Club Bulletin 25 Jun 18 Changeover pdate

President's Report - 2018/19 Changeover

Summary
Seventy-two Rotarians and guests celebrated the end for our 31st Rotary year with a fun night. It was Rotarian Barry’s last evening as member or the club. The District team was well represented by the District Governor, District Governor Elect and Assistant Governor. Next year is the club’s 32 year and the first time it will have a 2-year term president. Our club is known for being a vibrant club that does things and has fun at the same time. Club membership grew by one to 40 this year, although we lost 4 members. Around 4,500 hours were devoted to Rotary projects and the club raised about $56,000 to donate to Rotary causes and causes associated with Rotarians.

A Member satisfaction survey showed they were largely happy although a few potential changes were identified and worked on, or will be worked on.

The Rotary theme for this year was “Rotary making a difference” and the club demonstrated that its activities and donations did make a difference to people both in Australia and abroad.

The Rotary theme for next year is “Be the inspiration” which complements the new Rotary International vision “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” Our club has plans in place to support this theme and the vision.

Our outbound Rotary Exchange Student for 2007 was the guest speaker and gave her insight into what it is like to be an exchange student and life afterward.
President Colin Sharpe made the memorial awards, presented eight Paul Harris Fellows and gave out four Presidential Achievement Awards.

I have enjoyed my year as President and appreciate the support that the club has given me. I thank Anne for supporting me this past year and in taking on this second term as President – the President’s partner’s role is a busy one acting as a personal assistant picking up many of the behind the scenes Presidential tasks.

I thank you all for your contribution to this amazing club and the community it supports and I look forward to leading this club through another fantastic year being the inspiration.

The Full Report
It was pleasing to see such a large turnout of 72. What may have been a very formal event turned out to be light-hearted and a lot of fun, even though President Colin mis-stepped a couple of times and moved ahead of the evening program.

The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Rotarian Barry Freeman and this was his last event as a member of the club, having migrated to the Central Coast. I am sure we will still see him at a lot of our club meetings though.

Representing the District team were District Governor Peter Ward and Anne, District Governor Elect Susan Wakefield and PDG John, and Assistant Governor John Fenessy. Also present were Ann Turner (wife of Trevor our Charter President), Bev Day (wife of Allyn our fifth President). We remember Trevor and Allyn with annual awards. Family members and friends of Rotary including past members who still support club events were also present.

For the first time, and during the club’s 32nd year we will have a 2-year term President. This was unplanned and due to our President Elect Charlie falling ill back in April. Charlie is currently recuperating so we wish her a speedy recovery and quick return to Rotary.

The strength of the Club comes from the fellowship of its members and my objective for the coming year remains as it was this year, - to have a vibrant Club, - one that does things and has fun doing them. I look forward to leading the club through another successful and fantastic year, with committed and happy members and partners who can have fellowship and fun while unselfishly giving their time on a voluntary basis to do good work in the community.

Several measures show that we achieved our objective:

The photos that were showing on the screen during the evening.
The number of new members inducted to replace those leaving and increase our membership by one to 40. This year we had one member (Graham Cuthbertson) pass away, one retiring, one relocating and one member who was inducted this year leave us within the year, as he felt Rotary was not for him at this time. In addition we reintroduced honorary memberships with an award made to Brian Furrer this year.
The hours put into club projects. It is estimated that the club members gave at least 4,500 hours to our club projects. As a club we are very adept at raising funds and using them wisely either as donations or in hands-on projects. Over the years our fundraising activities have been many and varied. For the past few years we have concentrated on selling donated items in the form of our book sale and garage sale. This year we raised just over $56,000 and either used it for our hands-on projects or distributed it to worthy causes mostly associated Rotary. The majority went to Rotary Youth Programs and The Rotary Foundation. We have largely ceased making cash donations to charities where our money goes into their general revenue and neither Rotary nor our club gets recognition.

We surveyed our members for happiness earlier this year and some opportunities to improve our club were identified. Some we have started and will finish next year - some others will start next year. This coming year it is aimed to review our Club constitution and by-laws as well as update our vision and 5-year strategy.

Our 2017-18 Australian Rotary International President, Ian H.S. Riseley, chose Rotary: Making a Difference as his theme for this year. I think we have demonstrated that our club made a difference to the lives of a significant number of people both in Australia and abroad.

We have had great success in promoting the Club through the efforts of Rotarian Carol. Carol managed to get more than 10 articles about our activities into local newspapers which is more than ever before.

