September/October update

It's been awhile since the blog has been updated!

Club

• A big thank you to Merril who has taken over the treasurer position!
• Tonight (Wed Oct 29) we are having a movie night in the auditorium - the featured movie is The Black Balloon
• Our club turns one year old on Sunday, November 9th so we will have a birthday party at the Sherwood Aboretum to celebrate - starting from 1pm
• The club Chrissy party will be dinner and drinks at The Ox (Oxley pub) on Friday, 5th December - this replaces the meeting on Wednesday, 3rd Dec.

Community

• We recently had Jen West from the Zonta Club of Brisbane as a guest speaker - Jen talked about some of the projects that her club has undertaken both large and small
• Anti-graffiti has been continuing - we have one more session on the last Sunday in Nov (30th) before wrapping up for the year - please think about joining our squad of anti-graffiti heroes, even if you only come once every 3 months it will make a big difference!
• The Sherwood Street Festival is on Friday, 28th November - we will be selling bubbles again as well as cleaning up in order to raise funds for a community charity
• The next day (Saturday, 29th Nov) we are meeting at 10 at the Level 2 foyer of the Mater Children's Hospital so that we can decorate the Seven South ward for Christmas

Calendar project

• Emily's idea of producing a calendar featuring the work of local artists is gathering momentum - we are now at the stage of sourcing sponsorship and artwork
• The money raised from this calendar will go towards the HEAL (Home of Expressive Arts in Learning) program at Milpera State High School - this program uses art and music to help these students deal with their trauma and grief
• We will sell these calendars for $10 each at the Sherwood Street Festival, in local art galleries and through our own personal and professional networks
• Local businesses can buy advertising space in the calendar for a cost of $200

International

• Our new members Valmor and Marcelo have spoken to the club about their idea for a joint district/club project to buildan English education and training school in Brazil - we will be discussing this idea further and will present it to the district as a possible district international project
• Amanda had an idea to organise a ‘walk-a-thon’ to raise awareness for the plight
  of refugees who have to walk considerable distances to find safety from violence and
  persecution - the club has tentatively booked this in for April/May next year

Professional Development

• Michelle McDowall of TickTax gave a presentation to the club on individual tax returns
• Our system of a rotating chair, introduced in July, appears to be working well and it allows all members to experience how to lead and run a meeting