Club and Board news for this month include the following items:
The RCSV Christmas Party will be held at the Heritage Hotel, Old Petrie Town on Friday 12 Dec 2025 at 18:00 h. An invite will be sent out shortly, together with an RSVP e mail from Club Runner;
The Club Action Plan, Website and Facebook tasks are on-going, but must be completed soon !!!;
Please note that the following RCSV Board positions need to be filled before Change Over at the end of June 2026 for the 2026 / 2027 year: President Elect, Secretary, Club Director and Community Events Director. Please nominate / second one or more RCSV members for these exciting roles, that are backed by a very experienced Board:
It is intended to store copies of the Village Pump articles produced by Carol R and Bob M on Club Runner, so that we have easy access to historical copy.
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Community Service News
The following Community Service activities have been initiated / delivered this month:
A RCSV Sausage Sizzle was delivered by Carl N, Alex N, Gary B, Bob M, Nettie C and Paul J at the Samford Ecological Research Facility (SERF) Open Day, located on Camp Mountain Road;
A very informative visit to the Samford branch of Riding for the Disabled Australia (RDA) facilities, Samford Showgrounds was organised by Bob M and conducted on Sat 14 Nov 2025. Mike Costello (President) and Rob Thompson (Treasurer) from Samford RDA provided a comprehensive tour of the facilities and Bob M provided high tea. Photos of our sponsored horse, Peter Pan and RCSV attendees were also taken. The RCSV has supported Samford RDA since 2007 and has sponsored an RDA horse for many years;
Planning works are in progress for the construction of a park bench at the top of the Rail Trail between Lanita Crescent and Lanita Rd, Ferny Grove. Bob M, Janelle Y and Gary B are part of the committee that is driving this initiative;
Bush care works at the RCSV Undambi Reserve have ceased for this year and will recommence on 07 Feb 2026, allowing a break from bush care works and respite from the summer heat;
Please note that the UNSUNG HEROES fundraiser event organised by The Carers Foundation has been postponed until Saturday 28th March 2026;
Fort rehabilitation works at the Samford Playgroup will commence in the near future. Note that the RCSV has a long history with the Samford Playgroup (from members own, early parent days) and has over the years undertaken considerable works for both the Playgroup and the RSL.
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Earlyact and Interact News
Earlyact activities that have been delivered this month (thanks Carol R !!!) are as follows:
The Earlyact Students have decided to support Stroke Victims for their Term 4 Project;
Chaplain Joss contacted the Stroke Awareness organization and received a full pack of information on this subject, which included posters, wallet-sized F-A-S-T cards in order to raise stroke awareness amongst the students and detail appropriate response-actions for students, if they encounter a stroke victim;
Joss will also organize a Scavenger Hunt as an end of year fun project;
At a recent school meeting, Carol has shared with the students three contemporary Village Pump articles to show the children that their Interact activities are indeed publicized locally.
Recent activities conducted by the local Interact Club include:
An Interact Conference report produced by Megan Clark (Ferny Grove State High School (FGSHS) Interact President) has been provided to the RCSV, which summarized this conference and the benefits accrued by two FGSHS students who attended this event;
The FGSHS Interact 2026 club will be coordinated by Karen Casey next year;
The Interact Trivia Night raised over AUD $ 1, 000 for their Red Bench Foundation Appeal.
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International News
The following RCSV International activities have been initiated / delivered this month:
Ian S, Lorelle H and Rob R attended the RAWCS RARE warehouse to process / pack items for overseas consignment. It's not all heavy equipment-lifting !!!;
A Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Institute (HADRI) presentation in Fortitude Valley was attended by Ian S recently, to learn more about the plight of Chin Myanmar refugees who have fled to Mizoram in India. Dignitaries from both Australia and Mizoram presented on this topic. The RCSV Board is considering a donation to HADRI water filter program which would allow Chin refugees to produce their own clean water. The SkyJuice filters in question produce about 500 liters of clean water per day, for between 5 to 10 years from each filter;
Following Ian S visit to the WA facility and presentation to both the RCSV Board and Membership, we have donated AUD $ 2, 750 to the Wheelchairs for Kids project which constructs suitable wheelchairs for mobility-challenged children around the world;
Ian S is also investigating the potential for a District Grant application, on behalf of the Wheelchairs for Kids organization;
We are also looking at a potential 2026 donation to Rotary Groups / international partnerships that are assisting people to recover from Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, specifically in the area of clean water delivery.
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This Month's Speaker Details
Anthnoy Burow - His story
Anthony Burow - 54 years of breaking things and learning to put most of it back together. Have led major technology initiatives and projects that have pushed the boundaries of new technologies and, with a grateful household of Guinea Pigs to let me know when I’ve broken things again. A Quick Look at some of the options in home automation to make life a little easier and not forming over a bundle of cash. I never have one project on the go, I have many, and they invariably involve too much technology because of the VIBE - Very Inefficient But Entertaining - in GenZ speak.
As the son of a migrant, Dean grew up in Sydney, and at 17 years old, joined the Army.
He served for over 20 years as a cavalry soldier, dog handler, military instructor and as an intelligence analyst. Dean also deployed to East Timor and Afghanistan on two occasions and for his talk will delve into his second Afghanistan deployment.
After his military service, Dean moved across to the department of defence as a civilian and is now working for the Queensland Government.
Dean currently lives in Samford Valley and is married with three children.
