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Club Information
Welcome to The Rotary Club of Northbridge
Northbridge
Service Above Self
We meet Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Northbridge Golf Club
Sailors Bay Road,
Northbridge, NSW  2063
Australia
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VenueMap Venue Map
Upcoming Events
Rotary District Conference 2019
Mar 29, 2019 – Mar 31, 2019
 
RCN Visit to The Aust. Cinematographers Society
Apr 02, 2019
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
 
Northbridge Pride of Workmanship Awards
Apr 09, 2019
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
 
RCN Visit to Northbridge Freemasons
Apr 10, 2019
 
Please send apologies to Helen Gulson before 10:30am each Monday at helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
Next Meeting – 2 April 2019 - Partners' Night
Attendance desk:
Eleanor Chevor & Helen Gulson (Reserves: Valda Andrews)
 
Set up & pack up:
TBA
 
Speakers & topic:
David Brill AM - Australian Cinematographers Society
 

 
Rotary Club Meeting 26 March 2019
 
Venue for next Tuesday's meeting:
Australian Cinematographers Society
26 Ridge Street
North Sydney
 
Welcome
President Ranald welcomed all members and guest Peter Russell.  
 
Toast
Karin Eurell proposed a toast to the Rotary Club of Christchurch. Chartered in 1922, the club started with 43 members. Apart from the usual Rotary programs like RYLA and RYPEN, the club supports a program called Go Baby Go which provides electric ride-on cars for children with disabilities and a program for people suffering domestic violence. They also hold a beer & whiskey tasting, and a Heels & Wheels fundraising night.
 
Announcements
Barry Anderson spoke about the progress of the East Timor water project which is supported by Roseville Chase Rotary and which will go ahead shortly. Roseville Chase Rotary is holding a wine and cheese night on 6 April to raise funds towards this project and encouraged as many club members as possible to support Roseville by attending the evening.
 
Garth Carter reminded members that the Pride of Workmanship Awards will be held at the club on Tuesday, 9 April.
 
John Bolton gave a short talk about the financial procedures involved with various aspects of the club’s activities. He described the various procedures required for the weekly dinner, for payment of membership fees and all the club events. Event organisers are responsible for the finances of their event and need to follow the procedures. Every expense needs to be approved by two directors. On 26 March, John emailed to all members the various procedures and asked that everyone read through them and adhere to them.
 
Alan Hession again asked for possible sponsors for the fireworks night and for raffle prizes. If anyone can suggest a sponsor or a raffle prize donor, please let Alan know.
 
President Ranald advised that next Tuesday’s Rotary meeting will be held offsite at the Australian Cinematographers Society where award winning cameraman David Brill will be guest speaker. The address of the Society is 26 Ridge Street, North Sydney and it will be a Partners Night.
 
Sergeant’s Session
Sergeant Susan Law conducted her final session for March. Next month there will be a new Sergeant.
 
Guest Speaker - Members Behind the Badge
 
President Ranald introduced the two members behind the badge – Susan Law and Peter Hodgson.
 
Susan Law spoke about her early life in South Africa under the apartheid government. She spoke of the value of being a wife, mother and homemaker which to her was very fulfilling as an individual. She was politically active in South Africa and was involved in educating black adults before emigrating to Australia with her husband, who was worried about the consequences her activism. She said she felt she was making a difference in South Africa which made it harder to leave. Once in Australia she studied multi-cultural education and migration and after graduating she taught migrants.
After her children grew up, Susan purchased a 200 acre farm and became a farmer. She studied for a degree in practical rural skills at TAFE, purchased some goats and sheep in South Africa, brought them to Australia and started farming.
 
Peter Hodgson was born in Melbourne in 1934, the eldest of 3 children. His father joined up in WW2 and it was during these years that he joined the Cubs. This started his many years of involvement with the scouting movement. He was involved with a community hospital where he started a scout troop. Peter’s interests also included playing tennis, and once even played against Neil Fraser.
Peter started his working life at GJ Coles & Co and he remained in the retail industry all his life. He was in the fashion industry for many years and travelled extensively. It was when he moved to Echuca to work that he met his wife Audrey when he joined the Echuca Drama Group. In the 1980s Peter opened a jewellery shop in Northbridge Plaza – Peter Hodgson Jewellers. It was around this time that Peter joined Rotary and was involved in the formation of Northbridge Rotary Club, being a charter member. Since then he has been involved in all aspects of club activities, but the activity from which he has received the most satisfaction is Sailability.
 
President Ranald thanked Susan and Peter for giving us an insight into their interesting lives.
Stories
32 years of fireworks at Northbridge
You bring the family.  We’ll bring the fun.
 
 
Saturday May 11 will celebrate the annual community fireworks event organised by the Rotary Club of Northbridge.
Over the past 32 years, community support and attendance at this event has grown to more than 4000 and funds raised will go toward helping local disadvantaged youth and people at risk.
 
Gates open at the Northbridge Oval, Sailors Bay Road, at 4pm with live music provided by Northbridge and Cammeray Public Schools and Willoughby Girls High School.
There will be rides and other entertainment for the children, including face-painting; hot food from the Rotary BBQ, ice creams, fairy floss, cold drinks and coffee will be available.  The highlight of the evening will be a spectacular fireworks display at 7 pm. 
 
