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President: Grant Sheldon Editorial Executive: Stephen Roe

Wedding Special

Glenn and Vera completed a very accomplished bridal waltz before being joined on the dance floor by the wedding party. Everyone in attendance enjoyed the party-like atmosphere and all too soon came the time to farewell the guests of honour. After some time spent trying to convince the desk clerk that they really

Volume 78 Issue 17 Tuesday 23rd

October 2012

A long-awaited and eagerly anticipated union last Friday with the marriage of Past President Glenn Smith to his lovely partner, Vera. Despite a thundery start to the day, the skies cleared to a beautiful sunny afternoon, indicative of the bright future which awaits the happy couple.

The bride looked resplendent in a traditional ivory gown with a fingertip length veil edged in crystals and the groom wore a stylish dinner suit, complemented by a cream tie and matching vest. The bridal couple were attended by a party of 10 bridesmaids and groomsmen along with two lovely flower girls.

were Mr. and Mrs. Smith, our happy couple enjoyed two nights in the city, followed by a very relaxing stay at a country retreat. President Grant along with all members of the Rotary Club of Essendon and their partners wish Vera and Glenn many happy, healthy and successful years ahead.

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An ad from ‘The Mayne Report’ website

Stephen said that a downside of the structure of local government was the absence of an opposition to keep the incumbent body in check. While this reduces the accountability of our councils, it is partially balanced by the open nature of council meetings, most of which can be attended by members of the public.

This Week’s Meeting: The good-sized gathering was treated to an excellent presentation by Stephen Mayne, Policy and Engagement Coordinator with the Australian Shareholders' Association, columnist, business journalist, former local government councillor and publisher of The Mayne Report. Stephen also worked as a press secretary in former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett's media unit but eventually fell out with his former boss. In 1999 he started the website jeffed.com devoted to supporting his (unsuccessful) independent candidate campaign for Kennett's seat of Burwood.

Stephen is best known for founding Crikey.com.au, an online independent news service, and several stories which were published on the site resulted in costly legal battles. Despite this, the popularity of Crikey grew and in 2005 it was sold for $1 million. Stephen continues to write for Crikey and is a regular business commentator on ABC Radio and TV. Stephen is vitally concerned with corporate governance and regularly stands for election to the board of directors for various public companies in an attempt to increase their accountability. He thrives on the transparency of AGMs and the direct access they provide to company directors. Stephen said he has almost gone broke attending AGMs around the world and the money raised from the sale of Crikey provided a welcome boost to his travel fund. He is a self-described philanthropic shareholder activist and serial local council candidate. He has contested elections in Victoria across all three levels of government and in 2008 was elected to Manningham City Council. He recently resigned from this position to contest the upcoming City of Melbourne elections in which he is confident of success despite not running a personal campaign.

He spoke scathingly of those who take on too many company directorships, quoting the case of a female director who sat on no less than 40 boards! This behaviour has a hugely detrimental effect on business performance as an individual cannot hope to be sufficiently familiar with so many companies to allow fully

STOP PRESS: TRIVIA NIGHT THIS FRIDAY AT MARIBYRNONG PARK BOWLS CLUB. LOTS OF FUN AND

PRIZES PLUS AUCTION ITEMS AND RAFFLES. COME ALONG FOR A GREAT NIGHT!

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informed decision-making. Directors need to have passion, time, enthusiasm and above all, company knowledge, to ensure they can act in the best interests of a company and its shareholders.

Several questions followed this most impressive and professional presentation.

Club notes:

President Grant’s thought for the day: ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know

how much you care’.

Stephen noted that the boards of some companies are effectively a closed shop with significant barriers to directorship such as requiring signatures of a certain number of shareholders before one is eligible for nomination. In the USA corporate law takes it a step further where a shareholder cannot vote against a company director – the closest you can come to this is withholding an affirmative vote. Australian law allows the negative option making it a fairer system.

