Posted by Michelle CRAWFORD
Chair Rohan Williams
Zoom Host John Illot
 
Attendees: District Governor Elect Dale Hoy, District Governor Nominee Amanda Wendt, President Wyndham Rotary, Michael Lapina, President Therese Robinson and Partner Murray, President Elect Elias Lebbos and Partner Nicole, Members and Guests.
6.00 - 6.30pm    Pre-dinner banter was enjoyed as people joined the event.
 
Rob Hines advised that the raffle is being closed.
 
At 6.30pm John Illot put everyone on mute and handed over to Rohan Williams, Chair for the evening. Rohan welcomed Members and Guests to the 34th changeover dinner, with particular mention of District Governor Elect Dale Hoy and District Governor Nominee Amanda Wendt. An acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians was offered.
 
Roger asked Members to take and share photos of the evening and send them by email to Roger
 
District Governor (DG) Elect Dale Hoy was welcomed and took the opportunity to remind those present that Rotary International exists because of well-established clubs like Rotary Central Melbourne. He congratulated the club on all that is achieved.
 
DG Elect Dale asked those present to raise their glasses and join with him as he proposed a toast was proposed to Rotary International and Rotary Central Melbourne. DG Elect Dale then offered his congratulations to President Therese under trying circumstances, and offered his best wishes to President Elect Elias for the year ahead.
 
Rohan passed on to President Therese asking what are the secrets of surviving and thriving in such a challenging year?!
President Therese Robinson – Closing Reflections
Therese highlight that while the year began in lockdown and tonight we find ourselves unable to meet.  This evening she is not going to focus on challenge including the impact of pandemic on the club, our inability to meet face to and raise funds.  Many members have had a very difficult year with personal events, including losing family members, loss of employment, the difficulties of coping with the restrictions and impact on our lives and those we care about, and our very sad and recent loss of Bernie Gerlinger, a member for 30 years
Therese offered that despite all the challenges, we have much to celebrate and she would like to offer the highlights and many achievements that we can rightly be proud of including
  • reviewing the strategic plan and regular reports back to members
  • work on two new areas, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Environment Sustainability, participating in District Action Groups and holding an internal Strategic Dialogue
  • induction of four new members being Rhys Williams, Puja Ganguli, Bernard Marchingo, Marli Watts
  • a new sister club arrangement with Rotary club of Cork
  • $8000 raised to purchase oxygen concentrators to help out our sister club in Kolkata to support their communities
  • Held our first – and possibly our last - Melbourne Cup breakfast
  • Founding contributor to RIMERN - Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network
  • updated policies and adopted District policies
  • combined Paul Harris breakfast and CEOs meeting with the Fred Hollows Foundation
  • reviewed the Silk Miller scholarship and the Australian Rotary Foundation Trust
  • won a District award for the Hope Scholarships
  • won the Victorian Government accelerator program for the International Student mentoring program
  • in between lockdowns we managed to squeeze in a Donations in Kind working bee, our first tree planting event at Philip Island, and held sausage sizzles – raising just under $18K in this financial year despite covid - and we moved to cashless payments
Therese highlighted that importantly, we had fun with trivia nights, a Bengali cooking class, online raffles, pocket positives where people shared what helped them through.
Therese offered her sincere gratitude to the members who served on the Board, for their leadership and commitment which have contributed to her success as President. 
Members are encouraged to read the annual report which will be released on the website on Saturday 26th June and highlights what has been accomplished together. 
Therese asked those present to join with her in applauding Board Members Rob Hines (Fundraising), Cecily Neil (International), Warwick Cavell (Vocational), Allan Driver (Administration), Neville Taylor (Foundation), Rohan Williams (Community), Martin Langton (Treasurer), Paul Fraser (Secretary), Elias Lebbos (Strategic Advisory Group), David Laurie (Youth), Kevin Love (Vice President), and Anne King (Vice president). Each of the portfolios experienced significant challenges. 
A very big thank you was also offered to John Illot who stepped into the position of Executive Secretary after the departure of Marjorie Gerlinger and also to those who participated in committee work, offering ideas and energy.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
