Valedictory Address By 2009/2010 President Barry Watts

Fellow Rotarians and guests,

What an interesting, exciting and enjoyable year it has been.

Our club has covered an amazing range of activities this year that were well described by our Vice Presidents last week.  Unlike most other rotary clubs, our size and spread of the things we do, requires us to take two weeks for our changeover with the first meeting, held last week, describing the detailed activities and this week an overview and the formal handing over to the new President.  Therefore today I am only going to provide a broad overview of our strategies and our achievements and some of the thinking that took place to arrive at satisfactory outcomes.

As the year drew to a close and I reflected on what we have achieved I first had to ask myself what had we set out to achieve?

I did want to have our Club regarded as having best practice in place in as many aspects of our operations as possible.  We might be a ‘not for profit’ organisation but we are also incorporated and therefore there are a number of obligations a President and the Board need to undertake to deliver on this requirement.

I believe we delivered well on our plan for the year which is an important element of best practice in governance.  This was reflected in the reports of the two Vice Presidents last Wednesday covering an extraordinary list of projects and achievements.  I won’t repeat the list, or our detailed plans, but it is obvious there has been a wide involvement of members in achieving our club theme for 2009/10 of “making a difference”.  

As another example of best practice the ‘Public Issues committee reviewed a range of water treatment options and after wide consultation has decided on a model we believe would be most effective when applied in needy communities

We also helped establish a Limited Liability Holding Company in Australia to be responsible for East Timor Roofing with a further subsidiary company in the process of being established in East Timor.  This structure will almost eliminate potential club and member liability if things went wrong with this very successful operation; which involves the rotary clubs of Melbourne, Doncaster and Lilydale. 

We have also played a major part in establishing an incorporated association to take over the lease of the Donations In Kind store which will enable a number of clubs to underwrite the rent and through a management committee improve operations from July 1.

Both of these outcomes for East Timor Roofing and the DIK store are best practice and critical for good governance.

Overall my view was we should, in the plan, for our club, strengthen the front end of our services, especially for the homeless, which has resulted in formal alliances through Memorandum’s of Understanding with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Homeground Services.

We also wanted to strengthen the ‘back end’ by finding more sources of funding; so we have now identified a number of philanthropic foundations that have similar attitudes to us in relation to the homeless and many other of our projects.

We can work with them to gain more funding and get a ‘bigger bang for our buck’ in the future.

The President cannot do all these things and many others on his own and therefore I am very grateful for the focus of the many project champions in the club because without their energy and commitment we would not accomplish a fraction of the achievements and the projects in progress this year .

Allow me to mention just some whom we have recognised with awards this year but there are many others who make a major contribution to our success:

Paul Harris fellows: Pauline Burren, Peter McCall, Phil Bowley (Sapphire), Mev Connell (Sapphire), Bob Glindemann (Multiple Sapphire),

The Royce Abbey award: Hugh Bucknall,

The Axle Award: James Donnelly,

The Forth Bridge Award: Cynthia Richards

There are also a number of people I want to recognise and thank .can I ask them to stand as their names are mentioned so we can recognise them.

Barry Murphy as Secretary has ensured we followed the rules and encouraged some of the governance matters we needed to consider .I am very grateful for Barry accepting my offer to be Secretary, he has done a fantastic job.

Robert Read as Treasurer has worked closely with me and the board to ensure our finances are healthy, which is another measure of good governance.  Robert in a new approach this year has reported today on our finances and the committees involved.  Despite the global financial crisis we ended the year in very good shape. Thanks Robert for another critical task carried out in a diligent and very effective way.  We now have a reporting system that is clear compared to budget and we now do considerable forecasting as I prefer to look ahead rather than what has already happened so we can anticipate any problems with having the funds available for our projects. 

Vice Presidents Austen Burleigh and Peter Rogers have had many tasks delegated to them as the new role of a Vice President was expanded and made clearer.  They have really been my two right-hand men this year and were a major influence on the outcomes they reported last week.

One of the other tasks of the Vice Presidents this year has been to keep the President healthy; they and the luncheon committee have been ensuring I receive, when needed, the required 2 glasses of red wine a day so I am very pleased they have succeeded with this goal.

I am very pleased to have been chair of the Nominating committee that resulted in Austen being our President Elect for next year, an excellent choice.

All directors have been very proactive in ensuring their committees are operating effectively towards achieving their goals and helping to ensure our board operates efficiently .our Minute Secretary Garry fowler has also ensured everything is properly and accurately recorded.

I will not describe their portfolios but our directors this year have been:

Jan Moffatt, Daryl Hawkey, Keith McNeil, Chris Knight, Mary Barry, Rob Helme, Malcolm Simpson, Leith Doody, and Trevor Nink who will be a Vice-President next year.

