Fellow Rotarians and friends,
I would like to take this opportunity to say what a terrific Maryborough Rotary Changeover Zoom meeting the Club held on the evening of Thursday 25 th of June - well done to meeting Chair Geoff James, and Secretary Thea . Congratulations, and best wishes, to President Alison, and her board, on accepting their roles, and I wish them all the very best, in a year that will have some quite different challenges to anything that has gone before. I have had an extremely enjoyable and fulfilling year as your President, and my job was certainly made easier to have a board, membership, and friends, who were at all times supportive, hard working, and a pleasure to work with.
Our Club has had a very good year over many aspects.
We have had good attendances at all of our dinner meetings, and zoom meetings from late March, and enjoyed many interesting guest speakers.
I feel our Club has had a very good year in terms of our youth programmes, (Chair Graeme Rogan ) our signature Sayno2familyviolence programme, ( Chair Garry Higgins) and the Foundation, ( Chair Derrick Marsden )
Our membership increased by a net four ( well against the trend in the English speaking Rotary world) and importantly , some of the new members were in the younger age bracket.
The Clubs fundraising was strong - we held two extremely successful bike rides (many thanks to Peter Haywood for his wonderful organisation) , a Rock and Roll dance at the Town Hall ( thanks to Jackie and Shane Dellavedova) , Oaks Day fundraiser at the Highland Society with 160 guests, ( Alison Teese , Esther Waters , Robyn Jennings and Jan Williamson did a huge job ) two film nights at the Paramount Theatre, a Cooking for a Cause dinner ( thanks to Louise Hanby D Wynn and Chanaka ) a strong fundraiser at Carisbrook Harness Raceway in aid of Family Violence, ( Bob Butterfield, Chris Frahn and Committee) a very well attended by members Bunnings BBQ at Kangaroo Flat, ( thanks to Robyn and Brian Reed), and a terrific New Years Eve Dance, ( Meryl and Geoff James again to the fore )
The Energy Break Through in November was well attended by many members and friends, and was its usual strong financial result.
The Swap Meet at Ballarat was also well attended by members and friends, and was a good money earner - Derrick Marsden was there for every minute the meet was open , and more. Well done Derrick.
One fundraiser that typified our members and friends willingness and commitment , was catering for breakfast at the curiously named “ Chopped “ event , held at the Carisbrook Raceway. We were invited to do the catering late on a Wednesday, and by 6am on the Saturday morning , the Club was in full swing. Many members and friends gave many hours, at short notice. We served 700 breakfasts over the two mornings, and raised around $3,000. A wonderful effort !
The funds were distributed over a varied range of causes and projects. Some I have listed.
Maryborough Rotary gave $10,000 to aid in the establishment of the Maryborough Aeromedical Transfer Station ( donation foreshadowed in 2018 - 2019 ) in November, at a launch at the Highland Society.
The Board approved a quote for $12,000 , from ARC Ventures , to produce a “ toolkit” for our Sayno2familyviolence program.
There was a number of Youth Programs that received substantial funding , among them Defy the Drift ( six local students involved) and two students to the National Youth Science Forum.
The Club gave funding to Gippsland Fire Aid, after the disastrous bushfires around the New Year.
Involvement and engagement in all of these activities means that our members and friends enjoyed a lot of fellowship, camaraderie, and fun through the year, which is so important for our Club to prosper.
It us unfortunate that the pandemic impacted on all of us in March. It is testament to our Club's resilience, that we continue to function , when many community organizations are not. Maryborough Rotary will be in a strong position when conditions return to some form of normality, hopefully sooner rather than later.
I will submit more detail for my annual report, which I hope our club can have printed into hard copy, as a more tangible reminder of what it means to be a member of Maryborough Rotary. I will however, thank Thea Allan for all of her hard work as Secretary, and note her ongoing commitment in the role for President Alison.Well done Thea. Also to Geoff James , for editing the Bulletin for the year, and for all of the other “heavy lifting “ he does for our Club. Thanks to Graeme Rogan, for his great work as Youth Chair, but also doing a great job as Treasurer, with challenging software to master.And to the rest of the Board, Meryl James, Anthony Ohlson, Derrick Marsden, Brian Reed, Bob Butterfield, Chris Frahn, Martin Mackay, and Garry Higgins, many thanks for your hard work, and support. And a special mention to Peter Haywood, for acting as Program Director, and coming up with all of the interesting guest speakers we had throughout the year.
And finally, to Jan , for all of her hard work and support throughout the Rotary year.
All the very best,
from Past President Leigh.