To date, Dianne and I have conducted

official visits to 42 Rotary Clubs

across the District. We are constantly

amazed at the number, diversity and

scale of club service projects benefit-

ting people in communities near and

far. It is clear that strong engagement

by Rotarians and others in community

service not only makes a difference to

the lives of others, but also generates

passion, pride and interest in Rotary.

Vocational Service Month is a good

time to consider RI President Ron’s

goal to: Emphasize Rotary’s unique

commitment to vocational service in at

least one of the following ways:

Start a career counselling or voca-

tional training program and invite

non-Rotarian participants from the

community to attend.

Organise a discussion or workshop

on maintaining high ethical stand-

ards in the workplace and invite

non-Rotarian business leaders to

attend.

Sponsor a career day in which club

members bring young people to

their places of business to inform

them about career opportunities

Have at least 5 percent of the club

members join a Rotary Fellowship

or Rotary Action Group and connect

with people from around the world

who share their interests.

I am aware that there are a number of

our District Rotarians already engaged

Where’s Tony?

Oct 19 Technology Meeting

20 RC Kingscliff Duck

Race

20 Senior Leadership

Meeting—Tweed Heads

22 RC Beaudesert

23 RC Ashmore

DIK, Brisbane

25 Webinar: Increasing

Diversity + Connecting

Rotarians to Rotary

beyond the Club

28 RC Kirra Currumbin

29 RC Murwillumbah

Central

30 RC Parkwood

31 RC Coomera River

Nov 5 RC Warwick

7 RC Warwick Sunrise

11 RC Glen Innes

14 Public Relations

Meeting—GC Suns

Partnership

14 Hope Island RC—

Phantom of the Opera

15 GC Business Women of

the Year Awards

17 District 9640 Ltd AGM

17 Company Finance,

Board & Leadership

Meeting—Ocean

Shores

18-24 Zone Institute—

Canberra

25 RC Coomera Valley

26 RC E-Club Next Gen

30 Warwick Rotaract

Charter Night

Oct 2013 Issue 4

The Granite Grapevine

Newsletter of 2013-14 District Governor Tony Heading

Monthly Theme—Vocational Service

Engaging with the Governor

in Rotary Fellowships such as Recreational

Vehicles, Motorcycling, Cricket, Wine,

Yachting, Golf and Home Exchange. Find

out more about Rotary Fellowships at

http://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/docume

nt/885

Some D9640 Rotarians are also actively

engaged in Rotary Action Groups such as

Water and Sanitation (WASRAG), Peace,

and Food Plant Solutions (previously Learn

Grow). Details of other active groups can be

found at

https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/take-

action/empower-leaders/join-rotarian-

action-group

Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE) offers

further opportunities for Rotarians to con-

nect with people from around the world

who share their interests.

The Rotary International Convention in

Sydney provides an opportunity for Rotary

Fellowships and Rotary Action Groups to

meet up. This presents a great chance for

you to engage Rotary internationally.

I know many clubs have focussed on Voca-

tional Service already this month with Pride

of Workmanship Awards, careers nights,

vocational talks and visits to workplaces.

Our District Awards Committee has this

month selected a nominee for a RI Voca-

tional Leadership Award to be announced at

the 2014 District Conference.

Throughout October, Rotarians will be

sharing their vocational service experiences

on Rotary Voices. Check it out.

Best wishes for the month ahead, Tony

District 9640

Page 2 The Granite Grapevine Issue 4 – Oct 2013

In Rotary, October is the month we set aside to remind ourselves of our second Avenue of Ser-vice: vocational service. While some Rotarians call this the “forgotten” area of service, I would disagree: In fact, vocational service is the avenue through which we serve so often we don’t always recognise it as service.

Vocational service has its roots in the second object of Rotary, which encourages all Rotarians to hold high ethical standards in our business affairs and our professions, to recognise all use-ful occupations as worthy of respect, and to dignify work as an opportunity to serve society.

In short, the idea of vocational service is that our jobs, in themselves, are a way of serving society. Whether we are serving customers, teaching students, or treating patients, whether we’re in-volved in commerce, research, the media, or any one of countless other fields – we take pride in doing our work with competence and integrity.

