Winners are grinners, and the team from the Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge were all smiles after winning the 2019 Western Cluster Challenge Cup at Club Oxley.

Left to right, Jill Divola, a friend of our club is pictured with two of our members, James Halliday and Georgina Gill and also the event convenor, Frank Sauter from the Rotary Club of Jindalee.

As the cycle of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program continues, we say farewell to Xavier Cichero. Xavier has departed this afternoon for his 12 month exchange in Austria.

Xavier, pictured here, is sponsored by Brisbane Taylor Bridge, ready to go, along with Josephine Stockdale who is sponsored by Greater Springfield..
33 students from several Rotary Districts boarded SQ236 to Singapore where they met another big bunch of students from Sydney and Melbourne.
In Singapore, the Rotary escort volunteers need to get them into their correct groups for their onward fights to European countries.
The concept of “Herding Cats” is quite similar.

Tonight, Roger Crawfoot, the Chair of D9630 Australian Rotary Health attended our meeting to collect a cheque for some of the proceeds from our 2018 Trivia Night.

Roger addressed the meeting on where to research funds are directed.

Debbie and I went to the International Airport to welcome home James Goss.

James has spent the last 12 months on the Rotary Youth Exchange Program in Sweden.
It was a noisy bunch at arrivals, four students from our district, as well as several from as far away as Gladstone landed on the same plane.
Greater Springfield also had a large presence as James’ father is a member there.

The the club Annual General Meeting tonight, the Board to lead the Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge through the 2019 – 2020 Rotary year was elected.The Office Bearers elected were;
President – Steve Bennett

President Elect – Mary-Ellen Nielsen

Secretary – Robert Hartley

Treasurer – Debra Calder

Club Administration Director – Jamie Knowlman

Public Image Director – Craig Clarke

Membership Director – James Halliday

Rotary Foundation Director – Warren Floyd

Youth Services Director – Craig Clarke

This board will take the reins on July 1 2019.

Tonight a small group of wonderful people made a big difference to the lives of our Country Cousins on the land.A little over 90 generous soles attended the “Bush Opera” function hosted by the Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge and the Boulevard Gardens Function Centre in Indooroopilly.

President Jamie Knowlman and Jackie.

Past President Stephen Ganko and Rhonda.

Mary-Ellen Nielsen & Lester Drew.

Kev Clayton keeping “The Boss” honest.
The event was held to raise much needed funds for the Rotary District 9630 Drought Relief Program, which has been operating for five years. Our Drought Relief Program has raised and distributed in excess of A$1.6 million to struggling farmers in Southern Queensland. The success of this Program has been assisted by the contributions from “Hand, Heart Pocket”, the charity arm of the Australian Freemasons, and a contribution from the Channel Nine – National Farmers Federation Appeal.

“The Tatty Tenors” and the “Brisbane Opera” kept the guests entertained, and the Master of Ceremonies, Mr Ben Davis from Network Seven kept the program flowing.

Winners are grinners, Rhonda & Stephen search for that ticket. They found it.
After the auction was completed and the raffles drawn it was time to tally up the proceeds.
At the conclusion of the formal proceedings the event organiser, Past President Ted Crowe, was able to present the Drought Relief Program Chair, Past District Governor Phillip Charles with a cheque for $14,500 to assist with their great work out west.A huge thank you goes out to Ted Crowe and all who supported him in the coordination and hosting of this event, and in particular Tom and Shirley, our hosts from the Boulevard Gardens Function Centre.

Ben Davis, with Past President Ted Crowe and Past President Margaret Willis.
Thanks also to our MC, Ben Davis and all of our fabulous entertainers, who donated their time and talent to make this event so succes

The “End Polio Now” program through Rotary International has once again managed to secure an early release on an eagerly anticipated premier movie.

Bohemian Rhapsody, which opens in theatres tomorrow, was tonight screened at the Regal Twin Cinema in Graceville, at a Polio Plus fundraiser. Every dollar raised at this event will be matched with two dollars from the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”.

Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Sumner Park on hosting this event, and on gaining the support of other local Rotary Clubs, and friends of Rotary.

We are not sure of the numbers of attendees, or the funds raised, but the crowd looked pretty healthy to me.

Say hello to Veronika Musilová from the Czech Republic.Veronika is here on the Rotary Youth Exchange program, and is being co-hosted by the Rotary Club of Greater Springfield and our club.She is attending The Springfield Anglican College and will be a familiar face with us for the next six months.​​​​​​​Welcome Veronika.

October 24th, over the years it has been infamous for many reasons, some good and some bad. In 1929, October 24th was known for the “Black Thursday” Stock Exchange crash and in 2008 for the “Bloody Friday” crash that wiped off 10% of the worlds wealth in a split second, but in 2012, on October 24th, Rotary International, along with their GPEI partners announced “World Polio Day” to celebrate India joining the Poli Free Club. Each year we celebrate a different theme, and the 2018 is “End Polio Now”

On this day, a group of our members joined with friends of the “End Polio Now” movement to march as a sea of red, from outside the Treasury Casino, across the Victoria Bridge to Southbank, to raise awareness of the program.

To help us celebrate, the District 9630 Governor, Jitendra Prasad was able to have the Brisbane City Council light the Victoria Bridge and the Storey Bridge in the “End Polio Now” colours of RED & YELLOW.

Last night the club hosted the 2018 Annual Trivia Night.
There were winners and losers, but the real victor on the night was the “Australia Rotary Health” (ARH) organisation, with all of the proceeds from the event donated to them.
These valuable funds will allow ARH to continue funding research it to mental health/illness.

About 100 people supported the event last night, going head to head over five rounds of challenging questions posed by our Quizmaster, Club Treasurer, Steve Bennett.

The theme for the event was “Go Tropical” and RCBTB member, Mary Hartley won the “Best Dressed” prize.

Rotary District 9630 Australian Rotary Health representative, Roger Crawfoot was on hand to support the event, and was overwhelmed by the community support.
Roger will be invited back to the club to accept our donation of  about $2850 on behalf of Australian Rotary Health and their ongoing fight against mental health disease.
The balance from the raffles, $1105 will be donated to the District 9630 Drought Appeal, in particular the the “Family Fun Days” program. These days are specifically held to help combat mental illness in our farming communities.