Posted by Graham Johnstone
In Jokers Wild on Wednesday 24th Isobel Caulfield drew the Queen of clubs
and kindly donated the consolation prize back to the jackpot which now stands at $579.10.
Posted by Graham Johnstone from an email by Gus Dominguez.
ART SCREENS: YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!
November marks the revival of the Art Screens fundraiser and we have to help with the following jobs please:
November 24 - Wednesday morning - Delivery to 10 Elgin Place, Hawthorn - 3 x 2.5m and 3 x 2m screens - 1 tower and 1 helper
November 25 - Thursday morning - Delivery to Rye Community House - 16x2.5m and 8X2.5m screens - 1 tower and several helpers
November 26 - Friday morning - Delivery to Montesori School, East Brighton - full white trailer - 1 tower and several helpers
November 29 - Monday morning - Collection from Rye - 1 tower and several helpers
December 1 - Wednesday morning - Collection from Hawthorn - 1 tower and 1 helper
December 3 - Friday morning - Collection from East Brighton - 1 tower and several helpers
The crew will meet at the shed at 8:30am each day to depart for the corresponding destination.
Please indicate which days you could contribute by emailing artscreenhire@rotaryberwick.org.
November 24 - Wednesday morning - Delivery to 10 Elgin Place, Hawthorn - 3 x 2.5m and 3 x 2m screens - 1 tower and 1 helper
November 25 - Thursday morning - Delivery to Rye Community House - 16x2.5m and 8X2.5m screens - 1 tower and several helpers
November 26 - Friday morning - Delivery to Montesori School, East Brighton - full white trailer - 1 tower and several helpers
November 29 - Monday morning - Collection from Rye - 1 tower and several helpers
December 1 - Wednesday morning - Collection from Hawthorn - 1 tower and 1 helper
December 3 - Friday morning - Collection from East Brighton - 1 tower and several helpers
The crew will meet at the shed at 8:30am each day to depart for the corresponding destination.
Please indicate which days you could contribute by emailing artscreenhire@rotaryberwick.org.
Posted by Sam McCurdy:
The annual Christmas Collection by the Rotary Berwick & District Benevolent Society kicked off on Thursday 28thOctober, with three Collection Cages being placed at Eden Rise and Berwick Square Supermarket sites, as well as St Margaret's School.
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The three "Masketeers" Laury Gordyn, David Anderson and Sam McCurdy delivered the cages using Laury's car & trailer, while taking care to follow current COVID precautions.
This year will see eight local schools and the two Supermarket sites involved in the collection of donations of food, toys and books.
The donations will be picked up in the first week of December and delivered to Casey North Community Information Support Service (CNCISS), where they will be organised into Christmas hampers for distribution to those in need within the local community.
The hampers should certainly make Christmas a lot happier for the recipients.
Rotary has a lot to offer when it comes to Youth programs and personal development. Programs that can take a young person with potential and give them skills that can make them a leader is important for the growth of our community.
Recognition in the community that Rotary has a focus on promoting future potential leaders in our society is an important pathway to increasing public awareness that Rotary is a forward-thinking organisation. Unfortunately, we forget to tell our family, colleagues and friends about all the magical things we do to help make our world a better place. Rotary can and does change lives. It creates opportunities, it is a wonderful organisation.
This year, our Club is lucky to sponsor an outstanding young leader for the Rotary Youth Leader Awards (RYLA). Her name is Jessica Elfick. Jessica was our very first Interact President of the Interact Club of St Margarets School and Berwick Grammar School. Getting an Interact Club together from scratch took a lot of effort. Getting the school on board, creating awareness amongst the students, getting members and then embarking on projects is intense. Jessica did have help, but as the very first President, leadership was the key that made this Interact Club a success.
Here is a little more about Jess.
My name's Jess, and I'm a first year uni student at the University of Melbourne! I'm currently studying a Bachelor of Design, attempting to major in Mechanical Systems Engineering and minor in Performance design (so a really broad mix!). I'm a passionate student and just love learning new things and being able to apply them to the world, and working with other people to do it.
Originally I am from the USA (though I've since dropped the southern accent), and have been on exchange programs to both England and China. I believe these have shaped me as a person - I have a huge passion for travelling! I've also always had a love for music, and that is one of my biggest passions.
For the past 9 years I've played the flute and sung in orchestras, choirs and for large crowds, as well as on local streets. I also adore working in the community and developing projects.
My high school's first Interact Club was a passion project of mine - I saw the opportunity to build a strong group to help people on a scale I could never individually, and started the club with the help of some amazing people. I am a current volunteer with the UniMelb chapter of Engineers without Borders, and regularly volunteer to tutor students from refugee backgrounds through the university program.
