Mt Osmond Golf Course, June 23rd 2024

The Rotary Club of Burnside had an incredible afternoon at the Mt Osmond Golf Club to celebrate the year past and look to the year ahead with incoming President Andrew Bradley.

Des Munro did a fantastic job as Master of Ceremonies, his quick wit and ability to keep the proceedings on schedule adding greatly to the event.

President Andrew Bradley thanks each Rotarian, from within and outside the Club, who attended or sent their best wishes. It means a lot to our new President, Andrew Bradley, as he takes on the responsibility of leading our Club for the coming year. Many past members and their partners attending included Brett Dalton, Garry Humphries and Lynette, Brian Wall and Margaret, and Wendy Stewart.

The Club expresses their thanks to all of our distinguished guests for attending: Anne Monceaux, Mayor of Burnside; Jack Batty MP, Member for Bragg; James Stevens MP, Federal Member for Sturt; District Governor Nominee Rajeev Kamini; Area Governor Elizabeth Gagliardi and her husband Eddie. A special thank you is extended to Andrew’s family, friends, and associates for their support and attendance.

It was unfortunate that our Immediate Past President, Margie Maloney OAM, could not attend in person. However, a video feed was set up just in time for her to hear her speech recited by incoming Club Secretary John Rockliff. The Club congratulates Margie on a successful year as President in which the Club achieved a lot under her leadership.

The Club, led by President Andrew, is genuinely excited for the year ahead as we move forward under a vision of Collaboration and Community, promoting peace and understanding among peoples – in the current state of local and world affairs, our mission is more important than ever.

With the support of fellow Rotarians, Friends of Rotary and the Board, we will have an amazing year.

On Saturday 15th June we provided a BBQ as a part of the Burnside Environment and Sustainability Expo BBQ at the Civic Centre. Council organisers expected numbers in excess of 1000 would attend, and with the weather holding up nicely, it seems that they weren’t disappointed. 

A surprisingly diverse set of displays, talks and demonstrations were brought together, from Sustainable Fashion to native plants, animals, e-bikes, EVs, a rubbish and recycling presentation, Lions, and more, as well as keynote speaker Sophie Thomson.

In keeping with the event theme, RCB had decided that the proceeds of our BBQ would go towards materials for another round of Habitat Boxes, with the flatpack kits we produce being handed to Scouts Australia to involve their youth members in constructing, and the finished products to grace Scout campsites such as Woodhouse and Roonka. John Caddy set up a display of previous Rotary Club of Burnside work on the Habitat Boxes, and some example habitat boxes, and had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.

Across the way at the BBQ, Des and JohnR loaded up and met Susan Girke, AndrewB and Ken Cross to set up and get cooking. Initially sales were slow but steady, and JohnR was experimenting with Ian Vayne’s “low and slow” BBQ technique – but all of a sudden the lunch rush started and your cook was badly caught out!  Luckily our 2nd change crew in Brian and Peter arrived at just the right time, we cranked the heat up, stalled customers for a few minutes and got back on top – just – and kept going flat out for a couple of hours. In the last hour sales slowly wound back down, we cut down on cooked stock and as the end of the event rolled past we sold the last cooked beef snag and  even the last 2 vego snags! 

In the end we moved 12 and 1/2 trays of beef snags, and – surprisingly – 4 packs of 6 “sustainable plant-based” sausages (given the amount of plastic wrapping for a 6-pack, “sustainable” is perhaps a stretch!). We retired with 5 loaves of bread and 4 untouched packs of vego snags to donate, and 3 and 1/2 trays of beef snags and a few bags of onions destined for the freezer to rest up for another outing next weekend. Treasurer Des tells us that we grossed $1122.70 and additional donations $19.10 – a pretty outstanding effort!!  And even more so in the face of the competing food offerings on site include burgers, wood-oven pizza, and lots of pastries and delicacies – seems like there’s still a place for the “budget offering” specially when there are lots of family groups attending.

