Welcome to a new Rotary year. First up I would like to say a big thank you to Charles for his presidency in the 2018-2019 year. Charles has been a great support, leader and good sport. Also, a big congratulations to Paul receiving his Paul Harris Fellowship. Paul is a passionate Rotarian and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t receive more honour in the years to come with his dedication to Rotary. For anyone that doesn’t know, Paul is now the District 9980 Treasurer.
Thank you also to everyone who attended our changeover night. The Cellar Door provided great food and a great atmosphere.
So, what is the 2019-2020 Rotary year going to bring? From a global perspective Rotary is on a mission to finally eradicate Polio as part of our involvement in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and our new District Governor, Tania Lowery, has proposed each club in 9980 donates $1,000, with the hope she can present a cheque for $31,000 in Sydney at the Ride the Trains for Polio fundraiser on World Polio Day (24 October 2019). Tania has also set each president a challenge to “fill a 1 litre jar”, which funds will be counted at the 2019-2020 District Conference.
The Rotary theme for the 2019-2020 year set by World President, Mark Maloney, is “Rotary Connects the World”. His challenge to us is 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.” What that really means for us, is something we may need to think about.
At a District level we welcome Tania Lowery as District Governor. Tania is from Balclutha and she is a very passionate and enthusiast Rotarian. Tania wants to make some changes that encourage retention and growth in our membership including some changes to the format of our District Conference. Watch this space!
At a local level I am lucky to be joined by presidents Neroli McRae in Cromwell, Deb Budden in Wanaka and Pip Kidd of Mt Aspiring who are all keen to work together on some local and international projects. More about that later.
And at a Club level, I hope we are going to have some fun, continue to do great service and build our membership. My challenge to our Club is to double our membership. I know that may be a near impossible goal but no harm in trying.
Justine
