Weekly Bulletin (Aug. 31, 2026)

MORNING MEETING WEDNESDAY at Gilbert's Cafe

Meeting WILL NOT be at Cilantro - We are now meeting at Gilbert's Cafe 7am

282 Centre Road, Bentleigh, 3204

Details here

The Meeting will NOT be available via Zoom this week

Edition 276

Monday, 31st August 2026

Last Wednesday evening was a very tasty buffet with lamb shoulder and vegies. Our guest speaker was Debbie Walsh who spoke about ROSTRUM- clubs very similar to Toastmasters.
This Wednesday morning is a breakfast meeting at 7am. Our guest speaker is Ben Cowan who works in the movie industry creating dramatic special effects. This promises to be very interesting.
On Thursday evening there is a dinner at cilantro at 6:30pm. Cilantro always has fine dining at its best.

Club President, 2026-27,
Neville Kruss

BOARD MINUTES

A reminder to members that Board Minutes are available for viewing from the Club's website. Note that you must be logged in as a Member in order to gain access.

Access to all documents including Board Minutes can gained here.

The last published Board Minutes were the meeting of Tuesday 14th July 2026 - HERE.

Ian Ballantine

Roster for the next 2 weeks
Note Market start time is 6.15am
Click on See all Rosters at right for future weeks. Members click here to see your own roster.

Meetings

Meeting September 2 2026

Chairperson Nodrum, Helen

Meeting Door Host Gaddie, Jules
at Gilbert's Cafe this week details HERE

Meeting September 9 2026

Chairperson O'Brien, Linda

Meeting Door Host Weeks, Faye

Market 6th September 2026

Market Leader Ferguson, Paul

Assistant Daniel, Rajan

Assistant Nodrum, Helen

Market 13th September 2026

Market Leader Ballantine, Ian

Assistant Gaddie, Jules

Assistant Josem, Michael

This week's speaker / event

MORNING Meeting at Gilbert's

Speaker: Benjamin Cowen works in the movie industry creating dramatic special effects.
He is known for such works as War Machine (2026), The Family Next Door (2025) and Clickbait (2021)..

Details and Registration HERE

Please check the upcoming events on the Club website here

REGISTRATION FOR MEETINGS HELP HERE

Please forward any events you want promoted to the Editor.
For all Club events refer Club Calendar HERE

SPECIAL CORDON BLEU DINNER SEPTEMBER 3

If you wish to still attend and have not booked through the Club you will need to contact Tony at Cilantro

Holland Foundation Ball

October 16 2026
Keep watching HERE for more info.

Click on image above for latest issue

Link to photos from 2026 Conference here
Link to photos from District Changeover July 2025 here
Link to photos from 2025 Conference here
Link to photos from 2024 Conference here

Market report for Sunday 30/08/2026.

Leader: Grant Perry
BMC: Margaret Lucas and Bert
Moorabbin: Gerard (Volunteer, early am), Jenny (late am)
Holland Foundation: Maya and Jin
Visitors: Charles Rener, Neville
Cars in the Queue: 4
Overnight Parkers: 3
Pedestrian Count: Nil
Market Report: Cool and overcast and a bit nippy when the wind picked up.
Fairly quiet early on, pedestrian traffic picked up by 10.00, but had dropped off by 1145. Not many stalls booked and stall holders began to pack up early.

Thanks to President Neville for photos.

Note there is a separate story about the defib at the Market here.

Editor's Note

With the sad news of the passing of music and philanthropic legend, Dolly Parton this week, I have chosen to include two stories about her in this week's Bulletin. Enjoy.
Ian Ballantine

A legacy beyond music

Posted by Ian Ballantine on Aug 31, 2026

Taken from RDU HERE

Dolly Parton’s legacy reaches far beyond the stage, with her lifelong generosity, love of literacy and enduring partnership with Rotary continuing to put books into the hands of children around the world.

