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We held our Annual Changeover meeting which is where the 22/23 President, Bernard Raspin, officially handed over the baton to the incoming 23/24 President, Sophie Murfitt. We had the pleasure of hosting Jules Scarlett as our guest speaker who shared an inspiring narrative. Jules described how a Rotary opportunity presented to her in her youth, influenced and shaped the course of her life.

Next on the agenda, Bernard took to the stage to reflect on his prosperous year as President, highlighting a range accomplishments including the East Coast Awareness Cocktail Party, Seniors Christmas Lunch, Golf Day, Relay For Life and the Triabunna Cenotaph project to name a few.

Sophie was then inducted as the 50th President of the Club. She spoke of her vision to build upon the foundation other Rotarians have laid and outlined some key areas of focus including:

1. Increasing membership

2. Expanding partnerships with local community groups

3. Connecting with neighbouring towns such as Buckland and Swansea

4. Driving engagement with young members of the community

We look forward to another year filled with purpose, growth, and endless possibilities at Spring Bay Rotary Club!

We had 16 attendees at this workshop and we want to thank all of those who attended. A cancer diagnosis has a huge impact, both physically and emotionally. Some common emotional reactions include anxiety, fear, grief and anger. This workshop focused on looking after yourself during your own cancer diagnosis or that of a loved one. It provided some background information about how human beings respond to stress, and some practical tips for managing distress and reducing the impact on our mental health.

We had the pleasure of welcoming Bob Calvert (Rotary Tasmania's District Governor) and his wife Kaye to our meeting. Bob spoke about his year as District Governor and some of the projects he and Kaye had committed to and what they had achieved along the way. Little did some of us know that he had a few surprises up his sleeve!

Bob presented the Club with three awards:

1. Bernard Raspin was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for an outstanding year as 22/23 President.

2. The Club was awarded Rotary Tasmania's District Award for 'Best New Project' in relation to Triabunna Relay For Life 2023 where $35,000 was raised for Cancer Council Tasmania.

3. Sophie Murfitt was awarded Rotary Tasmania's District Governor's Award for 'Outstanding Rotarian'. An outstanding Rotarian is someone who reflects 'Service Above Self' to an outstanding degree within their Club.

We're very proud of what the Club has achieved over the past 12 months and we look forward to bringing about more positive change in the community over the next 12 months and beyond.

We recently celebrated 50 years of this Rotary Club! Thank you to Mayfield Estate for having us and thank you to everyone who came along to reflect and reminisce about the years gone by.

Well it's safe to say this Rotary Club had a big weekend... one of the biggest in its 50 year history. 6 weeks ago we decided we would like to run the first ever Relay For Life event on the East Coast of Tasmania. The aim was to raise $20,000 which we exceeded shortly after registering the event. On the day of the event we exceeded $30,000 and before donations closed we reached $35,000. We had 186 relayers register online and an additional 30+ register at the gate. This event could not have been achieved without our humble and dedicated Rotarians, young and old, every single one contributed. We hope you all had fun and we'll see you in 2024!

Our Triabunna Cenotaph project was completed some months ago. Thanks to everyone involved including East Coast Concrete, Triabunna RSL and Glamorgan Spring Bay Council. A special mention to Bernard Raspin, Chris Chapman, Rob Hutchings and Mick Nichols. We’re all very proud of the end result.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our annual Paul Weeding Memorial Golf Day at Orford Golf Club. It was a sell out yet again and we raised just over $2,500!

A great turn out to our annual Seniors Christmas Lunch this year, over 60 attendees. Thanks to those who came along and a very big thank you to all those who helped. Merry Christmas.

Australian Rotary Health / Rotary Club of Spring Bay Funding Partner PHD scholarship recipient Dr Anjan Bhattarai has recently published a new paper that brings us one step closer in helping diagnosing the early stages of Motor Neuron Disease (MND). This paper forms part of Dr Bhattarai’s PhD research into the use of novel MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) techniques to establish neuro-imaging biomarkers that assess the early stages of MND, in hope to improve reliable diagnosis of the disease.

Dr Bhattarai and a team of researchers investigated whether a computational model called ‘Network Diffusion’, could help determine the severity and progression of neurodegeneration in limb-onset MND. The study found that patients with MND had a significant loss of brain volume observed at 6-months, with further loss at 12-months, compared to the control group. They were able to identify the brain networks responsible for pathological spread of MND, particularly in an area of the motor cortex, known as the extra-motor regions.

“Although MND is known to affect the motor cortex (the part of the brain involved in planning, control, and voluntary movement), our results suggest that the disease may start from the extra-motor regions,” Dr Bhattarai said. “These findings suggest vulnerability of both extra-motor and motor brain regions in MND, which are in line with the view that MND is a syndrome involving multiple brain regions rather than a purely motor disorder.”

Dr Bhattarai believes that further understanding of these findings can potentially inform further research in the design of disease modifying therapeutic interventions. Such interventions could change the way we treat MND and ultimately the life quality of people living with MND.

160 attendees, great speakers, brilliant MC, incredible venue, wonderful photographer and $15,000 raised for mental health. Thanks to everyone who came along and supported this event!