Our Exchange Student, Melody at 98.3 FM
13-03-2024
Our Exchange Student, Melody from Taiwan, was a special guest of local students, Matilda and Ruby on OKR 98.3 FM today.
A spirited conversation was had, with lots of questions to Melody about her home country and her integration to our very different Australian society.
Congratulations Rotarians on another wonderfully successful Broadford Australia Day Festival! We had a couple of late notice dramas, including there being no power on the Island due to recent storm damage. Damage to the flagpole was only discovered on the day, resulting in the flag not being able to be raised.
We saw crowds probably equal to those of 2023, though perhaps arriving a little later and leaving a little earlier. Fortunately, the weather held out despite rain throughout the previous evening and night. Thanks to all the volunteers who did a fantastic job setting up, ensuring the day ran smoothly and then packing up at the end of the day. Particular thanks to Tony, Roseanne, Kit, Ian D., Ian L., Gary, David & family, Noel, Peter & Prakash. And of course, our thanks go to Bendigo Community Bank staff who manned the entry at the bridge.
Donations at the entry amounted to $366.35. The bar saw cash takings of $424.00 plus EFTPOS which has not yet been processed. Feedback from attendees and participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Well done all. Enjoy the photos.
01-10-2023
These photos are taken of the two vehicles we took to Geelong to GT RECYCLING and SOEL. There was 305.5 kg of lids for GT and 13.5 kg of lids for SOEL. That's 122,200 lids and 5,400 lids respectively. There was also 4.3 kg of bread tags for "Breadtags for Wheelchairs"". That's 14, 300 bread tags! Thanks to everyone who has helped wash and sort over the last few months, and please keep on collecting.
Our Rotary Recycle Op Shop at 84 Sydney Street, Kilmore is now a drop-off point.
A very small but dedicated band of Southern Mitchell Rotary members enjoyed the sunshine for a couple of hours on a recent Sunday morning, donating their time to clean up a section of High Street, Broadford. The end result was very rewarding.
05-08-2023
Analemmatic Sundial Build at the Rotary Peace Arboretum.
This Rotary project to create an Arboretum on 10 acres with an Analemmatic Sundial has been ticking away for 3 years.
After many hours over previous weeks, measuring and pegging out the precise location of where the 13 stones (each one up to 1.7 tons) are to be placed, a small group actually put them in place.
Pictured are our “People of Action”, Rotarian Noel Baker, Rotarian Angelina Cirelli-Salomone’s husband Tony, Rotarian Sonny Gomez, Rotarian Peter Appleton plus Michael Appleton (with his tractor).
The Rotary Club of Southern Mitchell takes over management of the RUOSP Op Shop on 01/072023.
We are totally committed to supporting disadvantage in our local community, as well as promoting environmentally sustainable principles of recycling & reuse of materials. We look forward to continuing the fantastic work of RUOSP under a new name - 'Rotary Recycling Shop'. The service and quality of goods will remain unchanged under the leadership of manager extraordinaire, Lisa Walker. We are hoping to expand the collection of small recyclables in the near future. Watch this space.
6/84 Sydney Street, Kilmore
Open 9.30-3.00 Mon to Fri
Open 9.30-12.30 Saturday
now with mending, repairs and hem adjustment
MEDIA RELEASE BY TRANSITION VILLAGE, WALLAN.
To all past supporters of the Transition Village, Wallan project
It is with great regret that the Committee of Transition Village Wallan is announcing the closure of the TVW charity and project at the end of June 2023.
This has been occasioned by the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic and the continuing economic circumstances in Australia.
Despite our best efforts, increased building costs and the redirection of grant money means the Committee can no longer maintain a budget which will see the project come to fruition.
The TVW Committee is following all necessary legal guidelines as we close the charity and project. All monies are being refunded or redirected as legally required.
The good news is that the Recycled/Upcycled Op Shop Project will continue to operate as usual under the direction of Southern Mitchell Rotary (SMR). Profits will continue to be directed to local homeless support groups or activities. The TVW Committee of Management thanks Rotary for taking on the role of management of the op shop and its other activities, to continue benefiting the local community.
The committee, and myself personally, want to thank everyone who supported the TVW project. It is an innovative model which addressed the issues many are just raising now in the homelessness and sustainability fields. TVW was among the first to offer an integrated approach to homelessness support, climate change adaptation for this vulnerable group of people, and community involvement in aiding the Village residents to return to general community life.
The model is still current, the need is great, and the future is dim without this kind of support for local people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or just doing it tough! Please continue to remember those less fortunate and help out as you can.
Judy Clarke
CEO,
on behalf of Transition Village Wallan Committee of Management.
LANDCARE & ROTARY TREE PLANTING DAY
Sunday 18 June 2023
3500 trees planted. Over 100 volunteers fed and watered. What an awesome day. And the weather god was very kind to us. Rotary Club Southern Mitchell, a huge pat on the back.
The Beuhne Cairn is located on the Northern Highway roundabout just north of the township of Kilmore, toward (north) Broadford and (west) Bendigo. It was relocated from its original site due to local roadworks.
I (Rotarian Ian Dempsey) would like to share some information on Frederick Beuhne (pronounced Boyner) a very early pioneer of the Victorian/Australian beekeeping industry.
From “Monument Australia” http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/science/display/31812-frederick-beuhne
“Frederick Richard Beuhne (1859-1933) is known as the father of Victorian beekeeping. Frederick migrated from Germany to Australia in 1880, became involved in beekeeping and established himself at Tooboorac, today about an hour's drive north of Melbourne, Victoria. He was responsible for the establishment of the Victorian Beekeepers Association in 1892. This association was the forerunner of the Victorian Apiarists Association (VAA Inc.)
Fellow Rotarian, Rose King is a member of the Kilmore Historical Society, and her excellent research provided me with letters and documents in regard to the site.
Southern Mitchell Rotary is very keen to establish a bee/pollinator environment close to this site. The Cairn is only an hour north of Melbourne and would be a good place for us to meet.
Here are some of the things my wife Heather and I are doing around our home to promote conditions favorable to our local bee population.
We have a number of native bee motels
We are currently creating a bee/pollinator native garden and pond
We have just constructed 4 above ground vegie/flower gardens
I have placed an order for a beehive and mentoring - due in spring
We recycle where we can and have a compost system
The above ground veggie/flower gardens consist of:
Eight 3m x 200mm x 50mm sleepers cut in half and joined to form a box. We screwed the ends together and just placed them on the existing lawn
The first layer was wet newspaper. About 4 pages completely soaked
The next layer was compost we produced for the project – about 25mm
We then topped up the boxes with first-grade veggie soil from one of our local suppliers
Thanks
Ian Dempsey
Rotarian
Frederick held a number of positions in the VAA over many years, including editor for a beekeeping journal which became the Australian Beekeeping Journal. He was appointed by the government as the first Apiary Inspector, a position he held until 1926, when he retired. During this time, he wrote "Honey Flora of Victoria" which formed the basis of subsequent republications by the department and is still used by many Victorian beekeepers today.”
