Saturday 29^th June 2019

His Worship, the Mayor of Chaguanas, Assistant Governor Lisa, Immediate Past President Aldrian, Fellow Rotarians, Past Presidents, Partners in Service, specially invited guests, representatives of the Media…a pleasant good evening.

ALL PREVIOUS PROTOCOLS OBSERVED….  In addition, I would also like recognize the presence of my beautiful wife Pearl, a pleasant good evening to all.

It is with great honor and humility I take on the position of President of the Rotary Club of Chaguanas for the upcoming year 2019-2020.

It would be remiss of me if I did not take this opportunity to commend IPP Aldrian and his Board for leading us through another successful year. Well done!

RI President Mark Daniel Maloney’s theme for 2019-20, ‘Rotary Connects the World’, asks Rotarians to strengthen the many ways that Rotary Connects the World, building the connections that allow talented, thoughtful, and generous people to unite and take meaningful action through Rotary service.

Maloney believes that connection is at the heart of the Rotary experience.

“(Rotary) allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways, across our differences,” Maloney said. “It connects us to people we would never otherwise have met, who are more like us than we ever could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help.”

This is the cue that I have taken in planning our year ahead……

Permit me to make a few remarks on relevant connections….

1st connection: Rotarian (self connection)…………as you can see we have made 3 new connections tonight: CONGRATS to our newest members: Rtns: Nadine, Bernadine and Kavita.

As a Rotarian, How strong is your connection to Rotary?……..I implore each member to reflect on this throughout this year:

Why did you join Rotary? What continues to inspire you to remain in the club? Is it the frienship and comraderie? Or just to ‘do good in our community’? For the newer Members a good source of inspiration lies within our Club…..just ask Rtns Dean, Bill, Chandra, George (over 100 years combined in Rotary! And our Club!) APPLAUSE what keeps them going? Whatever your reason, I urge you to remain focused on how you can continue to connect with the Object of Rotary and with our motto which has evolved since 1911 from “He Profits Most Who Serves Best," to ‘Service Above Self’ since 1989. Your ‘Rotarian connection’ will be tested by your willingness to serve the Club and remain an active Member.

5 - ROTARY MOTTOES
The first motto of Rotary International, “He Profits Most Who Serves Best," was approved at the second Rotary Convention, held in Portland, Oregon, in August 1911. The phrase was first stated by a Chicago Rotarian, Art Sheldon, who made a speech in 1910 which included the remark, "He profits most who serves his fellows best." At about the same time, Ben Collins, president of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota, commented that the proper way to organize a Rotary club was through the principle his club had adopted-"Service, Not Self." These two slogans, slightly modified, were formally approved to be the official mottoes of Rotary at the 1950 Convention in Detroit- "He Profits Most Who Serves Best" and "Service Above Self." The 1989 Council on Legislation established "Service Above Self" as the principal motto of Rotary, since it best explains the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service.

2nd connection: Club (members connection) ……...our ability to connect effectively with each other will influence our strength as a Club. We have some good things going…..technology (WhatsApp, social media, e-mail, virtual meeting media) Let’s use it to connect….this means responding to members, providing timely feedback when requested, making suggestions to improve: club processes, attendance, participation………I’ll call this ‘Courtesy connection’

3rd connection: RI and District ……...we’re part of a Global brand…ROTARY INTERNATIONAL (114 years (February 23, 1905) and should be very proud of it. Rotary has withstood the test of time (wars, depressions, recessions) and continues to be the greatest Service Organization held in the highest esteem by the United Nations.

How can you strengthen your connection to RI? Here’s a few things to ponder upon……….

4th connection: Community…..the focus of our service. Our Club has done a good job over the years in connecting with the Central Community. IPP Aldrian would have recounted several community projects undertaken last year.

How can we strengthen our Community connection?…………certainly with more resources we can achieve more. Proactively identify needs within our community……..Thus it is imperative that each member connect with their network (and even widen their network) and leverage collaboration to achieve mutual benefits.

This is ‘Community Connection’

 

In planning for the upcoming year, careful consideration was given to aligning our club activities with the areas of focus of our District 7030 and Rotary International. These are: Increase Our Impact, Expand Our Reach, Enhance Participant Engagement, Increase Our Ability to Adapt

 

We will continue with some of our traditional projects including our flagship wheelchair loan program.

We will maintain our support to the Blind Welfare Association, as well as handle the various requests from the community for assistance. The club’s involvement in increasing Adult Literacy and working closer with our Youths (Interact Clubs) will be enhanced. We will continue to work with selected primary schools with our Dental Care program and identify underprivileged students for our Scholarship awards.

As you are fully aware, Trinidad is just easing out of a harsh dry season during which many families in Central were severely affected. Our Club will continue with our Water Tank project and we look forward to continued support from our corporate partner……..We have also planned projects related to Diabetes prevention and engagement of ‘at risk’ youths in our community.

 

These are some of the projects our Club has planned for the upcoming year…..

 

Fun is one of the most important - and underrated - ingredients in any successful venture. If you're not having fun, then it's probably time to call it quits and try something else. Richard Branson

Great fellowship is one of the pillars of Rotary and the upcoming year promises several events to foster members’ bonding. On August 1^st at Valencia Eco Resort all clubs in Trinidad and Tobago come together for a Final Fling to celebrate the conclusion of the previous year. We look forward to seeing everyone present. Planned joint meetings with other clubs will also give new Rotarians the opportunity to experience Rotary beyond our club level. We cannot forget our supportive Partners-In-Service and thus regular ‘spouses’ nights will be held to keep them in the loop. May I hint that a few surprises are in store!!

At this time I would like to take the opportunity to introduce the Board of Directors of the Club for the upcoming year. These Members were elected per the clubs ByLaws in December 2018. Would the following Rotarians please join me up front:

This is the team that I will lean heavily upon over the next 12 months to execute our plans.

Fellow Rotarians and Guests, I am keeping my promise that I will not be long, so in closing I would like to make mention of a famous quote by Winston Churchill who said “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”. We must always remember the less fortunate among us, and the fact that life in abundance, comes as a result of giving ourselves to others.

This is who we are as Rotarians...we know that the more we give of ourselves, the more we are likely to receive, so that we can continue to make a difference in the lives of others.

Fellow Rotarians: As we have been doing for so many years, this is what we will seek to achieve together through the programs that I have just outlined.

And remember, our theme for this year is Rotary Connects the World.

 

PRESIDENT