The saying is that a picture paints a thousand words, but thanks Peter Marer for this wonderful summary of dinner on Saturday night!!! The hotel was very busy and the kitchen struggled, but alcohol was readily available and the company was good!! No photos sorry, unless someone else took some. 

Thanks Rob Wesener for the organisation of the weekend. It was great catching up with everyone in a social setting, the Jumpers and Jazz was up to standard although the wind caused a few issues. Social at the Camp Kitchen Friday night was a really good catchup.  Gerry organised for some of us to take a short steam train ride out to Hendon & back on Saturday morning, then many gathered behind the pub for food and jazz. Altogether another successful Christmas in July.

PP Clive presents RARE's "Mr FixIt" - Ernesto Miranda - with his certificate from the Rotary Club of Cleveland for the work he does at RARE.

Phil Saxby, Manager of RARE Northern Region at Alexandra Hills, has sent a letter thanking our members in particular for their hard work last week. Thursday and Saturday mornings last week were, in essence, crazy days as huge shipments arrived, 2 x 40ft  containers were packed and sealed ready for shipment. David will distribute the actual email to all members, but I would like to pay tribute in particular to Donna & Chris Beattie, Sue Neil and Lyn Packer who dropped their normal book sorting tasks, and sorted and folded linen as fast as they could. Below, a pantec arrives from Rockhampton with 63 hospital beds & mattresses; the books team swaps to folding linen. Please see these files for Phil's summary of two days at RARE. RARE_Thursday_2_July_2026_Comp.pdf    RARE_Saturday_4_July_2026_-_Packing_Day_Comp.pdf

The new Rotary year started for us at Raby Bay Harbourside cooking sausages and hamburgers for the 2026 NAIDOC Week celebrations.  Thanks to the 2 teams of volunteers - another good one done! It was a beautiful day, the music and vibe was great, the people were nice - what more could we want for a Sunday afternoon?

Fun and games on the evening of June 30th, as DG Mark Williams attended our 66th Changeover. Paul Harris Fellowships were presented to  Secretary David Furness (1 Sapphire); Donna Beattie for her work with RARE, ESL students & Host Parent; Damian Hepburn from the Nexus Program at Cleveland District State High School; Linda Grieve, Founder of The Cage Youth Foundation and Bob Neich (3 Sapphires). A special Community Service Award to Lorraine Furness, President of the Mater Redlands Auxiliary.  Club Member of the Year,  by popular vote - Bob Neich. Thanks for a great year Bob, and welcome to our new President Peter Kamols.

It is with great sadness that we advise of the death of our revered Honorary Member Dan Holzapfel, 103, on Saturday 20th June. Dan was a member of the Rotary Club of Cleveland since 3 November 1970, and only retired from active service  5 years ago. Aside from his huge legacy of Rotary and community support both local and international, Dan worked regularly at DIK (the forerunner of RARE) every Thursday. The attached photographs show some of Dan's activities in recent years - above at the Lamb's Ward at Redland Hospital in 2010, where his contributions allowed our fund raising to instal vital machines to assist with premmie and newborn babies. There are many stories and memories that many club members will have, but his Rotary service is best summed up in this article Peter Marer found in the Rotary magazine.  A farmer and a giver | Rotary International  As Peter advised earlier in the year, Dan was amember of the Arch Klumph Society and has his photo in Rotary International Headquarters in Chicago as one of Rotary's major donors world wide. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they celebrate Dan's life.

Funeral will be on Wednesday 1st July at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Mt Cotton.  Livestream link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6dEzjij7SNU&pp=0gcJCWQCo7VqN5tDiggCQAE%3D

We have recently been advised that past member Dennis Head has passed away. Dennis was always behind the camera in club activities, so we have 'borrowed' our photo from the family Facebook annoucement, as this illustrates who Dennis was. Many of the photos in our archives were taken by Dennis over the years. After leaving Cleveland Club, Dennis became very active in Probus.

Our sincere condolences go to Susan and the family.

The second shift of volunteers this morning, serving the cyclists as they pass through Cleveland on their way back to Brissie! The other volunteer team had gone home for a well earned coffee and brekky... Thanks to our wonderful volunteers from Rotary Club of Cleveland, your help today assists the cyclists raising funds for MND, MS and other neorological illnesses.

A huge thank you to Helen Dundon, who found a cyclist in strife at Redland Bay - she loaded him and his bike into the ute and delivered him to Cleveland Railway station so he could make his way to his car parked at Murrarie. 

And the winner is...Kate Keleher from Economic Development Queensland supporting the Redland Foundation by buying a $50 ticket for a key in the Rotary Club of Cleveland Treasure Chest on Saturday night, and winning $1,000 cash donated by Rotary Club of Cleveland.  Thanks to the work of all of you - donations like this can help us help others in our community. The purchase of tickets in the Treasure Chest raised a little over $2,500.00, so many thanks to all. BTW - it went down to the wire again - opened with the 48th key to be tried!! 

A great night, with 170 very generous people - lots of bidding on auction items, lots of happy raffle winners, lots of funds raised to support those affected by domestic and family violence in our community. Final fund raising figures will be known soon.

