Bally Barker Blog

Our club Christmas party was held in the Wine Room at Balgowlah RSL club on Tuesday December 10, 2024. Everyone enjoyed a most relaxed night that provided a great opportunity to enjoy fellowship and Christmas cheer.   President Diana welcomed club members, partners and guests. Guests included Margaret Murdon (Streetwork), Sarah Watts(Lifeline), Kerry and Mark Gwynne (Dalwood Splistead Services), and Honorary member, Peter Stephenson and his wife Barbara; together with member's partners, Enid Hill, Chiaki van Brugge, Joy Apps, Helen Gray, Anne Thompson and Diane Mead.     Enid, Helen and Anne selecting pudding   As in former years,  members brought gifts for Dalwood Spilstead Services (DSS) to distribute to the needy families they give so much valuable support. Kerry Gwynne , Manager Spilstead Services told us how they would help make Christmas for so many of the families that are so dependent on the support from DSS. Kerry also spoke about the extremely d...

This project is in partnership with our colleagues at Manly Rotary Club who funded the exercise.  What is a Solar Buddy?  Solar Buddy is a small solar-powered light that can be used in places where no power is available. PNG our closest neighbour, has many villages that have no power, and little can be done in their homes at night. NOTE: ALL images below are not to be used in other websites or social media!   Moreover, the program improves inter-cultural understanding, fosters critical thinking skills and is a great way to network and develop relationships all while making a positive impact for children living in energy poverty. The Project: Balgowlah Rotary having a well-established relationship with Mackellar Girls campus and Balgowlah Boys Northern Beaches Secondary College took the components to make 100 lights, contacted the two schools to ensure that we could get this finished in the last remaining days of the school year.   The project was managed by Pasca...

On Friday, 6 th  December, a group walked from Queenscliff Reserve to Shelly Beach. This was under the banner of the Northern Beaches Domestic Violence Network, Northern Beaches Zonta and the Rotary Club of Warringah. Rotary Clubs in NSW has a memorandum of understanding with NSW Police around DV. Local representatives from Northern Beaches police attend along with Northern Beaches Zonta and the Rotary Club of Warringah and Rotary Club of Balgowlah. Sue Terry sent this report: "Very foggy/misty morning, twice as many people supported this very necessary walk, compared with the 2023 turn out. Included 2 Rotarians from Balgowlah Rotary, 2 from Warringah R, ( incl Liz Mc D) lots of Zonta members, who basically organise it in company of Rotary's Liz McDougall,along with many high school students and some teachers & SSO, wonderful, supportive police presence, council, politicians and others..... Rhonda Scotter (right) was in the march Such a wor...

At Tuesday night’s meeting on December 3, 2024, Past President Roger Gray gave and excellent talk to members and guests entitled “ Let’s take nuclear seriously”.   Roger outlined the need for clean dispatchable power (i.e. capable of matching supply with demand) from the grid when needed and capable of sustaining growth. Renewables are both weather dependent and not capable of matching supply with demand, moreover battery storage requires further dispatchable energy sources. Nuclear is both clean & proven in many countries including USA, France UK & Finland. It is adaptable in that it can complement renewables and respond to demand changes. Generation plants can be built on retired coal generation sites, using exiting transformers & grid distribution setups, so much smaller sites than solar and wind.   In Australia, nuclear is being excluded by legislation - Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999, and Australian Radiation Prote...