PRESIDENT'S POST

Posted by Andrew Crockett
This week President Andrew reports on today’s Club meeting by Zoom, the Changeover Dinner last Saturday night and reminds us about annual Club membership dues.
 
Thirty-two members and guests attended today’s Club meeting by Zoom to hear Dr Jenny Gray, the CEO of Zoos Victoria. She began by explaining that the moral purpose of the Zoo is ‘Fighting extinction and creating a future rich in wildlife’.  Zoos have come a long way since the days they were largely caged showcases of exotic species.  Melbourne Zoo’s four focus areas are: doing good works for the wildlife life (including fighting the extinction of species); connecting the community with nature; creating special places, and sustaining a thriving ethical business.  Jenny is well qualified to speak about the moral purpose of modern zoos since she completed her PhD thesis in 2016 on the topic ‘An Ethical Defense of Modern Zoos’. Her thesis has since been turned into a book called Zoo Ethics. MC Charlotte England thanked Jenny for finding time during a busy working day to speak at the meeting.
A full report on the talk is elsewhere in the Bulletin. 
 
Later in the meeting Club Service and Foundation Director, Charlotte England provided an update on these activities. She thanked members of the social committee for organising the Changeover Dinner and the members who have contributed generously to the Rotary Foundation during the year.  Charlotte also spoke about some forthcoming fundraising and social events, the most important of which is the ‘Lift the Lid’ on Mental Illness Lunch on Friday 7 October.  
 
Club dues
A reminder if you haven’t already paid your membership dues for next year that they are now due.
Club Bylaw 13 provides that dues are due and payable annually in advance of 1 July, or alternatively may be paid in two equal instalments on 1 July and 1 January. 
We need to notify the District tomorrow how many Active Members we will have on 1 July because this determines how much the Club has to pay in District and Rotary International dues.  If we don’t provide an accurate number tomorrow, there is a risk we will be charged for any current members who later decide not to renew their Active Membership, and this cost will have to be borne by the Club.
So please, if you have not yet renewed your membership, contact Doug McLean no later than tomorrow morning and let him know if you will be renewing as an Active Member or in some other category of membership.  
If you are unable to pay the dues immediately, you have the option of paying them in two instalments, or you can discuss with Doug other payment arrangements that may be acceptable to the Board.
 
Changeover Dinner Saturday 25 June
Members and guests gathered for an enjoyable evening to mark the changeover of the Rotary year and to acknowledge the efforts of Club members whose contributions to the Club’s service and fellowship activities helped make 2021/22 a successful year.
 
Numbers at the dinner were down on last year’s Changeover due to the number of members who have taken advantage of the first winter of unrestricted travel for two years to escape Melbourne’s cold weather to visit family and holiday interstate and overseas.
 
Our Rotary District 9800 guests on Saturday included PDG Philip Archer, AG Lili Teichman, AG-elect Anne Frueh and PDG Peter Frueh.  Other special guests included:
  • Councillor Wes Gault representing the Mayor of Boroondara;
  • President Mark Ellis AM and Janet Ellis, and President-elect Teresa Liu of the Rotary Club of Glenferrie);
  • President Russell Hoath and President-elect Pennie Cornwall of the Rotary Club of Kew, and
  • Cathy Irvin, President of the Boroondara Branch of the Country Women’s Association of Victoria. 
Our MC for the night, David Rush, was not the only person present who thought that the Black and White theme of the evening was an excuse to flout their Collingwood FC apparel.  During his introduction, David stripped off his jacket, donned a Collingwood guernsey, and presented me (a Hawthorn support) with a Collingwood beanie!
 
Julie Clark had spent the afternoon decorating the tables with a black and white theme, and with black candelabra as the centrepiece of each table, it was an impressive sight. 
 
Following the main course, it was my pleasure to announce the recognition of the following members and friends of the Club for their notable contributions to the Club. 
 