Thanks to Redland Sporting club Manager Shane Curtis, his staff and the Diner en Rouge committee for the organisation and presentation of a great night.

Go.Make.A.Difference. 

Our Vocational visit on Tuesday night was to the Cage Youth Foundation - our heading is borrowed from their website https://thecage.info

Notes & photo from Ian & Gavin:

The Cage Youth Foundation started by Peter and Linda Grieve in 2001with the aim of supporting local disaffected youth and families. Initial steps were simple - outreach to local kids at the Capalaba Skate Park and community BBQs offering pastoral care. 

25 years on sees The Cage (standing for Creating A Good Environment) employing several local counsellors and staff and combining with numerous other Redlands support groups to assist local youth in particular but all manner of struggling local families.

Why the need for their services is increasing: 

(1) Lack of respect in society today 

(2) Teachers have lost their authority and parents have abrogated theirs (in too many cases)  

(3) Social media divisiveness - implications and ramifications!!  

~10000 contacts in 2025

The challenge is - how can we as a club support The Cage??

Rotary Australia World Community Service is turning 60, and there are some amazing stories to read about projects and achievements throughout the years. With RARE - Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment right here in Alexandra Hills we are fortunate in that we as a club can easily contribute on a regular basis to the work done by RARE. Read some of the stories here Australian Rotary Districts - RAWCS  

• eBook                
• Additional stories 

Thanks to Albert Benfer, a local lady with severe disabilities has been able to obtain an electric wheelchair through RARE. This chair had been donated to RARE, but could not be sent away, as there are no means for it to be maintained in the countries we service - RARE only sends manual chairs. Thanks to Ernesto for ensuring that the chair was in top condition before Albert was able to arrange the delivery.

A letter of thanks from the recipient:

"Please accept my deepest gratitude for your gift and generosity. This chair has improved my quality of life substantially. Due to my autoimmune and neuroimmune diseases, for the past 4.5 years I have been mostly bed-bound. This chair now allows me to spend quality time out of bed and outside with my 6 year old daughter and family with its ability to tilt, provides an invaluable sense of independence as I can safely mobilise without assistance, and saves my partner's back after his own surgery from him helping me mobilise. I'm so thankful for your and the family who donated it's generosity.

Wishing you all the best for your Club's community & charitable projects, and we hope in future we will be in a better position to pass on your kindness to others."

Peter Brooks, President of the Raby Bay Residents Association gave us an excellent talk about what the association does and how it works with Council for the betterment of this particular area. the best way to find olut who they are and what they do is to check out their website www.rbra.org.au.

Treasurer Michael Carrigan also had the pleasure of presenting David Cowley from Redlands Special Olympics with a cheque for $1,000.00 insupport of the great work they do with our local special needs athletes.

Our Youth night with students from Cleveland District State High School, brought forward from a May packed program, was combined with a great presentation by Prof. Jaquie Mitchell - who also happens to be the wife of Deputy Principal and Rotarian Grant Mitchell. We heard about a fantastic experience at NYSF, and from two scholarship recipients. How inspiring to see the enthusiasm and progress that these students are making in their education.

Prof. Jaquie spoke to us about her years of work in Laos and Cambodia, and other rice producing countries, where she and her teams are working hard to increase sustainable rice production "bringing together agronomy, crop physiology, breeding and molecular genetics". A truly fascinating talk, which made us all think about the development of so much in our lifetime, particularly in the agricultural fields.

A night of ballads, country, blues and Australian music entertained about 75 people at Redlands Coast Museum last night as our club raised funds for the Redlands Coast Musuem. Lots of fun, good music, food and drink made for a most enjoyable evening. Local talented singer songwriter Tyler Rogers gave an excellent solo performance. Birkdale Men's Shed (yes - a musical Men's Shed) sang their way into our hearts led by Gordy. The finale was a new group led by Dennis Geraghty  featuring our own Gavin Becker - called Blind Rooster Soup. Check out the Photo Gallery for more snapshots of the evening.

Once a month several clubs are rostered to come to RARE (Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment) and assist with packing containers, sorting and packing books, linen, stretchers, etc.. Yesterday was our turn. Books are delivered by the pallet load regularly, and the volume can be overwhelming. Yesterday we finished unpacking a pallet that was one of the first to be delivered to this site some years ago! Thanks to Donna Beattie, Bob Neich and Elwyn Hodges for helping our area find the side wall of the shed once more!! See the photo gallery for a few more photos of the morning, unfortunatley I didn't get shots of all members who attended, but your work is very much appreciated by our regulars - Anna Bray, Shirley Mahon, Donna Beattie, Wendy Becker, Lyn Packer and several others on a less regular basis. Any time you would like to assist, please pop up to our premises on a Thursday or Saturday morning 8-12. Contact Anna or Shirley for more information.

