Author: Magill Rotary

We were so delighted to have DG Jeff, Jenny and AG Brian with us this morning, so we started off the meeting by congratulating Jeff on his appointment to District Governor. Jeff and Jenny were able to join us for our changeover in late June, but he had not yet been inaugurated, so this was the first time we’ve been able to offer him that honour. 1155 Bulletin

It was great to be able to resume our meetings this week after a hiatus of two meetings. Not too bad considering how bad things have been interstate, but also a good time of year for a break to recharge. Sadly though, we did lose our August market, which is a setback, but gives us a great opportunity for a September re-launch (subject to pandemic restrictions of course!). 1154 Bulletin

At this meeting we got to know our newest member Don. Don is also the youngest current member and one of the youngest ever in the club. He comes from Sri Lanka growing up in Colombo, about 20 minutes from the main airport. He attended Lyceum International School, which is a large private school. Here he learned English, but he noted that not many schools in Sri Lanka teach English in their curriculum, instead sticking to the national  languages of Sinhala and Tamil. 1153 Bulletin

New President Simon led a great discussion on where the club is heading for the new year. That started with an acknowledgement of our new Kaurna welcome provided by Pauline, which was perfect for NAIDOC week. Then various topics were discussed amongst the team 1152 Bulletin

The Club’s 25th year changeover was held on Sunday 27th June 2021 at Hibernia Cafe in Magill. It was a wonderful occasion where we said thanks to President Mark for his exceptional year leading the club, we honoured a number of people for their contributions to our club and the wider world, plus welcomed President Simon for his year. Read all about it!  1151 Bulletin

Russell Green, from the Rotary Club of Regency Park, wears many hats in Rotary, but today he spoke about RAGAS’s global battle against slavery. He immediately gained our attention with the fact that there are 41 million persons in the world who endure slavery in one form or another, by way of Domestic, Forced Labour, Bonded Labour (debt), coercion, sex trafficking, forced marriage, child labour……Whole villages in India can end up enslaved by communal debt. Sadly, this is illegal, but poor education and ignorance means that many lack the ability just to walk away. 1150 Bulletin

Principal Kath McGuigan from Mary MacKillop College gave us the history of the College, formerly known as St Joseph’s College, and then brought us up to speed on recent and planned improvements for the school. Space limits the size of the college (400 students), but this gem nestled in the eastern suburbs has achieved an outstanding an academic record with 100% SACE completions with the majority of graduates going on to university. 1149 Bulletin

Ian and Suzette spent last weekend at Calperum Station, north of Renmark. Calperum is one of a handful of Biosphere Reserves in Australia. Rotary members from several Clubs across District 9510 joined together to support the environment research activities undertaken on the property. This weekend saw a new activity, measuring soil salinity. This involves digging lots of holes. 1148 Bulletin

A few months back at our Market, Shelterbox was the prime beneficiary from out takings on the day. We also chipped in a bit more to ensure at least one complete ShelterBox could be purchased. We also noticed that patrons of the BBQ stand were willing to chuck in loose change and make donations when the saw the promo for Shelterbox. 1147 Bulletin

What an interesting life our guest speaker has had. John was born in 1937 and then experienced a disruptive childhood. John’s dad was a carpenter at Islington Railway Works and worked on the Nullarbor, making and repairing bridges during WWII. John and family lived at Christies Beach, when Beach Road never had a shop. He left school at age 12 and became a fibrous plaster, eventually recreating many of the old ceiling decorations of historic buildings. His skills were passed on to the next generation when he worked for TAFE. John is a great believer in learning skills that make you fit for purpose and job focused. Lung problems from plaster meant that John had to leave TAFE in 1999 after collapsing at work. To fill the void, at age 63, he embraced working with timber (he had already built his first boat at age 16). 1146 Bulletin