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Welcoming Address By Incoming 2008/2009 President Pauline Burren
Past President Rotary International Royce Abbey & Jean, District Governor John Davis & Joan, District Governor Elect Jim Studebaker, Assistant District Governor Gary Goldsmith, Other District Officers here present today, Past President Peter & Kaye, Fellow Rotarians & Guests -
At the start, I want to acknowledge the work of the outgoing President and his team. Peter McCall has said he will soon become a feather duster. Before he does we want to thank him and his team for the carriage of club business and club projects in the past year. As he has said, there have been times when Kaye’s support has been vital. Thanks Kaye!!
We wish you both good health in the year ahead. Well done.
For Peter - we have the Past President’s badge & the obligatory set of Bulletins for the year & this Brown Paper Bag of bright feathers for your Past President status!
My connection with Rotary began, not in 1997 with joining the Rotary Club of Melbourne but in the 1970s, when my late husband Keith joined the Rotary Club of Mount Eliza.
I have been a Rotary-Anne (hopefully a species which has been superseded by our wider view of Rotarians and the Rotary Family).
In 1999 I was the wife of the Club President and now find myself here as your President.
Rotary has quite a bit to answer for.
And I have found out a bit about Rotary ways.
If you haven’t found out already, you will find that I say what I mean and I don’t play games!!
To me people are the most important part of an organisation, and they deserve respect. It’s really the people who make the difference.
Rotary provides real opportunities to improve the lives of people in our community and beyond.
In the coming Rotary Year, the challenge is to Make Dreams Real.
If we complete the projects underway & respond to emerging needs through Rotary, we will be able to do more together than we would as individuals.
In this club:
· We need to sustain our membership
· We need to focus on fellowship
· we need to increase our fund-raising – more money means more projects can be funded.
· We need to carry on with projects large and small, many and various. – These projects are the real focus of service above self.
The challenge will be to fund all the projects which club members want to undertake.
- We don’t yet have a polio free world, although the number of countries in which polio still exists has fallen from over 100 in 1988 to 4 at present. The number of polio cases has fallen by 99%. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has promised $100M over 3 years if Rotarians can raise a similar amount. This club needs to play its part in funding this key endeavour.
- In Donydji, & YES it is a hard word for us to say, but Donydji is an aboriginal community in Arnhem land. There, the work of this Club is improving the day to day life of the community. Young people are coming back to this remote community and children are being educated. This project is an example of not imposing a solution, but of assisting to achieve what the people want.
- In our community this club, with others are supporting the Homeless through the Street Soccer Program this Nov/Dec.
- Personal effort from club members has assisted Second Bite, collect excess food from the markets for welfare meals.
- One could write a book about the things being done by Rotary in East Timor. In Canberra the Timor Leste Embassy development has had massive support from members of this Club.
- To fund club projects, we want the The Rotary Club of Melbourne’s Community Foundation to grow.
We are hoping that “Service and Fellowship” will motivate this club in 2008-09.
With the Group Captains we’ve already spoken about the importance of Fellowship in this Club and of the importance of being each of us being Connected.
Being integrated in the Club, we can all find a place and a role in serving the community. Those who were here last week and heard the Vice Presidents’ reports will know the range of projects the club has underway at present.
Our members certainly practice ‘service above self’.
As for getting the job done, you will all find that I delegate a lot, but I also need to know that the job’s done. I’ve always found that success comes from a team effort. Better decisions can come from having more minds on the job.
Our prime team, the Board, for 2008-09 are here. When I ask them to stand, you will see that they each are wearing a distinctive pin for this Rotary Year. I ask them to stand as I name them, and remain standing for collective recognition
Robin Syme VP Club Management & Fellowship
Peter Bearsley VP Community Service
Ken Badenoch our Secretary
Robert Read our Treasurer
Trevor Nink Director, International Services
Phil Mayers Director, Vocational Services
Rob Helme Director, New Generations
John Huitfeldt Director, Community Services
Daryl Hawkey Director, Corporate Issues
Ros Williamson Director, Fellowship
Sue McCarthy Director, Membership
Mike Flavel Director, Commication
Jan Moffat Director, Club Meetings
Barry Watts your Pres Elect for 2009-10
Rotarians and guests this is the leadership team for 2008-09
There are 3 particular people I want to thank. Robert Barnes was the one who encouraged me to join this Club. The Club’s first woman President in 2005 Anne Jacques, has always been supportive, and for special mention for his encouragement and enthusiasm. Chris Wang. Thanks too to the many others who have offered advice and support.