Our board this year was the best team I could possibly ask for, disciplined, questioning, even of the President, constructive, on time, and with outstanding attendance at board meetings and reports submitted each meeting.  Most importantly we had a little fun as well.

They were everything I had hoped for when I asked them to be a member of our board even if some were entering their second year. 

Could I ask all board members here today to please stand and be recognised.

In addition to the board there are a number of others that are not often mentioned but they have been a great help to me during the year and have certainly ensured we are well prepared for our meetings:

The Luncheon Organisation committee often called ‘Dad’s Army’ headed by Murray Campbell ensures the flags and other preparations for lunch are in place and they also ‘dress’ me with the chain of office.

Reception led by Debra Yin Foo have done a great job in ensuring the support for me and for guests and most importantly the collection of lunch fees, occurs smoothly each week.

Greg Romanes has also ensured we have had some excellent speakers during the year with sometimes a ‘little’ stress.  I do think this is one of the toughest jobs in the club with so many critics and fickle speakers but Greg has done a great job.

John Tozer our club Master Photographer has taken some wonderful shots during the year as a record of our lunch activities.

Where would we be without Nick Pelham Sergeant at Arms?  Nick has ensured we started and finished on time and his hitting of the bell hasn’t put any dents in it but we all pay attention and he raises money as well. Well done Nick.

Barry Rawlings and David Kram have always ensured our music at meetings has been first rate.  Many thanks to you both.

Finally John Kendall our Archivist has been a fountain of knowledge for me and ensured my presentations to other clubs or events contain accurate and relevant information especially when I am asked to attend many Anniversaries of clubs we have sponsored; including one this year that celebrated 80 years, two with 75 years and one with 50 years from the date we sponsored them.

However the key to our efficiently conducted meetings as well as being an outstanding support to us all, especially to me, is our Office Manager, Jo Mavros. Jo, we are all very grateful for the enthusiastic way in which you methodically and efficiently carry out your role, anticipating the Club’s and the President’s needs.

Jo, would you please come forward so we can present you with a small recognition of the valuable support you provide to everyone.

I recall quite well the day Peter McCall phoned and asked, on behalf of the Nominating committee, whether I would become President of this great club.

I consulted with Judy and some Past Presidents and I am now able to say I am pleased I accepted the invitation as it is an outstanding opportunity for any one to lead this club.

I asked myself, soon after accepting the proposal, what is it that can make a Rotary club great?

What are the important measures?

I think the major ones are these:

*we need to have an awareness of Rotary values and principles amongst members,

*we need to have a plan that members support so we are all aligned towards the same goals,

*we need effective and forward thinking community service programs,

*we need good governance,

*we need to be financially viable, and

*finally we need to be having some fun through good fellowship and the odd joke even about football.

I think these are all important so, at the start of the year, I set out to ensure we continue to be an outstanding and healthy Rotary club and I believe we have succeeded very well this year. I do hope you agree with me.

Judy and I have both met a large number of people both within and outside our club that we would otherwise probably not have met and this has meant, for us, the fellowship we have experienced has been a highlight of the year.  Thank you to everyone who has made us welcome during the year.

Judy, I thank you very much for your support and I will now get a better balance with family first rather than Rotary first.

Much of what I have accomplished this year and previously has only been possible with your support.

As I have also said in some speeches already , whilst I have presented two Paul Harris Fellows and 3 Sapphires this year to outstanding individuals, the wife of any President needs a special Paul Harris Fellow for ‘service above self’.  I am sure other Past Presidents wives or husbands agree with me

It has been said to me that your best year in Rotary is when you are President and I believe it will be hard to exceed the enjoyment I have had in this role, particularly as it has been very rewarding to reflect on the accomplishments this year and the sound base we have, I believe, provided for Phil and his team.

I have tried to listen hard to all of you during the year for advice and comment and some of you will see I have paid attention so I hope everyone has had as enjoyable a year as Judy and I have in 2009/10.

It has been a real honor to have led our club this year and I have appreciated your support

Thank you. 

I would now like to introduce to you Philip Endersbee your new President for 2010/11.

Philip joined our club in 1994 so he is a well experienced Rotarian and received a Paul Harris fellow in 2003.

He worked with Pacific Brands, building and managing manufacturing companies in Australia and overseas; but for the last 10 years he has owned and managed Wilderness Wear Australia. He has also been deputy chair of the East Timor Building Project Pty Ltd ,a Fellow of Leadership Victoria and an independent trustee and director of the John T Reid Charitable Trust.

Phil also loves sailing, but I think he will have some challenges ensuring he is on the water as much as he would like, in his new role as President .

Jane, you and Phil are going to have a great time this year but you will have to take charge of his time management; a tough call that even Judy could not solve for me.

Barry Watts

30^th June 2010