Hi everyone, now that we can get out and about, everything is happening. This is our busy time of year with our recent Celebration Dinner, the Bunnings Community event night and the upcoming Christmas Carols evening, plus the Tree of Joy is rolling along very well. These have been keeping us all well occupied.

 

If I do not get the opportunity between now and Christmas, enjoy a merry ‘face to face’ Christmas with your loved ones and enjoy our wonderful Christmas puddings and cakes, now that we have some freedom. Please all have a fun time over the upcoming break and put your feet up for a well-earned break. Keep well and safe and I look forward to seeing everyone next January for our breakfast at Sabu Café.

 

We had our Annual General Meeting on Friday last week, 10 December 2021, and I thank everyone who has stepped up to take on the respective positions. We still have the President-Elect position to fill. Thank you, Pam for being the Public Officer to run this Meeting. I am sure that Sandeep will be looking forward to working with his team of enthusiastic, hardworking people. This will enable our Club to continue to move forward as the loved and generous working force that we are in our community.

 

I am looking forward to enjoying our Christmas puddings and so far, have resisted the temptation. The matching brandy custard has been organised. As a result of everyone who supported us in this endeavor, we were able to raise around $3,000. I am also sure  Moree East Public School and the literacy program are very thankful for the support as a result of the donation from the Rotary Clubs involved. Thanks for this Bob.

 

The Christmas community event at Gladesville Bunnings store Thursday evening last week, 9 December 2021, was a fun night and I thank the volunteers who helped to make it a successful night. We managed to raise about $195.00 on the night. Bunnings supplied a spinning wheel plus prizes. We also raffled 2 Christmas puddings and these were won by Mark O from Bunnings itself and Mr. Yang from Eastwood. We also engaged with several people to talk about Rotary and what we support. The chocolate wheel was a great success with the children.

 

Please all be reminded of the next BBQ at Gladesville Bunnings is arranged for 15 January 2022. We need a good roll-up of volunteers to share the workload on this day and make it enjoyable for everyone involved. Put this in your diary and let Garry know of your availability for the day.

 

The Tree of Joy has now been running for some weeks and closes this Saturday 18 December 2021. The response from the community has been very good and the presents are now returning. Thanks for your work, Pam.

 

The Rotary Christmas Carols evening is on this Sunday 19 December 2021 and is a very good fundraiser for our club and Macquarie Park Rotary Club. All the details are now in place to make it a great fun event. I thank everybody who has volunteered to make the night a success. Our final planning meetings are this Wednesday and Thursday to ensure all is in place, so we are ready to go for setting up on Saturday and Sunday and of course the Carols themselves. Please remember, we also need to dismantle everything after the event on Sunday night, so let us all pitch in to make this as easy and quick as possible. 

 

You can volunteer a few hours at either end of the day or stay and have a blast with the team.

 

Everyone involved is very keen for the Christmas Carols event to proceed, to help the local community to return to a sense of a normal life.

 

A reminder of some dates to note in your diaries are:

 

I am very grateful for all the hard work and commitment by everyone in our Club during these difficult times, thank you.