Rotary Club of Southbank - Extras for Meeting No. 448

OUR VISION

A club that is enterprising, caring and productive. Developing fellowship and implementing activities rich in choice, for the benefit of our community.

Meeting 448 - 19 August 2008

A Note from the President …

The recent escalating conflict between Georgia and Russia is a sobering reminder that all is not well in this world. Apart from intentional human-induced (and therefore artificial) disasters such as war and conflict, there are other human-induced problems such as climate change and pollution. On top of that, natural disasters such as volcano eruptions, fire, floods, famine and tsunamis. This all sounds very depressing and it is not something you want to talk about at a friend's wedding - but it is very real
- and it is no dream!

When I hear bad news about what is happening around the world, I am really glad I am in Rotary. I am glad because as a Rotarian, there is usually something I can do pretty much immediately; ShelterBox and Rotary Foundation are good examples. But I also feel a sense of relief; a relief that there are still people in this world who are prepared to do something about these tragedies - and I am a part of it. Then I realise - it's up to us to do something about it. It is not just enough to be counted as a Rotarian - each of us need to act like one.

If we only look at the sheer scale of the problems, it would seem impossible to solve any of them - and that is true. No one person, or even one group of people, can resolve all the conflicts and other threats to human kind. But we don't have to do it all at once. RIP D K Lee challenged all Rotary clubs to help save children from dying of preventable causes. That does not mean we have to save every child - only as many as we can. We are not and should not be comparing our efforts with what needs to be done, but by what we could have done as individuals. We do not need to help every child in a family, village, town, state or country. What we do need to do is to consider what we can do and then ask ourselves why we are not doing everything we can.

RIP D K Lee's theme for this Rotary year is "Make Dreams Real" - within this theme is a hidden sense of urgency. It is hidden because the theme does not refer to any time limit. We know that sense of urgency is there because many children's lives are at stake and when one dies, we can never bring him or her back. We need to act and act as fast as we can - because the next moment may be too late. We need to help make dreams real - before they become nightmares! To each every child we save, we saved the entire universe!

Yours in Rotary,
Gabe

Last Week's Meeting

Thanks to our president Gabe for excellent scribe notes

Almost 20 people attended last week's bowling night which was a great success, especially with the discovery of several gold medallists in our Club. They are:

Michael Glinski - our only triple-gold medallist! (highest score, fastest ball, most lanes) Lyn Gill - double-gold medallist! (lowest score, biggest thumb) Tracey Browne - double-gold medallist! (no sense of direction, twice) Stuart McArthur - gold medallist (most strikes) Arlette Pat - gold medallist (mini mighty) Mandy Pearson - gold medallist (fastest catch-up) Bobbi Lehman-Horn (best organiser) Gabe Hau - gold medallist (most gutter balls)

The event was spectacularly successful with many members' hidden talents uncovered. Our star athletes, Michael G and Stuart, both performed well. Michael gained the coveted "Highest Score Award" whilst Stuart had the "Most Strikes Award". Without wanting to embarrass everyone, Michael G scored 300, and that is just in the lane he started with! He decided that one lane was not enough for his level of skill and stature so he decided play two games at once, on two different lanes. This is evidenced by him carrying his 15 pounds ball between the two lanes. For this dedication to the sport, he was awarded the "Most Lanes Award". Despite all that ball carrying, our good inspector felt no fatigue. In fact, he was hitting the balls so hard that the balls were travelling at speeds in excess of 32 km/h! President Gabe has indicated that he will write to the Police Commissioner to recommend that all police forthwith carry bowling balls of 15 pounds or moreinstead of guns or capsicum sprays.

Having seen Michael G at work with a bowling ball, President Gabe believes that there will be a significant fall in crime rates if a police bowling ball is used! The surprise of the night was Arlette, who showed us what a dynamite she is by scoring in the top few and was awarded the "Mini Mighty Award" for the highest "score-to-weight ratio"!

Lyn made a tactical decision to go to the other extreme and it paid off. With an ability to keep her thumb in the ball, she achieved the lowest score which earned her both the "Lowest Score Award" and the "Biggest Thumb Award". Although it sounds easy to get the lowest score it is definitely not the case. Two contenders for the lowest score failed to make the final cut. Tracey was so determined that she bowled in the opposite direction (twice) and still couldn't get the lowest score; although that earned her two "No Sense of Direction Awards". Unfortunately, the judges only discovered that it was a tactical ploy to achieve the lowest score after the awards, so Tracey's double-gold medallist status is safe. Gabe, despite having one more gutter ball than Lyn, also failed to get the lowest score. Although Mandy arrived later than most, she managed to catch up with everyone else so she was awarded the "Fastest Catch-up Award".
Bobbi's fantastic organisational skills can be seen from the attached photos for which she was awarded the "Best Organiser Award".

For those who missed out, here are some photos!

Last Updated 19/08/2008