Events

Dear members, after a well earned rest (!) we are back to business. This week's meeting will celebrate our Annual General Meeting and then Terry will 'open the doors' so we can can enjoy a post-Truck Show FFF and a chance to swap stories.Please consider that the AGM is an important legal step in our year, and as such, we hope to have as many members present. The meal will be the pseudo FFF as members can choose their own culinary delights from the bistro menu.

Volunteers required to fill roster for provision of BBQ and food for the Dja Dja Wurrung Mountain Day celebration at Mount Franklin. We have quoted a per head price for 150 people so its cooking and service only. They have requested food from 10.30am.

Provide BBQ's, cook supplied food items and service for Castlemaine Hospital staff Christmas lunch. Club to receive $200 donation.

Do you know if you could benefit from a social prescription? Do we know of someone who could be helped? What is Social Prescription? And why are our local GPs getting excited about this non-pharmacological remedy? Dr Richard Mayes is speaking about this at our Rotary meeting this Wednesday. Richard was invited to give this presentation at the first TedX day at Maldon last year and now we have managed to get him booked for us. This is for us, for our families and our community. Come along and find out what it is all about. Chris is our Chairman and Richard's partner Lucy will be joining us for our first meeting back at The Cumberland.

We are all used to coming to Club meetings and events and, for the most part, we give scant thought to what goes on behind the scenes to get to that point.

For this Club Night, President Terry Murphy will do an intimate Q&A with some key members of the behind the scenes team.

Many of our members have been behind the scenes, but many others haven't. This is a chance to start to find out, not just how it all comes together, but how YOU might be able to be involved.

To all members, please book in to share an evening of Fun, Friends and Fellowship. We always enjoy these evenings where we can meet at a lovely local venue and share good conversation and food. This Wednesday Rotary have arranged for us to go to the Nem Viet, a Vietnamese restaurant with a very tempting menu! (lots of yummy choices) It is licenced so no need to bring your own drinks. An excellent opportunity to be with friends and experience this amazing restaurant in our own town. The management have been very gracious and keen for us to come.

About Project Lemur: This Southern Mitchell Rotary international project is designed to support 1,100 Primary School children and their teachers at St. Vincent de Notre Dame de l'Androy (St. Vincent's) Primary School in Ambovombe, Androy Madagascar. The area has suffered 6 years of successive drought in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic which is forcing families in rural communities to resort to desperate measures to survive. Donations will be used to provide food, clean drinking water, medicine and school equipment to help parents keep their children fed and to stay at school. 

Rotarian Paul Lloyd is the Project Lead.

With such a fascinating title, Clare has been tasked with moving towards solutions to the unmet housing needs of Mt Alexander Shire on the background of having worked at every level of government and in community services. Clare would like to challenge our Rotary 'think tank' and present to us The Mount Alexander Affordable Housing Trust. Come along to be part of the brains trust. Keep our locals local.

For our March Club Night, Wednesday 5 March, we will host members from Rotary Eaglehawk. Let's give them a hospitable Castlemaine welcome!

This is an opportunity to chat with Rotarians from another club, exchange ideas and insights, and build links between the clubs.

In the near future, we will be visiting Eaglehawk. If you've not seen their rooms, you're in for a treat!

We are asking you to register a week beforehand, by Wednesday 26 February, for this meeting only.

The Alchemy of Gold event will be introduced to us by Alice Matthiesson. This special forum brings together experst, historians and the community to explore how the discovery of gold in Victoria shaped the state. Certainly more to be told - come and listen

Robyn Howarth was 10 years old in 1972 when she was kidnapped, along with five other pupils and her teacher, from the tiny school in Faraday, Victoria by two masked men. The ensuing search was the biggest Police and community operation in the State. She tells her story through the lens of her childhood thoughts and feelings and the effect the kidnapping had on her, her family and the local community.
 
This will be a fascinating and engaging talk and is not to be missed. Partners and friends very welcome, but will need to be registered through our ClubRunner system.

Copies of Robyn's book, Faraday: A Community Rediscovered will be available for sale.

