Greetings members and friends of Applecross Rotary,
What a wonderful evening we had on Saturday at our annual change over dinner! Thank you so much for the kind and welcoming words from so many of you to commence my year as President. The sense of purpose, connection and community was so easily identifiable in all the conversations I was a part of and it was very pleasing to be able to welcome the Mayor George Gear, Kim Giddens our Local State Member for Bateman, Karen Wheatland from the Melville Council and Pat Schraven our WA District Governor Elect into this environment. They all made comment on the vibrancy, diversity and enthusiasm they felt from our membership, well beyond what they ever expected from a Rotary Club event.
I also want to thank those who invited friends and family from outside our membership to the event. Extending our reach wherever possible is such an important part of building connection and belonging within our community, never be afraid to bring a guest!
A big thank you in particular to Lorri, Liz, Ray and Logan who did an outstanding job in the organisation of Saturday's event, in particular while I was recently overseas (stories for another day!) and well behind in my contributions, thank you!
I look forward to seeing everyone at our Tuesday breakfast meeting. Our guest speaker Angus is known to me through my studies at UWA and is an excellent academic who will no doubt provide a compelling presentation on the state of higher education in WA. You may be aware of a recent state government report into the sector which will make for interesting conversation!
We were treated to a Master Class on making presentations by Jeff Leach* last week.
We advise people coming to speak to our Club that at the breakfast meetings they have 15-20 minutes for make their presentation and then field questions for 5-10 minutes. Jeff took less than 15 minutes, summed up his topic in three words, then fielded many questions before wrapping up.
And his message (especially to the men at the meeting)?
CHECK YOUR PSA! Every year. That’s it. Nothing else, no digital palpation via the rectum (probably the number one reason why men don't talk about prostate cancer with their GP), nothing!
Start doing this when you turn 50, and if there is a history of Prostate Cancer in your family, every year after you turn 40.
Don’t be one of the 3500 men who die from prostate cancer every year in Australia.
Jeff speaks from personal experience, as last year his PSA shot up from the usual result of 2, to over 7. A MRI scan showed cancer in his prostate, but it was contained within the prostate gland. Keyhole surgery to remove it, and an overnight stay in hospital, means that Jeff is very unlikely to die of Prostate Cancer.
CHECK YOUR PSA! If you don’t know what the last result was, ask your GP. And tell him to take off that rubber glove! It won’t be needed.
* Jeff is a pharmacist, who formed a cooperative with other pharmacists that trades as Friendlies Pharmacy many years ago. He was a Founding Member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, President of Perth Rotary, and is a Paul Harris Fellow (Triple Sapphire).
Another great evening for AxR… thought the Cocktail style worked really well, with lots of moving about chatting. Great setting and location… we could do worse than having at the Applecross Tennis Club Rooms again!
Mike was an excellent MC, outgoing Pres Logan spoke well about his year, and Tom got his stars aligned for the coming one.
Thanks to Lorri and Ray for their organising respective components, and others who help put it all together.
Assistant Governor's (AG) training this past weekend
Incoming Assistant Governor’s (AG) for Rotary Western Australia had a detailed training/planning weekend in Rockingham on Saturday and Sunday. It was all about ensuring that we are up to speed on how to go about the expanded roles for the 14 AGs, and how we can support the progress to ‘Modern Rotary’ and build community relevance. Great sessions covering a wide range of ‘leadership’ based topics, and all facilitated and lead by amazing Rotarians whose day jobs are specialists in the areas covered. It never ceases to amaze me how generous with their time so many great Rotary members are, and they NEVER stop their GIVING.
Is this the real meaning of VOLUNTEERING in our world, really giving back?
