Rotary District 9800 Conference, Concerts and Community Events

The past few weeks I have had the privilege of attending some outstanding events which have demonstrated how resilient Rotarians are.
 
 
The first was our District Conference in Albury which saw over 350 people gather to celebrate and “Get Together in Albury”.
 
 
 
Secondly, Rotary North Melbourne hosted a Ukraine Appeal Concert at the Melbourne Townhall supported by 700 attendees.
 
 
 
Finally, Rotary Central Melbourne and District 9800 in partnership with Mentor Match supported by the Victorian Government are launching the Victoria-wide initiative on Thursday 26th May with the grandson of Nelson Mandela as guest speaker. 
After managing the challenge of COVID, in just over three and half months the District Conference was successfully held in Albury in late April with over 350 people to celebrate and “Get Together in Albury”.
 
From the Smoking Ceremony which opened our proceedings through to the Pipe Band which closed our Conference, the program presented a diverse range of guest speakers, entertainment, and opportunities for Rotarians to connect and collaborate. The Albury Mayor (Kylie King) along with the State Minister (Justin Clancy) and Federal Politician (Sussan Ley) made sure that we received a very warm welcome following a rousing fanfare from the Albury Scots Grammar Pipe Band.
Guest speakers included Lucy Bloom, who challenged us to think differently and have fun doing so. Ron Finkel and Rosemary Carrick detailed the Rozana Project which demonstrates Peace in action building bridges between Israelis and Palestinians through health. Noor Shah Kamawal emphasised the importance of educating the next generation to achieve peace. Mark Anderson from Rotary International showed how Rotary Clubs can rebuild and Dr Tania Miletic and PDG Ian Scott gave practical information for peacebuilding.
We were very fortunate to have our Rotary International President-elect, Jennifer Jones, zoom in for a discussion with Past District Governor Jennifer Scott encouraging all Rotarians to attend the International Convention next year in Melbourne.  Mary Barry, the Chair of the Host Organising Committee, endorsed this with further information about volunteering during the Convention.
 
 
Congratulations to the following Awardees for service to Rotary: Doug Hawley - Service Above Self Award, Dr Tania Miletic - Robert M Fels Peace Award, and Cheryl Pisterman - Citation for Meritorious Service Award.
 
 
Our very talented entertainers - the Scot’s band, Simone Crossley, Michael Lapina, Good Gravy, Meleah Beckwith and Erica Padilla added to the atmosphere.
 
Ali Moore our master of ceremonies did a brilliant job, keeping the Conference on time as well as interviewing and moderating one of the panel discussions.
 
Thank you to everyone who took the risk to attend the Conference. And thank you to the very hard-working Organising Committee, and my club - Rotary Brighton - who made the magic happen and this event possible. It was very much appreciated.
 
 
 
The other impactful event held in our District involved a very emotional concert. Rotary North Melbourne (led by Rotarian with close family connections to Ukraine, Ted Dziadkiewcz) took the seed of an idea to hold a Ukraine Appeal Concert (refer separate article) to raise money for Ukraine and turned it into a wonderful and very profitable event.  More than 700 people attended the Melbourne Town Hall enjoying an afternoon of moving speeches, music and dance while raising vital funds to assist Ukraine.
 
During my address at the concert, I mentioned that there are 64 Rotary Clubs in Ukraine with most of them in the West of the country and in Kiev. Proceeds from the Ukraine Appeal ($29,000) were going to the Rotary Foundation’s Ukraine Disaster Response Fund. So far $13 million has been contributed to the Rotary Foundation Ukraine Disaster Response Fund. Rotary Clubs in Ukraine and surrounding countries have been applying for grants (with very quick turnaround within days) from the Rotary Foundation to help the Ukraine people. The Grant is providing relief to refugees or other victims (Ukrainians staying or wanting to leave) of the crisis including items such as water, food, shelter, medicine, clothing, and SIM cards.
 
Again, I want to congratulate RC North Melbourne members including Ted Dziadkiewicz for bringing together to support the people of Ukraine.
To watch the concert, you can access the recordings via the following two links: 
 
Rotary Rochester’s Pie and Port Night (refer separate article)  is now a well-established annual event, bringing together Rotarians from many clubs with community members to enjoy an evening of sampling local produce. 
 
The evening was made extra special with a birthday cake being presented to Maureen.
 
Many of you will know of our partnership with Mentor Match,  a project with Rotary Central Melbourne and the District developed over the last 12 months.  A pilot involving 50 Rotarians (mentors and mentees in District 9800 and Canada) is currently underway before scaling the program across Victoria.
 
The launch of this program will take place on Thursday 26 May at the State Library and I encourage everyone who is interested in this program to come and hear more about it.  The event will bring together Rotary Districts in Victoria partnering with Mentor Match and the Victorian Government. And we are very fortunate that the Guest Speaker at the event will be Zondwa Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and it will be a privilege to hear him speak. To book for this free event, click here  MentorMatch Rotary Launch Event Registration, Thu 26/05/2022 at 6:00 pm | Eventbrite
 
We will have another Networker out next week due to the many articles we have to share.
 
The next few weeks will continue to be as busy as the past few as we enjoy the opportunity to hold events in person and connect again with our fellow Rotarians.
 
Regards,
 
Dale Hoy
District Governor 2021-22 
0419 364 994