Our meetings are now being held - at least this Monday - at the Small Bar, 85 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest.
PRESIDENT PETER
Well a day of meetings as we keep our Rotary Club on the go.
Sue, Angelo, Ian, Celia and I (who all visited East Timor in September) gathered before our meeting to determine our approach to obtaining a Rotary Global Grant in Timor. Howard Sullivan contributed his time also. Angelo made some useful contacts in Timor concerning alternative means of assessing Timor monitoring and other smaller projects. The presence and advice from Angelo and Howard greatly strengthens our planning and I think we are all thankful for their input.
Our meeting numbers were under twenty – which was a bit disappointing. A number of apologies, still some on holidays away and a change of venue (back to the Small Bar) due to Pinos closing!
There were a lot of announcements:
The opening of the Community Herb Garden next to the Baptist Church
The Crows Nest Fair – THIS SUNDAY 16th
Trifecta Sales
ShelterBox in Haiti
Our upcoming Poker Night – Nov 12
Mark Staples gave us an insight into playing Poker – seems that you need to be able to read body language and facial expressions, work out probability theory plus know the various statistics of whether to bet big or just sit to either bluff your opponents or stop them chasing you! I think I will have a practice play at 6pm, play – probably for a short time then just enjoy the night watching you card sharps try to better Mark!
After the meeting the Timor contingent met with Siobhon and Tiffany to determine questions of funding, the type of program we would like to be involved with, and the locality concerned.
Then Sue and I met up with a surgically wounded Alon at Phoenix House to organise our Rotary Club of Crows Nest Stall for Sunday. Volunteers needed please to help in two hour shifts to man our stall and pass out popcorn to children. Seems like Alon will be the cook!
Our Board was to meet on Wednesday 12 October. However due to a denial of venues, the Board meeting will be deferred until Tuesday 18th. Our Club Assembly on October 17 is to ratify by Club Members
Our Child Protection Policy
Our Risk Policy Plan
Other items that Members might like to raise or be discussed.
The Board will meet on Tuesday 18 at Alon’s Office, Northbridge – thank you Alon. Members will be sent copies of these policies prior to our next meeting – please peruse them prior to our club meeting.
Thanks
Peter
OUR MEETING ON MONDAY 17 OCTOBER
A Club Assembly is programmed for our meeting on 17 October. For those that do not know, a Club Assembly is a meeting that all members are encouraged to attend to discuss club programs and activities.
Most clubs hold four to six assemblies a year.
Assemblies allow members to:
Brainstorm ideas for projects and activities
Set goals and develop action plans using the Club Leadership Plan
Coordinate committee activities
Review the club’s strengths, opportunities, and weaknesses
Learn more about Rotary and its programs
In particular on this occasion, the Board wishes discussion to focus on:
Mark covered the basics of poker, including how to make a hand, winning order of hands, betting, on how to play the game of No-Limit Texas Holdem. He then moved on to tips, tactics & strategy for winning at poker.
Mark reminded is that Poker is a game of skill and it is not gambling.
The event will be held on Saturday November 12 at 7pm at North Sydney Leagues club, with lessons available from 6pm. The club has three dining outlets so you can grab a bite either PRIOR to 7pm or during the break at approx. 8pm. (Suggest you order before the break). $25 will get you the initial starting stack of chips (25,000), the OPTION of buying another 25,000 chips at the break or if you are knocked out before the break. This is a FUN evening with the additional benefit of learning a new skill, so bring along a few friends. Beginners are welcome.
In terms of the “mechanics” of playing – they can be found on the following Tutorial - Poker Tutorial. It is worth taking some time to view this. A card containing the winning order of hands will also be available on the night.
The key to Mark’s presentation was sharing a few tips on the tactics and strategies of the game. Like being Patient and only playing premium hands, unless you are “in position”. In position is being the dealer or one before the dealer, where you are last to act and have the advantage of seeing what other players do. Another must for the game is to OBSERVE your opponents – what hands do they play, aggressive or passive, and “tells” like the person caught bluffing last year, as he grinned ear to ear every time he bluffed!! Expect the pre-flop raiser to do a “continuation bet” to maintain control and get the two thirds of players who don’t hit the flop to fold. Always ask yourself what hands beat you, as well as what hands you beat and how many players to bet after you.
Finally the common mistakes that are made a) Playing too many hands b) Chasing AK/AQ/AJ to the river when those cards do not appear in the community cards c) Not raising with premium hands and most importantly d) Not considering what your opponents could have.
