Guest speaker was Kiteni Kurika, the recipient of the Royce Abbey scholarship and staying in Oberon with Brenda and Graham for two weeks. She is from Manus, and works in New Ireland. There are two major current projects she is working on – Taro commercialisation (from subsidence farming to cash earner from selling the crop out of the area) and promoting Women in Agriculture (men tend the cash crops – coffee and copra) but women tend root crops etc which are generally consumed within the family or village). She aimed to learn, on this trip, about: how crops are commercialised and marketed (including maybe value adding); how women farmers manage the farm, family and home (they delegate to men?) ; see the general culture of the people and also a little sightseeing. An interesting talk, and clearly Kiteni will learn a lot from her time in D9700. The challenge will be changing the PNG culture when she returns home.

See photos here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30799157&l=12a4b91c89&id=1286210997

Guest Speaker was Jill Ross, who gave a great talk on the history of her association with alpacas – from beginnings as a means of getting a family member over his desire to be clean, to a fully fledged farm with about 80 alpacas (some on agistment) in the Porters Retreat area. She was extremely generous sharing her knowledge and experience with behaviour of each alpaca, husbandry techniques, and general alpaca farming. It was interesting that she sources her alpacas directly from Peru villagers, and signs documents undertaking to treat the stock in a away acceptable to Peruvian standards (I don’t think they have to have them in the house, but..? ). It seemed many members had experiences with alpacas – from the Hoopers to Bill etc. Even John had a true anecdote about alpacas (or Llamas). I’m sure all current and prospective owners of alpcas found the talk of great interest. Thanks Jill, and a good speaker organised by Sue.

See photo here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30799157&l=12a4b91c89&id=1286210997

The guest speaker, manager of the tourist centre in Oberon, took the stage. Jennifer estimated 6000 people a year go fossicking in the Oberon area, with the visitors ‟ Centre seeing about 1500 – 2000. After directions from the Centre quite a few can‟t find the good sites for fossickers, (even though they have hired good quality fossicking gear from the Centre). The tourism experts have suggested having two pits of gem bearing soil sited near the Centre so fossickers can make their fortune close to creature comforts, and also to expert advice on technique. Similar facilities are in place in places like Lightning Ridge, where experts show new chums the ropes before they venture out, or simply try their luck in the noodle patch. The Centre is looking for seed capital (in the order of $1000), to construct a fenced pit area, with picnic tables, soil, water etc. Thanks for a good talk Jennifer, and now it‟s on to the Board.

Bob Conners gave an interesting talk about a trip he and Margaret had been on – a train trip on the Durango – Silverton Line ( a narrow gauge line) in Colorado. I full engineer regalia (although some only saw his back and didn’t realise the flash shirtfront), he went through the history of the railroad – it’s initial construction, various setbacks, including floods and fires, but also government appropriation of rolling stock. It now contributes substantially to the economies of Durango and Silverton. Bob showed a DVD which detailed the history of the line, and had some great footage of the amazing scenery. We missed the mooning photo though. Thanks Bob. Good talk on a subject clearly close to your heart.

Kevin Hansen showed a series of random photos of his bicycle ride across the Nullarbor with his father as co rider, and mother as support crew. For this effort, apart from missing a few Rotary nights, Kevin and Arn received a beautiful trophy that Kevin at least has sent “straight to the pool room”. (Yes – it’s that tasteful).

See photo here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30799157&l=12a4b91c89&id=1286210997

We also had a few catering events! Starting the month with the Oberon Markets, then Mayfield Gardens, then A car rally and the Markets again!

We also attended – as a club – the Polio Plus film evening in Bathurst. A very busy month!

See all the photos here – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042286&id=1286210997&l=258c9873e6

John Martin , the guest speaker, talked on tin mining in the early days of Emmaville – often recollections of his grandfather. Details can’t be recorded here for reasons of copyright, (and the note taker was attempting to video the talk for John’s grandchildren). However it was a great yarn of times gone by, rated G (for grandchildren), despite rumours off burning the joss house (the first one!)

