“The future hasn’t been written y
et !
Make it a good one”!
Rotarians and friends,
I’d like to thank President Colin and the board and committees for their work for the last 12 months, it hasn’t been easy. Thank you all for being here to enjoy an evening of friendship and fellowship, to celebrate the achievements in the past 12 months and to consider the way forward.
Personally, one of the hardest things for me has been keeping up with the buzz words, all of which I will gladly never hear again. Indeed, those with a real panache for buzzwords swiftly mastered the art of commencing an email, or a meeting, with "in these uncertain times..." before closing the very same email with "as we navigate these uncharted waters, together". Or if you preferred, “we’re living in unprecedented times”.
Then we had zoom meetings which sounded remarkably like a modern séance.... “Elizabeth... are you there?” , “Make a sound if you can hear us”... “ is anyone else with you?”.... “we can’t see you, can you hear us!”
…We “pivoted” from the pre covid normal to the new COVID normal, and perhaps we will have to again pivot to a post COVID less normal normal! And just remember that “we’re all in this together”.
“This is a changing world, we must be prepared to change with it. The story of rotary will have to be written again and again. Kaleidoscopic changes are taking place... Even to hang onto the fringe of this fast changing world is about all most of us can do. Rotary must continue to pioneer, or be left in the rear of progress”. These are not my words, but said by our founder, Paul Harris, nearly 100 years ago. But they are as relevant today as they were then.
And in the words of our DGE, Daryl, “Don’t be Kodak”!
In thinking about the way forward, we must keep in mind the key challenges our District Governor Elect has issued for us and the directions of Rotary International.
Our Rotary work should be focused around meeting 4 key challenges of D9180:
- Club Excellence - how do we make our club and its activities attractive to potential members and current Rotarians?
- Club Innovation – how do we build a culture of innovation and show a willingness to take safe risks in our club. An often quoted saying is “a ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are built for”.
- Our Rotary Family – How will we maintain, nurture and extend our rotary family?
- Our Rotary Support – How can we demonstrate that we are doing all we can to support the work of Rotary in our local community and in the wider world?
Rotary International also challenges us to do 4 key things:
• Increase our impact
• Expand our reach
• Enhance participant engagement
• Increase our ability to adapt.
We can’t change the course of the wind but we can adjust our sails.
With the assistance and input of the club, I am developing a 3 year strategic plan that will help focus our activities and align our direction with the D9180 and Rotary International. It will also serve to strengthen our club and enhance public awareness of our activities. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.
Our Rotary Theme for 2021/22 is “ Serve to change lives”.
Our 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."
Paul Harris the founder of Rotary said “Rotary changes us and those who we serve”. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
I’d like to thank the incoming board, committee chairs and members in advance for your service to this club, our local community and to Rotary.
I’d like to also thank our hosts, Amy and Alan for looking after us tonight.
While Paul Harris didn’t say this, he could have.
It’s a line from one of my favourite films from the 1980s, “Back to the Future”.
“The future hasn’t been written yet! Make it a good one”!