Mark is available for questions and/or lessons anytime prior to the 12th. Hope to see you all there.
Peter, Celia, Angelo, Sue & Ian returned from a trip to East Timor.
Peter attended the opening of the Crows Nest Community Herb garden the club contributed to.
Last Saturday’s BBQ was again very successful with the need to buy an extra 80 sausages.
Howard announced that ShelterBox are involved in the current Haiti disaster.
Howard is also looking for a volunteer to assist in the ShelterBox display at the annual Police Awards dinner on 4 November.
Angelo has a few extra Melbourne Trifecta tickets if anyone wants more to sell. We have currently printed 42 sets. Another successful year.
October 16 : Crows Nest Fair / Festival. Michelle was urgently seeking volunteers to assist in this Sunday’s Crows Nest Fair. Please call Michelle or Alon ASAP if you can spare a few hours on Sunday. Hopefully many of us will attend the Fair
October 17 : Club Assembly to ratify Child Protection and Risk Protocols.
November 7 : Our Foundation Dinner celebrating 100 years of the Rotary Foundation with David Rands as our guest speaker.
All Club members are requested to donate $26.50 to the Rotary Foundation as part of the Centenary celebrations. The money will be presented to the District's Foundation Chair, David Rands when he visits the club on Monday 7 November.
On Sunday 9 October, President Peter was invited to the dedication and opening of the newly built Community Herb Garden established by the Crows Nest Baptist Church beside the Church in Willoughby Road.
Pastor Josh dedicated the garden to the congregation and the wider Crows Nest Community and Restaurants. He thanked the Church's partners who contributed to the project:
North Sydney Council streetscape project
Gosford Quarries for favourable pricing of sandstone blocks
The Rotary Club of Crows Nest for contributing $1,000 of the estimated $6,000 cost
The Crows Nest Community Centre
A parishioner who helped select and lay the sandstone
Parishioners Alison and Andrew who organised and supervised the selection of herbs for the garden
There will be a roster of involved parishioners to maintain the garden.
The idea of the garden is to provide free herbs to Church members and the wider Crows Nest Community, including restaurants. Herbs with a special Crows Nest origin as a Community resource. One of our members, Bill Lee has offered herbs from his own herb garden in Artarmon to the community garden.
Judging by the enthusiasm that the children present displayed in digging, planting and watering the herb garden, it should be a great success.
We cannot expect to grow membership without engaging our members in service. RI President John Germ has stated this unequivocally and Rotary Club of James River, Richmond, Virginia, USA is taking that to heart.
Selecting the right project, therefore, is critical to the health of our club. Click here to see a few basic principles James River has found to be true about service projects.
Many clubs celebrate World Polio Day by planning an event in the community, like an End Polio Now 5K walk or run, sponsoring a local carnival/festival or hosting a fundraiser. They register their event and download the World Polio Day resources to help make the event a success.
One easy way to get involved is through social media. Imagine if every Club in the world tweeted and posted about World Polio Day. That’s thousands of social media accounts across the globe sharing the message about polio eradication. We’ve made it easy to help spread the word: download World Polio Day graphics, share the sample social media messages and don’t forget to use #endpolio to join the global conversation.
You can also host a viewing party for the fourth annual World Polio Day celebration, streaming live from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The event will be recorded, so you can tune in at any time to hear our featured speakers discuss what we’re doing to end polio and how you get involved in the fight, including:
A Club Assembly is programmed for our meeting on 17 October. For those that do not know, a Club Assembly is a meeting that all members are encouraged to attend to discuss club programs and activities.
The event will be held on Saturday November 12 at 7pm at North Sydney Leagues club, with lessons available from 6pm. The club has three dining outlets so you can grab a bite either PRIOR to 7pm or during the break at approx. 8pm. (Suggest you order before the break). $25 will get you the initial starting stack of chips (25,000), the OPTION of buying another 25,000 chips at the break or if you are knocked out before the break. This is a FUN evening with the additional benefit of learning a new skill, so bring along a few friends. Beginners are welcome. 
On Sunday 9 October, President Peter was invited to the dedication and opening of the newly built Community Herb Garden established by the Crows Nest Baptist Church beside the Church in Willoughby Road.
We cannot expect to grow membership without engaging our members in service. RI President John Germ has stated this unequivocally and Rotary Club of James River, Richmond, Virginia, USA is taking that to heart.
Many clubs celebrate World Polio Day by planning an event in the community, like an End Polio Now 5K walk or run, sponsoring a local carnival/festival or hosting a fundraiser. They 