All in all, I think a mixture of a lot makes me who I am - everything from what I study, where I've been and what I like to do!
Posted by Sam McCurdy:
On Sunday 17 October, the Rotary District 9820 Model United Nations Assembly Awards Ceremony was held via Zoom.
Rotary MUNA simulates the workings of the UN General Assembly right down to the Rules & Processes. Teams of two students from year 10 and (preferably) year 11 represent a nominated UN Member State. They are given topics well in advance. Resolutions are typically drawn from those passed through the General Assembly or the Security Council and cover issues such as Education, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Nuclear Proliferation, Poverty, and Terrorism, the role of Women in promoting Peace and Security, and World Peace
The competition was a little different this year, relying on the delegations to prepare a video submission to represent their country’s stance on the global issue of climate change. Delegates were encouraged to wear an appropriate national costume representing their assigned country.
There were seven local teams entered this year. There were three teams from Nossal High School and four from St Margarets School/Berwick Grammar, although there was some confusion over which Rotary Club sponsored each of the local teams.
The results were as follows:
MUNA Overall Winner ($300) – Mary McKillop Catholic Regional College representing Colombia, sponsored by Rotary Club Leongatha.
MUNA Runner-up ($200) - Mary McKillop Catholic Regional College representing Israel, sponsor Rotary Club Leongatha.
 Ovin Jayawardana & Sebastian Nugar |  Brianna Munns & Annabelle Morton |
Encouragement Award ($100) - received by Ovin Jayawardana & Sebastian Nugar St Margarets School/Berwick Grammar representing USA, for high caliber presentation and debate skills - sponsored by the Rotary Club of Berwick.
Honorable Mention – St Margarets School/Berwick Grammar for their unique approach, team work, public speaking skills and individual approach to their presentation - sponsored by the Rotary Club of Berwick.
Armistice Day is on 11th November and is also known as Remembrance Day. It marks the day that World War One ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918.
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries.
On Thursday, President David Button and I laid a wreath at the Berwick cenotaph on behalf of the Club, to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
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"Lest we forget."
Extracted by Sam McCurdy from a Facebook post by DG Bill Degnan:
The Four-Way Test, was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.
This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy.
The Four-Way Test was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It is now a test used by Rotarians world-wide as a moral code for personal and business relationships, and can be applied to almost any aspect of life.
Rotary members should not use The Four-Way Test to look at others, but rather to look at themselves in considering the ramifications of a thought, statement, or action.
It should not be a window through which we look to judge others. It is a mirror at which we look to judge ourselves.
Evan Burrell - Changemaker, gave a lot of thought to what each of the Four-Way Test questions asked of us and came up with the step-by-step process above, to give some real clarity behind these most often recited questions.
Erin Coldham is the Chief Development Officer at the Star of the South project, which seeks to harness Bass Strait winds to power more than a million homes with clean energy, while creating thousands of jobs.
Erin is proud to be part of the team progressing this critical infrastructure project for Australia, bringing her extensive experience working with all levels of government on major, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects.
In her role at Star of the South, Erin is currently responsible for all development activities required to bring the project to construction and operation, working with industry, regulators, policy-makers and local communities to bring offshore wind to regional Gippsland and the State of Victoria.
Included in 'A Word About Wind’s Top 100 Women’s Power List 2021', Erin is a champion for female talent in the energy industry and is driven by the positive opportunities offshore wind represents for Australia.
The upcoming District Conference in Traralgon is starting to take shape with the speaker list starting to build.
This Conference will be all about the environment which fits in with Rotary's new seventh area of focus. It also has a link to our Club's own Environmental Policy project started by Jen Marshall in the hope that all Rotary Clubs in the District will use zero environmental impact process while running projects.
Our Club has just signed this agreement and I think it is an important step forward to walk the talk. Jen has done a great job preparing this policy and creating our first Environmental project. It would be perfect if our Club members went to the Conference just to show our support and commitment to the environment and learn of other ways Rotarians and Rotary are working in this area.
•Prof Fiona Wood, Perth – Bali bombing & burns specialist & spray-on-skin
•Charlie Allen, Institute for Economics & Peace – Rotary Peace Scholar
•Vic Grosjean, Melbourne Rotaract – Environmental speaker
•Luke Richmond, solo adventures – Motivational speaker
•Rae MacKay – Latrobe Valley Mine rehabilitation
•Erin Coldham, Star of the South – offshore wind farm
•Leigh Woodgate, Woman from Snowy River – Motivational speaker
•Jessie Harman, Rotary International Director – Leadership Breakfast speaker
There is a shortage of accommodation because Traralgon is a drive-in, drive-out town for workers at the power station and paper mill. I would recommend that you book as soon as you can.
