News on the Run:
Congratulations Stephen for your Paul Harris Fellowship award for contributions to The Rotary Foundation.
President Andrea Conti.
- Note President Andrea will provide further updates when she returns from SA.
Speaker Write Up 7 July 2020:
Our Guest Speaker was Hugh Mackay, who joined us to talk about his latest book, The Kindness Revolution.
Hugh started his talk by encouraging us to ask ourselves “Who are we ?” He moved onto stating that he believed that we are hard-wired to be a co-operative society, that we are a social species. He said that it is innate within us to be kind, compassionate and respectful of others.
His definition of kindness was: anything that we do or say that shows a person that they are included, taken seriously, listened to with empathy and attention and made to feel welcome. He gave as an example, when you are glancing at your mobile phone while someone is speaking (you know who you are….) are you showing respect to the speaker or person you are with ?
Food for thought - he said that kindness is a type of love but not an emotional love.
Hugh feels that over the past 40 years or so, society has lost it’s way somewhat as it has promoted and rewarded competitiveness and individualism resulting in a society where superiority over others is rewarded. He feels that this has been disruptive to our social cohesion.
Following the ravages of 2020's bushfires and pandemic on our mental and emotional health and on the economy, Hugh Mackay reflects on the challenges we faced during that year of upheaval and the questions many of us have asked. What really matters to me? Am I living the kind of life I want? What sort of society do I want us to become? Urging us not to let those questions go, and pointing to our inspiring displays of kindness and consideration, our personal sacrifices for the common good and our heightened appreciation of the value of local neighbourhoods and communities, he asks in turn: 'Could we become renowned as a loving country, rather than simply a "lucky" one?'
Hugh’s talk was informative and thoughtful and he did a brisk trade in the sale of his books afterwards.
“Kindness is in our power even when fondness is not” Samuel Johnson
Sharon Green
Rotary Clubs of ACT Emergency Services Community Awards:
Members will recall the presentation last year by PDG Steve Hill on the Rotary Clubs of ACT Emergency Services Community Awards, which are presented annually at a dinner held in Canberra. The Awards are a Vocational Service initiative of the Rotary Clubs of the ACT.
The dinner this year will be held at the Hellenic Club in Woden on the evening of Friday, 12 August. The cost is $50 per person for a three course meal.
The patron of the Awards, the Hon Richard Refshauge, will be in attendance and the ACT Minister for Emergency Services has been invited. ACT Policing is the latest agency to become involved in the Awards, and the Chief Police Officer is expected to attend the dinner.
Both Sue Lloyd and I will be there on the night to help with proceedings. It would be great to see our members there to celebrate the work of SES personnel, both paid and volunteer, from a range of ACT agencies. It was a great night last year, well attended by Rotarians from across the Canberra region.
If you would like to attend the dinner, please register by clicking on the link below.
Monica Garrett
Duty Roster:
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Date:
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July 14th
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Watch this space
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Venue:
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Commonwealth Club
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Door:
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Ross Brown
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Thank Speaker and Notes
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Sally Goodspeed
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If you are unable to attend on a day you are rostered please organise a replacement.
The notes should summarise the speaker's main points and be sent to the editor for inclusion in next week's News Notes.
Upcoming Speakers:
21 July,
Krista Vane-Tempest will present on Edith Blakes War – and her book in which she traces Edith’s story from training in Sydney to her war service in the Middle East and the Mediterranean; her conflicted feelings about nursing German prisoners of war as German aircraft bombed England, to her death in waters where Germany had promised the safe passage of hospital ships.
Mini Stomp Meeting:
For those attending it will be held on;
Wed 20th July 6:00PM
Deakin Soccer Club
Grose St Deakin
We can get some ideas flowing please join us there. Up for discussion is
Venue
Catering
Marketing
Dance Clubs
Etc
These will all be on the casual agenda. We are after ideas rather than solutions at this point.
An act of kindness:
Hugh Mackay’s talk on The Kindness Revolution reminded me of a recent incident.
While staying with my sister in Millicent, South Australia, she wished to move an item of furniture. Unfortunately, the tyres on her trolley were flat, and she didn’t have a pump. Rather than buy a new one, I went to one of the op shops in Millicent (it has four – a treasure hunter’s delight) and asked the man behind the counter if they had any pumps for sale. He said they didn’t, and then told me a story about a bicycle he used to have, concluding with “I have two pumps at home and I’ll being one in for you tomorrow”.
He said it would be a gift. So the next day I collected it, grateful for this act of kindness.
Stephen McMillan
Here is a movie that just highlights the experience of Stephen and his situation. I personally have seen this in the past and it is a very pertinent film. Everyone can become blase of things but a little kindness can go a long way. I urge you if you haven't seen it to do so. You can be surprised of where a little kindness can go. - Editor Marcel.
Late News:
Learning from the Bees - Rotary Club of Sydney
This evening we attended a seminar from the Rotary Club of Sydney - the Climate Action Group. The seminar went for an hour and highlighted the plight of the Bee in Australia.
We had speakers form the ACT - Julie Armstrong and Lucy Hobgood - Brown from Sydney who spoke on the plight of the bee and how we as individuals can help their cause. Some facts:
- Bees provide Food Security
- Bees provide Biodiversity
- and they provide Eco system Health
In the ACT alone we have between 150 - 200 species of Bee. There are approximately 2000 species Australia wide. 2/3 of the agriculture in Australia currently are dependent on bees. Some species such as Almonds and other crops are 100% dependent on pollination by bees.
Australian native bees have a foraging range of 500m, which means that we all must ensure that our gardens are planted with native Australian plants and herbs such as Borage, Rosemary and perennial Oregano as suggestions.
It has been recommended that we can all help out by making bee friendly gardens, and by building Bee hotels. As an example there are bee hives on top of Parliament house. Hint for Community Service.
There were also specific mentions of the Rotary Club of Hall for assisting in building a Bee Corridor between Victoria, the ACT and New South Wales.
- Editor Sharon Green and Marcel.
From the Editor:
Well folks this is Marcel signing off again, great to drop in for a few ad hoc Bulletins. I will leave you in the capable hands of Robert for the up coming editions.
I will be doing some exploring in the NSW and Victorian High country, hopefully seeing some bees and trout in the process. I leave you with some of the locations and mode of transport. I hope the world can make it a safe place for bees and humans and we can all learn to live together.
Pets of Rotary RCCBG:
For those who guessed it was Linda Wilkinson's Pet Toby.
just click on the above email to send Robert a message.
