November is Rotary Foundation Month

Date: 19/11/2017

Dear Members,

Even though we had a few apologies at last week’s meeting our room was full with members, visitors and guests and was an

absolute buzz. We were delighted to receive membership papers from Ian Thomlinson and it is intended to induct Ian at the

DG”s visit on the 28th of this month and we look forward to having Micki join with the other partners on this, and any other

occasion she would like to attend.

We welcomed James Cunningham and Bruce Evens from the Rotary Club of Templestowe. Bruce brought our incoming

exchange student Neele Huebner and our outgoing exchange student Jamie Bastian. At sixteen years of age Jamie gave us a

very confident talk about her background and what she hopes to achieve from her upcoming stay in Switzerland. Jamie will

leave Australia about mid -January and we wish her well and look forward to hearing about her experiences when she returns

home.

What a delight to have Jackie Laird as our guest speaker and to have that “Happy Chappy” Scottie accompany her. Jackie’s

presentation about Scot’s condition was heartfelt and informative and gave us a thorough understanding of the issues of

Cockayne Syndrome and supporting a person like Scott.

The prognosis for Scott’s future is not particularly bright but it was gratifying to know that he is a survivor and is out living the

statistics for people suffering CS. Scott distributed to all present a small gift for our Christmas tree and it will always remind

us of our little mate who visited us for a sausage at the Tunstall Square market each month with a very cheery “Hello Hello”.

Our financial support to families like this really is – “Rotary at Work”.

Our next meeting is the 28th Nov. when we welcome our DG Malcolm Chiverton and his wife Karen, together with Russell

Gurney the DG Elect and Assistant DG Lyndon Smith. It is a partners night and it would be great to fill our room at Natalie’s

and extend a very warm Warrandyte Donvale welcome to our Guests. There will be a meeting with our guests and our

President, President Elect, Secretary and Treasurer at 4.30 on the day for an overview and reporting of our Club’s activities,

prior to our regular meeting for members and guests at 6.30 for 7.00.

We have our November Tunstall Square market on Sunday 26th and if we have good weather combined with an over booked

market it will be a cracker of a day.

Look forward to seeing the” sickies” back with us as soon as they are able – get well soon.

Finally, congratulations to PP George Guiver for his appointment as President Nominee for the year following Pippa. We wish

him well and extend our support to him as he leads our Club into the future, making it stronger and more effective and

showing that Rotary makes a difference.

President David

Members: To see our Program and Roster go to:

http://www.warrandytedonvalerotary.org.au/bulletin.html

November is Rotary Foundation Month

Above – Neele presented our club with a banner of

the Rotary Club of Bremen-Weser in Germany.

Above right: Outgoing exchange student Jamie

Bastian is going to Switzerland in 2018, which she

is thrilled about because she loves snowboarding.

She is also a keen baseball player, representing

the state in competitions in Japan and elsewhere.

Right: Marg George did a sterling job chairing her

first meeting. With our guest speakers Scott and

Jackie Laird who thanked the club for our donation

which assisted them to attend a conference in the

UK. Jackie and Scott distributed Christmas tree

decorations they had made for everyone.

November is Rotary Foundation Month

Left – James Cunningham and

Bruce Evans from the RC

Templestowe, with whom we

are sharing the Exchange

Students.

Below: Youth Services Chair

Rob Edwards with Jamie

Bastian and Neele Hubner.

November is Rotary Foundation Month

Jackie talked to the club about Scott’s condition – he has

Cockayne Syndrome and is one of only 9 in Australia so it is

very rare and information in the past has been sketchy and

difficult to access. Every two years the Amy and Friends

organization holds a conference in the UK which medical

personnel, scientists, researchers and families attend to

exchange information. This is the second the Lairds have

attended and Jackie says it is incredibly important to hear

the latest medical information.

Scott is now 23 and is a bit different from most Cockayne

sufferers in that he is well and has surpassed the usual life

span for CS kids (around 8 yo).

Cockayne syndrome is a degenerative genetic condition.

With the increase in research and knowledge of genetics it

is now being diagnosed at a much earlier age, but there

are families with multiple children with the disease

because they were not diagnosed until after further

pregnancies. A Melbourne based geneticist is currently

working on a study of Cockayne Syndrome.

There is good communication between the members of

Amy and Friends through social media on Facebook and

private Forums where they can exchange information

about managing the disease.

Jackie and her family last year relocated to Tamworth from

East Doncaster so they could more efficiently run their

business which was based there. Their business is

manufacturing shoes for people with disabilities such as

club foot. They return to Melbourne regularly for Scott to

attend his medical clinics at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Jackie and Scott were regular attendees at the Tunstall

Market where Scott with his cheeky smile and friendly

“Helloooos” managed to wrangle free sausages and coke

from us and befriend all stall holders.

http://www.amyandfriends.org/

November is Rotary Foundation Month

OP SHOP ROSTER Please let Bob or Marg George know if you are available for any shifts

Date AM shift 10 – 12pm

Sun. 26th (Tuns.Mkt)

Sun. 3 December (Tuns. Xmas Mkt)

Sun 10 Bev Sun 17

Grants chair Liz Guiver

presented President David

with a certificate from the

Warrandyte Community Bank

to mark their sponsorship

donation for our Art Show.

November is Rotary Foundation Month

November is Rotary Foundation Month

November is Rotary Foundation Month