A couple of ideas for Applecross Rotary to consider that came up in discussions:
Community Surveys at our main AxR projects. One of the clubs has had great success by engaging with those attending their project work by both white board highlighting the projects they undertake, and asking for feedback on what Joe Public thinks the priorities for their giveback and community actions. They then extend this on another whiteboard and ask Joe Public to put forward their own ideas for future community projects… perhaps lead with ideas for the environment, community health, the needy etc. The key is then to get them to rank these projects with coloured stickers and ASK THEM if they would be willing to join in support of Rotary and the projects nominated. BINGO! Think our Perth Makers Market and Jacaranda Festival activities and the engagement opportunity it would give us to talk to our community and ensure relevance and interest in what we do, plus asking them to join with us!
Cluster Clubs working together for better Rotary community outcomes. Nothing really new in this as our 4 clubs are already working together in support of what we do. However, this can be expanded, especially if you look at our local area into joint promotion and possibly a key community support project. In my role as AG this year I will be working on this theme, and seeing if we can’t do better in our volunteering roles, combing some of our energies for better outcomes. Whilst this was discussed, we are the only cluster group actually doing this and we agreed that it had scope to lead to improved Rotary community relevance.
I would welcome feedback for both of these suggestions.
Our inbound exchange student Valentin recently wrote to Lorri, who will be hosting hime for the first part of his time with us.
I get to come to you in October as my first host family. I am very much looking forward to this and thank you in advance for taking me in. Now I can finally get in touch with my host mother.
Since March of this year, I know that my year abroad with Rotary will take me to Australia.
I get to go to Scotch College and I'm really excited to see what awaits me there. The Australian school system is very different from ours in Germany. On the one hand, we don't wear school uniforms here. This will be a special new experience for me. Because I am very active in the Scouts, I have a certain routine with a uniform appearance. However, it is still unusual at school. Also, we're not at school all day. As a rule, classes start at 8 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. On one or two days, you may be at school until 3:30 p.m. All sporting, musical or other activities take place privately in the afternoon.
From an early age, I was involved in the Rotary community through my family, as my father is a Rotarian himself. My two siblings, Amelie, 18, and Nepomuk, 15, and I have been able to participate in many events and have therefore gained a good insight into the Rotary friendship. Not to forget the countless experiences in which we were able to participate. In addition to interesting lectures, there is, for example, a four-day Rotary trip to a certain part of Germany every year, which is always characterized by cultural, culinary, but also geographical particularities. Places that you don't usually visit. In general, my family is very fond of traveling. We used to travel with roof tents and traveled to Iceland, Russia or Morocco, for example. Since we children have grown up in the meantime, my father converted an old Mercedes Unimog into a motorhome. We have already been to France, Albania, Greece and Finland.
In addition to the Scouts, handball is a great passion of mine. But I'm actually interested in any sport that has to do with a ball. There is a large selection of these at Scotch College, which I was pleased to discover. Since my family lives in a village very close to the Alps, we are often mountaineering or hiking. Three years ago, we walked from our home to Venice across the Alps in three weeks. That was a total of 350 km over the mountains and we all enjoyed it a lot. I also like to be outside in nature. I'll probably have to get used to living in the big city of Perth. However, I am very much looking forward to this new experience. Do you have any tips for me on what to pack for Australia?
Now I'm curious to see what's in store for me, even if I have to wait until October.
R. Gordon R. McInally, only the second Rotary president from Scotland, is embarking on his hope-filled agenda. Gordon wants Rotary to exist everywhere in a style that suits everyone who has the desire to work with us to do good. During this Rotary year, he'll focus on three presidential initiatives that Create Hope in the World: prioritizing mental health, building peace through virtual exchanges, and empowering girls. Read more about Gordon and his Scottish roots in the July issue of Rotary magazine and listen to a reading of the article on our podcast.
Professor Angus Buchanan commenced working at Curtin University in 2008, and is currently Head of School, Curtin School of Allied Health. Prior to this Angus held the role of Head of School, Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology (2015 – 2021). Professor Buchanan is a PDG of Rotary District 9455 (2014-15).
We were treated to a Master Class on making presentations by Jeff Leach* last week.
e student Valentin recently wrote to Lorri, who will be hosting hime for the first part of his time with us.
