President Roy Garrett opened the meeting with a toast to RI and chaired the meeting welcoming guests;
Rotary Visitors:
- District Governor Murray Verso (our guest speaker), who apologised that Irene had come down with flu and was a late withdrawal.
- Ian Salak and wife Heather, Assistant Governor [Batman Cluster].
- Craig Dowling, President, RC of Laverton Point Cook.
Visitors:
- Annie Garrett and Rebecca John.
- Neville Taylor also introduced Tony Fritsche (for 3rd time) who has attended again as a prospective member.
Announcements:
- Greg Cuthbert – Garden DesignFest – ‘our’ Euroa Gardens will be open on Sunday 16th November. Club members are requested to keep the date free as volunteers will be required for a great day out and fellowship. More details to come closer to the event.
- Tom Callander gave a plug to our very own Marathon woman Justine Murphy and asked that everyone get behind her with support by sponsoring her in an upcoming event – fundraising – our Justine should get sponsoring for an ultra Marathon in Gold Coast. More details to follow but Tom suggests that each of us sponsor say 50 cents, $1.00 or more for every km she completes. The standard marathon is 42 km so an ‘Ultra Marathon’ must be a lot more! Definitely worth supporting Justine and Rotary.
Director’s Report - Youth Service Committee, by George Mackey
George introduced his dynamic team consisting of himself, Kerstin Steiner, Tom Callander, Michael Wells and Sat Mishra. George explained how Youth Services Committee projects tend to be cash burning for the Club’s overall expenditure however we achieve great outcomes which impacts positively on youth both directly and indirectly through the sponsoring process of the Silk Miller Scholarship, which enables selected police officers to receive higher quality training to engage with young people in the community they serve. George also explained that there are projects and club involvement with youth that do not burn a big hole in our budget such as;
- Mentoring and incoming peace scholar (Michelle Heard)
- Support for Ed Pettit and six kids attending the Global Aids Conference recently that included trips around Melbourne for our international guests and a visit to the Zoo
Main Youth Committee projects that provide value and bang for buck were outlined by George and involve;
- supporting and sponsorship of three students to Jan 2015 for the National Youth Science Forum which has realised two successful applicants and one unsuccessful applicant at the final panel process
- Two students from Victoria Police Legacy are expected to attend the next RYPEN camp
- Silk Miller Scholarship – ongoing sponsorship of a youth focused police officer to do a Graduate Diploma or Masters in Adolescent Health and Wellbeing at Melbourne University. The selection process will commence soon for the 2015 course
- RYLA selection process will also start in the next couple of months for the end of year experience for 18 to 23 year olds.
President report delivered by Roy Garrett – “short and to the point”
- Budget approved
- Community Village will continue
- IFTA dinner done and was a fantastic event last month
- VicPol mentoring program commenced for 2014/2015
- Another school project in Laos planned for later in the year
- Plans are underway for a 2015 Aboriginal Community Project at Fitzroy Crossing
In short Roy reiterated that we punch above our weight, achieve a lot for a club of our size and he emphasised the importance of fundraising so we can maintain our excellent outputs.
Sergeant’s Session
Sergeant Bernie attended the floor and starting hitting people up for the usual fines for:
- Wedding anniversaries and birthdays.
- District Governors – yes Bernie made it clear that at RCCMS we actually do fine DG unlike other clubs
- Tony Thomas was fined for allegedly riding his bike up wrong way of street on arrival to the breakfast – better to be fined by Bernie that the traffic cops
- Bernie posed the questions – ‘What are the two rotary themes (Perpetual and Annual)’ Kevin Walklate managed one [Ed. It is on the banner at front of the room] out of two and received a fine but he suggested next year’s annual theme might be “Kick a goal for Rotary!”
Bernie also warned us that ‘elevator speeches’ will be coming up soon and finished his session with a bit of Confucius that confused most of us.
Special Presentation. “What Rotary Means to Me”, Richard Stone OAM
Richard was asked to present at the DG’s visit. Richard proudly reflected on his near 30 years of rotary and being a charter member at RCCMS. [Ed This outstanding presentation has been produced in toto separately in this Bulletin.]
Guest speaker, District Governor Dr Murray Verso
Murray is a vibrant, passionate and witty speaker and demonstrated that he has all of the attributes to be a fantastic District Governor.
He is very familiar with the rotary clubs within District 9800 and praises the Rotary Club of Central Melbourne Sunrise as a dynamic club that makes huge contributions to the community and District.
Murray acknowledged those working at district level from within our club being
- Neville John as the DG nominee for 2016/2017
- Bernie and Marjorie Gerlinger for their ongoing contributions with Marjorie currently undertaking the role of District Community Services Chair – 15 current programs
- Justine Murphy is the Director of Vocational Services
- Allan Seale and Anne King members Vocational committee
- Roger Thornton is the Deputy Chair of the Paul Harris Society
He also acknowledged President Craig Dowling (RC Laverton Point Cook) whose Club is doing scatter meetings for all members across the District.
Murray reflected on how Rotary International assesses all Clubs and our club RCCMS meets all criteria, in creating leaders, contributing to RI, has international projects, a significant involvement in PH society and maintains a diverse range of club membership. In support of The Rotary Foundation, RCCMS is in the top 10 in the district and has 4-5 members donating regularly to PH Society. He is impressed with our signature projects i.e. Police Mentoring, which is valued by VicPol and the District; Community Village; PH Breakfast; commencing the recent Iftar dinner and our relationship with the multi-cultural community is admirable, Silk Miller Scholarship etc...
Murray also commented that Richard Stone encapsulated all the points he wanted to make “one would not be a DG if they did not like Rotary” and he challenged us with the question, “How do you regard yourself, are you a participant or an observer?” and concluded that there is more satisfaction in being a participant.
Murray wants us to all consider attending at the District Conference. He promised an enjoyable experience, great speakers and case studies on terrific projects. He also reflected on his rich experience at International assemblies and the benefits he and Irene have appreciated through participation in the student exchange programme.
Murray also briefly touched on the ‘magic of Rotary’, and gave examples of funding for a defibulator machine to enable more independence for a child, helping a young offender on a journey with the police to walk the Kokoda Track, then two years later to see that youth became a police officer. Also the building of a public toilet in a remote village in India where the community have never had a toilet before and supporting eye doctors to do life changing cataract procedures. Furthermore, the pursuit for the eradication of polio – 95% success across the world. “As Rotarians we should be proud of these achievements”, Murray remarked while also promoting the Rotary’s 4 ways test and our 5 core values.
District Governor Murray is fiercely proud of wearing his lapel badge and being a Rotarian and sees it as a great opportunity for all Rotarians seeking personal development.
He concluded with words spoken by Indira Ghandi;
“there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who do the work and those who take the credit .... it is better to be in the first group.”
President Roy thanked Murray and closed the meeting.
Susan McLaine