MC for the occasion is voice over artiste Jake Downs whose father John Downs, a previous President of the Rotary Club, was the first MC 32 years ago!
We wish to extend an invitation to all families to come along; support a great cause, and enjoy a great night out!  Bring a picnic basket and a rug and enjoy the fantastic community atmosphere.
 
Entry: Adults $15, Children (5-15 years) $5, Families (2 adults & 2 children) $35.
Credit card facilities will be available at the gate and food area.
 
For more information please contact Karin Eurell on 0412 468 884,
Email: publicrelations@northbridgerotary.com.au
Community - Cyclone Debbie Assistance Final Report
 

  Funds raised by Northbridge Rotary via a bucket appeal at Northbridge Plaza have been put to good use as reported below.
 
During Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017, the Sarina Range in Queensland experienced a massive landslide that effectively cut off 16 families (30 students) from the school campus.  Education Queensland quickly established accommodation for the isolated students.  However, suddenly and rather traumatically, the 30 students and their families had to adjust to changed life circumstances, grief and loss, separation from their previous school community and increased cost of living to travel extended distances to access shops, doctors, workplaces and other social supports such as scouts, sporting activities and dance.
 
This project, funded by the Northbridge Rotary Club totalling $3255, provided support for children’s skill development (swimming classes) and social interaction with peers at Inter school athletic activities. These monies paid for bus services to transport children between schools, then on to the swim classes and their athletics carnival. Without this grant the school, P&C and students would have been financially disadvantaged and unable to provide the access and learning opportunities that were offered to the students at the temporary accommodation.
 
Outcome measure evaluation: The project success was measured through the implementation of the project plan within the time frame below.
  • May 2018: 24 children and 8 parents affected attended that inter-school athletics event at Sarina State School. The children participated in all events and several children were successful in securing places in the district events.
  • December 2018: 30 students from the Range campus attended all school swim classes held at the Sarina Swimming Pool over a seven- week period. These children were transported by bus and participated in classes with other students as well as attending their swim classes through the day. All students passed the required water safety standard requirement for their age.
  • Full acquittal of funds occurred in January 2019 for the bus services that took students between their accommodation, school and swimming.
 
The Rotary Club of Sarina and the Swayneville State School students, parents, teachers and community are thankful to the Northbridge Rotary Club and Townsville District 9550 Disaster Management grants that facilitated the social, and emotional well-being of these school children, alleviated a potentially onerous financial burden on the P&C and parents who were already financially disadvantaged. Your financial and club support has provided joy, growth, opportunities, personal development, pride, skill and water safety in all the children of the Swayneville State School Campus. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
 
Dianne Barnett
Secretary, Rotary Club Sarina, Qld
Youth - Rotary Helps Local Youth Leadership Development
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is building on their long-standing support of youth with expanding support across 6 different youth specific, leadership and experience focus programs. The outcomes of these programs continue to motivate the club to build on these programs with increased support.

Among these programs are high school leadership, science, engineering and experience programs.  One of these programs is RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) aimed at year 9 & 10 who want to build their confidence and self-esteem. RYPEN provides young people the opportunity to build leadership potential, encourages them to explore their ideas in problem solving, team activities, and experiences that will assist them in forming their own values. RYPEN is about building confidence and developing skills to cope in a range of situations. The Rotary club of Northbridge has doubled it’s support of this amazing program from sponsoring 4 awardees each of the last 2 years to 8 awardees this 18/19 year. Follow this link https://rotarydistrict9685.org.au/page/rypen for more information about RYPEN.
 
Another program worthy of mention is the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). RYLA is a transformational leadership program designed for young adults aged 18-27. This intensive program over 7 days, enabling leadership to grow and develop to its full potential. RYLA combines amazing Australian speakers with activities and challenges in a supportive environment. Unlike other programs, RYLA has a focus on practical hands-on opportunities testing leadership in a controlled environment. The RYLA program is unique in linking outcomes to self-improvement with considered reflection; building a better leader with the necessary skills for improving their leadership as they move forward in life. RYLA is run annually, with close to 90 candidates in Elanora Heights, on Sydney's Northern beaches; the Rotary Club of Northbridge has sponsored 9 RYLA awardees over the last 3 years. Follow this link http://d9685ryla.org.au/ for more information about RYPEN.
 
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is also supporting the initiation of the North Sydney Rotaract Club; a new Rotaract Club which is a driven community of young professionals aged 20-30 who are committed to creating social change in their community whilst developing as leaders. The inaugural meeting is scheduled for February 20th and the following links are available for further information.
 
 
The life changing effects of these sponsored Youth programs continues to motivate our club and members support; the Rotary Club of Northbridge will continue a focus on our local Youth and our leaders of tomorrow as one of the most rewarding areas where we support our community.
End Polio - Getting Closer
Rotary International and its partners have made enormous progress in the past 30 years, don't you think? We can and we will #endpolio
 
  
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4). Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?