Stephen has learnt many lessons in his pursuit of commercial integrity, none more important than not to pick on the media as those employed therein are very powerful and have long memories. He has been banned from publication in the Herald Sun for the last 12 years after criticising the paper’s reporting during Jeff Kennett’s time as Premier. In a case of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em”, Stephen’s wife, a former Family Court barrister, has joined the board of the RACV and is standing as a candidate for the Manningham Council.

The Melbourne Cup Sweep is under way with $5 and $10 horses,

picked by numbers – you will only discover the horse you have selected

once saddle-cloth numbers have been assigned. Please see Neil

Henderson at next week’s meeting to secure your nag.

A request from the front desk – if you know you will be bringing a

guest to a Tuesday meeting, could you please email the guest’s name to

John Gorman to ease administration upon arrival?

Relay for Life – Peter Duras has collection tins available in the lead-up

to next February’s event. Please see Peter if you would like a tin to

place at your business premises.

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Today’s attendance:

38 members including Matt O’Brien, plus guests Michelle Bell and John Odgers, former

member Ben Marshall and guest speaker Stephen Mayne

Birthdays: John Chadderton 26 Oct.

Club Anniversaries:

Glenn Smith 2004

Colin Bell drew the seven of diamonds but that was

where his luck ran out with next week’s jackpot

now an impressive

$690

FOOD DRIVE FOR CAROLINE CHISHOLM ***Christmas is approaching quickly. Please consider!!***

Community Committee has been asked to source non perishable food items for the poorer families and single mums who use the services of Caroline Chisholm in Moonee Valley. Items that are best donated include:

Pasta Tomato-based pasta sauce Breakfast cereal Longlife milk Tinned fruits Tinned baked beans Tinned spaghetti

Please bring the items to lunch meetings or phone Richard Lawrence 0418 369 290 if you can assist.

Ray Landgren reported that Ian Thomas is progressing well and who would expect otherwise as he is resting comfortably under the care of Nurse June.

Please contact Thommo through his mobile if you would

like to visit.

The Rotary Club of Essendon

P.O Box 161

Essendon, VIC 3040

Club President: Grant Sheldon

Club Secretary: Rob Thomas

www.rcessendon.com.au

Make-ups

23 October – Shirley Kukk, Rob

Thomas, Roger Leask and

Stephen Roe (R & J Abbey

Vocational Training Team

Meeting)

Make-up registration forms are now available at the front desk

on Tuesdays. Please ensure your make-ups are recorded.

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Purchase your ticket at www.kangan.edu.au/bahaytuluyan

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PHILIPPINES ITINERARY FEBRUARY 2013 Wednesday 20th February ‐ Arrive Manila, check in at Makabata Guest House, Malate, Manila. Get together dinner at local restaurant. Makabata is an enterprise of Bahay Tuluyan, helping BT towards its goal of becoming self-sufficient. Thursday 21st February ‐ Tour new crisis centre in Manila, participate in mobile unit activities for local street children. Evening at Harbourside restaurant with a walking tour of night life on the streets of Manila. Friday 22nd February ‐ Visit Australian Embassy and meet with Ambassador. Evening dinner hosted by The Rotary Club of Manila Maynilad Seafront. Saturday 23rd February ‐ Depart Manila for the girls centre in Victoria, Laguna. Lunch at the ‘Child @ Venture’ Café, a training café operated by Bahay Tuluyan. Inspect the progress of the centre and participate in activities organised by the children. Meet the local Rotary club of Los Banos Makiling. Evening: travel to Pagsanjan Falls Hotel, overnight accommodation and dinner. Sunday 24th February ‐ Ride the rapids to Pagsanjan Falls. Depart for boys centre in Quezon, San Antonio. Two nights hosted by the boys at San Antonio. This may incorporate a small hands-on project, as well as a local interactive tour operated by the boys at the centre. Monday 25th February - At boys centre. Tuesday 26th February ‐ Travel back to Manila and check into Makabata for our final night and cultural dinner at a local restaurant. Wednesday 27th February - Depart for home.

