• Who loves Autumn? It’s great weather for walking and getting in the garden. How wonderful to hear from our NYSF students last week enlightening us on their recent program in Melbourne. And have Lyn Cooper Youth Director from Eaglehawk Rotary join us with their student Tait also.
• Bianca Guley also gave us a brief review of her RYLA experience and stated it has been very beneficial. It is important to get feedback from these programs to see how effective they are.
• I received a message from Carol Guley to let us know Rob was in Bendigo Health and transferred to St Vincents in the early hours of Thursday morning for his ongoing bowel issues and now is awaiting bowel surgery. We wish him all the best for now and hope for an uneventful recovery. Stephen, their son has AML and is in remission now and awaiting a transplant at the end of May.  This is a very stressful time for them. Rob may not be up to taking calls yet but am sure would appreciate some messages being left. We send our thoughts and wishes to them in the following weeks of treatment.
• Another full week in our club started with the working bee at Lightning Reef Primary School. Even though we had overnight rain of 30ml, the sun came out and we had a dozen attend. Many hands do make light work and you will see by the pics much was achieved, lots of movement at the station, well school really. A great effort was led by Stew and the team.
• A follow up working bee to complete the last three garden beds is on Sunday to finish off the final beds.
• Our monthly Board meeting was held on Tuesday covering the club’s general business.
• The Trivia night run by Eaglehawk and Bendigo South is on 28^th April. Tickets are still available, if you would like to go let me know by Wednesday morning and I will book for the club. It’s a great fun night to share with the cluster also.
• Football time again and Paul Henderson had the first Reclink BBQ on Wednesday. Many snags were devoured. Probably four matches for the season we cater for.
• Stew held another ESRAG meeting this week, followed by a Pats pub meal. Discussions on two possible projects to be followed up.
• The Run for Dad project has been presented to the Cluster again to become a partner in supporting Men’s health via Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. Request for Rotary is for financial support, help raise sponsors, provide people power on the day or a BBQ for participants. See flyer.
• Hoping to see you all there on Anzac morning bright and awake at 5.30am. This is our weekly meeting so please do not attend on Weds at PepperGreen.
• A Rotarian from Brighton, Stuart McMillan, now a scout leader has started up a new scout group in Heathcote. They have a specific need for some storage for their camping and activity equipment. They are looking at purchasing a 20’ container costing approx $4000. They are hoping for support through the Goldfields Cluster or as an individual club.
• Enjoy your week.

Pres Judy.

 

Members were treated to very inspiring presentations from this year's participants in the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). The NYSF participants were introduced to the program through online workshops which included a live cross to Sweden. They were then involved in two University days at both Monash and Melbourne. A highlight for Owen was his involvement in the Defence Science Technology Group. This included information about stress levels on jets, submarine noise and chemical weapon defence.

 

Participants were involved in practical workshops which involved making models and information about the way data is used to predict trends. The opportunity to discuss areas such as soil and Geology with Professors in small groups was most informative. The facilities included access to the materials needed to build a model of a moon rover and participants used the radio telescope to take a photograph of the Milky Way. Card tricks and robots playing soccer were two examples of activities which were both fun and educational.

 

The informal conversations with University personnel and the camaraderie which took place after hours were both very valuable aspects of the experience. Club members and our young people are very appreciative of the generous contribution of Stew Annan who volunteered his time as chaperone. The experience of shared accommodation at the university Colleges wouldn't have been possible without him. All participants either had their aspirations for study confirmed or shaped by participation in the NYSF activities. 

 

Members enjoyed the opportunity to welcome Bianca Guley (pictured) who participated in the RYLA program. Bianca has recently taken up a teaching position at St. Patrick's, Pyramid Hill. The program reinforced for her the importance of giving her students the opportunity to lead and developing leadership qualities in them. A highlight for Bianca was the values exercise where participants were challenged to identify the most meaningful values for them from a list of 300. Community and loyalty were high priorities for Bianca and she commented that her involvement in scouting has had a major influence on her. It was inspirational for members to experience the passion and goodness of our young people. We were very grateful that they were able to join us.