President Therese moved to award acknowledgements and recognitions as follows
Two Paul Harris Fellow recognitions – the highest honour the club can bestow, recognising substantial contributions by members over an extended period of time. Rather than a physical award, the club donates US $1000 to the Rotary Foundation in the name of the recipients.
  1. Warwick Cavell who joined the club in 2015 and has made valuable contributions at District, serving on the District Training committee, the District Learning and Development Committee and the Vocational Service Committee. Warwick has also served on the Strategic Advisory Group, the Vocational Services Committee, as Vice President and of course President in 2019-20 for the club. Warwick continues to make an enormous contribution and on behalf of the club, I thank you.
Warwick Cavell responded, saying he was honoured to receive this award.  He has enjoyed the time and opportunity, particularly how well everyone works together.
  1. Anne King who joined our club in 2001 and has been taking on leadership roles ever since. Anne has served as Treasurer, Club President, and Vice President. Anne has also served at District as Assistant Governor, on Vocational Service Committee and International Service Committee. Anne was recognised as a quiet achiever whose leadership has been demonstrated in working alongside others to provide support, who never says no. Anne’s most recent contributions include leading the State Emergency Services mentoring pilot, leading the Garden Design Fest planning with Roger Thornton, supporting the Treasurer in his role, and sponsoring social events for the club. On behalf of the club, I thank you.
Anne was in transit to the dinner so unable to respond.
The Royce Abbey Award sees the club donate AUD $1000 to the Royce and Jean Abbey Endowed Fund within the Rotary Foundation. The award is given in recognition of the contribution of newer members and this year is awarded to Ignacio Inchausti. In the short time Ignacio has been with the club, he has enthusiastically participated in the club activities, serving on the Vocational Services Committee and recently took on the responsibility of publishing the weekly bulletin which is a significant contribution.
Ignacio responded with “wow!” – he enjoys the club and being around the people who are here.
The Rotarian of the Year Award recognises those who have made a substantial and significant contribution to our club in any one year. The inaugural recipient of this award was Bernie Gerlinger and it is fitting that the cup is now full and needs to be replaced - something for Elias to turn his mind to in the coming year.  This year this recognition is awarded to two recipients, Rana Ebrahimi and Suvam Ganguli.
Suvam and Rana have responded to President Therese’s request to lead the thinking and planning for our club in the areas of Environment and Sustainability, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. These new focus areas of work were identified through our club strategic planning process. These are also new areas of focus for our District, and Suvam and Rana have participated in District level forums, sharing and promoting information with our members as well as working with club members. Therese highlighted that while this work is still in developmental stage, and is difficult and challenging work to interpret and provide a way forward for our diverse membership, it is critical to the future of our club and these two members’ work needs to be publicly acknowledged.
Suvam responded that this award is ‘very, very unexpected’ and he is very humbled.  He offered thanks for the generosity, and is very happy to share the award with Rana who is very inspiring – he is ecstatic to have received the award.
Certificates of Appreciation
  • Tony Thomas for the work he has led in establishing and supporting the Bearbrass Probus Club, hugely successful uptake by new members, meeting a clearly established need in the community.
  • Alan Seale for his innovative fundraising effort in the production and sale of garden furniture, which contributed substantial funds to the club during the stage 3 and 4 lockdowns, when other sources of funding were severely limited.
  • Mary Voice for her leadership on the pocket positives ideas at breakfast every week, contributing to the members' connection during the stage 3 and 4 lockdowns.
  • Rebecca and Neville John for the work they do in the background, supporting members of the club. Rebecca and Neville have their fingers on the pulse of the club, are first to reach out to members where we know something is not right, checking if members are ok, offering support in sad or difficult times through the almoner work they lead and checking in regularly with members that we might not have seen for a while. Further, Neville and Rebecca generously share their home with members and are the welcoming face of our club for most new members.
 
