I arrived home from holidays on Friday 1^st November and it has been non-stop ever since!

 

 

 

 

 

We held our Primary Schools' Citizenship Awards (PRISCA) on 4th November, and it was a fabulous night!  We recognised 34 school students from years 5 and 6 from various schools in the Inner West, West, and South Western Sydney.  A huge thank you to Liam James and Anna Hoyles for doing an amazing job as MCs.  Thank you to all the members who attended and a special thanks to Anna Marie for her hard work in organising the evening.

 

I was very honoured to commemorate Remembrance Day in Burwood Park last Monday by laying a wreath on behalf of our club. Thank you, Keith, for joining me.

 

On Wednesday, we celebrated Community Connect with CABL, one of our major local events of the year.  We enjoyed numerous multicultural activities, and I had the opportunity to talk about Rotary with people from various backgrounds.  Thanks to Keith and Alf for the delicious chicken sausages.

 

I hope you all read the recent letter from Chhengky, our Cambodian student. I will be visiting Pursat in January on my annual trip and look forward to seeing Chhengky and the other students again.  I usually take school supplies and special gifts with me, so if you're interested in donating books, pencils, etc., please let me know.  We also sent out the latest newsletter from Sustainable Cambodia, and I hope you enjoyed reading about the great work they are doing.  The dental health program is well underway, and we are still awaiting a response from the District regarding our grant application.  I'll keep you posted.

 

Our Rotary Community Group has partnered with the City of Parramatta and NSW Police to organise a walk and rally in support of "Together we say No to Domestic & Family Violence." This event will take place on Wednesday, 4th December, marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.  By joining the walk, you can take action to prevent family violence and stand in solidarity with survivors.  The event will assemble at 11:00 am at Mays Hill Oval (Pitt Street), with the walk starting at 11:30 am and ending at Parramatta Square (650 meters).  At our Community Group Zoom meeting on Friday night, it was suggested we park in Club Parramatta and wear the Rotary purple "say no to domestic violence" t-shirts.  An email was sent to all members last week on how to purchase these shirts for $8.  I will be attending the walk, and if anyone wants to carpool, let me know.

 

The Annual General Meeting of our club will be held on Monday, 2nd December. We will discuss this on Monday night, but please consider nominating for Board positions. The future of our club depends on you, and we currently do not have an incoming President for 2025-26 or Directors to move our club forward.  Please give this some serious thought before Monday.

 

Please remember to send your apologies to Past President Sergeant Irene if you are unable to attend a club meeting.

 

If you have any articles you would like to see in Spoke, please send them to me at denniseh100@gmail.com  Spoke is produced the week before each meeting and the deadline for the Monday issue is 5 pm the Thursday before.

 

Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday night!  Have a great weekend.

 

 

 

President Dennise