Every occupation fills a need, and by doing our work well we are contributing to our communi-ties and our society.

The role of vocational service in the club is important, even if it isn’t always prominent. By maintaining high standards individually, we earn a reputation that we share collectively. By valu-ing all occupations equally and by maintaining a classification system in our clubs, we ensure that our clubs reflect our communities – and can serve them well. A Rotary club of all lawyers wouldn’t be capable of nearly as much as one that also had teachers, engineers, business owners and dentists; in Rotary, our diversity is our strength. That diversity is an advantage not only to our service, but to our members: It gives us all a valuable way to find the connections and opportunities that help us in our own careers.

Rotary International News Working to Serve Society

That aspect of membership is as old as Rotary. Paul Harris himself wrote often of the business advantages of Rotary membership, believing, as I do, that being a Rotarian means a person holds a certain set of values that will make him or her a good person to do business with.

Today, with the world more connected than ever, Rotary membership is an honour that we should be proud to share.

Ron D Burton

President, Rotary International

Blue Mountains Bushfire Appeal

Blue Mountains October 2013 Bushfire Appeal, NSW—RABS Project

Rotary Australia Overseas Aid Fund and Rotary Australian Benevolent Society (Managed by Rotary Australia World Community Service - RAWCS) have Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) registration and have been listed as a Charitable Fund so that they can accept tax deductible donations from individuals or organisations.

Project No 16/2013-14 has been established to assist individuals and families who have lost their homes in the current New South Wales bushfires raging in the lower Blue Mountains. You can donate using the following link:

https://donations.rawcs.com.au/Default.aspx?ProjectID=719&ReturnTo=4

OR contact District 9685 Governor, Graeme Davies, gravdav@ozemail.com.au

This is an urgent appeal and funds will flow

immediately to the disadvantaged.

Page 3 The Granite Grapevine Issue 4 – Oct 2013

The Rotary Foundation

Polio Update – 16 October 2013

The struggle continues in the three polio endemic countries but the battle is

being won. While Pakistan’s cases this year are more or less in line with last

year, there’s just one type now in circulation which makes the job a whole

lot easier. In addition to that, the date of the most recent case in Pakistan was

26th September so the signs are good. Cases in Afghanistan are now at seven

versus 25 at the same time last year and the most recent case was

15 September. Cases in Nigeria are now at 49 versus 93 at this time last year

so the progress is good.

The Somalia outbreak has not been a happy time, but much effort is going

into containing that outbreak to ensure it doesn’t become an even bigger

problem. The signs are looking better there as well with the most recent case

being 14th September, so let’s hope it holds. The outbreak in Kenya seems to

be under control.

The bad news is the level of polio contributions coming out of Australia. We see growth in the Philippines,

New Zealand and Indonesia but a continuance of the drop-off in Australia is a big concern. Year to date

September figures for Australia over the last three years are:

2011: $167,105 2012: $141,463 2013: $114,439

With Bill Gates offering to match your dollar with another two dollars, it makes sense to get in early.

There’s an annual limit on this match so when it’s gone, it’s gone for the year. Take action now and keep

our commitment to this incredible program solid.

November is Foundation Month and this presents a key opportunity to

enlighten members, and particularly our newer members, of the wonderful work of “Our Foundation”.

Clubs are encouraged to collect the Rotary Foundation money boxes from members and to make donations

to the Annual Programs Fund and/or the Polio Plus Fund of the Rotary Foundation.

The world needs Rotary and Rotary needs your support.

In devoting one meeting in November to The Rotary Foundation, clubs should consider a talk or discussion

on any aspect of the Foundation by a member or members, or perhaps invite an Alumni member to talk on

their TRF experience, or perhaps conduct a Rotary Foundation quiz. The options are numerous and a

wealth of information is available at www.rotary.org or by contacting a member of the District Rotary

Foundation Committee.

World Polio Day

24 October

What is your Rotary

Club doing to promote

World Polio Day?

Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine Page 4

To the casual observer, taking everything one needs to an almost unknown destination 1650 kilometres west of Brisbane to cater for an unknown crowd attending a 2 day horse race event in a desert, is close to unbelievable. Surely it displays the depth of com-mitment displayed by 27 magnificent volunteers who decided to be part of this special experience.

