Stawell Talk 15 to 22 April 2014
STAWELL TALK 15 TO 22 APRIL 14
Hello to all our friends in the great ether, we hope this newsletter finds you well, Our speaker for last evening was an expert on China, and areas Thailand, Burma Vietnam Cambodia and Laos, and he brought to the table a vast information store of experience of that whole area, and he is one of ours as well in PP John Launder, so we will get back to John shortly.
Pres Kim, has her 27th Birthday this Thursday, and her nose will grow, But 50 or not have a happy day on Thursday Kimmy. There was another piece of good news that Pres Kimberley, is to go onto the RYE District Committee, and will be allocated France and Germany as her countries of care.
Brigadier Douglas Ball, has been contacted and the 29 April is set for the final group 7 Meeting, for the district this year: It will be held at the Goldfields Motel restaurant, 6.30 for 7.00 PM, venue has been booked for the evening.
Any final people to attend District assembly? The sec was after last acceptances, the application is now closed.
There was a mention of the breakdown of the meal costs and payment for them as the belt tightening is starting to bite.
Sec attended, [briefly], the District conference over the last weekend, all that can be said is that it was a very slow start Sunday morning, after the gay and hearty Saturday night, but the western theme was excellent and for those not in attendance there are photos on Facebook. However this leads onto, a presentation to Pres Kimberley, for and on behalf of the members, of a Banner that only 5 Clubs in the District. Achieved. This distinction, is well deserved and on behalf of District Foundation Chair PDG Brian Ternary and DG Ken McInerney Pres Kim was asked by PDG Ted to accept a banner for the Club for your efforts in being for EREY Club, and also for being 100% Compliant , with your contributions to the annual Programs fund, and Polio Plus.
As an aside to this presentation this district is for the first time in PDG Ted’s, 5 year tenure as chair of annual giving, have now [and for the present], become number 1 in Australia, he went on to say that we have achieved this position and it is via the work of individuals such as yourselves that the milestone has been achieved. The members at Conference were told of this news and congratulated by the DG at Conference. So thank you all and congratulations, again
.
May/June are setting up as busy months, set up for Assembly is on Saturday 3 May with the assembly on the 4th , Arrangements have been made with DGE Geoff to have the trailer at the school, and the YZetts, the catering, little else from District at this time.
Moving out of the Apex Shed, was or is on the agenda again, put bluntly is a matter of storage, Suggestion that a working sub committee be set up to look into this problem, and get it sorted. Once and for all.
Action is becoming urgent for the trip to Cambodia next year, is there anyone else we can contact other than the gentleman we have been dealing with? We need to get into the schools now and Must have details for the group meeting on the 29 Apl. And for the evening of the 2 May for the thank you evening to the Town by the returned Vietnam students.
Finally we have had a valid question, that is who is in charge or looking after Membership.
In this Club it has always been the President elect as the chair of the Membership sub committee, but as we all should be well aware it is an impossible job for one person, and so some years ago it was passed that every member of the club was co-opted on to the membership committee, and so in effect we are all in this together.. so at this time PE Vaughan is in charge of Membership and after the 30 June PN Pauline will become the PE and thus take over the leadership of Membership.
Hope this answers the question.
Sec has yet another question to ask, reports for the various directorates, this is for the annual report, that is to be prepared for change over, so we can ask for the directors and chairs to start their reports in the near future, 9th June 2014 is the absolute deadline, so get an early start, and ensure you have your report to the Sec On or before that date.
Now we move into the frightening darkness of Normans Beer Nonsense.
A handful of 7-year-old children were asked, ‘What they thought of beer.’
Some interesting responses….
‘I think beer must be good. My dad says the more beer he drinks the prettier my mom gets.’ –Tim, 7 years old
‘Beer makes my dad sleepy and we get to watch what we want on television
when he is asleep, so beer is nice.’
–Melanie, 7 years old
‘My Mom and Dad both like beer. My Mom gets funny when she drinks it and
takes her top off at parties, but Dad doesn’t think this is very funny.’
–Grady, 7 years old
‘My Mom and Dad talk funny when they drink beer and the more they drink
the more they give kisses to each other, which is a good thing.’
–Toby, 7 year old
‘My Dad gets funny on beer. He is funny. He also wets his pants sometimes,
so he shouldn’t have too much.’
–Sarah, 7 years old
‘My Dad loves beer. The more he drinks, the better he dances..
One time he danced right into the pool.’
–Lilly, 7 years old
‘I don’t like beer very much. Every time Dad drinks it, he burns the sausages on
the barbecue and they taste disgusting.’
–Ethan, 7 years old
‘I give Dad’s beer to the dog and he goes to sleep.’
–Shirley, 7 years old
Now down to Young Jonny Launder we don’t think John is a beer aficionado, now a drop of red That might be different, but John is an expert on the Eastern areas we mentioned before, and his comments are worth a listen. John gave us an unusual look at China today and the housing that is being built to accommodate her citizens. To say that a housing problem exists in China is a misnomer, there are 64 Million empty home units of varying sizes, all empty, why? Because the majority have been bought by speculators and they cant or wont sell then because they are to expensive, and so millions of places are vacant, because no one on an average wage in China can afford to buy them.
Older areas are being raised to the ground to make way for High rise housing , from 6 to 20 Floors high, and the selling agents are, or at least seem to be making the money. They show the building s in a 3D Model situation, with all the final touches completed , just like a dolls house, every thing is in place, to entice the prospective buyer. In the cities that John was speaking of these high rise buildings have views of Water ways, gardens , and feature items, any number of things to soften the appearances of these concrete monoliths.
The Cost ranges from 150,000 to a million Dollars for a palatial home unit and is worked out at so much per square metre, a 210 square place is very large indeed and so is the cost. Bur wait there more, what is considered finished to lock up stage, is a concrete shell , Floors, walls, ceilings un painted natural concrete, here lies the trap, after you have paid your money for the unit you then have to pay to have it fitted out decorated and the like that may cost another 20 or 30 Thousand Dollars. With enough money the rooms can be made very attractive indeed, and comfortable as well, as some of John photographs show, so it appears that the stories we hear of whole cities shops schools etc. included are real, with no one living in these ghost cities.
Underground Rail services are part of the process with a feasibility study completed in 2004 and by 2011, one section of the underground had been completed with three tracks running 25 Ks. And this has not taken into the fact of 6 Lane Highways that have been built as well, over two or three times that distance, between ghost cities. So it is all very exciting but we really need to be careful, for as John put it if China gets a cold, Australia will get pneumonia. Our Thanks to PP John for this unusual view of China>
So that all for this week folks remember, you need to believe in getting into hot water, it keeps you clean.
Have a great week in Rotary Cheers ED.