CLUB MEETING 29th APRIL 2019
Meeting opened by President Steve Mills @ 6.30pm
Introduced guests – Tang Pham (Guest Speaker)
Apologies – June Hewson - Jacqui Phillips, Joan Barker, Ernest Young
President Steve Mills – Thanks for all the recent help at Good Friday Appeal & ANZAC Day dawn breakfast barbeque, Rex & Ross busy with kiosk restorations. Reminder for Directors for preparation of End of Year Reports & members for nominations for vocational & community awards. Encouragement for our commitment to the Bowel Scan for the month of May, Sally Rose co-ordinating for our club. Inspirational story – War veterans & stories from ANZAC Day.
Chairman – John Watson. Heading to far north Queensland looking at prawn farms this week to inspect 800 hectares to produce 6000 tonnes of Prawns each year to catch & harvest wild prawns for their own hatchery for a selected breeding program for the future.
Guest Speaker – Tang Pham. Hometown Mekong Territory in Vietnam. House surrounded by rice fields, his family including 4 siblings grow bananas, coconut & casaba. Parents work in rice fields hard to make a living. During university undertook some army activities, soccer & dancing. Spent 1 year being a research assistant in laboratory growing embryo rice & developed an interest in growing straw mushrooms. After graduation he undertook an internship in Hezava, Israel working in a tomato shade house & then travelled to Tel Aviv, Dead Sea & Jerusalem. He then returned to Vietnam to start growing mushrooms but unfortunately he burnt the sporn for the mushroom bag so he travelled to Saigon to learn English & then onto Minnesota, USA & where he experienced snow for the first time. Then back to Vietnam as a mushroom technician when a friend introduced him to employment in Australia for Flavourwave & he was accepted & has been here for 6 months where he is a crop care worker required to clip 400 plants per hour. He enjoys the work & is able to make enough to send money back to his family.
Secretary’s Report – Jennifer Rodger – Invitation from Lion’s Club for combined services dinner on 13/05/19 @ 7.00pm at Numurkah Bowls Club – please RSVP by 09/05/19. Letter of thanks sent to Graham Ashton for recent donation of a large tarp to the 4WD weekend. Rotary Club of Milawa having a 10th birthday dinner on 14/05 @ $65/head.
Director’s Report -
Lorraine Greenwood – Rotary Friendship Exchange letter to be circulated during meal break. Youth Exchange Student has been accepted at Numurkah Secondary College to be enrolled for 2nd half year 11, first half year 12. Letters sent to local schools looking for host families to accommodate the student. Jorga Dixon has sent a letter requesting support for London Youth Science Forum, willing to be involved in events, submission will go to Board next week. Rotary Friendship Exchange are looking at doing exchanges with members going to Sweden, Sri Lanka & Nova Scotia. To get selected you need to attend a meeting, express interest & you may get selected. Volunteers are needed to man the bbq this Saturday for Clearance Sale, again the following Saturday for opening of the kiosk & following week for the election. All maths text books being thrown out by Secondary College as they are going digital. Looking for anywhere where the books could be donated to, that they could be of value.
Julie Andrew – RAM (Rotarians against Malaria) – Malaria Awareness Day in Australia is April 30.
New malaria vaccination – it has been 30 years in the making. This new vaccine will be available to children up to 2 years of age. The vaccine efficiency is moderate. The vaccine is to used in conjunction with routine use of insecticide treated bed nets, indoor spraying of insecticides & the timely use of malaria testing & treatment.
Ross Shields – Community Shed should be ready by the end of the week, white & black boards have been installed & will be ready for the opening next week.
Heads & Tails – Ross Hardham
Jude Newman – Fellowship – birthdays - Greg Moralee today, Chris Sutton on 01/05, Dot Stewart birthday 30/04, Joan Barker 6 years joined Rotary
Meeting closed – 8.00 pm
Next meeting 06/05/19