Having fun is important and since 1990, from the “Phantom of the Opera” costumes, - to the “Clowns” this year, the club has won 1st Prize in fancy dress at nearly every District conference. We intend to do our best to win again next year at Newcastle.

We have hosted inbound Rotary Exchange students for 25 of the 31 years since chartering. We started the year with a decision not to participate, however, at the beginning of 2018 we welcomed a delightful young lady (Larissa Marcossi) from Brazil. It is clearly evident that Inbound Exchange Students add considerably to the club’s vibrancy and we get great joy from watching them mature and grow in their confidence during the year. In January 2018 we welcomed back our outbound student Anna Laroumanie from her stay in Japan. Our current outbound student (Mikaela Love ) is now half way through learning what it means to be a student in Denmark.

Our current major community service objective is to find the next big hands-on community project. To date this remains elusive, however, it did result in the St Gabriel’s School project that grew out of consultation with the Glenhaven Rotary Club who is also doing a project at this school. A possible project involving the Cherrybrook guide hall is under investigation.

Our participation in international projects has waned over the last few years and Peter Stanton was determined to find a hands-on project. Peter put in a lot of effort and we thought we had found one around water purification in the Philippines, unfortunately that has fallen through and so we continue to look. I am confident Peter will find one this year.

We started the year with the objective of having three clubs attend our dinner meetings, and achieved two - Glenhaven and Beecroft. We also visited Beecroft Club while Rotary International general John Hewko was visiting them.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who unselfishly give service above self.

The Board members for their support during the year keeping the club running smoothly. Secretary (Tony M), Treasurer (Tony C), Club Service (Max), Community Service (Cawas), Foundation (Teresa), Fundraising (Andrew), Marketing (Charlie), Membership (Keith), Vocational (Barry), Youth (Rosemary).
Four of this year’s Board are returning next year to make up a new Board consisting of Secretary (Tony M), Treasurer (Paul), Club Services and President Elect (Keith), Community Services (Jaswant), Fundraising (Charlie), Foundation (John), Marketing/public relations (Linda). Membership, (Tony C), Youth (Janelle), Vocation (Ricardo)
I also thank the members of the committees that support the Directors for their tireless work. Both Rotarians and partners make up these committees.
I also thank those members who do the very important club service and fundraising event management roles. Sergeant-at-arms (Ricardo), Garage Sale (Neville), Book Sale and Trivia Night (Andrew and Max), BBQ Co-ordinator (Janelle), Speaker Program Manager (Janelle), Working with Children Verification Officer (Tony M), Risk Management Officer – (Peter C) and Welfare Officer (Colin McG).
The new team only has a few changes. Sergeant-at-arms (Rosemary), Garage Sale (Neville), Book Sale and Trivia Night (Andrew and Max), BBQ Co-ordinator (Bill?), Speaker Program Manager (Kerry), Working with Children Verification Officer (Tony M), Risk Management Officer – (Peter C) and Welfare Officer (Colin McG).
I also thank the partners who are very much a part of this club, contributing to the success of the club and its projects.
Thank you also to our Friends of Rotary and extended family members who help out at our events.
Thank you to our pro-bono auditor Stacey who has now gone back to New Zealand. Fortunately a replacement –has volunteered. A pro-bono auditor saves the club considerable running cost dollars.

Every club member, partner and Friend of Rotary makes a valuable contribution to Rotary in their own way. It is difficult to choose who should receive the awards for their contributions. We have a number of memorial awards to make. Our donations to The Rotary Foundation allow us to award a Paul Harris Fellow for every $1000 US we make. This year I am also going to make some Presidents Appreciation Awards as well.

Each year at our changeover We remember Trevor and Allyn with annual awards. The Allyn Day Shield goes to the most valued member of the club. This year the award went to Tony Makin for his administration skills in running the club and Board meetings. Tony is also very adept at running our Board Meetings. Trevor Turner Shield goes to a newer member who has made a significant contribution to the Club. This year the award goes to Angelo Casamento. Angelo is a quiet contributor to our club, always willing to participate in club events.

The Olive Turnbull award is made in memory of Rotarian Past President David’s mother who was a great supporter of the club. The award goes to a NON MEMBER judged to have been the best contributor to our Club and is a fine dining gift voucher. This year the award goes to Pat Baseley who has quietly contributed to our club for many years. For example through Pat’s efforts a great quantity of cakes appear at the Garage Sale Cake stall.