When Chris Wang rang my mobile to say I was nominated as club President for 2008-09, I know exactly where I was – on a tram in East Melbourne and YES, I missed my stop !! I asked for time to think about it. I’m sure you will understand that my prime thought was “what would Keith have said?” He had died only months before – it didn’t take me long to work out that he would have said – “go for it” so here I am!!
Members of this club will know that our projects rely on a mix of using connections to influence outcomes and on the personal efforts of Rotarians and the Rotary Family.
Now, I would like the Past Presidents of this Club to stand. As Past Presidents, each of you will know what is involved as President of this Club. You have done this job before and have each made a great contribution to this Club. Will you all thank them?
The histories of this club record past achievements & growth. I know that understanding the past is essential to understanding the present. The legacy of this club will be not only what it has done for those in need, but how we care for each other. The quality of our fellowship becomes important because caring for one another helps us better serve others.
In setting strategies to drive our endeavours this year the team has been brave enough to suggest that
· we want this club to be the club of choice for Melbourne business & professional people wishing to put service above self.
· Those who know say that there are 3 sought after Rostrums in the country – Melbourne Rotary, Sydney Rotary & the Canberra Press Club. You will find that this year’s program is a strong one. As in the past, we will have an inviting and stimulating environment in which to enjoy fellowship.
· If we each are better informed about what the club does, we can Talk Rotary to our friends and colleagues. We think that getting the wider community to understand what Rotary does is essential to Rotary’s on-going success.
· We want to manage club affairs efficiently and effectively & with transparency.
I have been asked in past weeks, what membership targets will be set!! Well I am NOT going to set specific membership targets for this club for the year ahead. That will be a surprise for some. That does NOT mean that membership is unimportant. In fact it’s crucial. But being a club of this size brings it own challenges. In this club we need to sustain our membership!!
Recent history tells us that, we will need to induct over 30 new members just to keep ahead. Ill health, death, work transfer, relocation and other causes will effect our membership total.
In recruiting new members, we want quality, we want balance and we want diversity – we want members who understand that belonging to this Rotary Club means SERVICE above SELF: it means putting in to one committee, as a minimum, and it means taking an active part in Fellowship Group activities. We do need to keep renewing our membership.
The club’s future depends in part on you, yes, each of you, identifying someone who just needs to be asked to join this club.
I am expecting that each fellowship group will identify early in the year at least one potential Club member.
There is another layer of Rotarians who in 2008-09 will get things done. These are the Committee Chairs and Group Captains. I ask them to stand. I’m not going to name them all. There are 36 Committees and 13 Groups. Theirs is an important role. Please recognise them.
Altogether we have 50 teams of people focussed on some part of the club’s work. That makes the club a very strong one. It also means we have to pay particularly attention to communicating with one another. We can assure Incoming District Governor Jim Studebaker of strong support this Rotary year.
I acknowledge my family members, visiting Rotarians and my guests here today. These friends reflect to some extent the connections that Keith & I have made in Rotary and beyond. Thank you all for your support.
Now if you are a Member of Rotary Club of Melbourne and haven’t had a chance to stand up yet today, let me assure you that there is a place for you to contribute in this Rotary year. Just say YES, when asked!! Or even better, offer to help, as your circumstances allow.
The challenge for this club is to move forward – to make dreams real
AND to Serve people in need, through Fellowship
I am honoured to accept the challenges implicit in being your President. I look forward to leading this Club.
Pauline Burren
President 2008/2009
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