The combination of the cause for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Queensland Section, by members of the community responding to a call from Rotarians and the chance to travel to the iconic race in the mighty Diamantina Shire in the Simpson Desert was powerful. It was a bucket list fulfilling experience of significant proportion.

When the audience mix of Grey Nomads, casual fly in and drive ins, motor bikers and even people walking in settled into one very happy crowd of about 6000 people, the serious steak burger and egg burger connoisseurs emerged with rave affirmation for our excellent quality and reasonable price.

This was our commission from the Flying Doctor and to have it yelled out across the vending area by amazed customers was a most gratifying experience. To have Flying Doctor Board Members and Staff attend to both observe this and to acknowledge the volunteers was described as an outstanding outcome for the reputation and promotion of our combined cause.

Rotarians say “Yes” when many would say otherwise. The Flying Doctor says “Yes” when the call for assis-tance goes up in remote harsh isolated unexpected life threatening situations. We were not life threatened and we were in great company. We were learning about the crowd makeup, where they were from, why they attend, where they are going to, what kind of food they prefer and when, like the roos, they rest in a shady spot, or watch horse races, to emerge as the evening cool quickly follows the orange glow of the setting sun.

We over-catered in terms of quantity. However, our quality could not be surpassed as it was based on 120 gram melt in your mouth rib fillet steak and a fresh bread bun with fresh lettuce leaves, perfectly sliced quality tomato and onion, large bacon rasher, with sauces to taste. We also offered a range of soft drinks, water and a new coffee which went down really well.

One of the most beautiful outcomes was the coming together of the volunteers. They came from Adelaide, Toronto, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Hervey Bay, Goondiwindi and Rockhampton. Most had never met and are now great friends driven together by a Rotary call to help the Flying Doctor.

With a great big smile I am able to report the Birdsville RFDS Fund Raising Venture achieved many positive outcomes, even though the financial return fell far short of our expectations. Over 1000 hours of time by Rotarians and Friends of Rotary was put to great use promoting Rotary and the RFDS with many compliments on the presence of the RFDS, the quality of the food by the Rotarians, the professionalism of the team and the presentation of the stall.

We owe a great deal of thanks to the volunteers, they were just magnificent. Their support, enthusiasm, effort, results and friendship just made it go so well, Thank you everyone for a great effort. We have learnt so much about what we trying to do so that next year we will be in a much better position to increase our fundraising results.

We were able to donate some $1020 of funds donated specifically to the RFDS, some $2500 of unused food to the Dream Centre at Carrara for distribution to needy families, 1000 hours plus to Community Service. In addition we lifted the RFDS and Rotary profiles extremely high to some 6000 visitors to Birdsville.

Ian Yarker, Vice President

Rotary Eclub NextGen Queensland

E-Club at Birdsville Races

Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine Page 5

From 6 to 15 July 2013, Interplast contributed to a one-week training activity focusing specifically on hand surgery and rehabilita-

tion in Colombo in Sri Lanka. Based principally at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka as well as at Ragama Rehabilitation Hospi-

tal, and funded by Planet Wheeler Foundation, the trip’s strong emphasis on providing mentoring support and teaching opportuni-

ties has generated positive feedback from local surgeons and occupational therapists.

“Teaching and mentoring in hand surgery was the main focus of our recent trip to Sri Lanka, with the local plastic surgery group

again enthusiastically setting up a comprehensive program over the week,” explained volunteer plastic surgeon and Interplast

country coordinator for Sri Lanka, Dr Randall Sach, who has been volunteering since 1984. “A highlight was the hands on work-

shop, designed to improve skills in dealing with hand trauma, attended by some 40 or so Colombo surgical trainees and practicing

surgeons, complementing the preceding days’ more comprehensive lectures.”