Dolly Parton spent more than six decades proving that sass and substance were never mutually exclusive.

The world collectively mourned, when we heard that the beloved singer, songwriter, actor, businesswoman and philanthropist passed away on 25 August 2026, aged 80.

Talking reading and Rotary with Dolly Parton

Posted by Ian Ballantine on Aug 31, 2026

Taken from the RI Website HERE

The entertainer and philanthropist Dolly Parton died 25 August 2026. This Q&A was originally published in the March 2010 issue of The Rotarian (now Rotary) magazine. Later that year, she spoke at the Rotary International Convention in Montreal, Canada.

Photo courtesy of Rotary International

Club Meeting Evening August 26 2026

Posted by Karin Soster on Aug 26, 2026

President Neville chaired this evening's club meeting at Gilberts where we had a lovely buffet of roast meats with vegetables and salad. Guests included PDG Bob Richards, Angela Lynch, Gary Ramage, Arto Arshakyan and Luiza, and our guest speaker, Debbie Welsh from Rostrum.

CLUB INDUCTION

President Neville had the pleasure of inducting our newest club member, Arto Arshakyan, who runs a music school in East Bentleigh. Arto was introduced to our club by Tim Lynch, our club membership chair. Our club offers a warm welcome to Arto, and his partner Luiza.

Album of more pics HERE

PolioPlus Society Kennel Klub - UK

Posted by Ian Ballantine on Aug 24, 2026

Taken from the RI site HERE

When members of the Rotary Club of Borderlands (Passport Group) heard about the PolioPlus Society Kennel Klub, they excitedly enrolled their furry friends. An extension of the district-led PolioPlus Society, the Kennel Klub allows pets (well, their owners) to pledge at least $100 per year to PolioPlus and, in return, receive a pet-purrfect red End Polio Now bandana. “The Kennel Klub welcomes animals of any kind,” says Borderlands club member Beth Thomson, “and whilst ours are mainly dogs, there is a pet sheep (a Swiss Valais Blacknose) in there too!” The club, chartered in 2023, has 100 percent PolioPlus Society membership, donating about $5,500 per year to the cause. While the club hasn’t brought the pets to its breakfast meetings — “I suspect it would be a recipe for chaos,” Thomson says — it did persuade Past RI President Gordon McInally (whose wife, Heather, was the club’s 2025-26 president) to sit for a photo shoot with Kennel Klub idols Mabel, Angus, Applepip, Tess, Todd, Cora, and Fleet.

Closing the digital divide, one computer at a time

Posted by Ian Ballantine

Taken from RDU HERE

By placing 54 Chromebooks into the hands of students in need, the Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa is helping bridge the digital divide and creating brighter educational opportunities for young people across Pāpāmoa and Te Puke.

In the heart of Pāpāmoa and Te Puke in New Zealand, a simple but powerful movement has been unfolding – one sparked not by grand speeches or sweeping reforms, but by a simple question: What will help our young people flourish at school?

Teachers at Pāpāmoa College and Te Puke High School had an answer. They spoke about students eager to learn but held back by a modern barrier: the lack of a personal device in an increasingly digital world.

Some students are sharing computers in classrooms and others need a loaned take-home device to support homework and assessments. Research, online lessons, communication – so much of school life now depends on technology and for some families, a computer is simply out of reach.

The Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa listened. And then acted.

Club Meeting August 19 2026

Posted by Ian Ballantine on Aug 19, 2026

We had a very relaxed meeting this morning in which Club Secretary Karin Soster informed members of the District Conference scheduled for March 2027.

Linda opened the meeting with a quiz which was a bit of fun - thanks Linda

Whilst thsi was happening we had photos of the RYDA day on the screen. (story HERE)

President Neville addressed the meeting with a word about RYDA, and his forthcoming attendance at the District Presidents Meeting on the coming Friday.

Youth Chair Jules Gaddie spoke about the RYDA day.

