President’s Comment – 5 Jun 16 (5 June 2016)

Skiing

This month is Rotary Fellowship Month. Through fellowship we can gain insight into how to better serve our communities and fellow Rotarians.

The Fourth Object of Rotary states, ” The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service”.

Rotary Fellowships are international, independently organized groups of Rotarians, Rotarian spouses, and Rotaractors who share a common vocation or recreational interest. Rotary Fellowships give their members the opportunity to have fun, make new friends around the world, and enhance their experience in Rotary.

Rotary has numerous Fellowships already established. If you cannot find one you are interested in perhaps you can look at establishing one that YOU would like to develop.

List of Rotary Fellowships

Many fellowships also use their special interests to serve others.

I am a member of the International Fellowship of Skiing Rotarians(ISFR).  I have been on three ski weeks with them. At  Whistler – British Columbia, Telluride – Colorado and Big Sky – Montana. This coming February my partner Carolyn and I will be skiing the ISFR week at Jackson Hole – Wyoming. These are great fellowship weeks, skiing with about 100 other Rotarians who love skiing. A very rewarding and social time is had by all. The ISFR raises about US$60,000 each ski week that is donated to adaptive ski schools (disabled skiing) around the world. Disabled Snowsports Australian at Falls Creek, Victoria received US$10,000 from ISFR in 2014 for uniforms and special equipement.

Other fellowships active in Australia are Flying, Cricket, Recreational Vehicles, Antique Autos, Caravanners and Golf.

Cricket

More information on Rotary Fellowships

Rotary-Fellowships-Directory

Rotary Fellowship Handbook – 729en

President’s Comment – 29 May 16 (30 May 2016)

ban_kimoon[1]


UN chief Ban Ki-moon opens Korea convention

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among the first to welcome Rotary members and friends to the 107th Rotary Convention, heralded as one of the largest-ever gatherings of Rotarians and the most multicultural assembly of nonprofit leaders in Korea.

He offered a message of gratitude: “Rotarians do remarkable work around the world,” Ban told the thousands of attendees gathered at KINTEX, the Korea International Exhibition and Convention Center in Goyang city, on the outskirts of Seoul. “You help the United Nations reach our goals, and you help the world understand the United Nations.”

Special guests included prime ministers Hwang Kyo-ahn of South Korea, and Ranil Wickremesinghe of Ravindran’s native Sri Lanka.

Hwang, who was the charter president of the Rotary Club of Seoul before he served as minister of justice, spoke about Rotary’s history and presence in South Korea, now the fourth-strongest Rotary country in terms of membership and one of the strongest supporters of The Rotary Foundation, per capita.

Our Club should be proud that our Secretary Debbie Schache and her husband John are attending the convention. All Rotarians are welcome to attend all conventions, so put next years Atlanta, Georgia, USA Convention – 10th to 14th June 2017, on your calendar.

 

President’s Comment – 22 May 16 (22 May 2016)

Annual General Meeting of the Rotary  E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity

Can I thank all of those members attending the AGM held last Tuesday 17th May 2016. I would also like to thank those who did not attend and offered to fill a role with our fledgling Club.

We adopted our Constitution and Bylaws and can now start to register as an Incorporated Organisation in NSW.

Congratulations to our newly elected Office Bearers for 2016-17:

President – John Roberson

Secretary – Debbie Schache

Treasurer – Marilyn Roberts

Vice President – Vacant

President Elect – 2017-18 – Vacant

Directors:

Administration – Cameron McKern

Membership – Malcolm Dunnett

Public Relations – Susan Welch

Foundation – John Roberson

Youth & Australian Service – Donna Vaughan

International Service – Sharon Daishe

We are small in number but very excited about our new Club. If you are interested in becoming a member please fill out the “Membership Expression on Interest” Form on this website and submit it. Those joining before we charter will become Charter Members of our Club.

Rotary International Convention

On the 28th May the Rotary International Convention is to begin in Seoul, Korea.  All members of Rotary and their spouses are welcome to register and attend the annual International Convention of Rotary. Listen to what those attending have to look forward to by clicking on the Convention Minute by Rotary International President Elect and Convention Chair Ian Riseley.

