White buttocks, ROMAC quiz and wine, Gala Dinner, Solstice Swim and Cleaning up teh foreshore (Mar 08, 2021)

White buttocks, Cholera, Ebola

Pandemic Warrior talks to full house at the club

Dr John Parker was our guest speaker at the Fridays breakfast meeting, and he didn't disappoint. For a humanitarian doctor who has spent his career fighting pandemics in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria with Red Cross and MSF.

For a self confessed adrenaline junkie he appears to be remarkably normal. But looks are deceiving.

John spoke most entertainingly and movingly about the horrors and comedy of being a doctor on the front line dealing with deadly diseases at very close quarters. But his message was not disease but trauma.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD has been the scourge of John's life. He battled with the things he saw overseas, and that led to a troubled life. John was remarkably frank about how his career and desire to fight pandemics had impacted on himself and his relationships. John has put his recollections in is book " From Choler to Ebola".

As Tim Costello (CEO of World Vision) says "My experiences pale compared to John's .....and he has put it all in his book which is not for the faint-hearted."

An amazing man with an amazing story.

Big thanks to Mike for bringing Dr. John Parker to the meeting. Everyone enjoyed listening to this most inspiring humanitarian doctor, now living in Buderim.

Casey's Garden - postponed

Casey's Garden - Date Claimer 13th March - Postponed

Latest advice from Mark:

It looks like we may have to delay the working bee for Casey’s yard a couple of weeks as approvals and construction of the pergola is going to take longer than expected. It really makes sense to get the pergola and concrete done first then start on the yard.
We might still try to demolish the old pergola next week. Rob Wilson and his son have offered to do this and I have arranged for skip bin to be onsite to take all that away.
As soon as I have a new date I will come back to you.

Our mate Mark Skinner has been busy organising the project for a 5 year old Casey Harms and her grandparents. Mark got in touch with the club with this progress report, and a shout out to Alex Rotary to help out with the garden. This will be our 4th (?) garden blitz to make a difference and delighted to help Mark and the team he has organised. Here's a bit from his emails...

Casey is a beautiful little 5-year-old who has RTD [Riboflaven Transporter Deficiency Type 2]. For Casey, his condition includes paralysis of the cranial nerves and sensorineural deafness, the later being addressed with a cochlear implant in the hope that by hearing, he will eventually learn to talk. He also has severe damage to other nerves, particularly his limbs which are heavily distorted. Amazingly he moves around by shuffling his backside. There is hope that one day he may walk but that will be a fair way down the track. He also lacks the ability to regulate his body temperature.

SunnyCoast Solstice Swim

Rotary SunnyCoast Solstice Swim - Sponsor anyone?

The swim is all set for 27th June, and we're on the look out for sponsors in the following areas:

One of our amputee swimmers shows us how its done !

ROMAC runners up.... Doh!

"You asked the wrong questions Bryan!"

The good news. ROMAC raised over $13,000 on Thursday night from the trivia quiz, with great help from Caloundra Rotary. These funds all go to help reconstruct the disfigured children and mums on the pacific region. A great cause supported by Rotarian medical and health and logistics volunteers. Well done Bryan Mason, who does an enormous amount of work to make this event happen every year. A great effort and a great cause.

The not so good news. Alex Rotary were 3 points short of victory following a spirited performance by the Quiz team, ably managed by team secretary Kim, and Karen, Wendy, Marilyn, Tony, Steve and John.

Who would have thought that there was over 4,000 varieties of potato?

If you look really, really closely at the above pic of the ROMAC trivia quiz audience, you may spot Alex Rotary Past President Sue Quinn, who rumour has it has settled down on the coast after a career supporting our pollies.

A certain scribe did not go home empty handed. Initially thought he'd won a hair dryer (not entirely useful to the follically challenged) but it turned out to be a laser gun...much more useful (?)

Finally our mates at ROMAC have got a great deal from their supporters at Tyrrells wines. Check this link out and do yourself a favour.

...and a funny question...

Clean Up Australia 2021

The Community tradition continues....

On Sunday Craig and Wendy were our leaders for the "Clean up Australia Day". Alex has hosted this event for over 15 years and sharp eyed member noticed that Sunshien Coast Council using the Alex Club photo of several years ago to promote the event on their website.

Also a certain scribe made several radio podcasts on the event, which we hope encouraged local communities elsewhere to take some pride in their neighbourhood an spend a couple of hours having a bit of a spring clean.

Those of us who have lived in other parts perhaps appreciate what we have hear on the coast, and unfortunately its part of human nature to sometimes take for granted the beautiful coastline. So not a bad idea to take stock now and again and keep the standards up.

So while the numbers were down on previous years, well done to those who turned up to "do their bit".

Gala Dinner & Monument News

100th Anniversary Gala Dinner & Monument News

A Gala Dinner night is planned for Saturday 17^th April at the Maroochy RSL. It will be a night of fellowship, fun and dancing and a chance to celebrate Rotary’s fantastic achievements over the past 100 years.

Bookings are now open and tickets can be purchased by clicking on the trybooking link on the Invitation attached. We advise you to book early, because seating is restricted due to Covid. Why not get a group together and join with old friends to celebrate this wonderful milestone? You can reserve a table as part of the booking process.

We are also planning to erect a monument, in order to recognise Rotary’s achievements, particularly on the Sunshine Coast.

We want this monument to ‘belong’ to all Rotarians past, present and future on the Sunshine Coast. The monument will be 2.69 metres high and have a diameter of 1.8 metres, the tendrils will ‘float’ from the 24 teeth on the Rotary Wheel and each one will bear the name of a Rotary Club on the SC. The design is meant to suggest that all clubs come from different areas but come together for the Centenary and then each go their own way to continue the good work of Rotary. Around the bottom will be 2 stainless steel panels, one about Rotary Clubs on the SC and the other, the story Sir Clem Renouf and his legacy.

Wendy Gilson,

Rotary Down Under - March Edition

Jeanne gathers the helpers as AGFR approaches

AGFR - Alex Rotary Club steps up to help

With the AGFR fast approaching Jeanne Motteram from Maroochy Rotary spoke to the club on Friday.

The club will be on hand to help Maroochy and already a group of members have put their hand up to help out with the raffle.

We'll be staying in touch with Maroochy as we get towards May and keeping an eye open for other ways to help. Here's a thank you note we received from Jeanne.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to your club at Friday's meeting abou the AGFR and how you can help us.

It is great to have a few of you, Wendy, Sandy, Craig and Joy, on board to help with the raffle, organising the volunteers and Tony for being the tournament photographer.

I thought I would send you the most recent newsletter.

For more information on the AGFR, head to agfr.org and for details about the 43rd AGFR head to the same website and click on 'Tournament 2021' (it will take you to your clubs website).

Happy reading.

Regards

Jeanne Motteram, Tournament Director

43rd AGFR 2021 hosted by

Sunshine Coast Passport Club Schools competition

Sunshine Coast Passport Rotary Club Competition - Tell the kids !!

A reminder to let your children, grandchildren, school communities and friends living on the Sunshine Coast know about the competition.

If they are looking for some guidance before entering the competition, these workshops should hit the mark!

Barry Alsop of Eyes Wide Open Images is offering two short workshops at Garricks Camera House Maroochydore covering:

. An introduction to the competition

. Basic composition & what constitutes a good image

The tuition will be held from 4.30pm to 6pm on Thursday afternoons:

Registration is essential as places are limited. Register at https://events.humanitix.com/pre-entry-workshops-sunshine-coast-children-s-photo-competition