Tony Long gave the International Toast to the Rotary Club of Valencia, Spain.

Tony’s reasoning for choosing Valencia was because of all the flooding and catastrophic consequences associated with it.

The Club was chartered on February 23, 1928, being the first Rotary club in the Valencian community.

The club meets every Thursday evening at 8.30pm at the Westin Hotel.

The President is Rafael Gil de la Calleja.

Some or the most illustrious names in the city of Valencia can be found as members of the club. One such member is Jose Maria Lamo de Espinosa who is a world-renowned photographer [ Black and White].

Since 1928, the members have promoted peace, have been a school of tolerance and have supported culture in the city if Valencia.

Proof of this support are some of the works donated to the city, such as:

The bust of the maestro Rodrigo, which is in the hall of the Palau de la Musica,

The Rotary Flame located in front of the Viveros Gardens’

The monument to Jaume 1 located in the roundabout of Plaza Zaragoza.

Rotary International has a great project to promote peace through knowledge of other cultures, Student Exchange, where students receive scholarships each year to exchange with other countries of the world.

The club’s interest in other cultures is demonstrated by the twinning arrangements they have had for years with the clubs from Ulm, Colombes de Paris, Werdenberg and with RC Parchi Alto Milanese.

Each year, they work on different service projects. Some have been ongoing for several years, such as –

 Supporting the elderly in shared homes and providing furniture for the apartments in which they live.

With the Fundacion Proyecto vivir –

We provide snacks for boys and girls,

Training for mothers and colloquims for the empowerment of girls, whereby professional women from different fields tell them about their journey and how they have reached these positions.

“Todo sobre ruedas” [Everything on Wheels], in which special bicycles and materials for their maintenance are provided to the Cerebral Palsy Centre of the Red Cross of Valencia.

 

   

 

Guest Speaker Emma Johnson was introduced by Bronwynne Bates.

 

    

“SAVE THE MOFFAT BEACHFRONT” Community Group was formed by Emma and her friends in July this year.

The reason behind the formation of this group is to advocate for a seawall design that preserves the unique character of Moffat Beachfront, including the Norfolk Pines, beach and greenspaces.

All this came about following severe storm damage to the existing seawall in 2022.

Signed up over 3000 supporters

Met and liaised with Sunshine Coast Council’s CEO, Mayor’ Councillors and Project Officers

Actively communicated with both sides or State Government

Spoken with State Assessment and Referral Agency [SARA]

Actively involved with the Moffat Beach Seawall Reconstruction Community Focas Group

Met with business and community groups

Extended period of wave erosion

Low sand levels at the base of the wall offer little restoring force

Heavy and consistent rain over time led to high ground water pressure behind the wall

Steep seawall batter, the rock is placed beyond its natural angle or repose

Three options have been proposed of which all will not achieve the outcome that Emma’s group want without compromise.

The third option appears to be the best-

As with all options, compromise is needed, and Moffat Beach will not be as it was.

Let us hope that this time the engineers get it right, and council has the necessary funding and expertise to get a satisfactory result for everyone here on the coast.

 

Watch this space!

    

 

 

We ended the meeting with the usual fines and Mark is becoming very good at this, his jokes are even nearly as good as Les Patons.

Then Raffles of course and lots of peope indulged in unnecessary chocolate as well as chocolate cake and  Greig Lee-Archer's birthday cake!