Rod McDougall
President 2006-7
Rotary Club of Strathfield
The President's View
Wednesday 29 November 2006
A very sincere welcome to our two newest club members. Welcome to Les Hockley and his wife Rhonda and to Godfrey Isouard and his wife Linda. Best wishes for a long and rewarding association with Rotary.
Last week we welcomed Ross Lewis, the chief executive officer of the Oncology Children's Foundation (OCF). The Foundation does amazing work through its support for basic research into the causes of children's cancer. OCF will be the primary beneficiary of our major fundraiser, to be held at Sydney Olympic Park next March More soon from Allan Teale and Peter Harries.
At its meeting this week your board decided that the weekly fee paid by members would be reduced, and club dues increased by a corresponding amount. The weekly fee currently covers much more than the cost of meals and the surplus is used to cover other costs. The change will more equitably apportion costs across all members reducing the cost to those attending meetings. It is hoped that this will encourage attendance - by members, and their spouses, partners and guests.
The board also considered opportunities for improving fellowship within the club, in particular for involving partners and spouses, and we have some ideas for next year. Member thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
The RYDA project took a big step forward this week with approval in principal for use of the Sydney Olympic Park venue being gained from all parties. Keith Byrn will soon call for assistance in staging the first training event. With large numbers of school students and many practical driving tests involved, the day must be well planned and controlled. Please give Keith your support.
Thanks to Bradley Ayres, Peter Foss, Peter Harries, Harley Tarrant, Allan Teale and Bob Templeman who committed a significant part of a day this week to attending the RYDA session at Penrith.
Shirley del Prado has declared the barbecue fit for duty for Carols by Candlelight. Thanks to Keith Byrn, Janelle Watson and Arthur Crossan for registering, cleaning and restocking the unit.
This week's raffle comes to us courtesy of the efforts of Angelo Franco. My thanks to Angelo for assisting at extremely short notice.
Enjoy Rotary … by getting involved!
President Rod