The trip, which saw the Interplast team of two conduct a consultation clinic, deliver a formal lecture on compression nerve inju-

ries, a hand surgery workshop with multiple lectures and practical sessions, two separate occupational therapy workshops and

informal on-the-job training through operating, accomplished a lot in a limited amount of time! “One of the highlights for me was

being involved in a day and a half conference presented to approximately 60 occupational therapists from all over the island,” said

Kathy Minchin, a volunteer occupational therapist who has visited Sri Lanka on three previous activities. “The therapists, while

incredibly enthusiastic and keen to learn as much as they could about hand rehabilitation, were also willing to participate and

question various approaches, making it more of a facilitative approach rather than purely didactic.”

With the addition of new junior plastic surgeons to the Sri Lankan team, Interplast’s dedication to improving the quality of

healthcare in Sri Lanka, has the opportunity to filter into the next generation of medical leaders. “It has been very rewarding to see

the local plastic surgeons expanding their services and practicing at a very high standard,” said Dr Sach. “Much of this has been

as a direct result of the Interplast activities over the past 10 years.”

This is just one of the many Interplast activities conducted each year, including those funded by Rotarians in clubs and districts

throughout Australia & New Zealand. “Without Rotary, Interplast simply would not be.” Interplast achieves much. There is so

much more to be done. With your help we can do it.

For further information check out the Interplast website at www.interplast.org.au, contact your Interplast District Chair, PDG.

John Randel email nokie95@westnet.com.au or the Glenda Sherwin-Lane, Rotarian Coordinator at the Interplast Office on

03 9249 1231.

Interplast—‘Hands On’ Training for Hand Surgery

On Sunday 20 October, Glen Innes Rotary participated in Graffiti Removal Day at the Stonehenge Recreation Ground 10 km south of Glen Innes on the New England Highway.

This ground is a popular stopover point for travellers and many locals also drop out there to run the dog or enjoy the facilities. The 40 hectare ground is the home of so many interesting rock formations that the pioneers named the area Stonehenge.

Sadly the old cricket shed and shelter areas have become a target of graffiti and vandalism. The graffiti was quite offensive and the Stonehenge Recrea-tion Trust were pleased when Rotary offered to join them in removing it.

Armed with paint, brushes, cleaning materials and good humour the site was returned to its previous pristine state.

Group L-R

Peter Hindmarsh, Marg te Velde, John McKenny and Karen Hindmarsh.

Graffiti Day—Glen Innes

Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine Page 6

Donation of Australian Rotary Health Bears

Recently Sergeant James attended a Rotary Club of Gold Coast meeting. She met the President, Kathy Hogan, who advised that the club had a number of bears that they wanted to donate for children who needed support as a result of any incidents where they had to attend a Police Station.

The Rotary Club of Gold Coast does a lot of work in many areas in the local community and purchased the bears from Australian Rotary Health who supply them for fund raising for their research. Australia Rotary Health is Australia’s largest non-government funding body of mental illness research. They also fund research in other health related areas. The bears will be utilised by the Gold Coast District Child Protection Unit.

Pictured are Sergeant Holly James and President Kathy Hogan

RC of Gold Coast Pride of Workmanship Awards

Now this is grass roots Rotary and what a wonderful evening it was. In what was a very much an intimate

affair we had 56 Rotarians, Guests and Awardees enjoy good fellowship and the recognition of seven very

worthwhile recipients of our Rotary Pride of Workmanship Awards. Nick Bloor, Friend of our Rotary

Club, attended with his wife Tracy as our guest

speaker and had the room captivated with his descrip-

tion of how he has managed to sustain his company’s

growth of more than 20% in an environment where

many small businesses are shrinking to survive or

disappearing altogether. Pivotal to his success are

his employees, his team as he describes them and

customer service. Each awardee was introduced by

their nominator who described their reasons for the

nomination so we all got a true appreciation of why

they should be acknowledged and applauded for their

work ethic. Congratulations to all our awardees.

There is no reason to wish you luck in your chosen

field as you all have demonstrated you know what it

takes.

As you begin incorporating the new guidelines into your communications, keep the following in mind:

Clubs do not need to discard any unused materials. Rotary International encour-ages you to follow the new guidelines on materials you create in the future.

Your Rotary pin will not change. It remains the blue-and-gold metal logo that identifies Rotarians worldwide.

The Strengthening Rotary initiative extends far beyond our visual identity. It offers a new way to tell our Rotary story.

