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Janee Hong

Watching the Club members and our guests at a recent meeting night listening intently to our powerhouse speakers, Nadine Rains from Outreach Accord and Kathryn Lyons from Assessibili-t was inspirational and moving. I felt privileged to be in a position to introduce these wonderful ladies and be able to support them in their endeavours. This last month has seen our Club host Eve Fraser, Rotary Club of Water Safety and Drowning Prevention and Elwyn Hodge – update on Rotary Foundation which have engaged the members of our Club and helped us learn more.

The Club has recovered from the hugely successful Beenleigh Cane Gala Ball. It was an incredible night at the Beenleigh Events Centre where 130 guests were wowed with fabulous food, company and an fantastic band. The Sugar Sweet Stories Youth Literacy Program saw the official launch of the “Follow the Sugar Trail” book. The author Karen Tyrell and illustrator, Megan Forward were present for the release of the book to public and they signed a copy that was later auctioned off. Councillor Karen Murphy was presented with a well deserved Paul Harris Fellow for her dedication to her community. The auction and raffle prizes saw items kindly donated by many generous businesses for our fundraising with all proceeds to go back into the Sugar Sweet Stories program. The evening saw members pull out all stops and deliver yet again another successful event that will now be firmly locked into the Beenleigh social calendar. Planning is now underway for the Beenleigh Cane Parade and Gala Ball events of 2023.

This past month was a very busy month and I can’t believe we are almost arriving on the door of Christmas. Members have been putting in long volunteer hours and feeling invigorated by what we have achieved. We supported the Papua New Guinea Federation Queensland, with the return of their Independence Day celebrations since COVID shut them down. The event was held at the Bill Norris oval, over the 2 days the oval came alive with colour, stalls, music and people. We helped support their parking and takings from the front gate and a great time was had by all.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to support Bert van Manen’s Federal Member for Forde Seniors Expo at Canterbury College. It was an amazing day with us cooking sausages for a long line of hungry seniors. The day was well received with so many wonderful exhibitors and the chance the see the wonderful array of services for our aged members of our community. These past few months have seen us called upon to support events with BBQ’s and we have enjoyed participating in the Logan River Parklands Tree Planting, Joomunjie Land Big Play Day out at Eagleby South State School and Logan City Council's Batty Halloween event. We are eagerly awaiting our new BBQ trailer that is almost ready for delivery in mid November. We are very grateful for the support from the State Gambling grant that has allowed us to have the funds to commission this build

In October we were pleased to be present at the Palliative Care Unit’s Garden of Peace official opening with the Federal Minister for Forde, Bert van Manen and we gained a greater understanding of the impact our transformation has had on the staff at Logan Hospital and the patients and loved ones. This beautiful garden space can be a legacy that the joint efforts of the Rotary Clubs of the City of Logan can leave for many more years of offering a place to seek peace, comfort and share private moments for patients, families, friends and staff.

As we come closer to Christmas we are already being approached to provide much needed support for our community doing it tough at this time. We are working on support for several organisations to bring some Christmas cheer and smiles. We are looking forward to the official unveiling of our Peace Pole and Chair very soon at Windaroo Peace Park and start plans for our 70^th birthday in March 2023.

Yours in Rotary Service,