ROTARY CLUB OF ESSENDON STUDY TOUR AND DELEGATION TO THE PHILIPPINES

Dear Member, I would like to take this opportunity to invite interested members, family and friends to join the 2013 Rotary Club of Essendon Delegation to the Philippines. During our visit we will be spending time with our project partners Bahay Tuluyan and will visit the Bahay Tuluyan centre and the new crisis centre in Manila. We will also visit The Rotary Club of Manila Maynilad Seafront and tour several related places of interest in the Philippines. Our Study Tour will commence with our arrival in Manila on Wednesday 20th February, and conclude on 27th February 2013. (There may be some slight changes to the commencement and finishing dates). If you are interested or would like further information, please do not hesitate to email or call (prior to 30th October 2012) Cathy Nicou on 0425 728 782 or Shirley Kukk on 0412 399 643. This will provide an indication of numbers intending to join the delegation. Best regards, Cathy Nicou Philippines Coordinator

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Philippines Goat Project Update In 2009-10 The Rotary Club of Essendon was successful in its submission for matching grant funding for the Bahay Tuluyan (BT) goat project. In 2010-11 a number of members also purchased a goat for the project. BT has now secured Dawn, a Peace Corps volunteer, who is assisting with the goat project for 6 months and she has provided this update. The project initially started with 13 goats and Dawn has worked hard to reduce the mortality rate. There are currently two adult males and two baby males (born on August 14th & 18th) and six adult females. Over the past several months the following changes and improvements have been made to the BT goat farm: Facilities:

• Water buckets added (2) • Buckets and feeder cleaned each day • Floor swept each day • Floor scrubbed and washed once per week • Shed white-washed as disinfectant measure • Rain tarps tied down • Two birthing stalls cleaned and prepared • Separate area for adult males prepared • Chickens removed from shed (in progress) Individual care:

• Hoof trimming every 3 months • Deworming (in progress) • Vaccination of babies at six weeks • Addition of salt/baking soda mix to diet as needed • Improved feeds for pregnant and nursing mothers Training:

• Training for staff on “How to Pasteurise Milk” • Training for all children and some staff on “Milking” • Development of all-inclusive training manual

including sections on Health & Maintenance, Nutrition, Housing, Milking, Milk Processing, Pregnancy

• Development of individual records keeping system • Development of Milk Products Recipe Book Milk processing:

• New kitchen materials purchased related to processing/pasteurisation • Built a milking stand/stocks for use with milking, hoof trimming, vaccination, etc. • Started records keeping for milk yield per day • Currently pasteurising once per week • Giving this milk to seven girls regularly (in progress)

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Vocational visit to Alf Puglia’s factory

Last Thursday 27 people enjoyed the hospitality of Alf Puglia at his work place. Included in that number were our exchange student, Charlotte, her current host Mum, Ann Sparkes and two members of the Rotary Club of Craigieburn. A number of partners were also in attendance. Thank you to Alf for opening his premises to us and allowing us to see a vocation in operation. Thank you too to the Vocational committee for their support, particularly to Peter Duras for organising the night and organising and supplying the eats. The wonderful sandwiches made by Sue went in no time. Finally, thank you to the members who supported the function. I know you were rewarded by an insightful evening. Barbara Wyatt

Email from Moonee Valley City Council We enjoyed Rotary’s hospitality and the opportunity to speak to your club. Like yourselves we are very passionate about the work we are doing in the community and with our partnership with Rotary we can only improve on the outcomes we are delivering. Bernadette Schwerdt has already offered to meet with Ryan to see how she can help so will tee up a meeting. Neil Henderson has enquired about the Learner Driver Mentor Program (L2P) so I will put him in touch with our L2P coordinator. We will continue to work with Alistair Fraser as our key Essendon Rotary contact and will also have our first Partnership Forum with Rotary hopefully prior to Christmas. Once again thank you for the opportunity to speak to the Club yesterday. Regards, Craig

Alf has a remarkable factory with state of the art equipment. The work practices that he models are excellent. Visitors were fascinated, not only by his model vehicle collection but also by what he had to tell us and show us on the factory floor. Chances are that if you have seen a cardboard sign advertising a product, it was made at Alf’s factory. Amazing templates are created to make boxes and other packaging which go through machinery at lightning speed.

