Well, I have just come out of surgery to my elbow and convalescing. It is a very humbling experience to be on the receiving end of the Health System. As J.K Rowling stated “We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.” I am hoping for a bit of magic and getting better fast since, I am an impatient person (typical surgeon).
Speaking about patience within a pandemic!!! We probably don’t have more choice.
I note with the sadness the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks over the past weekend. With an “eye for an eye” attitude, we will never see peace.
Issues current –
The Board met on the 7th Sept via zoom and noted.
- It is good to see that new members are being approved by the Board and they will be announced after due process is achieved.
- The Farmer’s Market is still going strong and providing a fresh source of food and social life for many in the community. We do ask members to volunteer via Clubrunner and not to leave it for a few to carry the can, as I don’t want to be overbearing in this matter. Even though we are getting a good response of people tuning into the Zoo
m meetings, we note a regular absence of certain people, so I ask all the mentors to check that their mentees are okay, please? - Note that the Grand Official Opening of the Yarra Bank reserve playground is being postponed
again from Sunday Sept 12th to Nov 21st. Hopefully all playgrounds will be open so we can celebrate the tremendous amount of work this project has generated. Please watch the Bulletin announcements.
- “Lift the Lid Golf Day” October 26th – It was determined that our Club is assisting Elizabeth to conduct the “Lift the Lid Golf Day” and while it is not a Rotary Project as such, we are fully supporting Elizbeth’s efforts to raise money for Rotary Health. Hence, with Elizabeth using her website for a platform convenience to register participants, the Board found no conflict of interest.
- The Oct 5th dinner at Kooyong is postponed and now we await to see if the 26th as a golf day is definite. Please watch the bulletin for details. Lockdowns may spoil the arrangements, but we must go on in spite and hope that life just gets better.
- The International Board is directing $4,000 to the Sumba Eye Program, which has recently changed its Australian Based
NGO to FORESIGHT and needs a kick start in funds. The past couple of years there has been no donations from our club, since Dr Ellis was working changing to a NGO, who would allow the SEP to use the Rotary brand and work with the Sumba Foundation. They are still actively sponsoring now 4 Eye Care Nurses who are still conducting eye clinics in 4 Sumba Foundation clinics in West Sumba.
- Please note that the AGM is coming up in late November and the Board is getting ready to proceed with its commitments.
Well, that is it for another week – Stay alert and positive (or could be interpreted "negative").
President Mark