Thanks again to our willing and capable crew of members and friends Susan, Ken, Brian, Peter, Andrew, Des, JohnC and JohnR. And commiserations to Ian Metcalfe who was rostered for the day but pulled up sick and was confined to barracks – hope you’re back up to speed for the final list on Wednesday!

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What a magnificent evening with so many people attending. The guest speaker Assoc. Prof. Amal Abou-Hamden was to present on Brain haemorrhages and treatments. However, an early message from Amal to tell me that she had to go to theatre for an emergency Brain haemorrhage!

We commenced our meal and were feeling disappointed that Amal had to go to theatre just when she was to be at the club. About 8 pm the phone rang, and it was Amal she has just arrived and was looking for the Club meeting room. All she requested was a drink and something sweet to boost her blood sugar!!

Amal’s presentation was extremely interesting as it covered the many ways to deal with brain haemorrhages and the various new techniques and trials.

Time is the essence for dealing with brain haemorrhages eight hours being the magic number. This is to wait for the bleed to stabilise before surgery. Previously brain haemorrhages underwent a craniotomy with a large incision. Amal has been involved in trials that prefer a more minimally invasive approach using a fine telescope. The bleed is removed leaving no more than fifteen mls behind, as patients do better with this amount. Patients can even go home the next day after this type of procedure. While some details were more complex it gave us all an idea that there are different methods, and we can at least ask more questions should we need surgery.

We were all incredibly grateful that Amal rushed to the Kensington Hotel after surgery, amazing lady.

It was a truly memorable meeting with so many people attending. Thank you to all the guests.

It was an immense pleasure to induct Murray into the Rotary club of Burnside. Murray has been a regular visitor to the club and part of the Fullarton Market BBQ team.

Murray was introduced to the Rotary club of Burnside by Marshall Hanna.

Marshall had a few words to say about Murray and how they met at the garden at the Burnside Shed. With a shared love of gardening Marshall introduced Murray to the benefits of joining a Rotary club. Murray said he felt very welcome on his first visit to the club and this warmth from the

TOPIC ‘Life Changing experience – rotary exchange to Denmark 40 years ago’

This was an amazing presentation and enjoyed by all. Lyndall made lifelong friends while she was living in Denmark. The friendships and bonds she formed still exist today. Lyndall has visited Denmark 20 times and her family from Denmark have visited her in Australia. She has seen her host sister’s children grow up and they have seen Lyndall’s children grow up.

Lyndall mastered the Danish language as her host families did not speak English so encouraged Lyndall to learn what is considered a difficult language.

The friendships Lyndall developed are strong family connections and she hopes the next generation will continue with these strong ties.

Lyndall spoke with such passion about her wonderful experience as an Exchange student and how it profoundly changed her life.

Thank you, Lyndall, for sharing your amazing story we were all the better for hearing about your experiences.

Thank you, Craig, for inviting Lyndall to share her story.

Merilyn gave an excellent summary of the work of Interplast and the many countries they visit. They provide surgical procedures for many congenital defects for example Cleft Lips, Palates and Burn injuries. The teams are all volunteer surgeons, Anaesthetists and Nursing staff.

Interplast works with both the College of Surgeons and Rotary Australia and New Zealand. As well as operating on patients they provide training to the local doctors and help these doctors to fins placements in teaching hospitals in Australia. Once they gain more knowledge and skills, they can return to their country better equipped to deal with the many different procedures they meet.

The are now sending teams to Bhutan and have enabled one doctor to train in Australia so he can do Plastic surgery in Bhutan. He is now the only Plastic surgeon in Bhutan. Interplast has had a significant impact in Bhutan.

It is truly an inspiring organisation in that they provide surgical services to many people who would not be able to receive the treatment they need.

Merilyn is obviously very enthusiastic about the work Interplast carries out and is keen to spread the word.

Funds are a particular issue with Interplast as they must take all the surgical equipment they need. The hospitals and clinics they visit do not stock the sophisticated equipment needed for Plastic surgery.

We hope as a club we can support the work of Interplast in the future.

Thank you, Merilyn, for your inspiring presentation to the Rotary Club of Burnside.

Numbers continues to be small, but enthusiasm is still high from the participants.