Honorary Membership 
 
      
 
Dr John Carre-Riddell and David Corrigan
 
 
Paul Harris Fellow recognition
  • Ian Bentleigh
  • Julie Collette
  • Julie Clark
Avenue of Service Awards
  • Club Service – Julie Clark, Terry Kitchen, and Sue Zidziunas
  • Vocational Service– Noel Halford
  • International Service – Julie Collette and David Rush
  • Community Service – Katrina Flinn and Sue Zidziunas
  • Youth Service – Geoff Wright
President’s Commendation for Service to the Club
  • Gordon Cheyne (service as Editor of the Club Bulletin)
  • Richard Logan (service to the Front Desk and Fundraising)
  • David McNamara (service as Club Protection Officer and Salvo Hawks liaison)
  • David Rush (service in providing leadership and new directions for the Survey Street Trust Fund)
  • Terry Kitchen (service to Fundraising)
  • Vincent Chen (service for setting a benchmark for volunteering in several Avenues of Services).
  • Jill Weeks (service in arranging speakers for Club meetings) 
  • David Owen (service to the Mock Interview program)
Club Bulletin Contributors Award
  • Noel Halford
 
 
President’s Award for Rotarian of the Year
  • Katrina Flinn
 
Following the award ceremony, I presented my report for 2021/22 and foreshadowed Club activities in the year ahead.  See the report elsewhere in the Bulletin.
 
In concluding the formal part of the evening, I thanked members of the outgoing Board and presented each of them with a Certificate of Appreciation. 
 
It was then my pleasure to introduce the members of the Club’s Board for 2022/23.
 
Club Officers
President, Andrew Crockett
Secretary, vacant
Treasurer and President-elect, Doug McLean
Vice President and Foundation director, Charlotte England 
 
Other Directors
Club Service, Terry Kitchen
Community Service, Katrina Flinn
International Service, Dr Peter Lugg
Vocational Service, Vincent Chen
Youth Service, Geoff Wright
 
 
There are  more photos of the changeover at https://photos.app.goo.gl/HgUM23bYfzurNZSi8
 
 
Camcare Food project
The Community Service Committee is running a new project to which all Club members will be ale to contribute. 
It involves the donation of non-perishable food for distribution by Camcare to needy people through its Emergency Assistance program.  With rising food prices, many individuals and families in our community are struggling to put food on the table, particularly the more expensive items. The types of food in high demand include soup, cooking oil, coffee granules, easy-to-prepare meals (including pasta sauce), cans of fish (tuna, salmon, sardines) - but preferably not baked beans since Camcare are well stocked and we don’t need more wind this winter.
We ask Club members when they are shopping to add one or two items to their purchases which can be brought to Club meetings at Kooyong and put in the Camcare Trolly which will be by the Front Desk.  Members of the Community Service Committee will then deliver the products to Camcare. 
The project will initially run for the remaining winter months of July and August with the possibility of running it again in October/November in the lead-up to Christmas.
This is a local project which can make a lot of difference to people’s lives yet requires little outlay or effort on the part of members.  I hope everyone will support it and I’ll ask Terry Kitchen to incorporate a reminder in meeting invitations over the next two months.
 
Schedule of meetings and events from July to December 2022
The schedule of Club meetings and events for the next six months will be posted on the Club’s website following today’s meeting.  Please have a look at it and note the dates of meetings and special events in your calendar.
 
Home Hosting
Delegates to the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne next May are offered the opportunity for an evening of home hospitality, which entails a small group of delegates visiting a Rotarian’s home for a meal in the evening.  
Delegates who have already registered for the Convention have signed up for home hospitality in large numbers and the Convention organisers need more local Rotarians to host dinners for four to eight delegates in their homes on Monday 29 May 2023.
To qualify for home hospitality you need to be registered as a delegate to the Convention, and live within a 20 km radius of the CBD.  Hosts receive $55 per guest to help offset the cost of dinner and transport to and from the guests’ hotels
Some of our Club members have already offered to home host but it would be great if more Club members could both register for the Convention and for Home Hospitality.  The link to find out more about Home Hospitality and to register will be in today’s Bulletin so please consider registering. 
 
‘Lift the Lid’ on Mental Illness lunch 7 October 
Flyers on the Club’s main fundraising event in 2022/23 were placed on tables at the Changeover Dinner and will be available at future Kooyong meetings.
This will be the Club’s major event of the year and we hope it will be well-supported by members and guests.  Booking information will be available shortly and in the meantime please note the date in your calendar.
 
Next week’s meeting
Our speaker at next week’s meeting at Kooyong will be Natalie Johnson, Team Leader of the Salvation Army's Community Connections Program who will talk about the program including the Reclink football team series which includes the Salvo Hawks whose home games are supported by the Club.
Until next Tuesday, have a great week and please keep safe and well.
 
Thought for the Week
It being changeover week, what better than a reflection on change itself.  
 
 
- Isaac Asimov
 
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best knownfor his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Professor Asimov is generally considered one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy). Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime.