This will likely arrive in your in-box just as you’re thinking, “Rotary tomorrow. I wonder what’s on the agenda.” Well, it’ll be the start of President Janet’s second month, meeting five, if you include the four-club BBQ of July 5th. Your speaker tomorrow will be Anne Bermingham on the topic of Telling Tales.
But this is supposed to be about the meeting-past, which included the newly-minted District Governor’s opportunity to spread the RI word.
Our guests were: D 7080 Governor Kathi Dick, her partner Rotarian Tim Whitehead, Area co-ordinator John Zinkie, Scott Ramsay (son of and stage-hand today for Allan Ramsay) Former member Rob Galloway and Win Meldrum from the Rotary Club of Sackville New Brunswick.
A further word about Win Meldrum as visitor may interest, if not inspire, you. I sat beside him and learned that he is a past President of RC Sackville and was in town to help out at the Canadian Open. During his time hereabouts Win was attending as many Rotary meetings as he could. He’d been to RC Oakville West, RC Hamilton Sunrise, maybe RC Burlington too (I couldn’t be sure of that) and now us. It’s unlikely he needs the make-ups, I suppose you could call it a hobby.
We received news from the Golf Committee that last week’s Partnership Golf Tournament was a great success, that rain cleared by midday and from then on it was all good. The silent auction realized a record $11,000 and in the twenty-five years of the tournament it has raised over $1,000,000– a monumental achievement for which its die-hard committee deserves a standing ovation. Maybe they’ll get one.
Allan Ramsay as Sergeant at Arms (assisted by son Scott) took us through a tortuous quiz that left some tables smugly safe and others penniless.
Our guest speaker, District Governor Kathi Dick, shared the Rotary Making a Difference message of RI President Ian Risely. One of the ways RI and the District can make a difference is in how they provide support and strengthen clubs. To this end clubs will receive more resources; ,RI.org will be improved; the grant process will be simplified and Rotary Club Central has been rebuilt for the better.
Membership growth and retention is perennial challenge and Kathi suggested that greater focus is required on members of less than two years standing. While it is tempting to take a newly minted Rotarian and immerse him or her into a fast-moving committee, that may be absolutely the wrong thing to do; people need time to get the lay of the land.
And of course humanitarian service remains a pillar of Rotary’s purpose. Rotary must focus on sustainability, as anyone going through a grant application process will know. The eradication of polio once complete will be the ultimate in sustainability. You’ve heard it before, we are in the home stretch and to get there Canada has committed one-hundred million dollars and together with the Gates Foundation and others 1.2 billion is required to wrap it up.
That’s it for now.
