Ian Burnet & Peter Fehon(Reserves: Chris Switzer & Kevin Tattrie)
Set up & pack up:
Jon Gidney & Malcolm Lye(Reserves: Tony Clifford & Angie Fernandes)
Speakers & topic:
Ian Burnet - 250 Years Since Cook and the Endeavour
Rotary Club Meeting 14 August 2018
Welcome
President Ranald welcomed members and guest Pam Clifford and guest speaker, Tom Sweeney, OAM..
Toast
Tony Clifford gave a toast to the Rotary Club of Hunters Hill. Chartered in 1958 with 23 members, it was the first club that Tony joined. This club was the first to bring Probus to Australia which they did in 1976. It is involved in all the usual Rotary activities, RYPEN, RYLA, End Polio Now, student exchanges, overseas programs etc. and have supported local Scouts, Guides and schools as well as participating in all local community activities. They have raised funds for the building of the Hunters Hill Seniors Centre and its extension.
Announcements
Luke Keighery spoke about the Trivia Night to be hosted by Chatswood, Crows Nest & Lane Cove rotary clubs to be held on Saturday, 25 August at the Dougherty Centre. He has booked 2 tables of 8 and there are still three places left. If you are interested in attending, please let Luke know. Funds raised will go to support Mary’s House.
Malcolm Lye said that Probus would like to make a contribution towards drought relief but is unable to fund raise due to their charter so they will use our club to make donations through. Malcolm and Peter McNair will take a Rotary barrel to their next meeting.
Peter Grinter talked about installation of a new ramp on the western side of the Harbour Bridge to make it easier for bicycle riders to access the bridge cycleway. He asked all members to sign a petition he was passing round to lobby Premier Gladys to have the ramp built sooner rather than later.
Rob Coote talked about the Rotary/Channel 9/Farmers Federation Barrel Appeal which has todate raised $3.9m for drought relief. The barrels have been deposited around businesses in Northbridge and Willoughby and advertised through social media. This coming weekend will be a big one for our club with the fundraising appeal at Northbridge Plaza on Saturday 18th and the bookstall on Sunday 19th, at which there will also be barrels on the table to take donations. Rob thanked Kim Wilkins for organising the roster for both.
Rotary Clubs of Willoughby & Chatswood have organised a Bucket Appeal at Chatswood Chase for 25/26 August and need volunteers so please assist if you can. Volunteers are also needed for their appeal at the Willoughby Fair on 1 September.
These activities meet one of our objectives to work more closely with other clubs so please make a concerted effort to volunteer your help.
Guest Speaker - Tom Sweeney, OAM
John Bolton introduced our guest speaker, Tom Sweeney, OAM. Tom is a member of Crows Nest Rotary and is a past president. He is also involved with District Conferences and Changeover Dinners acting as MC on more than one occasion. He has been with the Willoughby Theatre Company for 49 years and was awarded an OAM in June this year.
Tom talked about “behind the scenes” of producing musicals. Choosing a show is not easy – is it available? Is it affordable? Will it attract a cast? Will it fill the stage and attract a 5000+ audience? An audience of 4,500 is needed to break even. All these things have to be considered when selecting a show. A director has to be appointed, auditions held, budgets prepared and rehearsals planned. Willoughby Theatre Company wants to be known for its big musicals and just some of their past performances have been Phantom of the Opera, Strictly Ballroom, Mary, Poppins, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mame, and the Australian premiere of Catch Me If You Can which came straight from Broadway in 2016. Their next show is Shrek the Musical commencing 13 October. (I saw it in London and it was very entertaining and well worth seeing - Ed).
WTC aims to produce 3 musicals a year with about 12-15 performances of each, and to attract an audience of approximately 10,000. The sets for the shows are hired from theatres all over Australia, and each show needs a production team - lighting, make up, props, and a technical team. There is a budget of $275k per show. Costs are approximately $37k for royalties, Orchestra - $6k, Set - $19k, Costumes - $9k, Technical - $13k, Lighting - $9K, venue hire - $77k.
Tom’s wife Joy, who has always worked with him at WTC, has in the past made many of the costumes, and others are imported from China. These are stored for future productions and can also be hired by schools and other theatre companies. The upcoming production of Shrek the Musical has a very large make-up team and the costumes come with the microphones built into them!
Tom mentioned that people come from all over to audition for their shows and they have some very talented amateur actors and singers.
WTC, formerly Willoughby Musical Society, celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2017. It was first formed in the old Willoughby Town Hall and started with musicals such as “Oklahoma” and “Paint Your Wagon” (in which Hugh Jackman performed).
Michael Bartok thanked Tom for his talk which gave us all some insight into what is involved in producing musicals.
Peter Fehon acted as Sergeant and extracted quite a few coins from those present, but first he gave us a few quiz questions to answer, some fun but others which gave us an awareness into the plight of the homeless of which there are some 116,000 in NSW.
It hasn’t rained in many months ... worst drought since 1902! the crops are gone … the ground is parched, The sheep are gaunt - too weak to walk … a bale of hay … might do!
Farmers in many parts of New South Wales have reached desperation point!
They need YOUR help!
The Rotary Club of Northbridge
is raising much needed funds to assist our farmers stay on the land!
The support of the local community was fantastic. Despite questionable weather, almost 2000 people converged onto Northbridge Oval for what was yet another spectacular Rotary Community Fireworks event in May.
120 Rotarians, friends and supporters alike, did a fantastic job behind the scenes, putting it all together. Stellar musical Band performances by students from Northbridge Public School, Cammeray Public School and Willoughby Girls High, really brought the evening alive. Other entertainment included Kids rides, lots of food from the Rotary BBQ’s and other offerings from several of our local business Sponsors.
Fifteen minutes of “snap, crackle and bang” then set the night alight!
Funds raised by the evening were just short of $30,000. Much of this provided support to several local and international projects. Local beneficiaries included EarlyEd, who provide early education support for local children with disabilities; Taldumande Youth Services, supporting vulnerable and homeless children in our region; The Rural Fire Service, and other Rotary projects working toward the eradication of Polio throughout the world, and other projects aiding research into dementia. These though, are only a small section of entities that Rotary would like to assist and support.
The Rotary Club of Northbridge greatly appreciate the support of our majors supporters for this event – being AMP Capital/Northbridge Plaza, Commonwealth Bank, Willoughby Council, Coates Hire, Ray White, Anytime Fitness Northbridge, The Northbridge Hotel, BeachLife Physiotherapy, All Occasions Pyrotechnics, Borusso’s, BackVintage Wines, Castlecrag Montessori School, and last but not least, the Rural Fire Service.
The Northbridge Community fireworks are only one of many events organised by Northbridge Rotary that provides aid to local support entities, who, in turn, help individuals in need, in our community and throughout the world.
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