Hi Everyone,

A few quick things at a busy time of the year. A reminder about Changeover dinner, club dues, Science and Engineering Challenge and the Ashmore Reading program.

Changeover Dinner – Payment Due Today 

Because of State of Origin this Wednesday (Go Maroons!!) there will not be a normal club meeting. Instead, our next meeting is the Changeover Dinner at the Southport Golf Club on Wednesday 24^th of June. We will have another lovely 3 course meal and take time to reflect on the achievements of the last 12 months. The golf club needs final numbers at least a week prior, so please make your payment TODAY if you haven’t already. It is still $50.

Club Dues – Payment by Saturday June 20^th

Thanks to the majority who have paid their club dues of $130 for six months. Our wonderful treasurer, Ian Wilson, has already sent out invoices. Please get your payments in ASAP so we can get final numbers this weekend. Our club needs member numbers finalized by this weekend, so we can ensure accuracy for the district invoice. Please let myself or Rob know if you have any questions.

Science and Engineering Challenge

We visited Elanora State High School this year we had a really good number of members represent the club with around 6-8 members on both days. Thanks to Ian Wilson for helping to organize the volunteers from our end who supplemented the Griffith University students who were paid to assist. For those who aren’t familiar, Ashmore Rotary have been involved in this project for many years, and we help run challenges designed by University of Newcastle and run in Queensland by Griffith University. 

It was a very rewarding time and fascinating to see how high school kids approached coding an alphanumeric code (including upper and lower case) using only 3 primary colors with only 15 minutes to prepare. Or how they would build an electricity power network. Or their efforts to build a bridge spanning more than 70 cm using only lightweight balsa that carried a small trolley of 10kg or more. Some fascinating variations and one that seemed to work well was a simple beam of 5 slices of balsa taped together without complicated framework. 

There were a variety of other challenges, and the points were a closely fought challenge with 8 different schools each day. On my day, Somerset College were the winners. Thanks to all club members who volunteered, including new club member Julie as well as almost-member Joanna. Some club members might also remember Herbert Hayes from Keebra Park that was supported by the club a few years ago – he continues to volunteer for this event each year. Fantastic effort by all.

Ashmore Reading Program – Community Service

As we all know, reading is the gateway to learning. It is hard to think of a more influential program than helping 6-8 years olds learn how to read. Proudly, this is one of the key community service projects of Ashmore Rotary. Our club members have again been a tremendous support in this initiative. The project is disturbingly easy.  Young children read to our volunteers. Even Joanna, soon to be a member and with patchy English, is an effective volunteer.

Serving the community is a core tenant of membership in Rotary.  Ken Cowan, who many know is tremendously passionate about service projects, is the able leader of this project. Our last week of reading is today, where Owen, Ian and Julie O will all be working with a group of youngsters. Stay tuned for future iterations of this project.

Halloween Fair – Progress continues. 

Progress continues as the Halloween Fair committee has met again. Denise, Brad, Ian and myself met last week. Next on the hit list, we are working at getting schools involved, food vans and carnival rides to add to the 3 sponsors (CBA, Sporty’s and Rob Molhoek). Building on that, we also have a meeting this week with Cr Patterson to see how we can build this further. 

President Owen Caterer