We do love the FFF nights! Come and join us at Shedshaker Brewing Company in the Taproom for a meal, with fellowship and fun flowing.

Support local Hardware store Tradies Day marketing event in association with Southern Cross Austereo Bendigo. (Radio station)

In late 2024 Aleka was sponsored by Rotary Castlemaine to attend the 2025 National Youth Science Forum in Canberra January 6-14th at The Australian National University. How exciting. This is our chance to acknowledge the effort and celebrate the joys' of learning and experiences that the National Youth Science Forum has given to Aleka. As a Rotary member I have always enjoyed these meetings when the youth of Castlemaine come to tell us all about the forum and what it has meant to them. Come to the meeting to share this time with Aleka and leave with a smile knowing that Rotary Castlemaine has once again been part of something really good.

Castlemaine Hot Rod Club are hosting a Autopiua Gathering on Sundau 13th April and have approched our Club to provide a BBQ for a breakfast & lunch. This event is part of the 2025 Australian Street Rod Federation Nationals being held in Bendigo.

Please come to our Speaker Night Rotary meeting on Wednesday 16th. We have managed to secure Susan Benedyka, the Managing Director and Principal Consultant at the Regional Development Company, to come, to talk to us, and with us. We are planning a dynamic thought provoking presentation with the aim of workshopping any projects or ideas for our region as Castlemaine Rotary. Also come to say G'Day to fellow Rotarians. It is good in these busy times to enjoy a meal and fellowship with 'like-minded' people.

Meet at Main Entrance (Odgers Road) of Dhelkaya Health at 0930hr to collect eggs for distribution and we are arranging Dhelkaya volunteer cards for everyone. Can we encourage you to dress in theme 🐣😊 and bring a small basket. We aim to have teams of 2 to go to the different areas - Penhall (32), Thompson House (25), Ellery(55) if possible we hope to have 2 sets of 2 to go to Ellery, main building Connolly (20) & Geroe(10) plus 2 volunteers to go to Arcare, for our 2 life members, and then out to Maldon for the residents out there - about 28 residents. It is fun and quick. Volunteer to bring a smile and an Easter egg to the residents of the Aged care Facilities here in our Shire.

Jeremy Forbes is a Board member and passionate advocate for Castlemaine Safe Space, a community-led, non-clinical, confidential drop-in centre, staffed by trained peer volunteers. 

For many people experiencing a suicidal crisis, Emergency Departments are the most immediately-accessed, or only, form of support. However, busy EDs are not ideal locations for people who are in psychological/emotional distress.  Castlemaine Safe Space (CaSS) is unique from any other service, as we honour our guest’s autonomy by not calling external services for intervention, without the consent of our guest.

Everyone who attends Safe Space is treated with respect, kindness, and compassion. If appropriate, we try to connect guests with a wide range of other community-based services such as housing, relationship counselling or financial assistance, to help address the causes of their distress. 

https://www.castlemainesafespace.org/

This is our return visit to our friends at Rotary Eaglehawk. If you've not been there before, prepare to be jealous of Eaglehawk having their very own premises!

We will be carpooling for this event, so please indicate in Comments on the Registration form whether you plan to drive and how many passengers you can accomodate. Similarly, if you will need transport, please indicate that in the Comments field.

Please also note dietary requirements in the Comments field. Caterers at Eaglehawk do not have the flexibility we are used to at the Cumberland.

Departing from Cumberland Hotel 5.20pm Wednesday 7 May.

We need to provide numbers to Eaglehawk for catering purposes, so Registration will close strictly at 1.00pm Monday 5 May.

Castlemaine State Festival is Australia’s longest running flagship regional arts festival. The biennial Festival commissions, develops and presents a program of events encompassing performance, music, literature, visual arts and film and is known as major contributor in connecting people and developing social wealth within the regional community. Operations Manager Linda Sproul will update us on the upcoming festival.

https://castlemainefestival.com.au/

Provide basic BBQ at the end of the event. This is a pre-paid cook only event, no sales required. A per prson fee will be charged back to ths association.