President’s Report

11 April 2018

Last week – Catherine Sullivan Centre Gala Dinner

Tick! Another of our current Rotary Year Service Project obligations achieved last week. The Catherine Sullivan Centre Gala Dinner was a great success and great fun too. I’m not sure we were able to raise the full $50,000 that the Centre was looking for (TBC), however we gave that number a good shake, I’m sure. Numbers were a little down as last Friday evening was also Orthodox Easter Good Friday, so many of our Orthodox friends had prior commitments. Still there were about 200 in the room at Le Montage, with the mood and spirits very high. It really was an uplifting night.

My very special thanks to Community Service Director, Andrew Aravanis. Andrew worked very hard for the success of this event, procured many great raffle and auction prizes, donated expensive items himself, and was VERY generous before and on the night. Thanks Andrew; the night would truly not have been the success it was without your fabulous support and generosity. And… even though it was Orthodox Easter, Andrew and his entire family came along to support the event. I would have liked to see him tell his mum where he was going to be on Friday night!

My thanks also to the other very supportive Strathfield Rotarians and their partners that attended the night, who were once again very generous with raffle, auction and other fundraising activities on the night. Thanks for your great support!

Happy Orthodox Easter

As I alluded to above, last week was Orthodox Easter. Happy Easter to all our Orthodox members and your families! Next time, we’ll be sure to check ALL calendars before scheduling a major event.

Rotary Club of Haberfield

It was with great sadness that I received and read an email from Charles Hughes, President of the Rotary Club of Haberfield last week. On 27 March 2018, the Board of the Rotary Club of Haberfield resolved to wind up the Club as at 30 June 2018. In Charles’ words… “We have had consistently low member numbers in recent years with little recruitment of new members in spite of repeated attempts, combined with a lack of resources to effectively support Rotary projects and activities. In addition, there has not been a member indicating a willingness to step up as President in 2018 - 2019.”

PETS 2 Training

On Sunday I attended PETS 2 – President Elect Training 2. This is (obviously) the second round of training for President’s Elect. Why was I there? I’m not going to be any Club’s President next year, am I? That’s right, I won’t be. However I had other duties on the day, as I’ve been given a new Rotary role next year. I’ll be Assistant Governor for the Rotary Clubs in the Sydney Central grouping. This includes the Rotary Clubs of Sydney, Sydney Darling Harbour, Kings Cross/Sydney Inner West and Sydney Cove.

Whatever you do, please don’t tell Christine!

This Week – Elizabeth Kemp

Tonight we hear from the daughter of one of the friends of Strathfield Rotary – Elizabeth Kemp. Elizabeth is the elder daughter of Fred and Sharyn Walker. Fred (as many of you know) is a long-standing member of the Rotary Club of Burwood, and been a guest of our meetings on many occasions. Elizabeth will be talking about Speech Pathology and Rehabilitation. I look forward to the talk.

District Assembly

District Assembly is scheduled for 28 April 2018 at Greystanes Public School. Charles… your mission is to get your entire 2018-19 Board to attend with you; it’s important. District Assembly is also very useful for new members (and any member, really), so go along if you can, please.

Just One Service Project Left

I’ll be running the Hamilton Island Hilly Marathon on 6 May 2018 in support of the Chalmers Road School. The project I’ve agreed with Michelle Davies (Principal) is to raise funds to contribute to the school buying a wheelchair accessible bus. Now that the Catherine Sullivan Centre dinner is behind us, we’ll start promoting this final project for this Rotary year. Whew! I want to know who the last Rotary President was that ran two marathons in his/her Presidential Year! Why do I do this to myself?

Next Few Weeks

Please Take Note: Tonight is the one and only meeting we will have here at Massey Park Golf Club this month. Next week we’re transferring to Five Dock Club on Monday evening, and the following Wednesday is ANZAC Day. 2 May 2018 is the next time we’ll be back for a regular meeting here.


 
Rick