Rotarian Mike Massey (thought that guy looked familiar), development officer with the Council , spoke on a number of things in the pipeline – Community FM radio – “Hightop FM”; lot of admin and technical work done, and looking to official airwaves launch next Australia day. Threatened “practice static broadcasts “from premises in main street – (will nearby business owner Bill pay him enough to keep the volume down?). The second topic was Oberon’s presence at Country Week – a big success with families and business quite interested in the local facilities and location. Potential industries may include hydroponic vegies, and fibreglass water tanks. The discussion ranged from all Mike’s topics to Telstra/CDMA vs 3G, and so on. Good presentation Mike.

 Tim Graham (distant relation to Malcolm Graham) who talked on his two and a half years as a volunteer in Vanuatu – the types of Govt funded volunteers, and also his experience of Vanuatu culture and people. Good pictures – thanks to Brenda for the screen, data projector etc. Thanks Tim for a short notice (but interesting) talk.

David McMurray – the Steam and Heritage Fair and Ian Davis – Oberon Men’s Shed.

• Ian Davis talked briefly about the Oberon Men’s Shed, a place for men with time on their hands to hang out and /or do something useful. To date, they have restored a pavilion at the showground which they hope to lease as a base, and also restore another pavilion to house what was exhibited in the original place. He invited any men to visit and have a yarn and a cuppa. Graham P thanked him for facilitating a facility that met a real need among a particular segment of our community.
• David McMurray spoke about the Highland Steam and Vintage Fair – held last year at the showground at the same time as the Oberon Show. He emphasised the large number of participants and visitors at the initial Fair, and spinoffs for Oberon. The aim is to make this event the premier vintage fair in the Central West. The 2010 Fair is scheduled for the same weekend, apparently at a venue to be decided. This year he is asking the community to get behind the event by donating sponsorship money – ranging from small to naming rights for the entire event. Bob Conners thanked David for an interesting talk, and wished him every success.

Danielle Ballinger – Bathurst girl just returned from GSE trip to Italy
Danielle gave a very interesting account of her GSE trip to Northern Italy – D2070 – San Marino and Tuscany. Among the highlights were – catching up with the Italian team members, home stays, wineries, Ducati factory, wineries, Vocational visits – car dealership, and council at Guisetto(?), fun with the language. She found the Rotarians were very interested in her life and family back here in Australia – a reflection , Danielle thought, of the importance of those aspects in Italian life. She also managed to add some time after the Italian leg to visit France and England.

• Jasmin Pasalic of Oberon High. Jasmin attended the Honeywell Engineering School a few months ago. Jasmin gave a very good account of his time in Sydney at last December Honeywell Engineering Summer School. (HESS). A week long, checked out the various engineering courses at the different Unis, only 80 people there (so need to get in early); He seemed to change his mind about the engineering discipline (from mechanical to civil) after the school;
• Meeting in Bathurst (Bathurst Entertainment Centre – 6.30) – speaker Tim Flannery, with dinner at OConnell Cafe afterwards. A very good talk was enjoyed by the large group of members who attended Tim Flannery’s presentation. A nice change not to see the commonplace powerpoint support – he got his message across without the need for pictures! (to quote an anonymous member – “I went home and read about half of ‘Now or never’ (Black Inc. 2009). Easy to read, most important for all to get hold of ($22 from Books Plus in Bathurst). Dinner at the O’Connell Cafe was great.
• Dinner and Cave tour – at Jenolan Caves
• Hans Guldberg -. ‘Biodiversity Hotspots’
  Hans gave an excellent talk on biodiversity hotspots – areas of great biological diversity that warrant preservation, and will be threatened by global warming. The identified 10 areas in 1998 (by Conservation International?) have been expanded to 34 now. These vary from for example, one area in Australia (a spot in WA) to the entire country of NZ. Hans covered a wide range of issues – why these areas should be preserved, why they were threatened, Funding alternatives to assist preservation. He had also spent some time gathering great pictures to illustrate his case. His mention of global warming was followed by the comment along the lines of it’s easier to bury your head in the sand if half the world is a desert. Comments and discussion ranged from the significance of the problem (is it a continuing part of world climate evolution) to alternative approaches to preserving biodiversity. Thanks Hans – an excellent coverage of the issues, and very professional presentation