As a community service, the Cessnock Rotary Club has undertaken to assist the Cessnock City Council by Adopting a section of Maitland Road between Quarry Street and Duffie Drive and keeping it as free of litter and rubbish as possible using our clubs resources of manpower and basic equipment. 8 of our club members braved the early morning chill last Saturday to do our monthly cleanup and in the process managed to collect 83 kilos of rubbish and roadside litter thereby enhancing the view of the approaches to our City. 

Cessnock Rotary Club has planted a memorial tree dedicated to the memory of one of its hardest working members, Rotarian David Clark, who passed away recently. The tree is a Claret Ash and was donated by Hunter Valley Gardens. A memorial plaque has now been placed at the base of the tree as a fitting tribute to the amazing contribution to the local community made by David Clark during his lifetime. Volunteers from the Cessnock Rotary Club will look after the tree as it grows to maturity and members will gather at the tree on the 31st May for a special dedication meeting.

 

Very substantial crowds turned out at all three local ANZAC Day services remembering the sacrifices of our service men and women during all the conflicts involving Australian and New Zealand personnel namely the Dawn Service at Cessnock War memorial, the post World War 2 service at the Veterans Park at Aberdare and the main march and service through Cessnock to the Cessnock War Memorial in TAFE Park. Cessnock Rotarian Graham Lidbury laid a wreath on behalf of Rotary during the main service.

On Thursday the 26th April we were privileged to have the Vice President of the Cessnock RSL Sub-Branch, Mr Tom Rutherford, as our guest speaker. Tom's presentation of an ANZAC theme was on the very important but little known contribution of the Royal Australian Navy to that epic and tragic Gallipoli campaign. In particular he gave us an in depth account of the part played by the Australian submarine AE2 which forced a passage through the Dardanelles.  Tom was thanked for his excellent presentation by David Lennon.

 

On the 14th January 2018, Janette and I travelled to Dubbo to pick up our clubs exchange student who we will be hosting for the next 5 to 6 Months. His name is Ossi Lehtihuhta, he is 17 years old and he comes from Finland. Whilst in Dubbo Ossi was hosted by the South Dubbo Rotary Club and had some fabulous adventures both with the Club and with the various host families that he stayed with.

He is now with our club and is enrolled at Cessnock High School and I am sure, with what is planned for him during his stay here, he will experience some extraordinary and fulfilling adventures and take home with him some lifetime memories. He has already assisted at one of our Bunnings BBQs and has experienced the HVG Christmas lights and this coming weekend will be assisting in our roadside cleanup. During April he will going on the Capricorn Ramble so with that and his stays in Dubbo and Cessnock he will see and experience a great deal of this wonderful country of ours.

Ossi will be a regular attendee at our meetings and will be keeping the club updated on his adventures.

The Cessnock RSL Sub-Branch does a great job looking after the welfare of Returned, serving and ex-service personnel and their families in our local community. However, currently, because of circumstances beyond their control, their normal funding sources are not available to them. Our Rotary club decided that the work that the local RSL club does in our community is so essential that we should assist them with a donation to help carry them through this current period.

 

Accordingly the President of the local Sub-Branch, Mr Max Lewis, was a guest at our club on 30th November and was presented with a donation cheque and a Certificate of Appreciation by President Graham in recognition of the very valuable work they do.

On a cool and rainy 5th November Cessnock Rotary Club once again braved the elements to operate the Sausage Sizzle at the Annual Postie Bike Racing Carnival  held in the grounds of Cessnock TAFE and the surrounding public streets. On the front line were Club members John Rosee, Vicki Steep, David Clark, Steve Jackson and one of our valued volunteers, Raylene Jackson, whilst in the background under the shelter shed wrapping the sandwiches was our erstwhile PP Ross Lidbury. Crowds were down slightly on previous years because of the inclement weather but in the periods when the rain stopped the crowds came and we were all kept quite busy. Meanwhile President Graham Farish and Bev Hannay with assistance from members of the Rotary Club of Kurri Kurri and the Girl Guides were doing a marvellous job running the VIP tent within compound adjacent to the pit area.

  

 

 

Our Club’s annual drive to help women who are homeless.  Refuges are always looking for items for women, and their children, when they are in dire needs.  And Christmas time is often the time when things are needed most. We can help!  Please bring a few items which we can collect and deliver to our friends at Jodie’s Place.  These can be soaps, deodorants, skin care items, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoos, hair conditioners, sanitary items, dish washing items, clothes washing items, towels.  And to help cater for the children – tooth brushes, toothpaste, children’s shampoo, talcum powder, disposable nappies, baby needs, tins of food, small toys, children’s books. Do not include anything which will not have a long(ish) shelf life – no foods, or other perishables. Please bring these things in as you can, and leave with Janette, who will arrange for them to go Jodie’s Place.
 

On the 29th June 2017 The Cessnock Rotary Club held its 80th Annual Changeover Dinner at the Potters Hotel and Brewery. District Governor and club member Stephen Jackson performed admirably in the role of MC for the proceedings.  An evening of fun and fellowship was also the setting for the presentation of a number of awards and donations to Rotary Members, Community organisations and outstanding members of the community. The prestigious Community Innovation and Excellence Award was made by Past President Vicki Steep to Helen Scott for her tireless work in the Branxton Community. Club donations to the community were made to the Girl Guides, Cessnock Volunteer Rescue Association, Wheeling and Able and Jacaranda Lodge. PP Vicki Steep also accepted a contribution to the Umoja Orphanage in Kenya and the club made a donation to Past District Governor Janette Jackson for the District Governors Partners Project, End Polio Now.

 

President Ross in one of his last official duties presented Peter Carver and John Jowett with a well deserved Sapphire Pin to their Paul Harris Fellow award. President Ross was surprised by being made a very deserving Paul Harris Fellow.

 

As the culmination of the evening President Ross presented the Chain of Office to incoming President Graham Farish who outlined his vision and plans for the club for the ensuing year. President Graham was then able to induct our newest member into the club, Bev Hannay.

 

Special mention must be made of the 2017 Changeover cake which was a masterly creation by Claudia Koncz.

 

A very Special evening finished with a rousing rendition of the National Anthem.

 

On Thursday 8th June 2017 the annual Effie O'Neill Debate between student teams from Cessnock High School and Mount View High School took place at the Cessnock Rotary Club. The debating teams were given a choice of three topics for debate and chose "School tuck-shop menus should be chosen by the students/Teachers and parents". Cessnock High School took the affirmative position and Mount View the negative. Each team consisted of 3 speakers and a researcher with the first speaker from each team speaking twice to present the opening and closing arguments. Each speaker was allowed 3minutes with the timekeeper indicating the 2minute mark with a green light, the 2minute 30second mark with an amber light and the 3 minute mark with a red light at which point the speaker had 30 seconds to conclude before point penalties could be applied. The moderator was David Clark, the timekeeper was David Owens and the Adjudicators were; Judy Clark, George Koncz and Nicole Craft who, incidentally, had been a team member during the first Effie O'Neill debate.

 

Both teams conducted a well prepared and vigorous debate but in the final analysis Mount View High School were adjudged the winner and were presented with the shield and first prize.