The Rotary Club of Parramatta City newsletter provides updates on upcoming events, guest speakers, and community service activities. Upcoming events include a talk by State Member Geoff Lee on local issues, and the District Conference in March. The newsletter also discusses the Club's support of literacy programs through book donations to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and flood relief efforts of sister club Rotary Club of Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines. Members are encouraged to participate in fundraising and volunteer activities.

1. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
COMMUNITY NETWORKER
ROTARY CLUB OF PARRAMATTA CITY
PRESIDENT MESSAGE SAFE WATER
THE RANFURLY
Last week‟s guest speaker was superb and I do thank John Surian for LIBRARY
bringing to our attention a cousin with a high ethically standards who SERVICE
was able to inform and entertain us with a serious problem within the
insurance industry. The members really did not want him to stop and
the number of questions raised certainly ensured Steve Maronese left
an impression and gave a message to spread about insurance fraud
and how easy it is for the professionals to detect.
Ranfurly is a book-aid charity
We held our monthly board meeting last Wednesday and a number dedicated to the world campaign
against illiteracy in the English
of initiatives were raised and decisions made. language. First promoted in Australia
at our calendar of events and you will see that we have a great list in 1986 by the Rotary Club of Sydney,
it is now supported by Rotary
of events coming up. I will advise them through this newsletter and at throughout the eastern states of
Australia.
the meetings. Since it began its operations, Ranfurly
Firstly the Board wants to encourage that we have a large has shipped just over 3 million books
to such diverse places as Papua New
attendance to the District Conference at Penrith 23-25. The conference Guinea, Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands,
Thursday Island, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
is designed and allows members to pick and choose days and part and Western Samoa as well as some
Australian Aboriginal communities.
days to attend. This is designed to work around your life style.
All the books collected are donated by
Secondarily the Board wants to encourage members to attend the private and state primary and
secondary schools, public and
Bangkok Convention 6-9 May. I will circulate a tour package where community libraries and private
individuals. Collections of the books
members and partners can attend the convention and then have a and their delivery to the Ranfurly
short holiday with me at Phuket before heading back to Sydney. headquarters in the grounds of the
Rozelle Hospital in Leichhardt is
This week we have our State Member of Parliament Geoff Lees coordinated in many instances by
members of Rotary Clubs in
speaking. He is part of a new government and I am sure he will be metropolitan Sydney, country
advising of their new direction and the impacts for Parramatta. NSW as well as interstate. A lot of the
important work of sorting and
The following week of course we made the lunchtime meeting with classifying the books is done by an
enthusiastic group of ladies, many of
John Hewko an open lunch, already we have a people from them members of Inner Wheel, who
meet on alternate Monday mornings.
Katoomba booked in for this event. Book early for yourself and your The heavier work of receiving the
guests so we can cater for the CEO of Rotary International. books, packing them and loading
them for delivery to our shippers at
Christmas tree sales cleanup is November 26th and the first delivery is the Botany Bay container terminal is
done by a dedicated team of
Friday 2nd December. So everyone is asked to commit to this very Rotarians, ex-Rotarians, Probians and
important fund raising event for our Club. other volunteers who are on duty
every Thursday, from 8am to about
February 23rd is fast approaching and we will celebrate 107 years of 2:30pm at Building 296, The Rozelle
Hospital, Balmain Road, Leichhardt.
Rotary, go to http://www.rotarydownunder.com.au/RDU/home-page- There is a never-ending need for
books in PNG and the SW Pacific
articles/100%20ways%20to%20celebrate%20a%20Rotary%20Day%20%28 area and to meet that demand we
require a constant supply of good
quality used books, particularly
Infants/Primary, as well as cash
donations to cover freight costs. All
donations over $2 are tax deductible.

2. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
1%29.pdf and get a few ideas and pass them onto Prashanth to program.
For members who have taken to Salvation Christmas hampers bags to fill up can they be returned by
Monday 5th December.
Barry Antees
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
November
21 Geoff Lee, State Member for Parramatta
28 John Hewko- Rotary International General Secretary & CEO
29 Foundation Lunch- Waterfront Homebush
December
5 Sgt Brett Evans, Police Officer of the year- Parramatta City surveillance and protection
7 Australian Rotary Health Christmas Dinner
12 AGM & Bob Aitken- District Conference
19 Club Christmas Lunch for members, partners & friends of Rotary
January
14-21 RYLA Camp-Blue Gum Lodge
23 Transfer meeting-Northcott- RYPEN & RYLA Students
February
6 Lord Mayor-Lorraine Wearne
23 Rotary Day
March
2 ARH- Golf Day at Riverside
3 Multi-District PETS- Campbelltown
5 Pride of Workmanship Evening
23-25 District Conference- Penrith
April
29 District Assembly
30 Police Officer of the Year
May
6-9 International Convention-Bangkok

3. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
MEMBERS MATTERS
Prashanth‟s looking pretty mean at the moment with moustache ( I think he is a truckie), but of course he is
raising funds for Prostate Cancer goto http://www.movember.com/m/575480 and hopefully he will shave it
off in December.
OUR COMMUNITY SERVICE
NORTHCOTT-SHINE
Dear Members of Rotary Club of Parramatta City
Northcott Disability Services‟ purpose is to „build an inclusive society where people can live the life
they choose‟. Northcott‟s Community Participation Program empowers individuals who use the
service to do just this.
As part of the program‟s focus on providing a person centred approach to service delivery, the
clients who use this Parramatta day program have requested to host an event that showcases their
talents and abilities.
On Thursday 15 December, clients from this program will host their first exhibition event.
The Shine Showcase is an event that will focus on highlighting the abilities of Northcott‟s clients,
and will feature a variety of art, photography displays, individual and group performances including
singing, and fun and engaging videos, all of which will be performed by the clients. Not only will they
be the stars of the Shine Showcase, they are also the organisers who both initiated and planned
the entire event with limited help from Northcott staff, showing their commitment to being active
independent members of the community.
The inaugural Showcase will include two events, with the official launch occurring on Thursday 15
December from 6:30pm at Northcott‟s central office in North Parramatta. The night is set to be a
gala event for the clients, who are only calling for a gold coin donation for the event.
Raffles will also be held during the evening to raise funds for their program, with prizes including
artwork from one of the talented clients named Richie who has in the past year rapidly grown as an
artist. He is currently at work on a very intricate portrait of himself that he has been occupied with
for two weeks so far, and is sure to be a stand out on the night.
The clients from Northcott‟s Parramatta Community Participation Program would be honoured
if you would attend as a VIP guest to celebrate a year of their hard work, dedication and
achievements. They would be thrilled to know that our community leaders acknowledge their
impressive abilities and recognise the importance of growing and nurturing of local talent.

4. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
Please contact Asha Pomery on 02 9890 0918 or asha.pomery@northcott.com.au to confirm your
attendance.
From all of us at Northcott, we look forward to seeing you on this momentous night to watch
the „Many Talents, Many Stars‟ SHINE!
Kind regards,
John Preston
Area Manager, Cumberland Prospect

5. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
ST

6. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
GUEST SPEAKER-GEOFF LEE
Geoff lives and works locally in Parramatta and understands the issues
affecting our community. He has a passion for enterprise, the
individual, education and a fair and just society.
Through firsthand experience Geoff knows the challenges facing small
businesses in Parramatta. Before entering education, Geoff sold his
home to start up a garden centre & landscaping business and received
the Parramatta Regional Award for Service & Excellence.
Six years ago Geoff decided that he wanted to make an impact by
working with young people and became a lecturer in Business at
University of Western Sydney.
Geoff established the Parramatta Community Justice Clinic to address critical community needs, he
also hosts a weekly community radio program ‘Money & Sense’, which is dedicated to financial
matters.
Geoff is embedded in the industry, community and life of Parramatta.
DAVID’S PEARLS
Positive vs. Negative
There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
- Booker T. Washington
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
- Charles A. Beard
Learn from the negative as well as the positive, from the failures as well as the successes.
- Jim Rohn
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every
difficulty.
- Winston Churchill

7. Rotary Club of Parramatta City
OUR INTERNATIONAL SERVICE
Our sister Club Rotary Club of Ramon Magsaysay recently assisted in flood relief north of Manilla and Keith
has forwarded some of the pictures taken while they were volunteering.
1 Club members & family volunteering
2 Promotion of involvement
3 Other necessities to assist
4 Handing out food
FACEBOOK
We have now available for the club a new facebook page the shortcut is
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rotary-Club-of-Parramatta-City/108769975845097
Please visit, make comments, open discussions and for your initial visit please hit the “like button”. The
reason is the more members who like the page, we receive additional features. The Facebook page is not a
substitute for our website, but more of an additional way to reach our audience.