Our scheduled Birthday Celebration Meeting at Ben Bennett Park was forced to be a "rain check" because of the rain.
Fortunately, we are a flexible Club and were able to postpone the Park visit to next week and have the Club Forum meeting this week, instead.
Our illustrious AOM, Alan Still took us to D4250, Honduras. After a little research, I discovered Honduras is one of the world's most dangerous countries not in a war zone. A famous soccer player has been shot dead while walking the streets and most alarmingly, its crocodiles on farms are very hungry. Let's hope the fences are strong.
We were fortunate to have in our midst, three esteemed guests, at our morning meeting. One being a local man, Ray White, and the other, his English visitor, Hugo Pike. The third, our District's Assistant Governor, Wendy Gilson.
Don't forget to read on ...
Hugo hails from the RC of Chelwood Bridge. Here is a brief excerpt of Hugo's address, truly an amazing Rotarian.
There is an open invitation to any of your members when in England to visit my Club (RC Chelwood Bridge in Somerset). We meet for dinner on Tuesdays at an old English pub - the Carpenters Arms at Stanton Wick, Pensford, Nr Bath.
Regarding my brief presentation I should have summarised by letting you know that in the 11 years since our Rotary charity was started we have responded to 54 disasters in 28 different countries providing Water-Survival Boxes for more than 130,000 people. Each box costs £150 including air freight charges and every £ goes to deliver the aid. We are still a pure Rotary project with all the work done by volunteers
Thank you Hugo, for your interesting and insightful presentation you gave us regarding your Club's major humanitarian project. Truly one that is very worthwhile. Read the related story below.
President Peter reported on the success of the two fundraising events of the last week, viz Hat Day on Thursday night, and the Walk for Mental Health on Sunday
Although the Caloundra Hat Day Dinner was a little down on numbers, what was most noticeable was that the total percentage of Rotarians present was 25%. The remaining 75% were people within the community who saw the need to support Mental Health Research by supporting Australian Rotary Health.
It's refreshing when it's not just Rotarians supporting our own fundraising. Thanks go to all those who attended and to the Pelican Waters Golf Club for providing such a brilliant venue and level of service. Thank you also to the many businesses and Club Members who provided goods and services for our Raffle Prizes. We will have the final tally of funds raised to present to Members at our next meeting. See the story at this link.
The Rotary Walk for Mental Health was held on Sunday. A big thank you goes to Heidi who was the Chief Organiser for our Club. By all accounts, the weather was kind to the walkers, with over 300 participants. The Walk is now in it's second year and I know it will quickly become a full scale annual event. We wait with interest to hear the result of the total funds raised.
Time was then used to discuss the idea of how Rotary clubs, including our own, need to keep abreast of the times, or in other words, CHANGE.As President, upon arrival in the new position, you have many ideas, some are good and work well, others have been tried before, but there's no reason why they can't be tried again. Some ideas are going to be welcomed by the majority, while others will not.
From my perspective, change for change sake is not what's required. However, if we can do something better by making a change, it needs to be done. We all want what is best for our Club.
What do you say when you tell your friends about Rotary ? I'll bet the first thing you mention is that we meet for Breakfast on a Tuesday morning at Oaks. Am I right ?
Is our Club about Meetings or is it about Service ? It's Service before Self, isn't it ?
The most important thing we do as a Club is our act of Service to our community and beyond. When introducing potential members, which do you think would attract a future Member more, what we do for the community with our fundraising and service, or where and when we meet ?
Don't get me wrong, we need meetings. For a large club like ours, it's an opportunity for members to socialise and hear about what our club is doing in the community as acts of Service.
What happens when we have a vibrant Club? We attract new members because we are performing acts of Service that are meaningful to potential members. And most importantly, we are having FUN while we are doing it. In the last two weeks, our Club has been approached by four potential new members. It's our job to make them welcome and involve them in what we do. Remember, it's not just about Breakfast on a Tuesday.
Let's stop and think for a while and list some of the things that make us vibrant
- End of month Social Get Together. These have been very well attended. October, November, December and January Socials are already booked.
- Upcoming Portuguese Night
- Upcoming Christmas Party
- Ongoing success with Bunnings BBQ's, with willing helpers
- Successful Walk for Mental Health Fundraiser
- Donations in Kind Bus Trip, with willing helpers
- Varied and interesting Vocational Visits, well supported by members
- Hat Day Mental Health Fundraising Event, supported by members and Non Rotarians
- Upcoming Melbourne Cup Luncheon
- New name badges for Members and Partners
- Introduction of the Buddy System; Who's your Buddy and have you communicated together recently?
- Formation of Committees; every member is assigned a Committee to feel inclusive and part of our Club
- Elevation of our Club's Profile via new and improved, Website, Facebook Page, ClubRunner Facility
- Very successful RYDA Training days, with a record attendance of 240 students in one day
- Board Member's Monthly Reports and Minutes accessible by Members via Club Runner
- The Japan Festival that grows every year
- The "almost" St Patrick's Day Golf Day March 2018, our major fundraiser for the year.
- Presentation of Bursaries at Schools at end of Year
- Participation in Student Exchange Programs
- Introduction of an Eftpos Terminal at all fundraising events to cater for our cashless society.
These are but some of the things that our Club is involved with. Apologies for any omissions.So, when you talk to your friends about what we do at Rotary, please don't mention Breakfast first; instead, tell them about all the things we do.
Remember, let's keep our Club vibrant.
I look forward to seeing you all next week in the Park named after our Charter President, Ben Bennett. In the meantime, enjoy the break from the drought and stay dry. Details here
