As mentioned in the article about our last meeting, we had been supporting the Rotary Club of Brisbane River City (RCBRC) with the “Be An Elf” Christmas gifts for children.

Rosemary Brady delivered our gifts to RCBRC tonight and assisted them with the final wrapping and packaging.

Thanks to Emily Wood and the RCBRC crew for putting this together.

Our final meeting for 2019 was held tonight, and we had the pleasure of welcoming our Assistant Governor, Dr Wendy McIntosh.
We heard from Sophie & Lee Julian.Sophie, who works for “UV Solar” in our local area. UVS have a number of complete Solar Electricity packages which no longer attract Australian Government Subsides, and are therefore of little value to them.UVS are prepared to donate six complete packages, along with the cost of shipping them to Tonga, for fitting to six High Schools in that country. They also have several electricians and their apprentices willing to head to Tonga, at their own expense, to install and commission these units at the schools.
The Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge has agreed to partner with UVS to register this project with Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS), apply for a District Simplified Grant from D9630 and develop a working relationship with a Tongan Rotary club, to try and remove the cost pressures from those willing to travel as volunteers to facilitate this program.We are very excited about moving this forward in 2020.

Last night also drew to a close our involvement with the “Be An Elf” campaign.Under the guidance of the Rotary Club of Brisbane River City, our members sourced and donated Christmas gifts for 15 children who otherwise may have received nothing.

A huge thank you to all the members, their families and friends who donated a host of treasures to make their Christmas quite special.
As usual, it’s just another case o

This afternoon a large group of our members, along with their families and friends, gathered in Graceville Memorial Park for our end of year function.

A huge thanks to Steve, Chris and their crew for putting together some wonderful food, and to the members who contributed with share plates.

After lunch there was a good deal of spirited action on the Boulles/Bocce pitch. Lots of fun, and I guess some winners and losers.

What a delight it was to catch up with Emily Relf, one of our past Outbound YEP Students.Emily spent her year on exchange in the Slovak Republic in 2017.Another great social event to finish off the year.

Tonight our members attended the 2019 Annual General Meeting, where one of the agenda items was the election of Office Bearers for the Rotary year July 1st 2020 to June 30th 2021.

The results of the elections are as follows;
PRESIDENT: Mary-Ellen Nielsen, elected at the 2018 AGM.

PRESIDENT ELECT: James Halliday.

SECRETARY:  Franz Sauter.

TREASURER: Debra Calder.

CLUB ADMINISTRATION: Jamie Knowlman.

CLUB SERVICES: Steve Bennett.

PUBLIC IMAGE: Ted Crowe.

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION: Warren Floyd.

MEMBERSHIP: Rosemary Brady.

YOUTH SERVICES: Margaret Willis.

The meeting also appointed two non-board positions;

YOUTH PROTECTION OFFICER: Craig Clarke

PROJECTS AND EVENTS: Robert Hartley.

This sees the Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge with a strong leadership team moving forward.

Tonight, our members along with members from several other clubs were treated to a tour of the Hita

chi heavy machinery assembly plant at Wacol.

Tonight was the Sherwood Street Festival, an annual event showcasing local community groups, street stalls and a whole lot of fun.
At the invitation of the Rotaract Club of South West Brisbane, some of our members assisted with breakdown and cleanup duties at the end of the festival.

Congratulations to Team Green members and friends and our local Rotaract Club, who worked together in a very efficient manner to ensure that Sherwood Road was reopened in a timely manner.

Tonight’s meeting was our annual official visit from the District Governor, Ros Kelly.
Ros led the discussion on many topics including redistricting, our current theme and where our club see’s itself within the of “Rotary Connects The World”.

Also attending tonight with Ros was “Betty the Bilby” and our Assistant Governor, Wendy McIntosh from the Rotary Club of Lockyer Valley. 

Tonight we heard from Norma Lovelace, a longtime member of the Queensland Country Women’s Association (QCWA). 
Norma has a long history with the QCWA, which was established in 1922. Norma outlined the history, growth and role of the CWA in Australia.
The Country Women’s Association of Australia (CWAA) is the largest Women’s NGO in Australia with over 17,000 members. Its objective is to advance the rights and equity of women, families and communities in Australia through advocacy and empowerment, especially for those living in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Its membership is diverse and includes women from all age groups; from urban and rural areas; from indigenous, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities; both working and retired.
For more information, there are several publications available and most could be found in your local library. 

Past President Jamie Knowlman thanked Norma for her time and insight into the QCWA and their worldwide affiliates.

Tonight we had an action packed and very full program at our weekly meeting. Recently the Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge sent a team to a remote region in Papua New Guinea. The P.N.G. Gulf Association sought our assistance with refurbishing a very rundown kitchen area and dining hall at the Malalaua School. In September 2018 our team visited the school to assess the scope of works. Through our partnership with the P.N.G. Gulf Association we were able to supply funding and expertise to see the project completed.

At the meeting, Zillah Carius, the President of the P.N.G. Gulf Association spoke of the difference this project had made, the gratitude of the students and staff, and she presented President Steve Bennett with a Certificate of Appreciation from her association.
We were also joined by Michael Reynolds from our local Oxley Men’s Shed.

Michael updated the meeting on the expansion of their premises, and the new activities they do.
Following Michael we welcomed Roger Crawfoot from Australian Rotary Health, the major recipient of our recent Trivia Night.

Presient Elect and organising committee chair, Mary-Ellen Nielsen, presents Roger with a cheque for $3500 to help with Mental Health Research.
Also in attendance were one of our very generous event sponsors.

Georgina Gill, our event Raffle coordinator, presented David and Cassie Kitchen from Ballistic Brewing with a Certificate of Appreciation, for their ongoing support.