Rod McDougall
President 2006-7
Rotary Club of Strathfield
The President's View
Wednesday 28 March 2007
Many of us were attracted to Rotary by the opportunity to "give something back" to the community.
This thought came to mind at last week's presentation by Niall King to Carol Langsford, chairman of the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.. It was very gratifying to listen to Carol and to realise that the funds raised are making a real difference in the search for a cure for MS. The raising of over $118,000 by our club over the life of the event is a remarkable achievement. Of course, it would not have happened without Niall's personal dedication; but the ongoing contribution of the many golfers and non-golfers who help plan the day, contribute financially (both on the course and at the dinner) have made it an annual event of which Strathfield Rotary can be very proud.
Congratulations to International Director Paolo Giammarco for a successful excursion to Canberra with the North Carolina GSE team. Paolo's persistence against the odds in organising the two day expedition has reaped rewards, with the team voting the trip a highlight of their visit to Australia. The trip was jointly funded by Concord and Strathfield clubs with Paolo performing the detailed planning and organising – and driving the bus!
And flushed with the success of the last information night, Ray Wilson wishes to do it all again – this time with an emphasis on attracting women members! Another Rotary information night is planned for Wednesday 9 May. The format and speakers will be essentially unchanged, although lessons of the previous night will allow some fine-tuning. Once again we will be dependent on members to identify prospective Rotarians. Please see Ray or me if you would like to extend a formal invitation to the evening to a colleague (and their partner) and we will arrange a formal letter of invitation to attend as guests of the club..
My thanks to Peter Harries for assuming the role of chair of the RYDA project. He will be ably assisted by Craig Eldredge, Les Hockley and Andrew Kowalski.
This week we have the pleasure of welcoming a golfing legend as our guest speaker. A person also widely known as a great contributor to Rotary, I trust we will see a good roll up.
Enjoy Rotary … by getting involved!
President Rod