Each year at our Changeover we remember Past District Governor Larry Jacka. Larry was the club’s only District Governor – being Governor in 2000. He was also the Club’s 4th President. Larry passed away in July 2014. We remember Larry by way of an annual $1000 donation to The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund. Normally his wife Miriam would be here to participate in commemorating Larry, however she is not able to be here this year.

Miriam is in Perth and sends her apologies and wishes the club well for a memorable event as only the Rotary Club of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook can do.

This year we made a significant donation to the Rotary Foundation and as a result I have chosen to award eight Paul Harris Fellows. Some are first time PHFs and some have been awarded previously so are receiving Sapphires. I now invite Tom Westcott, Carol Russell, Keith Ball, Janelle Craig, Peter Stanton, Tony Coote, Glenda Coote and Heather Hansen to come forward and receive their Paul Harris Fellows from District Governor Peter.

The Rotary Foundation is one of the largest and most important programs of Rotary. Without the Foundation Rotary could not continue its many humanitarian programs and its efforts to promote world understanding and peace. Many people in the room tonight – Rotarians and non-Rotarians have set an example by their contributions to this club.

The presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow is The Rotary Foundation’s way of expressing its appreciation for a substantial contribution to its humanitarian and educational programs. It is named for our founder, Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer who started Rotary International with three business associates in 1905. The Fellowship was established in his honour in 1957 to express appreciation and recognition for a contribution of US $1000 to the Rotary Foundation.

While it is an honour to receive a Paul Harris Fellow, it’s not about the recognition; - it’s about what we can do in the World as Rotarians or friends of Rotary to make a difference.

The following Rotarians were presented with a sapphire PHF by District Governor Peter:

Tom, who gets a double sapphire is one of our quiet achievers who has willingly used his shade sail business to assist with club projects. The addition of a dismountable awning at our garage sale site has greatly contributed to the success of the sale in raising funds that can be donated to The Rotary Foundation. The supply of shade shelters to our school projects has assisted two schools be better places for their students who are disadvantaged. Transporting equipment and goods is an essential part of our fundraising and he has always been happy to make his truck and trailer available.
Carol is fully committed to running a successful business but still finds time to contribute significantly to this club. This year she volunteered to take on the role of dinner registration when Jilda unexpectedly resigned. Carol has also been instrumental in getting club event articles published in local community newspapers and bringing new members to the club.
Keith has been our Membership director for the last four years and has managed to induct sufficient new members to replace those that leave for various reasons. In addition he has been quietly building our website to be a very professional one as well as transforming our weekly bulletin from a PDF document to one that is built on-line using member contributions. This approach has significantly reduced the effort needed to publish a weekly bulletin. Most importantly through his effort this year the club was awarded the District’s Noel MacDonald best bulletin.

The following people were presented with the three emblems of appreciation given to a Paul Harris Fellow by District Governor Peter – a certificate, a medallion and a pin:

Rotarian Janelle has set an example by taking on multiple roles in the club. This year she willingly volunteered to be the co-ordinator for the Bunnings BBQs. That means finding volunteers (normally about 8) for each event, obtaining the supplies, co-ordinating the set-up and close-down, and often spending all day at the event. In addition Janelle volunteered to be our program manager - it is no easy task finding speakers, ensuring they turn up and dealing with the situation when they unexpectedly cancel.
Rotarian Peter Stanton has been our International Director this year and set himself an objective to find a hands-on project that members could participate in. He spent many hours speaking to other clubs and District representatives looking for opportunities. A water purification project in the Philippines was identified and qualified through a personal visit to that country. I know that Peter is disappointed that the project did not progress due to no fault of his. I am sure that the experience will lead to a project being found this year. In addition Peter is the club’s primary photographer and assistant Bunnings BBQ co-ordinator.
Rotarian Tony Coote has been the driving force behind finding our hands-on community projects that we have termed “the next big thing”. The St Gabriel’s School shed and shade sail project completed this year was born from this program. In addition Tony has been our treasurer which is an essential role and one that is given high importance by this club given our past experience. During the year the club has moved to Electronic Funds Transfer as our primary means of making money transactions - making it easier to reconcile our finances. Although Tony is handing on the treasury to Paul next year he has volunteered to take on the role of membership director when we needed to re-organise next year’s Board at the last minute. All of this while also being President of the most recent Probus Club to be sponsored by the club.
Glenda, as a non-Rotarian contributed significantly to the club’s fundraising events - in particular the Book sale and Garage sale. She took on managing the bric-a-brac stall and improving the way it is run. Changing the flow customers make moving through the Guide Hall better, washing donations to make them more presentable and thus getting a better price. Most importantly encouraging our friends of Rotary to put in many hours of work with the preparation of donations for sale.
Heather, as a non-Rotarian has contributed significantly to the club. Supporting Neville as Garage Sale Manager is an important role that should not be overlooked. Managing the Garage sale in its current form is ongoing throughout the year and very intensive in the three months leading up to it. In addition Heather allowed her home to be the storage depot for the large number of toys collected for the garage sale and sorting and washing them to maximise the price we get. Another role she took on last year was to run the priced book section of the book sale when Bev Davison who normally looks after it was not available.

