas, Michael Kirk, Tony Stokes, Ralston
Wood, Owen Jenkin, Rob Collier,
Greg Cooper, Don Sweeney, Ian Port, Brian Martin, Lindsay
Mackay, Lin
Martin, Bruce McEwen, Bernie Millane.
Farmer’s Market –
15/9:
Alison Gregory, Michael Kirk, Don Sweeney, Malcolm
Chiverton
Whitehorse Rotaract – 15/9:
Malcolm Chiverton
Operation Cleft –
11/9:
Brian Martin, Don Sweeney, Lesley Bell
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Date
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Speaker
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Subject
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Chairperson
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1
October
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Mr
Bernie Millane
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Update
on projects in Timor Leste
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Owen
Jenkin
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8
October
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Liam
Furlong, RYLA student
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What
happened at RYLA and the impact it has had on me
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Maurice
Benington
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September Theme
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New
Generations
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Saturday 4/10
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Bunnings
BBQ, Box Hill South Store
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8.15am
to 4.30pm
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Box
Hill South Store, Middleborough
Rd
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Sunday 12/10
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District
9810 ARHRF Seminar
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9.00am
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Sunday 12/10
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Master
PRLS2 (Prepared Speaking)
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8.15am
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Mulgrave
Country Club
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Sunday 12/10
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Nunawading
Farmers Market
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7.30
to 2-00pm
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Monday 13/10
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Board
Meeting
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6.30pm
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253c
Burwood Hwy,
Burwood
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Sunday 19/10
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Membership
and Marketing Seminar (Post Canberra
Membership Summit)
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9.00
am Mulgrave Country Club.
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Birthdays:
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7 September
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Colin Macfarlane
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7 September
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Craig Hoath
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22 September
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Matilda Enlund
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23 September
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Owen Jenkin
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24 September
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Garry Randall
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25 September
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David Hart
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27 September
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Ken Rice
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Anniversaries:
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3 September
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Trevor and Rosemary Dalziel
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14 September
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Craig and Raeleen Hoath
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Rotary
Inductions:
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11 September 2002
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President Greg Cooper
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Members Input
Corner: From
Secretary, Lindsay Mackay
Notice of Annual
Meeting of Rotary Club of Box Hill Central
The
Annual Meeting of the Rotary Club of Box Hill Central will be convened
during the regular meeting of the Club at 7.30 am on Wednesday 1st October
2008.
The principal business of the Annual Meeting will be:
- to
receive the Annual Accounts for Rotary Year 2007-8;
- to
receive a recommendation from the Nominating Committee for the
position of President of the Club in Rotary Year 2010-11, to consider
that nomination and to elect a President-elect who will serve as
President in Rotary Year 2010-11; and
- to
elect a Secretary of the Club for Rotary Year 2009-10.
Once this business is concluded,
it is anticipated that the meeting will be adjourned to a later date when
other officers of the Club for Rotary Year 2009-10 will be elected.
From
Tony Stokes The AFL Footy day – A
drought Relieve Initiative
On
Saturday 30th August, the Rotary Clubs of Box Hill Central,
Forest Hill and Nunawading teamed up with the Rotary Club of Benalla to
host their second AFL Footy Day for drought affected families in the
Benalla area. Altogether, 53 people from this community watched the
Kangaroos versus Port Adelaide match from the MCC Members, courtesy of free
tickets generously provided by the MCC and AFL. The attendees were selected
by RC Benalla in conjunction with the Benalla Rural City Council’s Outreach
Worker, who is working with the most disadvantaged families.
A
lot of the people that attended the day were North
Melbourne supporters. Even though their team lost, they
still enjoyed watching them live.
All
of these people could not afford a trip to the footy using their own
devices. One of the farmers that attended told us later that he
couldn't believe the situation that he had found himself in: sitting on the
fence in the MCC Members watching his footy team play! He told us
that he purchased a beer (even though he knew that the price would be
outrageous) to complete the picture and sat back down in his seat
thinking.... "life's good today". Not something these
people think very often these days!