Updated guidelines highlighting the flexibility of the voice and visual identity recommendations will be available in the coming weeks with more tools and templates to follow.

Rotary International’s New Visual Identity

Page 7 Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine

Riders’ Long Journey for Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children

To get on a bicycle at Tweed Heads and ride 730km to Singleton is

not something many people would consider.

For Tony Worrad and Ray Chatt such a ride would also be just a

dream, but they are motivated by the plight of children in the Rotary

Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) program. So on

Sunday, November 3 at 9am, they will start the ride to raise funds for

medical treatment for these children.

They will leave from Chris Cunningham Park along with a number

of other ROMAC supporters who will ride with Tony and Ray for

some of the way.

The Ride for ROMAC has been sponsored by The Good Guys stores at Tweed Heads South, Ballina and

Coffs Harbour, and by the Telstra store at Tweed Heads. Along the route, Rotary clubs are assisting, some

sponsoring riders, some raising funds, and some helping with other details such as accommodation.

The ROMAC program brings children to Australia for medical treatment they cannot receive in their own

countries, and Rotary members provide support for the children and their carers while in Australia.

Doctors and other medical professionals volunteer their services, but costs are incurred for hospital

services, medications, and other services.

Riders who would like to join with Tony and Ray please contact:

Tony Worrad – 07 5523 3553 or 0427 727 880

Denis Hallworth (Murwillumbah Central Rotary Club) – 02 6677 9302

Information about the ROMAC program can be found at www.romac.org.au.

The annual GC100 Charity Cycle Event on 8 September was a great day for Parkwood Rotary. All members were on hand to assist with the event as cyclists took part in the challenging 100km and 50km ride along the beautiful coast into the hinterland. A huge thank you to all volunteers who gave up their Sunday to assist in this great fundraising event. Parkwood Rotary Club looks forward to their 5th event in 2014!

GC100 Charity Cycle Event—Parkwood Rotary Club

Serving the community is the top priority for

Mudgeeraba’s Mark Anderson who has been named the

city’s “top cop”. The long-serving Senior Sergeant beat

nine fellow officers to be named Gold Coast Police

Officer of the Year by the Broadbeach RC. The annual

prize recognises officers who have “demonstrated dedi-

cation and commitment towards both the community

and the workplace”. The awards have been running for

eight years. Winner of Civilian Support Officer was

Margaret Day from the Road Safety Group and the

Station/Unit of the Year was won by the Southport

Crime Team.

Gold Coast Police Awards—Broadbeach Rotary Club

Pictured at the Police Awards Night were:

Left to Right: Broadbeach Rotary Club President Neil

Baldwin, Queensland Police Commissioner and former

Broadbeach Rotarian Ian Stewart, and District Governor

Tony Heading.

Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine Page 8

What started as a Rotary Club of Ashmore idea 20 years ago on 5 May 1993

as the right idea at the right time, is now a plank of the Gold Coast City

community.

Initiated by PDG’s Heather and Ian Yarker when Heather was President, the

Ashmore Rotary Club began a partnership with the Gold Coast City Council

to implement a Gold Coast City Junior Council. This involved all Gold

Coast Secondary Schools and over the past 20 years, as many as 1500 young

citizens of our community have participated in this program. Despite the

cost to Council, the benefits are enormous as the Junior Council is a unique

opportunity to give young adults experience in community and local govern-

ment concerns, but more importantly provides an opportunity to expand

vital future leadership skills.

Current Ashmore Rotary Club President, Jan Heap, said “We are very proud

to have supported the Gold Coast City Junior Council since its inception.”

20th Celebration of the Gold Coast City Junior Council

Queenslander Jackson Huang has been named the International Brain Bee Champion. Future neuroscientists from

18 countries around the world met at the International Neurology Congress in Vienna, Austria to compete in the fif-

teenth International Brain Bee Championship. They are tested on their knowledge of the human brain including such

topics as intelligence, emotions, memory, sleep, vision, hearing, sensation, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s

disease, schizophrenia, addictions and brain research. The competition involves oral tests, a neuroanatomy labora-

tory exam, a neurohistology test, a written test and a patient diagnosis component. We are talking about 13 to 19

year olds taking this test.

