Coolamon Roratry New Bulletin #18

Tuesday 15th May 2018

President Paul welcomed Coolamon Roatary members as well as representative members from across the region including Temora, Junee, Wollundry and Wagga. A few housekeeping issues were addressed (please see the diary) before we sat down to enjoy our meal prior to listening to our guest speaker, RI director Noel Trevaskis. The opportunity to converse with members of other Rotary clubs was fantastic. 

Guest Speaker, Noel Trevaskis

Noel gave the members in attendance a rousing talk on Rotary membership and the purpose of Rotary and pointed out a number of issues that have real implications for the future of Rotary.

Noel Joined Rotary in Bega in 1996, with a strong interest in Australia Rotary health after having suffered a serious bout of depression.  He later became president of the club with a focus on community mental health awareness. Noel informed us that it was his desire to be of service to the community in a field where he felt he could share his experience was a major motivation for joining Rotary himself, and his efforts have helped to break down the stigma attached to mental illness. In 2003 Rotary International awarded him the Service Above Self award and in 2005 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his work in this area.

In 2005-2006 Noel served as governor of district 9710, then in 2007 he was regional Rotary International membership coordinator for Zone 8 before going on in 2011 to Rotary coordinator of Zone 8. Currently Noel is project lead for membership for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

His experience working with membership in Rotary has highlighted a number of major issues challenging Rotary as we move into the future, the biggest among them being that in the next 10-15 years the world wide membership of Rotary will change significantly because the average age is of Rotarians in the Western nations of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America  is 71. The average age of members in the Asian, African and South American nations is significantly younger, with the result being that Rotary within the next 10 years is predicted to have over 50% of its members in these nations. It also means the ageing membership in western nations will be forced to amalgamate clubs and districts, as is currently happening in Australia.

A second major concern Noel raised was that in 1990 Rotary had 1.2 million members, but that number has remained static despite the world population increasing by 40% in that time. In other words, per capita Rotary membership is on the decline.

Noel then hit the audience with some hard facts illustrating with a personal anecdote the cold reception he got from another community service club and said that Rotary is no exception to this type of attitude. He then went on to tell the audience that the top two reasons that people want to join Rotary is to give back to the community via community service and to meet people and form meaningful relationships and that when many leave two years later they say that they left because there was no opportunity for community service or forming  new friendships.

Noel illustrated that this was primarily because many clubs had their priorities backward, focusing on fundraising efforts with no real idea about what they are going to raise funds for before the end of year when they send a check away. Noel said that clubs need to state up font to the community at all their events that they are raising money for a particular community service so people in the community know what they are supporting with their dollars.

On the friendship side of things, Noel stressed that clubs must be inclusive, to not worry about how often members can attend meetings as long as they were still engaging with Rotary. He also strongly suggested that each club form subgroups of three which are responsible for bringing in one new person into the club each year, saying that groups of three tend to have the greatest success rate.

Noel finished by saying that the time is “Now” to start doing things to prepare Rotary for the future; we can no longer spend the time thinking or putting it off. By the end all members in attendance were raring to take on the challenge.

Quote of the Week

Who said this?

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth “.

Last week’s Quote of the Week was attributed to Nelson Mandela.

Diary

Friday, 18th May – Catering at clearing sale at Karinyah, Buchanan’s property on Millwood Rd.

Saturday, 19th May – Catering at clearing sale at Rand’s Tank, Marg & Garth Perkin’s property on Millwood Rd.

Monday, May 21 – Regular meeting.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Wednesday, 21st May – New Ideas meeting.  Come and share your ideas for new ventures for our club.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 7:30 pm.

*Monday, 28th May – Guest Speaker. Daryl Bruest on his Kokoda trek, at Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Monday, 4th June – Club Assembly. Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 6:30 for 7:00 pm.

Monday, 11th June – no meeting (public holiday).

Thursday, 14th  June – BINGO.  Grahame M  (Captain), Wayne L,  Howard A  &  Mark R in Allawah Community Centre.

Wednesday, 20th  June – Board meeting.  Coolamon Sport & Rec Club, 7:00 pm.

Saturday, 23rd June to Wednesday, 27th June – Rotary International Convention. Toronto, Canada.

*Saturday, 30th June – Coolamon Rotary Changeover and District 9700 Changeover.  Ganmain Hall.

Monday, July 9th – Guest Speaker. DG John Glassford visit to Coolamon Club.

* denotes partner & guest night

Community Events

Up to date Art exhibition Friday 27th July  – 12th August, For further information please email: [email protected]

Reminders

Please get your working with children check completed and give the number and expiry date to the Secretary ASAP. Failure to do so may mean you are not covered insurance wise when you volunteer at events.

 

 

 

 

May is Youth Service Month

 

 

 

District 9700 Board 2018-2019

The 2018-2019 D9700 Board is coming together nicely and the restructure is going to work and work well.  DGN John McKenzie and DG George Weston are committed to making it work, as are the others on this much smaller Board: The 9700 district that the Coolamon Rotary club was a member of has now been split. Coolamon Rotary will now be a part of District 9705 as of 2020. Details will be updated as they arrive.

District Governor: John Glassford {Membership Retention} Coolamon

District Governor-Elect: John McKenzie {Service Projects} Orange North

District Governor Nominee {New District}: Michael Moore

Immediate Past District Governor: George Weston {Youth} Leeton

Foundation Director: PDG David Kennedy {Foundation} Blayney

Secretary: PP David Benn {Administration} Wollundry Wagga Wagga

Treasurer Finance & Audit: PP Doug Conkey {Budget} Wollundry Wagga Wagga

Communications Director: PP Paul Murray {Public Image} Wollundry

Millennials Director: PP Clare Lawlor {Membership Millennials} Wagga CSU Rotaract

Associate Member: AG Julie Poplin {Assistant Governors}

Other District Appointments

Executive Secretary and Web Master: PP Paul Murray Wollundry Wagga Wagga

District Trainer: PP Geraldine Rurenga Wagga Wagga Murrumbidgee

PETS Facilitator: PDG Tony Monley D9810

Public Officer: PDG Ian Tooke Blayney

2019 Griffith D9700 Conference Chair: PP Ross Grillo Griffith

DIO Insurance/Risk Management: PP Sam Catanzariti Griffith

COL 2019 Representative: PDG Gary Roberts

We are still looking at appointing two more Assistant Governors.

We are also looking at the structure of all the Standing Committees and the Special Committees.

We will post all further news on D9700 2018-2019 on my DGJG Blog:

DG JG 9700 2018-2019

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL 2017-2018

President Ian Riseley RC of Sandringham Melbourne

President Elect Barry Rassin RC of East Nassau The Bahamas

District 9700 Governor George Weston RC of Leeton

District 9700 Governor Elect John Glassford RC of Coolamon

District 9700 Governor Nominee John McKenzie RC of Orange North