Gawler Bulletin 3197 March 18th 2024 (Mar. 18, 2024)

Meeting Report 3197

This meeting was a vocational visit to SIG at Elizabeth

Report prepared by Brian Burt

Fifteen Rotarians and Guest Carol Stewart attended the Dinner Meeting held at the Playford Tavern. President Elect Anthony Barilla conducted the meeting as per the usual agenda quickly and efficiently.

Those present enjoyed the meal and the fellowship.

Following dinner, members travelled to the SIG premises at Hewitson Road Edinburg North where they were joined by several other Rotarians who were not able to attend the dinner.

After issuing everyone with protective clothing and footwear, Manager Erik Bosch gave an outline of the history of SIG, the range of products produced, the manufacturing process, and the ways in which SIG ensures its products are the most suitable for the goods being packaged and that they are sustainable and recyclable.

The factory tour was interesting and educational and everyone was amazed at the complexity and sophistication of the automated machinery.

It was also interesting to note that the plastics we saw do not create environmental damage caused by traditional plastics.

At the end of the tour, PP Ron Lloyd thanked Erik and presented him with a certificate of appreciation.

PP Ron did a great job of organising the meal and the tour. Thank you Ron!

Did you know?

A new regular Column compiled by

PP Brian Burt

Numbering Rotary Clubs and Districts

Gawler

17632

John Lyons

Nixon's Function Centre

Mondays at 6:30 PM

Club Runner, the District Directory and other Rotary sites show the information below.

Our club number is number is 17632. I always believed that we were the 17,632^nd Rotary Club in the world but that is not the case.

RI says, “In 1988 when we first implemented our computer system, for the purpose of identification we had to number all Rotary Clubs. At that time, we sorted all Rotary Clubs by countries and club names and assigned club members accordingly. Then, from there on all new clubs have been automatically assigned a club number by our computer system when we receive their charter.”

Similarly, one could be forgiven for believing that District 9510 is the 9,510^th Rotary District, but that is not the case either.

When our club was chartered in 1954, we were in District 33 and the District Governor was Les North from Ballarat. District 33 covered an enormous geographical area and with the growth of the number of Rotary Clubs, there was a re-allocation in 1957 when we were allocated to District 250. Another re-allocation in 1977 saw us become District 950 and when a zero was added to all Districts in the world in 1991, we became District 9500.

District 9500 embraced most of South Australia and half of the Northern Territory. It covered 1.7 million square kilometres and stretched from Kangaroo Island in the south to beyond Alice Springs in the north and from Broken Hill in the East to the Western Australian Border in the west. The eastern half of the Adelaide metropolitan area, the Riverland and the South-East were allocated to District 9520.

With the steady decline in numbers since the turn of the century, District 9500 and 9520 were merged to form District 9510 in 2020.

This is a huge area covering most of SA and parts of the NT, NSW and Victoria.

There are 91 Rotary and Rotaract Clubs listed in the current District Directory.