A copy of last week’s Contact was forwarded to our guest speakers from the Moonee Valley City Council, and the following reply was received from Craig Skelton, Community Partnerships and Sponsorships Coordinator:

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Jim Cusack, Mayor, City of Moonee Valley spoke at our monthly meeting on Monday October 15th. Jim spoke about how he became a councillor, Council processes and the Council’s Strategies for the Aging. Jim then addressed some robust questions from our members on some of the controversial developments in our City including the Moonee Valley Racecourse, the Brickmakers Arms site and Moonee Ponds market.

Can you help?

Essendon Central Probus Club Update

Ted Leehane, the ex Essendon VFL star will speak at the 19th November meeting at the North Suburban Club. Our speakers are always scheduled for 11.00 am, and follow our set meeting. Our December meeting/Christmas function will be held at Fredericks on Thursday 6th December (6.00pm). Regrettably we’ve had to defer the three day trip we’d planned to Halls Gap from November 14th-16th, through lack of numbers. We’re looking to reschedule the trip to March or April 2013. If you know of any prospective members or outsiders who may be interested we’d love them to join us. Our trip organizer is Keith Annand on 9337 3815. To replace the three day trip we’re planning a day outing to Healesville on the RACV Shuttle Bus including lunch at the RACV Club. We also have walking, pool and golf groups which are fully active and book swap has commenced. Movies, gardening, ten pin bowling and games/cards groups are in development Probus is an association of active retirees, many of whom are former or current Rotarians. Essendon Central Men’s Probus Club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Essendon in 1991. Our basic purpose is to enjoy each other’s fellowship and develop new friends, to keep our minds active, and to expand our interests. We believe that our Probus Club is well worth considering for anyone aged 55 or older, who has left the work force through retirement or redundancy, or continues to work part time. Membership inquiries can be made to Shane Allan, President (9377 2311) or to Lawrie Gowan, Secretary (9337 7052).

St. Vincent’s Hospital has advised that another 150 beds are available and D9800 has once again requested assistance to load the beds for transportation. Required dates are 13, 14 and 15 November. These are normal working days which will limit members’ participation, but if you are available to assist on any of these dates, could you please contact Simon Cookson?

The City 2 Sea Fun Run 11 November 2012. Volunteers are urgently needed to fill our quota and our Club receives payment for our participation. Please contact Peter Duras ASAP if you can assist.

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The Rotary Club of Essendon invites you to an...

AFRICAN DINNER to launch the Club’s new project in Kenya:

NEW HOPE FOR

WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

Thursday 22 November 2012

Nyala, Level 1, 356 Brunswick St., Fitzroy. 9419-9128

TIME: Take the bus from Wings Away at 6.30 p.m. SHARP, or arrive at the restaurant at 7.15 p.m.

WHAT AM I EATING? A delightful degustation menu of African food unlike anything else! Yes,

cutlery is supplied!

WHAT IS THE COST? $60 for a feast!

WHAT AM I DRINKING? We have good wines for sale to drink at good prices provided by our

members:

Reds from the legendary Graeme Wood Wine Cellar!

Whites from Bellarine Estate (Alf Puglia).

Sparkles: Yarra Burns 2006 Vintage Brut Rose $20(Tim)

African beers $7 & aerated waters from Nyala

HOW DO I GET THERE? Parking is poor, so take the bus from Wings Away, 55 Rose Street,

Essendon. Only $10 return!