As many of you are aware, Albert supports lots of programs where others are doing their best to assist in lifiting the standard of living for others in the world. World of Difference is a team of ordinary Rotarians who accomplish extraordinary outcomes because they choose to share their knowledge, skills, experience and time for the advancement of other communities - with all work being done by volunteers to ensure 100% of the money donated gets to the communities who need it most. Check out their website www.wod.org.au

Darrel Steer, who has spoken to us in the past, is passionate about provided clean water and toilets for villages in Cambodia. with better sanitary conditions, families have better lives, and their children can go to school and become better educated. Please check out the attached pdf version of a PowerPoint, created from Darrel's latest newsletter CAMBODIA_PowerPoint.pdf

After 4 days of hectic activity our inaugural Art Show is over. What a wonderful event it was, and huge thanks to Daniel and Cameron from Ormiston Rise for their sponsorship and assistance throughout the whole weekend. From the Opening night through to Sunday afternoon, we had a steady stream of visitors, and many of the art works were sold. Neil gave a very full report at our meeting last night, and Michael will provide the monetary details when all is finalised. Many thanks to all the organising committee and helpers throughout the weekend. Photos and videos will be uploaded here when available. Above - Linda Kypriadakis with one of her outstanding works.  Below - Peter Steller, Sculptor with one of his sculptures, Pelican Preening which was sold and  Anna Bray & the first purchaser of the event  - her painting "Waiting for the Word"

Thanks to Tamara, from STAR Community Services for presenting this Certificate of Thanks last night, reflecting their appreciation of the contributions made by club members to the 2025 Christmas hampers. So many people in need in our community, so many without families to cheer them along during the festive season.  Our thanks to STAR Community Services for the wonderful work that they do, and to our champion Helen Dundon for her organisation of the club's contributions.

If you were present at our meeting last night, and were not totally impressed with the quality of young people presenting their stories and music - then you are very hard to please!! If you did not attend - you missed a very special evening. What an inspiring group of young people - our Youth Exchange students and the Cleveland District State High School students, and a great video from Vanessa Feng in Toronto VID-20260225-WA0002.mp4.

Two CDSHS students entertained us before we sat down, and again during the evening; the other two gave us a wonderful wrap up of their European trip - an unforgettable trip for those 30 students and their teachers. (Grant's last school trip to Europe - I fear he will miss it, despite the hard work it involves!!) We also had a great insight into what is happening at school with NEXUS, and how our donation from the Bendigo Bank Raffle was spent. Many thanks Grant for bringing your students and staff - inspirational.

Our rebound YEP student Clancy Smith have us a wrap up of her year in Czech as an exchange student - she now has friends in many parts of the world and a lifetime of memories. Megan and Graham were there too - very pleased to have their girl home once more. Amanda Monteiro, our inbound student currently staying with Chris & Donna, showed us what she has been doing since arriving last July. Such a fully packed program - she has seen more of Australia than some of us I am sure!!

STOP PRESS - See next screen for the newest future Rotarian....

Last night saw three new members inducted by Pres. Bob, and welcomed by PDG Margaret Hayes. In the photo above Shona Sherman and Wendy Litherland from HFB Group (our Corporate member company), Margaret Hayes and Malcolm Hull. Welcome to the Rotary Club of Cleveland - we look forward to working with you all.

A very full night, with a very interesting Member's Corner by Treasurer Michael Carrigan, and then our Guest Speaker Colin Scobie from ESRAG, speaking about Rotary working with groups outside to achieve sustainable pratices. Redcliffe Sunrise Rotary Club certainly are leading the way in this field. Check them out Home Page | Rotary Club of Redcliffe Sunrise

Members and friends often wonder why some of us spend a lot of time sourcing, sorting, packing and sending goods to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomons, Fiji and other places of need. Mostly, it is because these areas, particularly in the educational and medical areas, have so little, we can help them with their education, health and some recreational and vocational requirememts.

School desks, books, teachers resources are the staples we send, however late last year Albert received a donation of a considerable amount of carpet. Here it's being put to very good use in Wewak, in the school and in the Physiotherapy Room at the local clinic. This is a luxurious finish to classrooms that also received the new desks, lots of reading books and text books. Thank you Albert Benfer and your donor - the joy on the faces of those children makes it all worth the effort!!

Caroline competed at the QTS Raby Bay Triathlon on Sunday and did very well as reported by Gavin. 55th Overall from 180 competitors; 7th Female; 2nd on 30-34 age category; and possibly the best Triathlete on the course. See Gavin's post on WhatsApp - videos cannot be uploaded here.

Saturday morning saw a number of members braving the awful humidity to empty out the Shed, including chasing rats, and cleaning it completely. A system was devised by Clive for storing the goods we need/want to keep, Jan & Lyn recorded all that was returned to the Shed for the sign to be placed on the wall soon. Goods no longer wanted were either taken to the tip by Robin in his trusty trailer, or are to be delivered to the Fun Farm, RARE or Substation 33. Boxes of archives to Shirley to be added to the website. Thanks to all for the hard work under very trying conditions - great to see our newest members stepping up and working hard. The trailer and van were similarly cleaned and sorted. Great Rotary spirit in action. Don't miss the meeting at the Shed on Jan 27th, where you can see what we have and where it is stored; also learn how to operate our BBQ trailer.

In a world where intolerance and violence fueled by religious differences are seemingly increasing, one Rotary club in Indonesia is showing how diversity can help prevent a pandemic threat.