Happenings at last weeks’ Meeting
This week was the first week of the New Year with President Mick presiding. It was a smallish group, especially after last week, and we had Past President Greg on Zoom.
Greg now gave his final President Report, running through this year’s achievements and some of the misses:
- We celebrated our 50th anniversary with dinner in October. We presented CFA Captain Tim Desmond with a well-earned Paul Harris Fellowship;
- In conjunction with the Rotary Clubs of Mornington and Mt Eliza, with the assistance of a Rotary District Grant we were able to provide computers to some disabled people at a cost of over $12,000;
- We provided disaster relief funds of nearly $18,000 to assist works in Pakistan, Syria and Turkey, in addition to a further $6,400 in general funding to the Rotary Foundation;
- In addition we provided $6,500 to Interplast surgery and encouraged other Rotary clubs to do the same so that a medical team could visit our Pacific neighbours to undertake urgent work, mainly with children;
- Locally we have provided our usual support to local schools, charities the CFA, and have undertaken our traditional activities by conducting our monthly markets and the annual Halloween celebration;
- The Carols By Candlelight event ran as a part of our night market was greatly appreciated by the community;
- We conducted car parking for the Easter Egg Hunt, managed and conducted by Charles Ross; and
- There are some regrets:
- Firstly, the Shire was not able to pour a slab at Safety Beach to accommodate the picnic table & seating we wished to donate to celebrate Rotary's 100 years in Australia & 50 years in Dromana; and
- Secondly, Parks Victoria remains difficult to engage with on the proposed Bunjil walking track. Hopefully these difficulties will be overcome next year.
Greg now passed the “floor” over to President Mick who lay out his program for the coming year:
- We currently have a fundraising Director to cover all aspects of fundraising. This is a fairly onerous task so I have decided to separate fundraising into two distinct aspects.
- Market fundraising will be the responsibility of the market manager;
- All other fundraising will be the responsibility of the Secretary who can delegate accordingly. There will be a separate committee elected to cover the planning and implementation of Halloween.
- There are a couple of projects we have been progressively looking at, the main one being the development of the information centre and the entire area where we hold our monthly market. I encourage all members to provide input for any worthwhile project. Further information will be provided when available. It is also our intention to contact other organizations in the area to ascertain where mutual co-operation would be of benefit.
- We will also be undertaking a complete overhaul of our social media requirements and promotions. We are currently investigating the appointment of a professional to upgrade our Zoom capabilities and also the possibility of holding our meetings at different venues.
- I also look forward to interacting with the other Rotary Clubs in the Peninsula cluster.
- The Director’s I have chosen, along with all Club members, have the knowledge and expertise to take the Club into the future. I have not appointed members to committee positions as I feel the directors should have the discretion to appoint personnel to their portfolios on an as required basis. I have made this decision due to the number of available members. I do, however, expect members to volunteer their services where needed. There are also members who are currently filling positions such as Sergeant at Arms and Club Bulletin editor who will continue in those roles.
Adrian spoke up about the need to advertise the upcoming Guest Speakers to a wider audience than we currently reach.
President Mick now read out this week’s apologies and then spoke of the need to develop a Grants Committee who would be able to offer assistance to organisation such as the Southern Peninsular Communications and Support Committee. He would also like the Club to set about the creation of a Long Tan Commemoration to be held on Vietnam Veterans Day 18th August.
Last, and by no means least, Mick announced that Agnes has decided to apply to join the Club. This was greeted with enthusiasm and she was nominated and seconded immediately.
Secretary Mark now gave his report:
- Handovers of roles are all underway;
- There will be a Board meeting on the 4th July;
- Members Dues will be up for discussion soon;
- Fees for our Dinners will have to increase. It was proposed that an alternate, and cheaper option, be developed with input from the caterers to accommodate new Members who may find the full dinner too expensive on a weekly basis;
- This year Committees are expected to be more collaborative and not leave actions solely to the Director;
- Both the Secretary and Treasurer need to appoint assistants;
- President Award winner pre 2017/18 are still to be identified;
- It is proposed that all Awards be made perpetual; and
- The legal revision of our By-Laws has had to be re-assigned to another Solicitor.
Treasurer Bernard now gave his Report:
- The last Market turned a profit:
- Market Stall Holders $ 675.00
- Market BBQ Profit $ 372.84
- Market Vegetable Profit $ 99.98
- Market Spinner $ 46.30
- TOTAL PROFIT $1,194.12
- The Chicken Manure offering was especially profitable;
- Our Spinners (ex-Market) brought in:
- Dromana Hub $157.70
- McCrea $ 29.10
- Library $ 13.80
- TOTAL OTHER SPINNERS $200.60
- Entertainment is a great draw for the Market and local entertainers are going to be contacted and invited to “busk” at future Markets.
Director Charles spoke briefly about the Foundation and the information talks he had conducted. He also mentioned the quest he has undertaken to search out more “investors” for the Club projects.
Harry spoke about the District Changeover Dinner and his award for Membership of the Leadership Team. He is, rightfully, very proud of this recognition and called Rotary “the best choice I ever made”.
The Club is going to re-introduce the “Person Behind the Badge” talks. It has been a number of years since these were a regular part of the Club meetings and it was felt it was time to start them again, with a maximum time of 15 minutes. The TMG will remain as a option for any Member wanting to raise and issue or “get something off their chest”, but it will no longer be a regular part of the weekly Meeting.
Secretary Mark returned to the lectern (figuratively speaking because we didn’t have one. Ed) to talk briefly on the 32rd and 5th Avenues of Service (AoS).
The 3rd AoS is Community Service which looks to the quality of life in the Community. It’s the projects and activities each club undertakes to improve community life. The 5th AoS is Youth Services which looks at empowering Youth and young people. It is the works initiated to engage youths and young adults in leadership roles.
On completion of this information delivery President Mick thanked Mark and announced the end of the Meeting at 8:10.
Very Important News
It has been announced that Elaine is currently in Hospital with Covid. Of course she is not feeling the best and a brief phone call would help raise her spirits. Her mobile number is 0417 517 645.