RIPE Ian Riseley – Welcome to Seoul Convention

 

President’s Comment – 15 May 16 (16 May 2016)

Sam

Above: My son Sam Smith Roberson while a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in Toyama, Japan

 

YOUTH SERVICE MONTH

This month is Youth Service Month and one of the programs that epitomises Rotary’s involvement is Rotary Youth Exchange. My own son benefited immensely from his year spent in Japan. He learned to speak, read and write Japanese, a talent that has already allowed him to become a ski instructor in Japan. It also focused him on what he wants out of life and his decision to become a teacher is partly because of his youth exchange experiences.

Thousands of young students have benefitted from their experiences living in another culture, learning about cultural differences and finding and developing their own talents.

Click on this link for a message about Rotary Youth Exchange.

If you want more informatio on Rotary Youth Exchange look at this website.

http://www.ryea.org.au/

 

 

President’s Comment – 8 May 16 (8 May 2016)

T1516-EN

Doesn’t a week fly by now days!

We held a GoToMeeting last Tuesday and we had six attendees which is a record for our fledgling Club. We had a great discussion on how our Club is developing and where we go from now.

We have this month and half of June to finalise our website, attract more members, establish Bank Accounts, register as a Incorporated body in NSW and submit our application to receive our charter.

I appeal to all who are interested in becoming a Charter member to fill out and submit an expression of interest form in joining the Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity.

Did you know?

Oss-Rotary-01[1]Pope Francis greets Rotary International President K.R. Ravindran at a Jubilee audience at the Vatican on 30 April, where 9,000 Rotary members were special guests of the pontiff.

 

President’s Comment – 1 May 16 (1 May 2016)

Last weekend I and over 200 other Rotarians attended the District 9700 Conference held in Wagga Wagga, NSW at the Civic Theatre. It was a friendly and very informative weekend. c0[1]

Past Rotary International President 2006-07 Bill Boyd from D9940 New Zealand represented our current RI President K.R.(Ravi) Ravindran and spoke to us three times over the two days. His quiet and succinct messages were well received and he enthused us with the work that Rotary is achieving and has plans to do in the future.

The Conference was divided into three distinct themes that DG Gary Roberts wanted to bring to our members. They were on Peace & Rotary, Business & Rotary and Rotary Youth Programs.

Excellent speakers on the program were:

  • PRIP Kalyan Banerjee who could not attend due to his wife’s illness however his video address was inspiring and urged us to impart the message that peace starts with the individual and their peace within that translates to peace in their homes and communities.
  • PDG Garry Browne and Charles Tarbey from real estate company Century 21 spoke on Rotary & Business and Rotary forming Partnerships with business.
  • The Youth Programs speakers William Wood a Rotaractor, PDG Rowley Thompsett a training officer for Rotaract and Sarah Yahya, NSW Multicultural Youth Ambassador who works with Rotaract and Rotary on various projects highlighted the importance of all Rotary Clubs fostering and supporting Rotaract and Interact as a way of communicating the Rotary philosophy to new generations.

In conclusion I would like to encourage all members of our Club to attend next year’s D9700 conference for DG Michael Milston to be held at Orange, NSW – 18th to 19th March 2017.

Please encourage your friends and interested acquaintances who want to join Rotary to consider filling out our “Expression of Interest Form” on this website  to be considered for membership of the Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity. Members can be resident in any country in the world and still become a member of a Rotary E-Club.

 

 

 

President’s Comment – 19 Mar 16 (19 March 2016)

The Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity is the first E-Club in D9700 and we welcome all to read about our projects both in Australia and overseas. D9700 is the only Rotary District in Australia that does not have a seaboard. We are located in inland New South Wales with a very friendly membership dedicated to serving their own communities and the world at large.

All Rotarians visiting our website are invited to do a makeup.

Any person, regardless of where they live in the world, interested in joining our Club can fill out the expression of interest form and submit it to the Club Board.