Firstly, on behalf of every member of our Club, congratulations to Bobbi Lehman-Horn on becoming an Australian Citizen!  We all know how much this means to you Bobbi, and I’m sure everyone joins me in saying to you: Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!

Now that the holidays are behind us, we are into the final five months of this Rotary year with a lot to do.  Everyone’s help is needed.

We have some great guest speakers coming up including some of the RYLA Team who will talk to us on 16th February about the importance of this year’s RYLA camp, which Southbank is running.  We will be taking this opportunity to have our first Friends of Rotary meeting on the same evening, as well as inviting potential members.  Please support this night and make it a great success by bringing along anyone you think may be interested in becoming either a Friend of Rotary or a Rotarian.   In addition, we will be showcasing some of our Southbank projects on this night so that both Friends of Rotary and potential members will gain an insight to the work we have ahead.  Troy Gay, our Membership Director, will be coordinating this evening and has also planned a second Friends of Rotary meeting on 16th March.

Our next business breakfast is on Tuesday 20th April.  Again, we will be inviting Friends of Rotary, potential members and corporate sponsors to this event.  Our guest speaker is Rohit Talwar, Futurist and CEO of Fast Futures who will be talking about his 2020 vision for the future and his insight to global economies like China and India, global markets such as travel and tourism, as well as global trends and issues such as climate change and the rise of online virtual worlds.  I encourage everyone to start thinking about those you can invite to what promises to be a truly fascinating talk.

I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday!

President Philip

Last Week's Meeting

(Club Reports)

Meeting 514 Scribe Notes

It was our first 2010 meeting back at Crown.  Attendance was good with 2 visiting Rotarians (Vivek Phandir, RC Bombay Chembur West, D3140 and President Elect Tatsuya Ozaki, RC Gobo East, D3640).  They exchanged banners with President Philip.  President Elect Tatsuya Ozaki of RC Gobo also gave some small gifts to our President Philip, Secretary Charles with everyone present also getting a yummy cupcake each!

After some fellowship, it was time for our sergeant's session.  Chris made it just in time so he was temporarily demoted to corporal whilst PP Richard and Troy shared sergeant's duties.

Gaby gave a very interesting member's moment about IVF.  1 in 6 couples in Australia are infertile.  The process turns one's life upside-down.  It involves a lot of injections, scans, blood tests and surgery.  IVF makes the woman feel lousy - think in terms of PMT magnified many times.  It is not much better for the guy, with long periods of waiting for phone calls - not unlike the moments just before getting your exam results.  Many of us often make insensitive comments without realising it: "don't you want kids?" "you are next to have a baby" "hurry up or you'll be too old".  At the end of the day, it isn't so "horrible" and the results will be well worth it!

Reports and updates

Gordon - Club Service - no meeting on 9 March - barefoot lawn bowling at Albert Park.  16 Feb and 16 March are both Friends of Rotary meetings, please mark them as special days on your diary.

Steven McI - Community Service Awards - 20 May - the excitement is overwhelming!  The idea is to honour our community service partners and provide them with an additional source of funding - donations of either time or money or support.  Steven calls on members to offer what they can contribute.  The event itself will be put together by a professional team.  Please share this with people you know.  This event relies on word of mouth advertising.  Corporates and retailers also participate in this and can have their staff being acknowledged for their contributions.  We will invite all of the people who are doing great work.

Troy - Membership - In the 6 months to date, we had an increase of 5 members from 29 to 34.  16 February and 16 March - Friends of Rotary will come to Club Report meetings to get a feel before having their own meetings.  21 Feb 40 km Bike Ride  fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Australia - 7 to 8 am start, must be over the Westgate Bridge by midday.  Go online to join our team (Rotary Club of Southbank) (http://www.melbournesummercycle.org.au/index.asp).  If you don't want to ride, you can volunteer to be a marshal - just let Troy know.

Bettina - Kids Foundation - President Elect Bettina has started in her new role as the CEO of the Kids Foundation.  Congratulations, Betitna!  RC Southbank has also agreed to host the Kids Foundation's annual ball to be held on 29 May 2010.  On a different note, we will also host next year's RYLA Camp and Stuart Cardell, our newest member, will champion this project with lots of hands-on activities and opportunities.  More will be revealed at the 16 February meeting.

Stuart McA - update on website - the new website is well on its way and it will revolutionise the way we use our website.  Once implemented, each member can directly upload material to the website which can then be published.  The new website is expected to go live on the first week of April.  Gaby, Narina and Steven A have also been working on this project.

Steven A - Foundation - Our Club's Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) have been successful with 15 new contributors.  We have also been preparing for a grant application under the Future Vision program to work with the Xanana Vocational Education Trust's East Timor Buffalo Milk project caleed "Susubean".  Narina and ROland Dillon have been working on a proposal to be finalised this month.  We are also considering a potential education project with AADO in Afghanistan.

Gordon - On To Conference - the Perth Conference still have lots of places available.  With an outstanding line-up of speakers, this is a conference not to be missed.  Costs of plane tickets have been reduced in recent times so it is well worth considering attending to 'recharge' your Rotary 'battery' and to support your district!

President Philip - Country Outfitters donated 300 sleeping bags, folding chairs and mattresses to us.  The board has approved that 50 sets be donated to STEPS and the remainder to the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation.