It's the end of March as I write this message.

 

We are pretty much doing our meetings face to face now. We still cater to a handful of members who cannot make the meeting, with a Zoom link.

 

March turned out to be a busy month with our annual District Conference with almost seventy Clubs attending at West HQ. After much delay in the planning because of COVID uncertainty, it was a really good effort. (see story below) Some top speakers and just the feel good factor in seeing Rotarian friends after so long. I am in no doubt that Rotary is strong and forward-looking. We are engaged with our communities and there to help in these difficult times.

 

We are confident that our Club activities, and working together with other Rotary Clubs, will lead to significant benefit to our local community. We have ambitious and challenging goals and will be making major announcements shortly about our Homelessness Project.

 

 

 

The Medlow Bath Residents Association in conjunction with The Rotary Club of Upper Blue Mountain Sunrise are pleased to announce the first details of this year’s event.

 

It will take place in Medlow Bath Park (off  Railway Parade) on Saturday, April 30 11:00am-2:00pm.  Beverages and food (including vegetarian alternatives) will be available and cooked to order.

 

Attendees will be treated to a free concert with music provided by some of the best of the local bands.  The list is still being finalized but should include (in alphabetical order): Jan Stark, Karen Lynne, Martin and William Louis, Pat Drummond, Rhythm Stix, Sophie Prior & Mountain Ash, and Wombats Crossing.

 

This niche music event is the Mountain's best kept secret. So hope to see you there.

 

On Tuesday March 22 we met two very interesting women for the first time, Barbie and Amanda from “Paint the Town ReAd.”  PTTR is a charity with the noble objective of improving children’s literacy. This objective is accomplished by encouraging either the parents (or a relative) or a volunteer to read to children even from the day the child is born.  It has been shown that this reading interaction allows children to start school ready to learn.

Especially important is that for children from low socio-economic areas, studies have shown the academic achievement gap increases as they get older. Barbie told the Club members that PTTR often targets communities where the Australian Early Development Census shows that over 20% of children struggle with literacy. She said that they know that the best way to encourage early literacy is through community leadership and involvement. Because of this, the movement revolves around empowering local groups to lead and develop activities that work for their own areas.

Several of our members indicated that they want to get involved.  If you are interested in joining PTTR, the best way is to contact them through their website.

The topic at the weekly Club meeting on March 15 was extremely interesting. Our speakers were Lucian, Keegel who has been a past President of Sydney’s E Club and is currently District Chair of Community Services.  He was joined at the podium by Lora Stopic, current President of Central Blue.  The topic was of great importance, that is, a recommendation to help both sufferers of dementia and their carers.

 

In New South Wales alone, it is estimated that there are perhaps as many as 100,000 adults who suffer dementia to some degree.  Often times, it is those closest to us, that is our parents, who are struck down by the disease that has no cure and seemingly, only worsens with time.

 

Lucien and Lora, of course, proposed a way that the community as a whole can establish an outreach program that is both doable and affordable.  It is called Dementia Café or “DCaf” for short.  The idea is to provide a safe and pleasant activity to those suffering from dementia and offer the carers a forum for an exchange of information.  The DCaf Group would meet in a member’s house perhaps or in a meeting room once a week for coffee, a slice and a bit of conversation and/or light exercises.  For more information and additional tips on starting your own DCaf, it would be best to contact Lucian Keegal directly at lskeegel@bigpond.com, or more information about dementia at Dementia Australia

 

Mt. Vic Flicks Cinema is usually dark on Mondays.  However, on March 7, in spite of a heavy downpour, the cinema was alive with activity. Central Blue, Blackheath, Katoomba and Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise Rotary Clubs all joined forces to support a fundraising evening to Help End Polio Now. 

 

The theatre was mostly sold out (in light of Covid restrictions on capacity) with more than 90 Rotarians and their families in attendance.  They were treated to homemade slices and a beverage of their choice while laughing at the latest British comedy, The Duke, starring Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent.  The plot was a bit farfetched although based upon true facts.

 

 

The film is definitely worth seeing. More importantly over $1000 was raised for Polio Plus.

 

As all Sunrise Club members know, for the next Rotary year beginning July 1, 2022, Sandra de Gruchy will be Joint President with Bill, who currently has that role. 

 

Rotary, as with any large organization, sends its President-Elect to a leadership training day, known as PELD (President Elect Learning and Development). This one for District 9685 was held on March 12 at a convenient venue in Baulkam Hills and virtually all of the 67 clubs in the District were represented.

 

Sandra tells us that the speakers quickly laid out the four objectives for the day:

 

Speakers included Lindsay, May the current DG; Mina Howard, the DG elect and Kalma McLellan who is tasked with the portfolio of Learning and Development for 9685.  In addition, Ms. Jennifer Jones, the first first female RI President Elect, attended via a pre-recorded video link up.  She set the bar

very high by revealing her international slogan under her Presidency, which is Imagine.

 

The message in the video was very clear, and Sandra as well as the other District Presidents Elect, left the auditorium truly inspired by the words sung by John Lennon and spoken by RI President Elect Jones.

 

On Saturday March 12, the Sunrise Club returned again (post Covid restrictions) to the carpark outside of Woolies in Katoomba.  We had on offer an array of beverages and the tastiest sausages available anywhere in The Blue Mountains.  They were cooked to order with and

topped with a mound of fried onions (optional). Customer after customer told us that the Club’s sausage sizzles were the one event that they missed during the various Covid lockdowns.  This was clear as the stock of 400 were sold out not long past 1:30pm.

 

All of the Club’s members and friends should have the second Saturday of the month circled as we will be back on site for the next sausage sizzle.  See you at Woolies on Saturday, April 9. We are planning a Xmas in July BBQ, so the two dudes in the photo can make a comeback as Santa.