Another
of the invitees on the trip was the Captain of a country CFA brigade on the
outskirts of Benalla. He spent much of the 2006/07 summer fighting
the fires to the detriment of his farm. The night before the footy
game they had the official opening of their new fire shed that he had
spent hours and hours helping to plan, build and outfit. He and his family
loved the day at the footy, and it topped off a great weekend for them.
One
father and his two kids were typical of the day. They were obviously
having a ball! The kids kept changing seats (because they could), and
would not stop playing with the "clapper" toys that had been
handed out as part of the Kangaroos merchandise items generously provided
by the North Melbourne Football club. Every time a goal was scored
they were into them again (even for the opposition!).
The
French Rotary Exchange Student currently being hosted by RC Benalla enjoyed
the day as well. He thinks that Aussie Rules is “a bit weird, but can be exciting”.
The
day was capped off by a stop at “Maccas”, Craigieburn, on the way home to
enjoy a meal with vouchers generously provided by McDonalds Australia.
The
day was made possible through the generous support of the MCC, McDonalds
Australia, Select Harvest (who provided half-time snacks) and the North
Melbourne Football Club, and our sincere thanks go them for their
generosity.
The Happy Football fans from Benalla
enjoy their day at the MCG
From Lesley Bell
Mitcham
Rotary FUNraiser.
The Rotary Club
of Mitcham has for almost 30 years actively supported local and overseas
initiatives that have made a huge difference in the lives of many
communities. As part of our ongoing work we have launched our latest
FUNraiser. That's not a spelling mistake. This is a Club in
having fun as we improve the world for others.SO, in association with Hoyts
Theatres we're providing discount movie tickets for ANY Hoyts Theatre in Australia
for sessions from Tuesday through to Thursday. No matter where you are in
Australia you can benefit from our tickets and help the Club continue
serving others like Camp Quality, Romac, Aboriginal Medical Scholarships,
Local Schools and more....
PLEASE
SHARE THIS EMAIL with your friends and contact the club via this email to
obtain tickets.
Tickets
are $12 each, or $50 for five. They're current through to June 2009,
David Ayliffe - President 2008-2009, The Rotary Club
of Mitcham. Tel 0425733361 or 03
97292389
www.rotarymitcham.com
Also
The Rotary Club of Box Hill invites you
to join us at our Meeting on Oct 7 to hear & see a Very Special
Presentation.
Louise Allard, Guest Speaker, Tuesday, October 7th,
6.00 pm
On
19 April 2006 Louise became the first Australian woman to ski to The North Pole.
Only 8 Australian men have previously achieved this distant objective! Louise reached her goal after 10
treacherous days & nights fighting a drifting ice pack that practically
resulted in zero gain over the first 3 days !!!
Surviving -30
degree days with a wind chill factor of -50 !!, with relentless
tracks of open water to cross or circumnavigate. Not to mention having to
find ways around - or over - ice rubble up to 4 metres high !!
All
of this achieved while hauling a 40kg sled & skiing some 10 to 14 hours
a day to cover a distance of some 250 kms.
This required consuming around 31,00 kjs of food ( approx 3 times
normal intake ) to maintain the energy levels required.
This
is a truly remarkable & inspiring story of
endeavour, determination & persistence.
Louise's
talk will be supported with pics of a part of the world that only a few
have - or will - ever see.
This
is a once in a life-time opportunity - to hear first hand of an achievement
that most of us can not even imagine - let alone ACTUALLY DO !
How
do "Ordinary" people do "Extra-Ordinary" things
?? Come along and find out !!!
Seating
is limited - but we are providing a table ( 10 seats ) for each of
The Cluster Clubs.This wll be an inspiring & motiational evening -
something that not only Rotarians, but Family ( I have 2 Grand Daughters
coming along ), Friends & Business Associates will find of Very Special
Interest.
