Dear Everyone,

 

Well the debate took place at the Club Assembly meeting last Tuesday night and it was something to behold. You could not fail to be impressed by the dignified and respectful way the two protagonists Ian Ash and Martin presented their arguments for and against the proposal to gain funds for club promotion. During question time, the audience too conducted themselves with decorum. It is a testament to the strength of the Club that a contentious issue can be dealt with in a civil fashion. Thank you to Sergeant David for the capable way he managed the proceedings and to Andrew for his time-keeping.

The vote was inconclusive with equal numbers voting for and against the proposal, but the ultimate decision would be made by the Board, which met on Thursday night. There it was pointed out that, in the Member Satisfaction Survey undertaken in August in which 88% of members participated, 68% were in favour of sourcing a small percentage of funds from nominated events. The Board voted 9 in favour, 2 against and one abstained.

I would like to allay fears that money will be taken from fundraising events as a matter of course. On the contrary, I hope we never  have to rely on that option, but the motion will allow us to use funds raised through the Donut Van and Sausage Sizzles and an idea proposed by Past President Catherine. Catherine will talk more about this at our next meeting, but basically the idea is to hold a monthly Trash ‘n Treasure Market at the Hub on the first Saturday of the month with a number of stallholders paying for their table. We can be a stallholder too if we wish. Catherine has already made progress with regard to meeting the requirements such an undertaking involves.

 

On Saturday afternoon, the Strategic Plan Sub-Committee met to finalise these statements and suggested the following to the Board:

Our Vision: “Thriving and resilient local and global communities” which the Board approved.

 

Our Mission: “Working together to create positive change in the wellbeing of people around the world.”

This wording was amended to read,

 

“Working together to create positive change in the wellbeing of our community and beyond.” which was subsequently passed.

 

Thank you to all who offered their suggestions and particularly to Ros and Martin whose input was invaluable. We hope you are happy with the decisions and for the Mission statement to appear on our letterhead. Our Facebook and Website will also be updated. The committee then discussed the areas of concern revealed in the survey and what could be done about them. As a reference, we are using RI’s Strategic Planning Guide and are currently working on the characteristics we want our Club to have in the future, before making a plan to achieve these. It is interesting and satisfying working with such a dedicated team.

 

 

Vocational Chair Ian Wakefield has very kindly agreed to head up a committee to plan the format of the Baton Relay and other aspects of the R100 celebrations for the centenary of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand next year. Public Image and Marketing Chair Ros will be on the committee with two or three others yet to be confirmed. Puffing Billy Railway will be approached to see if they would be willing and able to be involved. Wouldn’t it be absolutely fantastic if they could be? One idea is that there could be a band playing in an open carriage or else on one or more of the stations as the train pulled in. We would also like community groups including local school students to participate in the celebrations to make it a great community event. The date Ian is looking at is Sunday 18^th of April. The culmination of celebrations will be a “Picnic in the Park” at Jells Park which is situated in the middle of District 9810, with all the clubs in The District attending. This is scheduled for mid-May.

 

 

At the Presidents’ and Leaders’ meeting on Friday night, Greg King referred to  the virtual 7th Annual D9810 Paul Harris Society luncheon to be held on Sunday 1^st of November 2020, which was reported in the 12^th October “Open Doors” Newsletter. The members of the Paul Harris Society donate $1,000 USD annually to the Rotary Foundation. The speakers will be Past Rotary International President Ian Riseley from the RC of Sandringham and a Trustee of the Foundation, the Keynote speaker PP John Nanni, pictured, a polio survivor from Delaware USA and PDG Bob Aitken, Rotary Lower Blue Mountains, Zone 8 Polio Plus Coordinator ,who recently visited our Club with Greg. Everyone is welcome and I encourage you to attend the one-hour event as it will be entertaining, inspiring and moving.Bookings can be made through TryBooking - https://www.trybooking.com/BMAPN   It is free but you can donate to help “EndPolioNow” if you wish. David Alexander pointed out that Rotary has to raise $50,000,000 to attract the Gates Foundation contribution to EndPolioNow.