Earlier this month, 27 budding artists came together to drink wine and learn how to paint with artist, Sally Duhig. The group could pick from two options – a dog or a cat. As simple as this task may sound, for most it was quite challenging.

We learnt how to mix colours and to create texture on the canvas to give the painting more depth. We were guided by Sally where she helped bring the animal of choice to life! We are all very thankful for Sally’s guidance and trained eye to help each of us achieve a great outcome.

The money we raised is being donated to Children’s Aid International. A local organisation, CAI’s mission is to raise funds, promote awareness and provide opportunities to support children in developing countries. The money can be seen in the shelters created and maintained where children can then feel secure, get an education and have improved healthcare.

The Big Issue Christmas Party has been an annual event for us ever since I have been around here – going on 8 years. It has always been a bit tricky finding the ultimate mix of venue, food, entertainment and weather (some things you can’t control). This year the event was again held at the Queensland Rail Function Rooms on Ann St in the CBD which proved a winner and we were able to put on a tradition Christmas Feast of Cold Meat and Salad, followed by some delicious desserts.

All Big Issue Vendors in Brisbane are invited to attend and this year we had almost 50 make it along. With full stomach’s the crowd sat back and enjoyed the entertainment that the people from Big Issue had arranged for the event. The star of this years event was Balloon Animal Man who seemed to have an endless repertoire of items to emulate in Balloon form. It is always great to help bring a little bit of joy to the lives of those less fortunate and this event is just one of the many ways that this clubs works to give back to our local community.

If you are interested in checking us out come along to the Woolloongabba Community Hall, 22 Qualtrough St Woolloongabba on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. Meetings start at 6:30 pm and we always pop out for dinner at a nearby restaurant afterwards so why not come join the fun

About 25 rotaractors made the trip across Moreton Bay to North Stradbroke for what has become the annual Rotaract District camping trip back in December. Most of the group chose to book houses with a few opting for a more pared back camping experience. It was great to see the majority of clubs from the district joining the fun and people chose a combination of time at the beach, beach volleyball, board games, 4WDing, beach soccer, bush walking, surfing (we tried) and other random touristy things to keep entertained. There were but a few people suffering from mild sunburn and self induced hangovers but all in all everyone enjoyed themselves and is looking forward to a similar event towards the end of 2016. Stay tuned for details

Some of you may not be aware but our secret to success here at Rotaract South Brisbane revolves around making it fun and recently we decided to step it up a notch. The Sit Down Comedy Club in Paddington have long been a good supporter of ours with generous donations of prizes at our Fundraisers

They recently proposed a unique opportunity to us whereby we could get a group together and sell tickets to our guests at a good margin allowing us to raise funds for our chosen charity. So not only were we able to hold a fantastic social event but we could raise funds for a great charity at the same time

For our first meeting in November we had a speedy meeting at The Paddo before enjoying dinner and drinks before making our way down to the Comedy Club. Rhys Nicholson was the first to take the stage with his very own flair for taking us through the trials and tribulations of growing up as an openly gay man in working class Newcastle before moving to Sydney’s Kings Cross – the home of debauchery.

Next up Merrick Watts of Merrick and Rosso fame shared with us his own brand of observational humour. After his set the crowd was left smiles from ear to ear. A big thank you to all in attendance, particularly those from Sunnybank and Brisbane CBD Rotaract Clubs who helped us raise funds for our Annual Big Issue Vendor Christmas Party

The Rotary Club of South Brisbane holds a special event each year to honor some special people in our community who go about their jobs either as professionals or volunteers and are able to make a genuine difference. While these people don’t ask for recognition from their peers or the community the Rotaractors and Rotarians in this area believe it is worthwhile to operate this event as an opportunity to say thank you. Nominations for outstanding service to the community were taken from stations in the greater South Brisbane area from each of the 4 Essential Services Organisations. Each of the nominations was then scrutinized before final awardees were chosen from each of the Police, Fire, Ambulance and State Emergency Services.

The Awards evening was held at the Greek Club in South Brisbane on the 17th of August and in addition to the Rotarians, Rotaractors and distinguished crowd of award recipients and their guests, we were joined by Guest Speaker Police Commissioner Ian Stewart. Amongst other things the Commissioner addressed the crowd on the importance of such events to each of the Essential Services Organisations in boosting morale. The event was a great success with in excess of 75 people gathering for the evening which is also a rare opportunity for us as community members to interact with those wonderful people within the Police, Fire, Ambulance and State Emergency Services.

At the end of each Club year, Members join together with friends and family to celebrate the achievements of the previous year, thank the outgoing board and welcome a fresh batch of enthusiastic board members. This year the event was held at the Fox Hotel back on the 26th of June. After our delicious dinner President Mark ran through a presentation summarizing the achievements of the past year – the funds that we raised, the charities that we benefited and the large amount of fun that was had. The club was able to raise close to $15000 which is a great achievement.

Incoming President Craig then gave us a rundown on his plans for the year ahead and I am sure the 15/16 Club year will be another great one. Then it was time for something new. Anyone who has had anything much to do with the club since its inception would know Joe Thompson and would have seen his continual commitment to the building and maintaining the health of the club. We opted to name the Innaugural Rotaractor of the Year Award after Joe as a means of thanking him for all of his support over the years. Alisha Radford was picked buy the outgoing board as this years winner. She is the longest serving Club Member, has held the Role of President and just about everything else and has given a lot back to the RYLA, RYTS and RYPEN Youth Programs over the years.

After all the formalities were out of the way it was time to sit back, have a drink and enjoy ourselves. It was certainly one of our best changeovers to date. Lets hope we see your smiling face at next years event!!

July gifted us with a 5th Thursday and you know what that means – Social night!!!  This month we chose to venture to Skyzone at MacGregor for an irresistible combination of Trampolines and Lazer Tag.  Some members showed that they were granted a greater amount of skills and coordination on the trampoline than others but everyone enjoyed themselves all the same.  Would have thought that it would have been as much fun as it was.  We were also joined by a good number of new RYLA friends.  Just back with a mind foll of inspiration from RYLA 2015.  After we caught our breath we adjourned to a nearby Thai Restaurant to share scars and battle stories.  Lets do something like this again soon.

In May of this year the club hosted a movie night fundraiser at the Palace Barracks Cinemas.  The event was a massive success with tickets selling out well in advance.  We were joined by Simon Clowes, the Principal of Albert Park Flexi School for a brief presentation about the School and it’s students.  Then onto the Movie – Pitch Perfect 2 was enjoyed by the crowd.  Though debateably not as good as the first installment Fat Amy had enough one liners to keep everyone amused.  At the end of the night $670 was raised for Albert Park – a great result