Once more, Richo enabled us to have a fun night of great food, wine and fellowship at Chop 'n Chill, Raby Bay. 80 Rotarians, partners, past members, friends gathered together - the noise of chatter was deafening at times! Many thanks to Tony Ooi for organising and guiding us through the evening. Also thanks to the Redlands Coast Museum for the loan of multiple wine glasses, to enable us to enjoy a different wine with each of the 5 courses, and allow the staff to keep up with washing glasses and serving us so efficiently. Thanks to Richo & staff, another great night. Check the Photo Gallery for more snaps from the evening.

Susie Tafolo, President of the Redlands Coast Chamber of Commerce was our Guest speaker on Tuesday night. It was an eye opener to many of us, to hear about the many programs the Chamber has going in our community, and how we can improve our links with local businesses by working more closely with them in the future. Small business is the backbone of our society, and the largest employer besides the Redland City Council is Golden Cockerel.

One issue which Susie raised is the revitalisation of Cleveland CBD - much is being done in this area, including an investigation into parking issues. We look forward to hearing more on the progress of such investigations in our community. Chris Beattie will be keeping us informed in the future.

On 27th May, Amanda Stoker, MLA for Oodgeroo, visited the club to present two Certificates to Anna Bray & Shirley Mahon. The citation on each reads: "Thank you for your service to the Rotary Club of Cleveland. This Volunteer Week, we acknowledge your service to our community."

Anna was away, so Albert stepped up to receive her certificate, which was subsequently presented to Anna on June 10th.

And the winner of the Treasure Chest is....I forgot to get her name!!! What a wonderful success the event was, with $50,000.00 raised on the night - many thanks to sponsors, attendees and supporters including local businesses who donated wonderful prizes to be auctioned and raffled. Without the support of the whole community, we would not have achieved this amazing result. Thanks especially to the Redlands Sporting Club where 200 guests enjoyed the entertainment, speakers, food and drink.

On the night the Redland Foundation launched the Angela Peterson Emergency Support Fund, which is designed to provide immediate financial assistance to victims of domestic and family violence through local support organisations. This came from a $100,000.00 bequest, and was doubled with a further $100,000.00 donation from Auto electrical Imports on the night. 

An amazing $150,000.00 bringing the total raised through these dinners over 11 years to over $700,000.00. Congratulations to the Redlands community for the ongoing support.

James Pollock was presented with his Paul Harris Fellow pin with 3 Rubies on Friday morning, as a result of many years of making personal donations to the Rotary Foundation. Besides during Head & Tails at meetings, do you make a small donation occasionally to TRF? This is how we can in a small way influence the work of Rotary world wide.

The Rotary Foundation is OUR charity - and according to Charity Navigator in the US  "This charity's score is 100%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence." They give us the ratings of 83% Accountability & Finance, 10% Leadership & Adaptability, 7% Culture & Community - see link below

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/363245072

Tuesday night saw 35 members and guests at Redlands Coast Museum to hear all about the upcoming changes and directions  - to integrate a First Nations Education Centre into the museum. President Doug Alexander and John Close, Chairman of the FNEC committee outlined the future plans. Click on this link to see the explanation of what will be taking place over the next year or so. Masterplan_Summary_03.pdf

This is an exciting development, and we were so engrossed in the presentation, that we forgot to take photos, apologies. More information and plans of how we can become involved in this major project, will be forthcoming. Thanks to the Museum voluinteers for our deliciious meal.

Our members fronted up in good numbers to support the Mater Redland Auxiliary's International Women's Day breakfast, which had been postponed due to Cyclone Alfred. We have also been cleaning up Cleveland Point, entertained by Tyler Rogers and heard from the young people of Cleveland District State High School and Carmel College - our scholarship recipients. What an amazing bunch of young people!!! Check out the Photo Gallery for more photos.

On a very wet Thursday morning (20^th March 2025) we welcomed Sarah Eastburn from Cleveland District State High School and four of her Year 8 Independent Living students to the Heritage Gardens.  The garden session is now a weekly inclusion to their term timetable allowing for these students to learn about social responsibility and how to become an active participant in society. The course builds on teaching not only practical life skills but also to help the students understand their rights and roles as citizens within society.  The value of this garden session is that these life skills can now be experienced outside the tradition family/school environments.

 Not deterred by the weather, the students collected numerous fallen sticks and branches from around the gardens. As the term progresses, the students will learn further on the gardens management such as path sweeping, weeding, spreading mulch and plantings.

 Club members were joined on the day by Shane, Tim and Gary  from the Research Centre. We were introduced to the students, amid great laughter and excitement,  through a series of “new age” handshakes and fist pumps.   As we were packing up,  one student wanted to know why we were leaving so early and could they stay all day, another questioned if they had collected the required “quota of sticks”.

 This is indeed a wonderful community partnership which has now been established between the club, Cleveland District State High Scholl and the Research Centre with a number of exciting and unique developments occurring over the coming months.

We received a lovely, newsly letter from our outbound Exchange Student Clancey Smith this week. Read all her news here - Letter_April_2025.docx  Check out the Photo Gallery for more photos of Clancey's exchange. Unfortunatley the video sent is too big to upload here.

Yes, this is true - as confirmed by PDG Jitendra Prasad yesterday at RARE - Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment - Northern Region is Australian Rotary's best kept secret. The Rotary Club of Brisbane International, under the direction and advice of our own Anna Bray packed a 20ft container in three hours, which will be picked up tomorrow and on its way to Fiji!! At the same time, others finalised the latest container for Wewak (supported hugely by Albert Benfer). While this was going on, 3 Cleveland Rotarians sorted and packed high school textbooks ready for shipping - thanks to Chris & Donna Beattie and Shirley Mahon. The work required at RARE never stops - 10 pallets of books arrived from Taree on Thursday, another 10 pallets from Toowomba East arrived on Saturday. To say we need more regular volunteers is an understatement - are YOU available for a few hours on a Thursday or Saturday morning. It is not all heavy work - there are tasks suitable for all and all are most welcome.  See the latest newletter here - it will amaze you just what has been achieved recently. newsletter_rare_2025_MARCH_APRIL.pdf

Members volunteer each Thursday morning and regular Saturday mornings to sort, pack and ship containers of repurposed medical and educational equipment and supplies.

The first major project of the Rotary Club of Cleveland, started in 1968 to save farm machinery from rusting away in the paddocks. Founder and Charter member Norm Dean built up the Museum to the world class facility it is today. Passed to the community in 1972, the Museum is now over 50 years old and thriving.