Meeting Report 3129 September 12th
Apologies for the evening:
Deb Williams, Lance Hatcher, Helen Rapp-Bourne, Julie Tekell, Bob Ahrens, Patsy Johnson, Tom Kelly, Anthea John, Wayne Murphy, Mark Smeaton,
Guests
Craig Dowling - Guest Speaker
Grace Barilla- guest of PP Steve Barilla
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This evenings Formalities:
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Toast
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Grace
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Chair
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Pres Kathy Heinrich
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PP Leanne Clinch
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PE John Lyons
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President Kathy gave a moving toast to the Late Queen Elizabeth flowed by a minute’s silence in her honour. Members and guests then toasted the new King Charles 111.
Member and director spots:
- PP Brian announced the relaunch of the Courtesy is Contagious initiative. The relaunch will take place at the Adelaide Rd clinic on Friday 16th September. Brian will bring stickers to next week’s meeting for distribution.
- Pres Kathy thanked Mike Williams, Ron Lloyd, Jeff Benier and Michael Jacobs for running the BBQ at Two wells at the last minute.
- PP Kim Potger reminded Rotarians of the Drakes supermarket keyring initiative and asked anyone who doesn’t have the charity keyring to please see him as he has a few spares. It costs us nothing but raises much needed funds just by scanning the keyring at each shop. He said he has also had lots of success by asking other customers if they would mind scanning his keyring. He even had a lady ask for 2 so she could have one for her da and one for her to use. They can be used at any Drakes supermarket.
- PP Steve Barilla handed out rosters for this weekend Swap meet. There will also be a short training session with Michael after the meeting for everyone will be using the new eftpos machine.
- Angela Gave an update on Rosie reporting that she was returning to work part time but had asked Angela to pass on her thanks for the good wishes from Gawler Rotary members.
Chair John invited members and guests to enjoy some fellowship over dinner.
Sergent Barry once again entertained everyone with his funnies and random facts. Winners of the wheel prizes were Dave Griffiths and Bob Hinderwell who both won chocolates.
Chairperson John introduced the guest speaker for the evening -District Governor Elect Craig Dowling.
Craig spent 22 years in the Army living and working all around Australia, Europe, the USA, South Africa, and South Pacific. His Rotary journey began in 1992 at the Rotary Club of Ginninderra in Canberra where he became president in 2005 and fist honoured as a Paul Harris Fellow in 2006. When he retired from the Army in 2010 Craig’s new career in executive management took him to Melbourne and he transferred to the Rotary Club of Laverton Point Cook in district 9800 where he served as president in 2014-2015.
In 2017 Craig retired to the SA Riverland and transferred to the Rotary club of Loxton. He has also served on the District 9520 GSE committee, the 9510 Youth Committee and as the Area Governor for District 9510 Area 5, incorporating the Barossa Valley and Riverland Regions.
As the District Governor Elect, he serves on the D9510 district leadership board and as an active member of many District committees. He is also a member of the Board of Rotary Downunder. Craig and His wife Kiki have been host parents to inbound Rotary Youth Exchange students from Sweden and Finland.
Craig presentation was titled “Do you know Rotary?”
Craig began by giving a brief history of Rotary from its beginning in 1921. He drew our attention to the photo of the members – all were white, upper middle -class middle-aged men. The photo of members in 1955 although the numbers increased the members were still the same- white, upper middle -class middle-aged men. It wasn’t until the photo of members in 1990 that the members were a mix of gender, race, and age.
In 2022 -117 years after Rotary began Jennifer Jones is our first female president of Rotary International.
Rotary has many traditions including meeting formality, Rotary Grace, Toasts, National Anthem, Sergeant- at -Arms session, Vocational Classification. Some of the traditional Rotary obligations are/were Annual Dues, attend at least 70% of meetings, a meal at every meeting, bring in new members, participate in every possible fundraiser and public service events.
In 1905 there was 1 club with 4 members: in 2005 32,000 clubs with 1.2 million members (Zone 8 40,000 members) and in 2022 33,000 clubs 1.2 million members (Zone 8 32,000 members). So, while the total membership worldwide is staying steady Zone 8 which includes Australia has had a decline in membership. It is the developing countries such as Asia, India, and South America, which is growing, and the developed countries are going down. Craig explained that in the developing countries Rotary is part of a Rotarians life whereas in our world Rotary is part of a Rotarians lifestyle. We have so many options as part of our discretionary lifestyle such as Rotary, Scouts, Probus, CFS, Men’s shed, Television, Hobbies, Sport, friends, entertainment, Lions, Apex, Probus, Community groups, Scholl council etc. all vying for our time and input.
Most people join Rotary to serve the community. The expectations are to have opportunities to do that, do and achieve something worthwhile, make valuable use of their time, meet new friends. All in an environment which is comfortable, welcoming, inclusive, and respectful without stressful expectations of their time, obligations unrelated to serving the community and drama and hassles and internal politics.
When approached to join Rotary the most common answers are
- they don’t have time
- They can’t make a commitment
- It costs too much
- It’s an old boys club
- They don’t want to go to meetings just serve the community
- They are not interested I outdated rituals.
If we look at each of the points, we can see they should not be barriers.
Time- there is no obligation to attend meetings or participate in all fundraisers and service event. It’s not how much time someone gives to Rotary but the value of that time to the Community that Rotary gives.
Commitment- service above self is not how much and how often; it is not ahead of family, or your job and it is not to the exclusion of self-it is service given freely when you are able. Every moment someone commits to serving the community through Rotary is more than the community had before they became a Rotarian
Cost- the total obligatory cost is $6.80 per week Any donations meals, fees or other expenses are totally discretionary. No obligation, No commitment. No expectation.
Old Boys Club- Rotary admitted woman in 1989 in 2022 women will make up 25% the world president of Rotary is a woman. DEI is a Rotary policy -not a platitude. Rotary International has provided the opportunity but Rotary clubs decide how to use it.
Attendance at meetings there is no obligation to attend weekly meetings however it is a chance to spend relaxed time with friends, exchange ideas, meet interesting gusts, contribute to the program, and stay up to date. Attending Rotary meetings is not a pre-condition for serving the community through Rotary
Outdated rules and traditions. It is no longer mandatory to have meeting formality, Rotary Grace, Toasts, National Anthem, Sergeant-at -Arms session and vocational classifications- These Rituals and traditions reflect the preferences of the individual clubs not the policies of Rotary International.
For Rotary to keep growing we must:
- attract a balance of age, gender, culture, experience, motivation, and skill.
- Offer different membership and club options to suit different needs. E.g., ordinary, associate, and corporate members; satellite clubs; cause based clubs; friends of Rotary.
But we must not: discard our history; disrespect our traditions; Turn Rotary into something that makes our loyal, committed existing Rotarians feel disconnected. It is a balancing act between traditions and expectations.
Instead of telling new members what Rotary expects of them, we can (and should) ask them what Rotary must look like to attract and maintain new members.
Chairperson PE John Lyons thanked Craig for his presentation and presented him with his certificate of thanks before handing the meeting over to Pres Kathy for her weekly windup.
Pres Kathy thanked Craig and acknowledged that his presentation gave us a different way of thinking.
Kathy also thanked guests Grace and Margaret and announced that Margaret would be inducted into the club next week.
Diary dates-this weekends swap meet; Area six dinner on the 12th oct which will replace our normal dinner meeting on the 10th. Village fair in November. Committees next week after meeting.
After the four-way test Pres Kathy closed meeting 3129
