This will be my last story for a while as I attend to the rebuild of my greenhouse. That's a big storm damage rebuild in case you think I am skipping out for no good reason.
All our working members need some time to make or save a few dollars in their professional lives. I have to tell you that I need to do both in a big hurry before Autumn comes. For readers that don't know, I am a Production Nursery person who deals in a very seasonal business. Miss an opportunity and it is gone forever! Time is money and the stakes are high.
The photo above is about a bike race. Teams work together to help create a result. It is a fluid and dynamic flow of people doing their most to help other people. It is exciting, unpredictable and very strategic. Rotary could be seen as not that much different! Oh and that's my daughter Saffron riding for the Roxsolt Team. I learned a lot about teamwork, expectations of performance, club dynamics, team and morale building, marketing, financial mechanics and personal development when Saffron's team stayed over this week while they raced down at Phillip Island. Very interesting and practical stuff that surprisingly fits into a dynamic Rotary Club model. For me, the standout was the strong association with the governing bodies that create the events/opportunities that drive the whole thing. Without strong connections to the overarching organisations, it is hard to get anywhere. Are we a Rotary Club trying to paddle along on our own?
I have been waiting almost two years to see my people (that's my fellow Berwick Rotarians) go from doing not much to doing something special. Yes, I have had a great crew around me to keep the life support going, but I have been looking for something way greater than life support. It has been a long time coming, but David Nutter has been pulling a few terrific meetings together which play to the crowd and are bringing a great assortment of people to our Club meetings. A crowd creates a crowd as they say but other members are catching the vibe and inviting people along too. If David and our members keep that sort of behaviour up, we will certainly have a vibrant club and interesting club in no time!
Another thing that has happened recently is a realisation that what the Club has built up over many years is easily lost. We have a Presentation Ball project with Berwick College which has coursed through the Club veins for decades. PP Isobel and PP Pete Batterham with wife Sue have worked that project for years almost solo. It has been very hard on them to keep that project alive to support the fundraising activities of the Club. What they have done, without much fanfare has kept our Club going and this project needs to continue. With both PP Isobel and PP Pete, with Sue unable to go any further, it is up to the greater Club to come forward and step into their places to keep this iconic project going.
We have managed to shut down our other fundraisers such as the Farmers Market and golf day. We all know that a Club or business without an income stream is a dead entity, so why do we want to shut ourselves down? It takes a lot of effort to start new, but it takes less effort but the commitment to follow an established project through.
So the magic happens when people rally around and commit to saving something. Our Club Board know we need this project and the connections to Berwick College and the community that go with it. Our Board members are lining up to help where they can to ensure there are no hiccups. The real magic happens when the ordinary member steps forward to help carry the load. That may not happen, but all I can say is that I am seeing some signs that our Club Rotarians are thinking more about the prosperity and future of the Club than I have seen for a very long time.
So there is my hope for action this week. I am looking forward to a very fulfilling District Conference over the next weekend. I am looking forward to learning about the trials and tribulations of the other Clubs in the District over our COVID days and finding out how each has fared with projects in the community and abroad. To learn about their strategies and lucky breaks is a real opportunity to see a bigger Rotary picture, especially over a bit of social time and a beverage or two. The District Conference is the ONLY opportunity for club based Rotarians to peak outside the Rotary Club of Berwick to the bigger Rotary world. Thankfully, we are part of a larger Rotary story starting at Rotary District 9820 who will be our hosts at this week's District Conference. Bring it on!
AND, in three weeks time, on Sunday 6th March, our Club is going to get out into the community and pick up rubbish for Clean up Australia Day. Wouldn't it be awesome to get 30 Rotarians out into broad daylight with our uniforms on for the public to see us doing something positive in the community? You might think I am dreaming, but I am hoping you are dreaming the same dream as me!
