Bulletin Report by Chas Brodie-Hall

President Wes Graham welcomed all Members, Honorary Member Len Marsh, two visiting Rotariansand Guest Speaker John Simpson

Invocation: John Honey

Raffle winner:John Harding

President’s Report – Wes Graham:

  • President Wes has received a letter of thanks from Dennis Usher for the letter of support re the jetty
  • A site for the Esperance Show needs to be booked by the end of this week
  • There will be a board meeting at Wes’s house this Wednesday at 7pm
  • President Wes informed members that Doug Murray has spent some time in hospital but it is hoped thathe will be returning home in the near future

Secretary’s Report – Paul Mather:

  • No report

Treasurer’s Report – Peter Tredinnick:

  • No report

Club Administration - Director Ken Jenkyn:

  • Club Officers Training Seminar will be this weekend May 27 and 28. All incoming Club Officers to attend
  • We need to make sure the shed is ready for the event
  • Subject to numbers, there will be a BBQ (or similar event) on Saturday evening
  • Next year’s board is nearly finalised but still looking for volunteers to head up the fish van cleaning team and another to head up the fish van operation at fund-raising events

Community Report – John Gray:

  • Two helpers needed to run the fish van this Saturday – done
  • The merry-go-round has had its revamp completed by Matthews Smash Repairs and looks good. Account to be paid Esperance Ports

Youth Report – Director Scott Mackie:

  • We have had one applicant for the National Youth Science Forum – Arabella Lawrance, a Year 11 student at Esperance High School. She appears to be an appropriate choice and this was agreed to by the members
  • Josh Cox has been emailed to discuss his exchange future but has not yet replied. Scott will attempt another contact tonight

Vocational Report – Director Matthew Scott:

  • No report

International Report – Director Rob Leiper:

  • No report

Membership Report – Director Graham MacKenzie:

  • No report

From the Floor:

  • Call for volunteers to help set up the shed this Friday lunch time
  • Discussion about the problems around Josh’s situation in the USA and how this situation arose
  • Directors reminded to prepare and submit their reports for the end-of-year changeover report

Sergeant’s Session

Sergeant – Paul Mack

Sergeant’s Assistant – Ewin Stewart

  • The Sergeant punished numerous heinous offences including:
  • Raffle winner – John Harding
  • Dockers winners
  • Eagles losers
  • President Wes – late start to the meeting (7.01pm)
  • Ken Warne – missed turnoff to the golf club
  • Bob Boord – supplying an incorrect wedding anniversary date
  • President Wes – dress code – Hard Yakka not allowed
  • Arrival tax – Athol Staaden and Ewin Stewart
  • Buy the box: Wes Graham on Paul Mack for parking his stretch limo on the 12th green

Guest Speaker – John Simpson

John has just written and published a book on the history of the Brooks family and how they came to Australia and made their way to settle on station country north of Israelite Bay (known as Balbinya). His interest in this topic was spiked on a road trip he made to WA 11 years ago and added to by the fact that his wife Helen has a family connection to the Brooks history. His summary provided an interesting insight into the hardships and feats of survival that these early pioneers had to tolerate in order to live their dream. This was illustrated by the collection of photos which provided graphic evidence of the tough conditions they endured.

John had copies of his book available for purchase.

Guest speaker introduced by John Bridges and thanked by Chris Roberts

Attendance Report – John Harding:

  • Members41
  • Present 24
  • Honorary Members 1
  • Leave of Absence 7
  • Apologies 10
  • Silent
  • Members’ guests 2
  • Percentage 66%

Next week’s program – Chris Roberts:

Rotary Shed,May 29, 2017

Guest Speaker:

  • Invocation: Brian Colliver
  • Sergeant Assist: Jamie Hart
  • Welcome Host:Kim Beale
  • Student Host:Chas Brodie-Hall
  • Guest Speaker Intro: -
  • Guest Speaker Thanks: -
  • Standby: Rob Leiper

President Wes thanked Members, Honorary Member, Member’s Guests and the Guest Speaker, closing the meeting with the National Anthem

Calendar reminders

Club Officers Training Seminar this weekend May 27 and 28

Changeover Night June 24

The Club has a dedicated phone for apologies either by verbal message or SMS text.

Please notify by 10am on the day of the meeting. The phone number is 0419 924 686.

Club Website details:

Log-in and password: as per Rotary email 17/4/14

Ken Jenkyn is available to assist any members who are having difficulty in accessing the Rotary website. He can also assist with recovering forgotten passwords and log-in details. Contact him at or 0411 119 003.

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…just for a laugh

HOMELESS TRAGEDY

I talked to a homeless man this morning and asked him how he ended up this way.

He said, "Up until last week, I still had it all. I had plenty to eat, my clothes were washed and pressed, I had a roof over my head, I had TV and Internet, and I went to the gym, the pool, and the library. I was working on my MBA on-line. I had no bills and no debt. I even had full medical coverage."

I felt sorry for him, so I asked, "What happened? Drugs? Alcohol? Divorce?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," he said. "No, no.... I was paroled."

DON’T MENTION IT

A recent study has found that woman who carry a little extra weight live longer than men who mention it.

DECLINING PRODUCTIVITY

The foreman of an Irish road crew employed Paddy to paint the white lines line down the middle of the road. He told Paddy that he should paint two miles of road in a day’s work.

After the first day, the foreman was pleased to find that he'd painted four miles of road instead of the two required.

On the second day, Paddy completed painting just 2 miles of road. The foreman was a bit disappointed, but didn’t complain as this was, after all, only what he’d asked for.

On day 3, the foreman was disappointed to find that Paddy had painted only one mile of road, and so asked, "On your first day you did four miles of road. On your second you did two miles. But on your third day you only did one mile. What’s up?”

Paddy replied, "Well, I’ll tell you what’s up, but I thought a clever bloke like you would have been able to figure it out for yourself. You see, every day I get further and further away from the paint can!”