The meeting was opened by  Sergeant Geoff Leddy who welcomed our Guest Speaker John Baker, CEO of Sunshine Coast Regional Council  and visitors, Robyn Hills, Sylvia Hovey, Donna Waterford, Sharon Seymour, Gerri Van Wych and Avi Singh (for the last time as a Guest!)

 

Geoff also let us know that no-one had a birthday this week, but Barbara Bailey celebrated 20 years in Caloundra Pacific and Bryan and Lyn Mason have now been married for 68 years.

 

 

Bronwynne Bates proposed the International Toast to The Rotary Club of Diani Beach-Kwale Ukunda in Kenya.

She chose this club because it has supported the Umoja Children's Home since the beginning.  Bronwynne and Noel  both attended the opening of the home in 2016.

The current President is Shire Dewbury.  They meet on 2nd, 3^rd and 4^th Thursday of each at the Diamonds Leisure Golf Club at Diani Beach at 5.30pm.

Some of their projects are, a Charity Goat Derby, Charity Beach Runs to fund toilet blocks in Schools, help Maternity Health Centres and support Menstrual and personal hygiene.

Diana Beach is just south of Mombasa where you can see both the abject poverty and luxury that confront the people of Kenya.

 

 

It was terrific to be presented with our newest member, Avi Singh by Will Waterford our Membership Director, introduced by Evelyn McCorkell and inducted by our 'Acting' President, Clive Seymour.   Welcome Avi, we hope you enjoy your time with us and look forward to your participation in our projects.

 

 

 

During our meal, the Rotary information video tonight mentioned the name of Arch Klump which we appreciated. He is not talked about as much as he should be but he was the driving force behind the establishment of our Rotary Foundation. 

 

Ross Harrison mentioned that Malou Deakin has been interviewed by 'My Weekly Preview' about what she has been doing in the Philippines, not specifically through the Rotary Club. We look forward to reading the article in a couple of weeks.

 

Will's interview about Rotary with the local radio station is due to go to air in the next few days.

Greig Lee-Archer spoke about the district 'clusters' next year and indicated that if anyone has time and is heading out west in the future 'Blaze Aid' is looking for help providing support for people who have been affected by the on-going floods in Western Queensland.

Peter Hovey reminded us of the forthcoming 'Excellence in Business' awards - submit your nominations to him as soon as possible.

Les Pontin mentioned that he has raised nearly $5000 already for his St Vinnies' Sleep Out' on 12^th June.  You can make your donation to Les's sleepout HERE. 

Win Fowles reminded us that we must not miss our meeting next week with guest speakers from Beachtree Distilling Co. based in Caloundra.

 

   

 

Our guest speaker John Baker, CEO of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, was introduced by David Johnston.

John proceeded to give us some of his work background and why he was so excited to be appointed to his present role.

He indicated that he is aware of the challenges ahead of him but is also incredibly aware of the opportunities that lie ahead for the Sunshine Coast.

We are heading for a population of 500,000/600,000;  the Olympics will be an incredible boost for the Sunshine Coast.

He also said that the submarine communication cable that reaches the Sunshine Coast has some of the worlds leading companies wanting to set up businesses here.

John sees that a number of the challenges ahead of him, involve developing a better trust between Council and the community. This includes building better relationships between Council and the public. It did seem that the 'customer service' provided by some areas of Council need some improvement and he is well aware of the issue.

John's address was very good, well received by everyone and we should get him back in a year or so to see if he is making progress in solving the problems he is facing.

 

 

 

 

Geoff Leddy got money from everyone, even if they had done no wrong :)!

 

The raffle prizes were won by a number of lucky people. Ken Hinkly won the 'road kill' and everyone shared in the chocolates, of course.

 

BOOKED YOUR TICKETS YET?   What for, you say????