Code of Conduct refresher

Posted by Ian Ballantine on May 26, 2026

This article is intended primarily for members of our Rotary Club.

Rotary International maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy against all forms of harassment, bullying, and abuse. The policy mandates that all club members and event participants have the right to a safe, welcoming environment free from unwelcome physical contact, advances, or verbal/physical conduct that denigrates or creates an intimidating atmosphere.

Registering for an Event

Posted by Ian Ballantine on Aug 30, 2024

This article is intended to help members register themselves and/or a guest to a Club event. Note, you are also expected to register your intention NOT to attend.

If an event is inviting members to register there will be a button with the word: "Members" below "Online Registration". refer image at left.

Note that you need to be already logged in as a member.
As venues need to be advised of numbers PRIOR to the event, please register by noon on the day prior unless otherwise stated.
If you are not a member, this page will not be of any help. It may still be possible to register for an event as a non member if the event is open to the public.

Please refer to this Help article in full.

Subscribe to Calendar

From the Calendar page here you can subscribe to the Club's event calendar.

This will result in the Club's calendar being added to your existing calendar subscriptions, thus ensuring that as an event is added (or modified) to the Club's calendar, it will appear on your phone, tablet etc.
Calendars supported are Outlook, Google and Apple.

Take the link, Subscribe to Calendar, from the Calendar Page.

Note from the Editor re Images and Events

A point regarding the submission of images for the Bulletin and Website: Members are reminded that images have to meet a minimum size requirement, as has been specified for some time in the section at the bottom of this Bulletin. 820 pixels is the minimum size required with larger being better as this allows for cropping. The submission of images via MMS is NOT preferred as they are too small and of inferior quality. Email or Whatsapp is far superior.
Would any member like to take responsibility for the updating of the Club's Event Calendar? I have created a page of instructions here so it is very easy to take over.
Thank you, Ian Ballantine

Breakfast Meeting September 2 2026

Sep. 02, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Fellowship Event...EVENING AT CILANTRO

Sep. 03, 2026
6:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Breakfast Meeting September 9 2026

Sep. 09, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast Meeting September 16 2026

Sep. 16, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast Meeting September 23 2026

Sep. 23, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Evening Meeting September 30 2026

Sep. 30, 2026
6:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Breakfast Meeting October 7 2026

Oct. 07, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Victoria Police Legacy Trivia Night

Oct. 10, 2026
6:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Breakfast Meeting October 14 2026

Oct. 14, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Holland Charity Ball

Oct. 16, 2026
6:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

View entire list

I remind members that you are responsible for the information contained in the Club's database. This includes, birthdays, phone numbers, addresses etc etc. Even your own photo. You maintain this via this link.

Additionally, member's birthdays and anniversaries will no longer be listed in the Club Bulletin. This is to protect the privacy of members. This information is still available to members here.
Ian Ballantine

A reminder to members to keep checking the calendar of upcoming events for evening and perhaps, one day, daytime events.

Thank you for being a subscriber to our Weekly Club Bulletin. I try to have it published each week by Tuesday morning.
If you would like to have something included please contact me at editor@rotarybmc.org.au and attach, as separate files, the words and any images (jpg files are fine, minimum width 820 pixels). Please DO NOT send information as pdf files.
Ian Ballantine, Editor.

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MORNING MEETING WEDNESDAY at Gilbert's Cafe

Meeting WILL NOT be at Cilantro - We are now meeting at Gilbert's Cafe 7am

Link to photos from 2026 Conference here Link to photos from District Changeover July 2025 here Link to photos from 2025 Conference here Link to photos from 2024 Conference here

By placing 54 Chromebooks into the hands of students in need, the Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa is helping bridge the digital divide and creating brighter educational opportunities for young people across Pāpāmoa and Te Puke.

Note from the Editor re Images and Events

Link to photos from 2026 Conference here
Link to photos from District Changeover July 2025 here
Link to photos from 2025 Conference here
Link to photos from 2024 Conference here