Time
- 6.00pm for Pre Dinner Socialising & Drinks - these will be on tables
for self service.
6.30pm sit down for Dinner. The meeting will close by 8.00 pm.
Location
- Box Hill Golf Club, Station
Street, Box Hill
On
the East side Between Riversdale Road & Gardeners Creek.
Melways 62, D3.
Cost
- Students $25.00 - Includes 2 Course Dinner, Coffee/Tea & Soft
Drinks/Cordial
Adults $30.00 Includes Pre Dinner
Drinks, 2 Course Dinner, Glass of Wine with Dinner, Coffee/Tea.
Bookings –
By
email or phone to Geoff Swain - mob 0418 337 362. By 26 Sept.
An indication by 19 Sep would be appreciated to assist with catering
etc.
From Michelle Hart
A newsy email just received from
Canadian Juliann
Vandemeer, one of our many past Rotary Exchange students.
Hello
my dear Rotarians and Rotary related contacts,
I
realized some time ago that I was long overdue with sending an update
several weeks ago and wish to apologize for the delay. I put off sending out an email for a long
time because it seemed like there was nothing really to update, things were
more or less status quo. Then when
things did get more interesting and update-worthy, I was extremely busy
keeping up with life in general that the entire intention of emailing more
or less fled my mind. But now, here
I am. I hope this email finds you
all in good health and happiness and that I might receive updates from you
about how things are on your end……. (For
full email, see Michelle Hart).
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Desk Duties/Greeting
Roster 2008:
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September
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Ralston
Wood, Andrew Forgas, Kerry
Barrett
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October
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Maurice
Benington, Trevor Dalziel, Jim
Killeen
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November
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Michelle
Hart, Vici Funnell,
Lesley Bell
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December
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Geoff Limmer, Alison Gregory, Andrew Forgas
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1 October
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Bruce McEwen
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8 October
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Alison Gregory
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15 October
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Ian Port
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22 October
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Bruce McEwen
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29 October
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Ken Clark
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5 November
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Michael Kirk
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12 November
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Tony Stokes
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19 November
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Geoff Limmer
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26 November
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Alison Gregory
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3 December
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Ian Port
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10 December
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Ken Clark
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26 November
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Alison Gregory
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3 December
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Ian Port
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10 December
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Ken Clark
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Whitehorse Farmers Market Roster:
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12 October
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Shift 1 Eggs & Bacon (7.30-10.00am)
Shift 2 Eggs &
Bacon(10.00am-12.30pm)
|
Lin Martin, Tony Stokes, Peter Enlund.
Lesley
Bell, Andrew Forgas, Tony De Fazio, Bernie
Millane
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9 November
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Shift 1 (7.30-10.00am)
Shift 2 (10.00am-2.00pm)
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Ken Clark,
Brian Martin
Don Sweeney, Michael Kirk
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14 December
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Shift 1 (7.30-10.00am)
Shift 2 (10.00am-2.00pm)
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Ralston Wood, Murray Baird
Michelle Hart, Alison Gregory
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Eastern Emergency Relief
Roster:
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20 September
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Michael Kirk, Don Sweeney, Garry Randall, Lindsay Mackay, Rotaractor
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18 October
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Brian Martin, Ian
Port, Rob Collier, Lesley Bell, Rotaractor
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Rotary Grace:
Rotary Grace:
For good food
Good
fellowship
And
the opportunity to serve through Rotary
We
give thanks.
District
9810 website
- for all the news in our Rotary district
Rotary eClub one - Rotary eClub One
Calendar of Events - check it out
regularly as it is UPDATED on a regular basis
Board of Directors - President Greg Cooper, Club Directors 2008/09 and their
Committees
Club Service List - All the other
Club duties
For contributions
and improvement ideas please email the editor, bmcewen@optusnet.com.au
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