This week our Captain, Sarah organised a very special guest to inform us about the wonderful award winning work that Tourism Northern Tasmania do. Sarah ( our November Captain) is the marketing Manager of this non for profit group .Sarah was a very passionate speaker and informed us of the many ways that her work promotes Northern Tasmania to other regions both in Tasmania and other states. She stressed the importance of cycling and in particular the effect that Ritchie Port's visit at the beginning of the year had on the number of cyclists visit the state.

On Wednesday night area 5 and 6 held a forum with two guest speakers. Julian Burgess who spoke about marketing and how to harness the media  and the Rotary Peace fellowship recipient d'Arcy Lunn. d'Arcy was a enthusiastic speaker who was living his life as a gift to the world. For further information about his many and varied charities and organisations please follow him on Facebook.

Next week we are going to the Ravenswood Family and Child Centre for our meeting, members are reminded to check the address and arrive early.

This week our November Captain Sarah planned a "Fun" activity. Our meeting began with a Member's Minute by Jann, who researched the origins of the Members Minute and then shared her reasons for joining our Rotary Club. This was the perfect lead in to our Fun get to know you activity of two truths and a lie. We were divided into groups of three and had to take it in turns to say three things about ourselves, one of which had to be a lie and the others in the group had to guess what was true and what was not. Needless to say a lot of laughter and merriment ensured and we all came away from the meeting with a lot more knowledge about our fellow members. 

On Thursday I had the privilege of seeing our funds at work, I attended one of the Ravenswood Family Centre's Learn to Swim lessons at the Aquatic Centre. Rotarians will remember that our club sponsored this program and it was fabulous to see it working. I have asked for the Centre to send us some photos so that I can share them with you.

On Friday Night Jann Rowlands our Youth Director, organised for us to hold a book stall at the East Tamar Primary School Fair. Despite the rain we all had a fabulous time and the children went away with a wonderful assortment of books. We donated $150.00 dollars to the school and some beautiful picture books to be given to students who could not attend this fun evening.

Next week the fun continues. A reminder about the Group Forum night on Wednesday at the Grand Chancellor and our Board meeting on Thursday and Carols meeting on Friday.

Kerral from the Emmanuel Centre introduced us to Besta and told us a little of her amazing story of survival as a child in Sudan, orphaned at the age of 4, she was brought up by her aunt. 
Besta remembers sitting in a ‘‘classroom’’ underneath a mango tree scrawling in the dirt. The now mother-of-five said her experiences led her to dream about one day helping other orphaned children to gain an education so that they could get ahead in life.
The Bright Star Dream Foundation's aim  is to raise funds to support four schools in South Sudan, while creating awareness about the ongoing poverty in the country.
Besta travelled back to South Sudan in February and visited her old school.
‘‘I saw the mango tree and that was my classroom and it is still a classroom and still there is nothing,’’ she said.
‘‘They sit on rocks writing on the floor and they have nothing.
‘‘I can feel their pain, I can see their struggle and I know how hard it is to lose both parents so my dream is to help.’’
Besta said there would be as many as 150 orphans in just one school of 400 students.

‘‘Their parents were killed as a result of the (civil) war. They may of died because they had no food, or were murdered in their own home, or stepped on a land mine, or some of them would of died of disease because there are no health facilities,’’ she said.
‘‘I want to give the children hope, and education is the key for everything. If we support them to get a good education we help the whole country. If we get these kids educated, things will be different in the future.’’
To donate or for further information contact Kerryal Willis on 0447408123.
Besta and Kerryal are going back to Sudan later in the year and we all at Tamar Sunrise wish them well with their endeavours.

Next week we have a fun activity planned for our meeting and there will also be a Carols meeting on Thursday and a Cocktail Party debrief on Friday morning.

This week we welcomed Gordon Manning, owner of Floats in Kings Meadows as our guest speaker. Gordon's business is floatation therapy . He has a series of flotation tanks and he explained his customers use these tanks for a wide variety of reasons such as recovery and sleep, relaxation, pain relief  and creativity and learning.

The tanks are fully enclosed and are filled with a solution of epsom salts, which Gordon claims are able to improve heart and circulatory health, improve skin, improve nerve function, relax the nervous system, reduce inflammation, reduce stress,
improve oxygen use, improve absorption of nutrients, prevention of migraine headaches and helps in flushing toxins and heavy metals from the cells. 

Any one interested can book online at www.floats.com.au

Our Carols committee continue to meet and are getting ready to launch this years Carols. Please stay tuned for details. 

Susan Dolby also reported back after representing the club at the RYDA workshops held at Symmons Plains last week. Susan was not only impressed with the students who attended but the program in general and urged us all if at all possible to grab the opportunity to attend these valuable workshops that prepare students for driving safely on our roads. Many thanks must go to Annette Viney Northern RYDA Chair,Rotary District 9830 and her team for organising such a fabulous and worthy event.