Sergeant Jacqui introduced President Frank to our 2037th meeting. Frank welcomed visiting Rotarians Dr Martin Radford and Stuart Coward and guest John Deacon. It was Malou’s birthday, so we came up with a stirring rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Michael Berris proposed a toast to all the Rotary Clubs of Turkey, as there was little information on the Rotary Club of Ankara where the recent earthquake caused severe damage. The country would prefer us to call it Türkiye rather than the name of a bird sometimes spoken of in derogatory terms. Rotary in Türkiye had a difficult beginning with the powers that be ruling it an illegal operation, but today they have Rotary, Rotaract and Interact clubs.
Member’s Talk

Dr Martin Radford spoke about the life and times of Bert Hinkler, who spent most of his working life in Southampton where Martin comes from. Hinkler, who was born in Bundaberg, led the early development of manned flight and was an expert pilot, navigator and mechanic. This enabled him to fly solo from England to Australia, a distance of 11,000 miles in 16 days. He always carried 1000 cigarettes – the universal currency for those he asked to help him take off. Bert built an Auto Gyro, the precursor to helicopters and a prototype amphibious plane. Sadly, he disappeared attempting a record flight to Australia but his crashed plane and body were later found near Florence, Italy. Mussolini gave him a State Funeral, and he is now buried in Florence.
Directors’ Moments
No one had anything significant to say!

Members’ Moments
Les told an Irish joke in recognition of St Patrick’s Day tomorrow. Not to be outdone, Jacqui Coward also shared a joke.
President’s Comments
Frank reported we raised $322.60 for the Türkiye/Syria Disaster Response Fund, with more still to come in.
He also asked for reasons why members weren’t attending the Centenary Conference, as requested by DG Tim Keeler, and we came up with at least eight.
Guest Speaker

Barb Bailey introduced our own Malou Deakin, who she described as small in stature but large in heart. Malou has been inspired to spend the last 13 years serving her people by nurturing, educating, inspiring, and motivating them. She has shown by example how hard work pays off. At one stage she had 5 jobs and was working 50-55 hours per week.
Malou gave several specific examples. Jay Mejorada is a boy who was born without legs, yet he could still play basketball! His parents were resigned to the fact that Jay would never get a job. “Who’s going to employ someone without legs?” they said, but Malou pointed out that he could be the next Stephen Hawking. By providing Jay with educational materials, she showed his parents there was hope where there had been none before.A group of children were learning to sew by hand but by by donating second-hand electrical
sewing machines, Malou showed how modern technology can be faster and more efficient.  Malou acknowledged Caloundra Pacific Rotary Club’s contribution to this most worthy cause and thanked us for the trust we placed in her.
Ian Aspinal proposed a vote of thanks.

Sergeant
Jacqui Coward fined many of us for our mis-demeanours but kept apologising for doing so. We noticed she didn’t apologise when she fined her own husband!
Riki Tiki
Les stepped in with some recycled questions, and the winner was ………… Ross Harrison!
Raffle

Les and Graeme presented winners with some great prizes.

Check the roster for next week!