Blog Archives

TAKING THE PLUNGE - FORMING A NEW CLUB

27/8/2013

All Rotary clubs have been "parented" by an existing club which takes on the responsibility and the thrill of getting a new club going.
The proposed Rotary Club of Hamilton will be its own entity when it has achieved critical mass.
The first interest meeting will be on Wednesday September 4th at Boulevarde on Beaumont on the corner of Tudor and Beaumont Street Hamilton for breakfast, 7.15am for a 7.30am start and 8.30am.

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Visit to Hunter Medical Research Institute

26/8/2013

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Rebecca Dyson

Kiera Rogalewski showed us around HMRI's magnificent new building. It is full of light and views from windows towards the surrounding bush with clever design internally with quiet spaces as well as the noisier research areas. It enables staff to get together and exchange ideas instead of closeting them in isolation.
Our donation was seed-money for Rebecca Dyson's research into cause of death of premature babies. In Australia 10% of births are premature and this is the major cause of infant death.
Rebecca's research focuses on very pre-term babies, less than 29 weeks gestation. The first 72 hours of a premature babies life is critical. Rhonda, in her midwifery experience, has seen many such babies die at this time and she said they are bright pink/red. This was one of the clues Rebecca is following into the cause of death. Dilation of the blood vessels close to the skin makes it flush red and takes blood away from vital organs. It is accompanied by rises in the levels of H2S (Hydrogen Sulphide/Rotten Egg gas) in the blood. Rebecca's research has been tracing why this should happen in babies as it is one of the factors in adult heart disease in hypertension and shock. She was able to go to Shanghai University which has one of the few pieces of equipment in existence which can measure gas levels in tissues. There she spent many a day measuring tissue samples to discover the physiological pathways manufacturing H2S. This is leading to drug and other therapies which will block production H2S production, and the saving of premature babies lives. If they can be got safely through those first 72 hours they have a 99% chance of surviving and thriving.
Rebecca is a Novocastrian and went to St Francis Xavier. It was a pleasure to see that our funds have helped such a great piece of research and a young woman of great intelligence and easy grace.

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Damian the Vexillologist (flag collector)

17/8/2013

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"Flags have their roots in the field signs and standards used in battle to identify legions and regiments within the armies of the ancient Persian and Roman empires.

Many national flags have grown from military symbols using during medieval battles to identify forces on shields, uniforms and suits of armour. These symbols were used by city-states and opposing feudal armies as field signs, and many designs were later adopted during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Until the 17th century flags were used almost exclusively in a military context. The birth of the age of sail in the early 1600s led to both war and trade ships flying flags to identify their nationalities.

It was not until the 18th century that many flags began to be displayed in a civilian manner to represent a patriotic sentiment, when both American and French revolutionaries used their flags as symbols of their newly-liberated nations." from wikicollecting
Damian has been collecting by various means (most of them legal) a collection of between 600 to 700 flags. National flags, business flags,, happy flags, sports flags, logo flags, big flags, small flags. He flies them on his flagpole depending on his mood or if there is an event to salute, and sometimes just because he can. He wants a Rotary flag and the good news is he can get one from RDU supplies - $275 for a 1.83 Metre flag. Hmm - Damian prefers the eBay hunt and the give-away when a flag becomes redundant - no bargaining with RDU - its full price or no flag. One of our best Guest Speaker spots - fun, informative and showed another side of our Damian.

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Federal government volunteer grant 2013 -successful

11/8/2013

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Have just had notification that our Volunteer Grants 2013 application has been successful - Thank You Jenny Macklin and co. Other Rotary Clubs have also been successful and can be seen on the website. We will buy a laptop, a digital projector and a "walk-around" PA system and extra mikes for speaker lapel. Then we will be self-sufficient when making presentations or meeting somewhere else as not everywhere is well equipped, and not everything works together.
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people/news/2013/volunteer-grants-2013

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TAKING THE PLUNGE - FORMING A NEW CLUB

Visit to Hunter Medical Research Institute

Damian the Vexillologist (flag collector)

Federal government volunteer grant 2013 -successful

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