President’s Report
30 May 2018
Last week – WestConnex
We had another very interesting presentation last week – this time
from Terry Chapman, Project Director of WestConnex. What a massive
undertaking, and an engineering marvel. I tried to set the scene a
little with my story of WestConnex compulsory acquisition at
Homebush before Terry’s presentation. I’m not sure he has a sense of
humour like mine? He didn’t react to my introduction, and didn’t
crack a smile the whole night – but was very informative and
interesting none-the-less! He has a VERY BIG JOB. I guess he needs
to be serious a lot!
Last week also – New Member
The highlight of the evening was of course the induction of our
newest, and youngest member – JP Baladi. JP was thrilled to finally
be inducted. I look forward to the contributions he will undoubtedly
make to this club, and to Rotary.
Welcome once again, JP! I hope you enjoy your time in Rotary.
Club Changeover
Don’t forget, please block out the evening of Saturday, 7 July 2018
in your diaries for our Changeover Dinner. Planning is well
underway. This year we will be using Humanitix as the online booking
system to register for the dinner. Humanitix will donate 100% of all
profits (30% of the booking fee) from this event to Australian
Rotary Health. I think it’s a better option than the full commercial
players (e.g. TryBooking, who keep all the profits), and certainly
better than collecting cash on the night! Formal invitations will
follow shortly.
Out and about
I’ve been hitting the town in the last week!
Saturday night –
Rotary Club of Sydney Cove 30th Birthday Bash
I was invited to join the Rotary Club of Sydney Cove on the John
Cadman II for a Vivid Harbour Cruise, for their 30th Birthday
celebration on Saturday evening. Christine and I attended, and
had a great time with some of the clubs that I’ll be looking
after next year in my AG role (Sydney Cove, Sydney, and Darling
Harbour. Nobody from Kings Cross club was there; maybe they were
busy that night). BTW… The John Cadman II (or similar vessel) is
the regular meeting spot for Sydney Cove Club every Monday
morning! Not a bad location and facility, I must say.
Sunday Morning –
Red Shield Appeal
It was great to see a number of Strathfield Rotarians at
Strathfield Town Hall on Sunday morning, to help out with the
annual Red Shield Appeal, once again coordinated by our very own
PP Peter Smith. I hope I don’t miss anyone that was there, but I
remember seeing: Roy Ellis, Peter VdS, PP Raymond, Secretary
Rod, Chris H, and PP Roger. I also saw Patricia Giammarco, but
no Paolo? Thanks for helping out once again, and thanks PP Peter
Smith for coordinating.
Monday evening –
Rotary Club of Burwood meeting
On Monday evening I popped into the Burwood Club meeting, mainly
to support regular Strathfield club visitor, Fred Walker. Fred
had his son-in-law – James Kemp – as the guest speaker on the
evening. Many of you will remember James, as he visited our club
with Fred and Sharyn Walker, when their daughter – Elizabeth
Kemp – was our guest speaker, talking about speech pathology.
Next week – State of Origin
We’ll have a short fellowship social meeting next week, as it is
State of Origin 1 later that evening, and many of you will want to
get home (or other venue) to watch the game. So, no excuses that
you’re going to the game – it’s at the MCG! Come along to or meeting
for a meal. Make it a date night, and bring your partner! Maybe stay
on at the club afterwards, and watch the game from here if you like?
Kick-off will be around 8:20pm. We will finish our meeting by 7:50pm
so you can all go home in time for the game starting.
This week
This week we welcome Di North, DGN to our club, to discuss
Interplast, and her involvement with this great organisation. Please
make her feel very welcome. We’re expecting a number of guests from
our neighbouring Western Harbour Clubs here tonight for this too, so
be sure to make them feel welcome as well. Thanks.
The highlight for tonight will be the induction of another new
member: Thaya Ponniah – a special occasion for both Thaya and our
club. Please show him our support as we formally welcome him to our
club. Thaya has quite a Rotary history from his time in Sri Lanka.
It will be very interesting for all of us to hear this tonight.
Rick
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