Just to tease you a bit, imagine that you wanted to attend the District Conference. Where might you stay? DG Bill apparently had some time on his hands and this is what he came up with:
In an idle moment, I thought I would measure the distance on Google Maps from various accommodations in Traralgon to the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre where the conference will be held.
| Venue | Capacity | Distance |
Mantra Hotel | 50 rooms | 370 metres |
| Comfort Inn Traralgon | 31 rooms | 580 metres |
| Creek Cottage B& B | 3 cottages | 800 metres |
| Traralgon Serviced Apartments | 24 apartments | 930 metres |
| Strzelecki Motel | 24 rooms | 990 metres |
| Governor Gipps Motel | 22 rooms | 1,000 metres |
| City Gardens Motel | 13 rooms | 1,250 metres |
| Bridges on Argyle | 75 rooms | 1,370 metres |
| Connell’s Motel | 14 rooms | 1,610 metres |
| Motel Traralgon | 22 rooms | 2,750 metres |
| Quality Inn Traralgon | 61 rooms | 3,550 metres |
What will it cost you? What is it about? How to book. That information can be found here: https://rotary9820.org.au/sitepage/district-9820-conference-2022
All I can tell you is that I have registered for the District Conference in February and I hope to see you all there too!
Posted by Sam McCurdy:
This week we had the privilege of having Danielle Kutchel as our Guest Speaker and her topic was 'Journalism in a changing world'.
Danielle has been a journalist for around a decade and is currently the lead writer on Berwick Star News and Cranbourne Star News for the Star News Group, based in Pakenham,
She enjoys sharing the stories, successes, passions and problems of local people and chasing that old journalism adage of shining a light in dark places.
Danielle graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Journalism in 2016. While journalism as a profession is currently undergoing a number of changes, she believes that journalists still have an important role to play in the community - especially local communities - and is passionate about keeping people informed of what's going on near them.
In her informative presentation, Danielle highlighted several significant changes that have had an impact on journalism. To name a few, these included:
- recent changes that make the News Company legally responsible for any racist or inflammatory comments that individuals may make on Facebook;
- a downward trend in advertorial revenue as a result of the COVID pandemic, but an increase in readership;
- the trend to present advertisements as local interest stories;
- the influence of technology
- partnerships with Google and other platforms to supply news.
The comprehensive nature of her presentation prompted many questions from the ZOOM audience, including:
- Is there a difference between a reporter and a journalist?
- Is it always necessary to gain permission from individuals before publishing their photo in the paper?
Danielle was thanked for her interesting presentation and for her support in publishing articles about the Club's activities.
Rotary Berwick & District Benevolent Society (A project of the Rotary Club of Berwick)
The main Office Bearers for the Rotary Club are also Office Bearers for the Rotary Berwick & District Benevolent Society (The Society). As such, the 'Society' has been included as a standing agenda item at all the club’s Board meetings.
PP Gus Dominguez became our representative for the 'Society' on the Casey North Community Information Support Service (CNCISS) Board, replacing David Collyer. Funds raised by the ‘Society’ were again mainly provided by donations from the Magistrate’s Court, with a small contribution from coin donations made by the public at Coles Berwick Supermarket.
The ‘Society’ conducted a successful 2020 Christmas collection of food and toy items, involving seven local Secondary schools and public donations at the Berwick Market Square. These items were delivered to CNCISS in Narre Warren, where they were made up into Christmas hampers to be distributed to those in need within the local community.
In March, six Rotarians and two CNCISS staff members sorted 3 pallets of new clothes, which had been donated by a large Retailer through Rotary Donations in Kind. From the sorting, CNCISS received 30 boxes and 20 boxes of the clothing were also provided to Windermere Child and Family Services for distribution to those in need within the local communiity. Other items donated by Rotary Donations in Kind to the ‘Society’ included 300 pairs of CROC shoes and 132 walking frames. These were also offered to CNCISS. It became clear that both CNCISS and Windermere do not have sufficient storage capacity, or sufficient staff, to handle large quantities of donated items such as this.
In June, the ‘Society’ was part of a review of selected charities by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), to ensure that they were still meeting the requirements for charity registration. Based on our responses to the review, the ACNC confirmed that the Society has a continuing entitlement to be registered with the public benevolent institution (PBI) subtype.
