June 2017

St Leonards Men’s Shed Newsletter 

                June 2017

Welcome to the WINTER newsletter of 2017, the  footy season is nearly half way through and I'm still thinking finals are a chance.  Well, one can dream.  The feedback the committee received following our Christmas Dinner was so good we are planning another dinner with partners in July, details included below. 
 

Members Tables

 

Taras's Chess Table 

Taras made a fantastic chess table, I think I remember that correctly.  We have been playing tag team on Wednesdays at the shed, so whenever I was there Taras was not, that's why we don't have a photo, next edition for sure.  The boys tell me the table has been put together with surgical skill, no band aids or bog to be found.  Wouldn't have expected anything less.

Trevor's Table 




Trevor made his table for the little people, a beautiful piece of timber that he treated with passion. He must had sanded and polished it over a dozen times, and it shows with the fabulous finish.






Fred & Ray's Por-table Table 

Fred and Ray made these clever tables that fold down to take up no space, perfect for their caravan travels.  On seeing their work, Kevin decided to make one for himself, he was away the day the photo was taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concentration

Check the concentration on the face.  Old nimble fingers completed all his sail and rigging work and has taken his boat home.  Chris's work at the shed is an inspiration to us all.  

Chris is rarely stressed, and when I asked him why he said,  I eat chocolate, cakes and ice cream if I think I'm becoming stressed.   Why ?  Because stressed spelt backward is desserts.
 

Little Creatures

Mick organised a visit to the Little Creatures Brewery in Geelong.  Only five of us went and it was a very good tour.  What was most impressive was the amount of re-use the company achieves, everything from the heat, water/steam, CO2, wort and even the wooden pallets and containers are re-used. 

The beers were sampled following the tour and received mixed reviews from our talented team of tasters.  Too hoppy, too weak, ...

Even the cider was not well received.  We think the original pale ale, Rogers and the Ferthy were the picks of the samples.



Here's the team, both our master brewer's were there working to learn new tricks to improve their own craft.  When they heard the brewery just had a $15M upgrade they suggested Bob allow them a $5.00 budget for their upgrade.



Doctor Joke

As Taras is mentioned in a number of places throughout the newsletter, and is also in the profile a thought a Doctor joke was warranted.

Four surgeons were sitting around on lunch break, discussing what kinds of people they like to operate on.

The first surgeon said, “I like operating on librarians. When you open them up everything is in alphabetical order.”

The second surgeon said, “I like operating on accountants. When you open them up everything is numbered and organized.”

The third surgeon said, “I like operating on electricians. When you open them up everything is color-coded.”

The fourth surgeon said, “No no, operating on politicians is clearly the best, and also really easy.”

The other three surgeons looked at each other in disbelief. One of them asked why.

The fourth surgeon replied, “Because they are heartless, gutless, spineless, and their ass and head are interchangeable.”

Grants

About 18 months ago we applied for a Volunteers Grant for the shed and when the recipients were announced in April last year we were disappointed not to have been successful.  Not to be deterred, our former grants member (Trevor Hirth) and current grants member (Russell Bath) set about re-wording an application and have another crack.  I am very pleased to advise that we were successful and $5,000 was added to our bank account in May.

After the On Ya Bike Program completed Mick was told by the person who presented him with an Appreciation Certificate that we should apply for a grant from the BCH Health & Well Being Fund.  Always wanting to comply with peoples wishes, when the fund opened we applied for a grant to fit acoustic tiles in the kitchen/meeting room.  We will know if we have been successful in July, either way (via either grant) we will have these tiles fitted.

VMSA/AMSA News

As most of you should be aware, there have been ongoing discussions between the VMSA and AMSA, in regard to the By-Laws adopted by the AMSA Board on 3rd June 2016.   The following has been taken from a Special Bulletin from the VMSA that was sent to members mid May  and a copy of which is on the Notice Board in the Kitchen. 

The VMSA advised AMSA that it was not possible to adopt the proposed changes in the short time line provided i.e. by the 30th of June 2016, as it would require changes to the VMSA’s Constitution. These changes would have to be taken to all VMSA member Sheds at a special meeting, and a vote in favour by 75% of our members Sheds would be required.

The VMSA Committee undertook a comprehensive consultation with its member Sheds via discussions with individual Sheds and groups of Sheds, and at Cluster meetings, at its AGM at Geelong in November 2016 and at the VMSA Gathering at Bendigo in March 2017. The VMSA has kept Sheds informed via newsletters, special bulletins, Cluster meetings and the above State-wide Gatherings to ensure that all Sheds had as much current information as possible to inform and enable Sheds to discuss and to be aware of these concerns.

The overwhelming advice that the VMSA has had from Sheds, Cluster meetings and Gatherings is, “We understand the need for a national representational body, but if, through meetings and discussions, agreement cannot be achieved the VMSA should sever ties with AMSA”.

After eleven months of discussions, and the lack of communication, transparency and consultation from AMSA, there has been no resolution to these issues. The VMSA has invested much time, effort and expense in this process and this has taken the focus away from working with and for our member Sheds.