WHAT ELSE AM I DOING ON THE NIGHT? Bring your Christmas Gift list with you – lots of

African goods for sale, plus giveaways and raffles!

BOOKINGS: At Tuesday meetings, or call Connie on 0466 969 944.

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At a school in Wyoming, a group of boys played a prank. They let three calves loose inside the school. But before doing so, they painted the numbers 1, 2 and 4 on the sides of the calves. School administrators spent the rest of the day looking for number 3! A wife asked her husband to describe her. He said: ‘You are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K’. She asked ‘What does that mean?’ ‘Adorable, beautiful, cute, delightful, elegant, fabulous, gorgeous and hot’, he answered. She replied: ‘That’s lovely, but what about I, J and K?’ He said: ‘’I’m just kidding!’ I recently completed an on-line tax return. In response to the question ‘Do you have any dependants?’ I replied: 150,000 illegal immigrants, 100,000 refugees, 300,000 drug addicts, 4 million government workers, 645,000 unemployed people, 80,000 prisoners and 7,500 politicians. Apparently this was not an acceptable answer. I still can’t work out who I missed. With Thommo’s recent spate of medical mishaps, he posed the following question to one of his doctors. ‘Is it true that I have to take this medication for the rest of my life?’ ‘Yes, I’m afraid so’ the doctor answered. After a moment of reflection, Thommo said: ‘I’m just wondering how serious my condition is because the prescription is marked ‘NO REPEATS’.

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Thanks to our valued sponsors……..

Help yourself and help the Club by banking with

Strathmore Community Bank. For example,

take out a home loan and the club will receive

up to $500. Take out a 3 month fixed term

deposit and the club will receive up to $50.

For more details drop into the branch at 337 Napier St or call branch Manager Philip Stewart on 9374-2607.

Please support the bank which supports us!

Location! Location!

Location!

Your company’s name and logo

would look great here and you’d be

supporting our Club at the same

time.

Please contact Michael Mahoney to

take advantage of this prime

advertising spot!

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For your diary…….. DATE EVENT VENUE

Friday 26/10/2012 RCE – Kangan Institute Trivia Night in support of Bahay Tuluyan

Maribyrnong Park Bowls Club

Tuesday 30/10/2012 Des O’Keeffe - GM of the Victorian Jockeys Association

Fredricks

Tuesday 6/11/2012 NO MEETING – MELBOURNE CUP DAY NO MEETING

Sunday 11/11/2012 City 2 Sea Fun Run Albert Park Lake

Tuesday 13/11/2012 Judy Llewellyn - The Shrine of Remembrance

Fredricks

Tuesday 20/11/2012 Catered fellowship luncheon Queens Park

Thursday 22/11/2012 Official launch dinner for ‘New Hope for Widows and Orphans’ project

Nyala African Restaurant 356 Brunswick Street Fitzroy

Tuesday 27/11/2012 AGM Fredricks

Tuesday 4/12/2012 DG Dennis Shore Fredricks

Tuesday 11/12/2012 Evening Christmas Function Fredricks

Tuesday 18/12/2012 Breakfast meeting Fredricks

Tuesday 25/12/2012 NO MEETING Merry Christmas!!

Tuesday 1/1/2013 NO MEETING Happy New Year!!

Tuesday 8/1/2013 NO MEETING NO MEETING

Tuesday 15/1/2013 Inter-club visit TBA

Tuesday 22/1/2013 Member ‘Behind the Badge’ talk Fredricks

Tuesday 29/1/2013 TBA Fredricks

Tuesday 5/2/2013 Club Day Fredricks

Tuesday 12/2/2013 TBA Fredricks

Wednesday 13/2/2013 ‘Lunch on a Liner’ fundraiser Aboard the ‘Rhapsody of the Seas’ at Station Pier

Tuesday 19/2/2013 TBA Fredricks

Fri - Sat 22-23/2/2013 Relay For Life Windy Hill