Goodness gracious, we are at the end of January already. A quite sticky day on Monday but the hard core of the Club braved the day. Our Speaker Graham Wilcox spoke about the Federation of the Australian States and how that was achieved – not without some difficulties. Graham gave a well prepared factual talk. He is the author of a book upon the subject so after his talk the Club bought one of his books for presentation to a local school library.
I hope that you are all coping with this harsh summer weather, with increasingly hot days resulting in an impossibly hot day then some relief before repeating the cycle. Unfortunately the nights are remaining in the mid twenties making sleep challenging.
Last week I encouraged you to watch TV to hear what Donald Trump was up to – enough of that. This week you should have watched TV to see Federer finally prevail over Nadal. What a great match! We won’t mention the Cricket in Auckland though.
We have a BBQ coming up at the weekend. Howard and Wendy have had a change of plans and cannot attend so luckily Philip and Richard have filled that gap. Thank you both. We are looking for someone to collect the sausages.
Our next meeting is a change of location. It be held at the Union Hotel, offering a change of menu also. Parking in the street or at Ridge Street, just off West Street – approx a 4 to 5 minute walk to the Union Hotel. After the visit members might like to give their opinion about the venue.
It is sad to report that Sue Raveane’s sister Vanessa died at the weekend after a long illness. Our thoughts are with you, Sue and Angelo.
Humour for the Editor - The high school kid loved fast cars, and was thrilled to land a summer job with the local Alfa Romeo service centre.
“Gee, Mr .Vespucci,” he gushed, grabbing a wrench,
“I can’t wait to learn the ins and outs of fixing these babies.”
So he was startled when Mr. Vespucci told him to put down his tools and listen.
“The first thing you gotta learn how to do,” he instructed the kid,
“is to open the hood, stand back, and shake your head very, very slowly and very, very sadly.”
For your Diary:
– District Conference at Penrith: March 11.
- Board Meeting ,Northbridge , Feb 7, all welcome.
- District Assembly, Parramatta, 23 April.
A final item – our 1st January Subscriptions are due – please expect an invoice from the Treasurer. Subs are $120..00 for Members and $175.00 for Corporate Members. Bank Details WESTPAC BSB 032-298 A/c Rotary Club of Crows Nest 394298.
Graham is a genealogist and family historian. Since his childhood he has known that many of his ancestors had fascinating lives. As a member of the Society of Australian Genealogists he traced, as far back as possible, the family names of all his great great grandparents decendants that amounted to several thousand people. Eventually he wrote about his ancestors and wanted to share those stories with his extended family to ensure they were preserved. When he researched details of his great grandfather Sir Arthur Rutledge had made a momentous discovery. Sir Arthur was not only a Wesleyan Minister, lawyer, politician and judge, he played a crucial role in bringing together all the colonies on the continent to form one country of Australia. This led Graham to write a book of considerable historic interest for all Australians. It is entitled 'The struggle for Unity- A story of the federation of Australia. Graham lives in Pitt Town on the Hawkesbury River close to the area where to of his ancestor families settled 226 years ago.