Rotary Club of Gold Cost is proud to sponsor Jackson Huang to attend the National Youth Science Forum this year.

Jackson is quite a special young man. He attends Queensland Academy of Science, Mathematics and Technology

and he beat seven other Australian finalists and two New Zealanders in a test of brainpower in front of a live audi-

ence. The Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition for young students, 13 to

19 years of age, run in conjunction with the World Congress of Neurology and

includes a brain-teasing anatomy exam, doctor-patient diagnosis, written test

and a neuroscience quiz. Jackson was named Australia's ‘Neuroscientist of the

Future' after winning in Melbourne. Eighteen countries were represented in

Vienna and we are delighted to announce that Jackson took out the interna-

tional title.

We wish Jackson (pictured with President Kathy Hogan and Dianne Heading)

every success at the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra later this year

and thank RC of Gold Coast for their sponsorship of Jackson.

NYSF Student—International Brain Bee Champion

Congratulations to President Nathan Williams and the team from

Kingscliff Rotary Club for the invaluable contribution being

made to improve their community. Their efforts were recognised

recently with the club receiving the Business Excellence Award

for the Tweed Shire (BEATS) for Community and Service along

with a cheque to assist with their efforts. The Annual Duck Race

held last weekend raised valuable funds to improve the Ed Parker

Rotary Park at Cudgen Creek and was a fabulous day for all

involved. This club knows how to market an event (see page 9).

L to R—Kingscliff Rotarian Tim Adams, Tweed Shire Mayor Barry Longland,

and Nathan Williams, President Kingscliff Rotary.

Kingscliff RC—Winner of Business Excellence Award

Kingscliff Rotary Club Duck Race—A Great Lesson in PR

Newpaper coverage:

http://www.mydailynews.com.au/news/duck-race-to-raise-funds-for-

park-upgrade/2036278/

Channel 9 Television News:

http://www.nbnnews.com.au/index.php/2013/10/20/1000-toy-ducks-

fill-cudgen-creek-for-charity/

and incredible Facebook Promotion.

Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine Page 9

Issue 4 – Oct 2013 The Granite Grapevine Page 10

Enjoy the Granite Belt Experience on Saturday afternoon

Pick some apples and visit a vegetable farm OR

Visit the Stanthorpe Museum

District Conference - Stanthorpe—28-30 March 2014 Registrations Opening Soon on the District Website

Rotary International Theme for November – The Rotary Foundation

International Convention—1-4 June 2014

Please send articles to Dianne Heading at:

dianneheading@bigpond.com

Articles for District Governor Newsletters

Paul Harris Fellow Recognition

Total in District 9640 for September = 4

Paul Harris Fellow 2

One Sapphire 0

Two Sapphires 1

Three Sapphires 0

Four Sapphires 0

Five Sapphires 1

Books collected to date: 3,764

Cash donations to date: $2,370

Thank you to the generous support for my

project. It has been great to receive so many

messages like this one from PDG Alan Still

(Burleigh Heads RC) —

“Win and I would like to congratulate you on your Books for Children Project in PNG and the Pacific. We spent time in Fiji working and know that the greatest thing you can give a child is an Education. Well done.”

REGISTER NOW Register by 15 December to take

advantage of early registration

More information is available on

www.rotary2014.com.au www.riconvention.org

DG Partner’s Project

Congratulations to Peter Roberts on receiving a

PHF from the Goondiwindi Rotary Club.

L to R: President Peter Cory, DG Tony Heading,

Peter Roberts and Penni Roberts.

District 9640 Conference Speakers

Catherine O’Sullivan—From GSE to Bond University

Kim McCosker—Four Ingredients

Professor Michael Good—Striving for a Malaria Vaccine

Akram Azimi—2013 Young Australian of the Year

Michael Sheldrick—Global Poverty Project

Hayley Linthwaite—Rotary Peace Scholar

Inbound GSE Team—District 4180 Mexico

Rebound GSE Team—District 3450 Hong Kong, Macau

Technology News

https://www.facebook.com/RotaryDistrict9640