President’s Personal Reflections
President Therese highlighted that she knew it this was going to be a big year and it was – just not in the way she expected.
The focus of Therese’s Presidency and leadership task was to help the club stay connected during a year when many of our regular activities went out the window, where our plans had to be put on hold, where we had to change what we did and how.
We did what Rotary has been doing for 100 years – we served our community and we adapted. There is much to be proud of.
Therese offered her thanks for all the individual suggestions and messages of support, grateful that Members had gone to the trouble of connecting.  The many acts of kindness, and Members going out of their way to offer support for the role is appreciated.
Therese knows this support will also be extended to President Elect Elias and she shared with those present that she looks forward to serving on his Board and continuing her Rotary journey in a new role.
DINNER
While Members and Guests had their video, the music of Ben Lebbos and friends provided an enjoyable backdrop.
INSTALLMENT OF NEW PRESIDENT
President Therese commenced the handover segment advising that President Elect Elias Lebbos has attended all training and attained the knowledge necessary, highlighting that Rotary Central Melbourne Members pledge their support and loyalty.
President Elect Elias induction was formalised through the presentation of President’s Collar, Lapel Pin, Meeting Badge, and ‘Serve to Change Lives’ Theme Badge, formalising Elias’ induction as President.
President Elias’ partner Nicole offered thanks to outgoing President Therese’s partner Murray for his support over the year, highlighting that a donation to Youth Projects has been made in his honour in lieu of a gift.
President Elias offered thanks on behalf Members to outgoing President Therese, acknowledging the huge effort that has been made over the past year. 
PRESIDENT ELIAS LEBBOS
President Elias acknowledged the traditional custodians of all the lands that we are meeting on tonight, their ongoing connection to these lands and waters and paid respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, looking forward to working towards our clubs better understanding of our first nations people during the coming year.
Elias acknowledged the many contributions made by all the Club Presidents who have gone before and is very aware of all the work that these individuals have done to ensure the vitality and viability of our club at a time when many clubs are experiencing challenging times. He looks forward to continuing the club’s stewardship in this manner.
Elias highlighted that the last 12 months have been nothing less than extraordinary, paying tribute to outgoing President Therese who showed great leadership through uncharted territory, beginning her Presidential year on Zoom and seeing it end on Zoom.
Not being fazed by the challenge, Therese adapted, each week fronting up to yet another screen meeting with great enthusiasm, providing a positive few words at the end of each meeting.  She reminded us of the value of being connected to each other through Rotary at time when human connection was so significant to our wellbeing.
As outlined, this has past year has been incredibly successful – see list of achievements listed above.
On behalf of all the Rotary Central Melbourne family, Elias offered his thanks and congratulations to outgoing President Therese for a remarkable effort and an amazing year.
Elias highlighted that Rotary International President-elect Shekhar Mehta is urging members to become more involved in service projects, saying that caring for and serving other is the best way to live because it changes not only other people’s lives, but also our own.
The theme for Rotary year 21/22 is “Serve to Change Lives” and we can achieve this by ensuring there is a place and space for all our club members to participate and contribute to serving others. Let’s continue with the work that outgoing President Therese began around diversity.
Elias stressed that we need to ensure when we invite new members into our club, they see themselves in our club, that is, the differences they bring to the club are welcomed, the manner in which they contribute is valued, whether its attending meetings and fellowship, sizzling sausages, actively participating in club projects or quietly contributing to the capacity building of our club, district or organization. We must provide the opportunity for people to change their own lives through the work of Rotary.
Changing the lives of others is a huge challenge and our club does amazing work in this area. Bringing water, sanitation, and education to communities in other countries is something we should be proud of and celebrate, our club will continue the work that has been placed on pause due to the global pandemic, including the opportunity that has been created to partner with our new Sister Club, the Rotary Club of Cork and their interest in international projects.
Elias highlighted his interest in the exploration of how our work and the partnerships we have created can focus on prevention and early intervention to address some of the challenges faced by people in our communities. Young people derailing at an early age need assistance and support before they find themselves in a downward spiral leading to homelessness, addiction, and other challenges. How can we assist women and children experiencing domestic violence access support before they find themselves on the streets?
How do contribute to providing an even playing field for young First Nations People, Refugees and Asylum Seekers to have access to the same opportunities our children have? He would like us to explore these options in the current range of service offering we have or the new opportunities we are pursuing.
It’s not a numbers game. This is not about outputs. This is about impact, changing one young person’s life at a time and if its only five lives we have changed for good during the next year, he’ll take that. Rotarians are people of impact, not bean counters.
Elias closed, saying he is looking forward to working with Members and the district team lead by District Governor-Elect Dale Hoy.  “Bring on the new year”!
Elias introduced the 2021- 22 Board members and virtually presented each one with the 2021-22 theme badge – these will be  will be personally presented to board members at the first face-to-face meeting on 13th July.
  • Immediate Past President and Foundation Chair – Therese Robinson
  • President Elect – Rohan Williams
  • Vice President – Kevin Love
  • Vice President – Neville Taylor
  • Secretary – Paul Fowler
  • Treasurer – Martin Langton
Directors:
  • Allan Driver – Club Administration
  • Adele le Roux – Community Service
  • Rob Hines – Fundraising
  • Cecily Neil – International Service
  • Warwick Cavell - Vocational Service
  • David Laurie – Youth Service
In closing, special mention was made of Tony Thomas as this is his last meeting with RCM after 22 years of active service to Rotary. 
The huge effort that John Illot contributed to the changeover event, changing format during a period hindered by so many unknowns was also acknowledged.
RAFFLE
Rohan introduced the Raffle and offered thanks to Campbell Chambers for gathering the gifts for the raffle
Rob Hines led a brilliant virtual raffle with a great selection of prizes won across the group.  Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all who contributed to the result of $1,500 raised through the raffle.
CLOSING COMMENTS
Rohan offered Rotary anniversary recognition for 3 members
  • Tony Thomas – 22 years’ service on Monday
  • Geoff Fairholm – 14 years today
  • Past District Governor Neville John – 26 years today
A reminder to all to take photos and send them through to Roger
Thanks and well done to President Elect Rohan for chairing an excellent night.
Post-event banter reflected on football, how many ways can potato be cooked, club trip to Phillip Island, karaoke and go to tunes, and all present were serenaded by Ignacio.
Those in attendance took time to honour Bernie and reflect on his funeral which was held today.  It was also acknowledged that Marjorie sent her apologies, the first time she has missed a changeover in 30 years.
There was discussion of another Opera on the Yarra and Michael Lapina offered he would be delighted to be involved at the same price he did last time – free!