Unfortunately, our most loyal supporter, Patsy was not in attendance and her presence was missed. Patsy did ring the next day to apologise but she had a fall and dislocated her shoulder. She is currently being looked after until ready to return to her Retirement village. We all wish her well for a speedy recovery.

Guest Speaker; Jane Somers ‘Big Sky Flower farm’

Jane spoke about her flower garden and how it all came about. Jane was a successful Travel agent but that all stopped with Covid. She was also affected by the Cuddlee Creek fire in 2019. Jane then decided to grow flowers as she loves to garden. Inspired by her mother and father who are both keen gardeners Jane set about planting out her flowers. She is now doing well and extremely popular in and around the Adelaide Hills. Her floral arrangements are quite stunning, and she is now doing a few weddings.

Her presentation was well received by all and there were many questions.

NEXT COMMUNITY WELLNESS HUB THURSDAY 20^TH JUNE 2024.

GUEST SPEAKER DOREEN CROSS ‘WORKING WITH THE UNITED NATIONS.’

Wednesday morning 24^th April 2024 John Caddy and Margie Maloney from The Rotary Club of Burnside visited Baptist Care. We were there to see examples of the Emergency Food parcels that are available to people in a desperate situation trying to provide food for the family.

With a donation from the Rotary Club of Burnside and a District grant we were able to provide Baptist Care with enough funds to buy four hundred Emergency food parcels.

Baptist Care are finding the need for Emergency Food Parcels has increased due the high cost of basic food supplies. More people people are struggling to provide food for their families as well as the increase in homelessness.

The Rotary Club of Burnside are happy that we have been able to help in this time of great need.

We were also grateful for a generous donation from the St. Peters Rotary Club of $1500 which helped go towards the Food parcels.

Stefano gave us an update on the instillation of the Air Conditioner in the kitchen. This will be happening very soon and Gary the amazing chef is very grateful. The kitchen provides over 150 meals a day to the homeless struggling with food supplies. The kitchen at Baptist Care while very functional is small and very hot in the summer months.

We are having more people attending, and delighted to see that we have some regulars who enjoy the session.

This month as Guest Speakers we had Kate Kenning and Even Reay talk about the Aged Care Packages, Social Support Package and “the Shed’ The presentations were well received as there is a need for information on these topics. Thank you to Kate and Evan giving up their time to present.

The seated chair exercises with Instructor Clo from Support for Life are a big hit and enjoyed by the participants and The Rotary club of Burnside Volunteers.

The lunch again was delicious and many compliments from the group, thank you to Peter Fowler.

Ruby Balmer from the city of Burnside came with a photographer, Andrew for photos for the City of Burnside magazine ‘Focus.’

There was a post on the City Burnside facebook page about the Wellness Hub, thank you Ruby.

This event would not be possible without the volunteers who help put it all together. Thank you to S. Girke, S. Rockliff, J. Rockliff, P. Higgins, J. Caddy, and P. Fowler.

Next meeting for the Wellness Hub is May 16^th at Glenunga Hub. 11am – 1pm.

Guest Speaker for May is Jane Somers of Big Sky Flower Farm.

Hear Jane’s inspiring story of becoming a flower grower after her job as Travel agent was lost due to Covid. Jane also suffered through the Cuddly Creek fires 2019 with damage to the family property. Jane slowly set up her flower garden while raising to small children with her husband Dave.

Her floral arrangements are now very popular and she has quite a following.

John Caddy and I started the week by visiting Australian Timbers in Trinity Gardens. Last year John went to buy ten sheets of Plywood for Habitat Boxes for the scouts at Australian Timbers. The company donated another ten sheets of plywood for the scouts. This enabled the Rotary club of Burnside to make ninety flat packs for the scouts to build Habitat boxes.

We were extremely grateful for the donation as it enabled the club to make more flat packs.

We met with Deeon Otto and presented the company with a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of their kind donation.

Deeon was delighted and it turned out that he had a strong connection to the Scouts with his sons being part of the Woodhouse Scouts. Deeon himself had attended a Jamboree at Woodhouse many years ago.