For the first time four Presidents Appreciation Awards were made.

An award was made to David and Jill in appreciation of willingly giving up their home for several weeks each year to store and sort the large quantity of clothes for the Garage Sale and the presents donated to the Tree of Joy. David and Jill both cheerfully volunteer for many other club activities.
This award was made to Paul in appreciation of his willingness to take on many roles in the club. He is regularly part of the Bunnings BBQ team, one of our three IT duty officers at our dinner meetings and is taking on Treasurer duty next year. On top of all those roles Paul has volunteered to be one of the bulletin editors next year.
An award goes to Ricardo, who has grown into the sergeant-at-arms role during the year and is expert at extracting fines with a cheerful simile. His car quizzes are a delight with members guessing the wrong answers and paying up. If he gets tired of being a classy mechanic, he can always be a tax collector.
An award was made to Douglas in appreciation of the work he does in providing the club with its nutritional needs at club events. Running the BBQ at the Garage Sale can be a challenge especially getting all the BBQ assistants turning up on time and pulling in the same direction. His famous pork rolls that he and Kaija make are delightful.

This year we invited Ngaire our outgoing Rotary Exchange Student to be our guest speaker. Ngaire spoke about her life as an Exchange Student. It was pleasing to hear her say that ‘exchange students who come from families with siblings enjoy being hosted by retired Rotarians. They like the attention of being an only child.

RI President Barry Rassin’s theme for the 2018-19 year is “Be the inspiration” which complements the new Rotary International vision “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” Rotary fulfils a unique role in communities such as ours and that is because of the commitment of its members, who unselfishly give their time on a voluntary basis as Service Above Self to others. I believe that the plans that this year’s board have put together will support the theme and vision.

I have enjoyed my year as President and appreciate the support that the club has given me. I thank Anne for supporting me during this year and in taking on this second term as President – the President’s partner’s role is a busy one acting as a personal assistant picking up many of the behind the scenes Presidential tasks.

In summary I believe that for 2017-18 our club has indeed made a Difference this year to the lives of a significant number of people both in Australia and abroad.

I thank you all for your contribution to this amazing club and the community it supports and I look forward to leading this club through another fantastic year being the inspiration.
President Colin.

Club Bulletin

The Next Meetings

Be Scam Aware - Shobhna Pandaram, NSW Fair Trading

Monday 25th June

ROMAC - Cherelyn Suzuki

Monday 2nd July

TBA

Monday 9th July

​﻿Duty Roster﻿﻿

Inside This Issue

Upcoming Events

A Request from Vilde

An Invitation to all Rotarians and Friends of District 9685 and their partners

Club Changeover 2018

Our Master of Ceremonies

Toasts

Guest Speaker - Ngaire Ralph

Donation to Anna Kazanis (Mission: 'Nam-Possible)

Presidential Awards

Allyn Day Award

Olive Turnbull Award

President's Appreciation Awards

Paul Harris Fellowship Awards

Recognition of 2017/18 Board

Recognition of PRT

New President Induction

DGE Susan Wakefield Address

Introduction of 2018/19 Board

Raffle Draw for table flowers

Some Potpourri

President's Report - 2018/19 Changeover

June is Rotary Fellowships Month

A List of Fellowships that I have found ...

Wanted - New Members

A new Club brochure has arrived from the printers.Concept is double-sided A5 sheet

Significant Club Fundraising Events during the year

Meetings

Apologies

This Week's Humour

A Great Bundy Rum Fishing Story

Pecans in the Cemetery

Joey

Club Calendar

Our Sponsors

Duty Roster

A new Club brochure has arrived from the printers.
Concept is double-sided A5 sheet