The VMSA Committee has now taken the decision to terminate its membership with AMSA. The VMSA strongly reaffirms its continued focus as the peak body for Men’s Sheds in Victoria in supporting the needs and requirements of our member Sheds. This decision has not been taken without a lot of consideration of the views of our members.

Safe Plate Day

As discussed in the last newsletter, we agreed to have this day where we would provide a community service and replace the cars number plate screws with one way screw that would make it harder for someone to steal your number plate.  The night before the rain came down and I arrived with wet weather gear in tow around 8:30 to get things ready for our 10 - 1 day. Absolutely no need as it turned out a great weather day, no rain and not too hot.  Phil from the Progress Association (PA) arrived and started putting signage around and the Police arrived with 4 different types of screw depending on your vehicle type.   Our first customers arrived at 9:20, at this time Kevin and Chris were still crying in the kitchen whilst chopping onions. I apologise I didn't take enough photos outside, I was too busy marshalling traffic.  The two photo's I left large were sent by PA Phil.

 

This was the quiet before the storm, the Screw Crew (Mick, John, Dave, Bruce, Geoff & Russell) completed 84 cars when the Police were there and another 3 after we had really closed for the afternoon.

You can just make out Kevin on the left of the photo, he did a great job on the BBQ assisted by Phil "The Count" Murphy and his wife Alana.  The catering team kept nourishment up to the hard-working Screw Crew, other members, the Police and the general public. The team cooked over 6kg's of sausages, and what they didn't eat, we did.  I was helped in marshalling duties by Trevor "the Collector" who did an outstanding job of asking for a gold note, I mean coin donation.  It was surprising how many notes we actually received.  One lady, who didn't have any money when her plates were completed, went home and came back just to give a donation.

 Many of our visitors ( and we had people from Ocean Grove, Drysdale and Point Lonsdale) took the opportunity to have a look around inside the Shed to view some of the items on display.  The were very well looked after by our Customer Liaison Manager and his team of Taras, Russell (when not screwing) and Dennis later in the day.  There was a lot of interest shown, and you can see some of the items in the photos.  Unfortunately when I took these photos, Bruce had already taken his Rolls from the table.

It was a very successful day, we made around $300, "The Count" and Alana are still discussing the exact amount.  We received very good community feedback.   At the end of the day, PA Phil and the working teams debated on the success.  The Progress Association are going to buy some of the screws and we will do the Safe Number Plates on a day when we are normally open.


Footy Tipping

The footy tipping is up and running with 15 challenging for the prize of $75. Bruce was so excited he entered twice, firstly as Port Bruce then as Bruce Swain, he really wanted to win.  After 10 rounds Jeanette Swain heads the ladder but there is only 3 points between the first 10 tipsters.  With the way the games have been going this year there is changes to our ladder every week.  Russell (last Place) is making it his mission to start climbing the ladder, claims he enjoyed his cruise so much he forgot to put in his tips.

CPR Refresher Course

When we purchased the De-fib last year we had a excellent training session run by Julian Cosgrove from Australian First Aid.  After the session Julian said if we wanted a re-fresher course he would come to the shed and provide at no cost.  True to his word, when I spoke to he set the date and again did a great re-fresher for the 12 odd members who attended.

 


We had a very relaxed session and Julian demonstrated the use of the De-fib with the help of his dummy.  He really didn't need to bring one, there were many in attendance. 






We learnt that if you connect the de-fib pads to someone and their heart is actually still working the de-fib will sense this and not provide a shock.  That ruined it for Chris who had thought if might be in for a thrill.





Before he left, Julian showed us a First Aid kit he and some colleagues had put together.  A really great, well thought-out kit that retails for $189 and Julian gave this to the shed.  He can provide the shed with these for us to on-sell and make some cash.  We can offer these to members for basically cost price of $130 and non-members for $150.  Please place your orders on the Sheet on the noticeboard in the Shed.


Mid-Year Dinner

Following on from the positive feedback we received from our Partners Christmas Dinner we are planning for a mid-year dinner on Thursday 13^th July, 6:30 for a 7:00 start, at the Portarlington Golf Club.  The menu is below,

OPTION 3  $32.50 – 3 COURSE      

Soup of the Day

Chicken Breast stuffed with cheese, spinach and sundried tomato, wrapped in prosciutto napped with basil pesto

Or

Lamb cutlets with capsicum coulis

Choice of two desserts

Cost will be $25/head, with the Shed subsidising the remainder, pay for your own drinks at the bar.

Please either advise me via email or put your names on the sheet on the noticeboard in the Shed.

Member Profile

As you know, each newsletter, we introduce one of our members and complete a profile.  Last newsletter you met the second half of the "Booze Brothers", John Stevens.  This month is our resident all knowledgeable Doctor, Taras Mikulin.

 

Name	Taras Mikulin
Partner	Margaret
Children/Grandchildren	2/0
Great Grandchildren	0
How long have you lived in St Leonards?	3 years
Before St Leonards	Deniliquin
What did you do before retiring?	Still Actively Part-Time Employed
Football Club you support?	Collingwood