In District Governor Bronwyn Stephen's mind, Rotary allows a person to take an idea to help another person, a community or the whole world and for like-minded people to join them to make it happen.

She speaks with great authority about the power of Rotary to realise your dreams of helping others. Several years ago, she identified a need for urgent support for village people in Cambodia who were dying of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria. Inhabitants also suffered from hunger and malnutrition because they lacked the skills to sustain themselves. Bronwyn was instrumental in establishing the World of Difference project within her club which was specifically aimed at establishing better health practices and providing sustainability solutions for these remote villagers. This was an extremely successful campaign.

Her real message is that, if she can do it, you can do it.

Bronwyn was very complimentary in her praise for our club. She cited a few examples of our projects and activities including:

• The High Tea which enabled us to connect with a school and to promote cultural diversity in our community.
• The Uganda project which not only helped to educate Chris Ochaya in farming techniques but is now helping the local Ugandans to support themselves.
• The Rotary Golf Day which is a major fundraiser and enables the club to contribute in a positive way to the Wyndham community.
• The Barking Dogs are a real point of difference which promotes the club and Rotary.

Some of the projects that she would like us to get involved in are:

• Donating funds towards the restoration of Rotary House which is the accommodation component of the Bone Marrow Donor Institute.
• End Polio - Thirteen cases of polio have been detected this year which is a worrying sign. There was even one case in Papua New Guinea. We must keep going until we have total eradication.

• Clubs involving communities in Rotary projects as much as possible. We shouldn't just continue doing things ourselves. Let's open it up to the community.
• Each club chartering a Rotaract Club. This is where the future of Rotary will come from.

September is End Polio month and DG Bronwyn would really appreciate our assistance in contributing to the End Polio campaign. 

Her aim is for all members to take a jar of smarties that she supplied during her visit, enjoy them and then refill the jar with $2 coins. When filled with coins, each jar will contain a total of $100. For each $100 donated, it will be matched with a special District Foundation contribution plus a 2-for-1 match from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This will result in over $1000 being donated to the EndPolio Campaign.

Come on, get smart and get your Smarties so that we can put an end to Polio.

Registrations will be closing soon for our 50th anniversary celebration dinner on Saturday 18th August at the Werribee Racecourse Function Centre.

For catering purposes, we are encouraging you to book now before it's too late.

Our guest speaker will be Ian Riseley who has just completed his year as RI President.

Musical entertainment will be provided by the great rock 'n roll band Kartoon.

Click here to book on-line.

• Congratulations to Roland Wade who has reached 49 years as a member of the club.....and still going strong. Well done Roly!

• Best wishes to Ian Knight who will be undergoing surgery next Tuesday at St Vincent's Private. We only hope he recovers soon enough to attend our 50th anniversary dinner. 

• Guests at our last meeting included:

  • Mark Stephens - District Conference Chair and husband of DG Bronwyn.

  • Julianne Bartels - Assistant Governor

  • Micki Hovey, Christine Conley, Margaret Wade, Glenyce Denys and Pam Garfield.

• Lyn Fava has advised that, in conjunction with Wyndham Central College, we will be having a Cultural Fiesta on Saturday 13th October. The event is open to men, women and children. There will be a range of different cultural activities and food available on the day. Further details will be provided shortly but, in the meantime, please lock the date in. We may need either your help on the day or your attendance or both. 

• The next mid-week Bunnings BBQ will be on Thursday 23rd August. 

• Footy Tipping - It's a race in two with Ross Smith ((114 points) being a nose in front of Tony Todaro (113) as they charge down the straight. But wait! There's another contestant looming up from behind. Mary Maguire is now on 112 points and she's closing fast.

• Marty Vaina claims he was behind the goals when the Richmond player Jack Higgins kicked a miraculous goal last weekend. The photo below seems to indicate that he was definitely there. Just in case you're not sure, the ball is on the left and Marty's head is on the right.

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