Acting President Gerald Treasure welcomed the many guests to this special meeting to induct PP Geoff Double as President for the remainder of the 2018-2019 Rotary year.
Guests included District Governor Janne Speirs, Assistant Governor Geoff Young, representatives from the Rotary Clubs of Casey and Pakenham, as well as wives of Rotarians.
With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, Diana Gomez-Fullaway gave an update on the arrangements for the 'Carols by Candlelight' event to be held on Saturday, 15 December.
Diana advised that we will be using the free Wave PTT app for communication purposes, during the event. This app enables mobile phones to be used like 2-way radios.
Rotary Club branding will be important and this will be achieved through better decoration of the stage and promotion of the event through advertising, local media and Facebook. Flyers have been produced for the event and these were placed on the tables for information.
A traffic management plan has been drawn up and approved by the City of Casey.
The gates will be open by 5:15 pm and pre-entertainment will provided for children from 6:00 pm until the main show begins at 7:00 pm.
Diana proposes to introduce a "Best Selfie Photograph" competition on Facebook, with prizes to be presented periodically during the event.
Electronic candles and glow sticks will be sold to recoup some of the costs.
Diana concluded her presentation by adding that "Many hands make light work", so it is important that as many members as possible are available to assist.
DG Janne Speirs stated that the 2019 Conference is unique in that several Districts have come together to organise the one event.
Approximately 1,000 people have already registered for the conference and she encouraged those who have not already done so to act promptly, as the Early Bird registration closes on 30 November.
The Districts will be able to showcase their activities in Foundation and International projects.
Multi-district break-outs are planned throughout the conference with single-District break-outs on Sunday 17 February.
There will be a variety of activities to choose from on the Friday 15 February, including golf and visits to wineries, the Shrine or Werribee Mansion.
A Gala Ball will be held on Saturday night, with a Rock N Roll theme, including a touch of red. The band will be the fabulous Baker boys. This will be followed by a Foundation breakfast on the Sunday morning.
There will be many other surprises throughout the program, so get registered at http://www.rotaryconference.org.au/registration.html.
DG Janne Speirs stated that the role of a Club President is very important in that they are expected to serve the Club with enthusiasm and look after its welfare.
PP Geoff has been considered suitable by the club members to take on this role for the remainder of the 2018-2019 Rotary year. This is obviously based on his previous experience as President and the many other responsible roles he has held.
Geoff was asked if he was prepared to accept the President's role, to which he relied "Yes". Janne then removed the President's collar from Acting President Gerald and placed it on President Geoff.
In conclusion, Janne thanked PP Gerald Treasure for stepping in as Acting President and indicated that Berwick is well prepared for the future, in that a President Elect and President Elect Nominee have already been identified and are waiting in the wings to lead the Club.
She commended President Geoff to the Club and asked that he be given appropriate support from members.
P Geoff began by confessing that he was more nervous now than when first made President in 2015.
He stated that he was proud to be part of a great Club with a proud history. He then outlined some of the local and international projects that we are involved in, as well as several District projects.
This is an active Club with plenty going on. This requires support from our members and the best way to provide support is by regular attendance at Club meetings. In this way, members stay connected to the Club and its various activities.
Geoff thanked former President Lea Paton and her husband Steve for all their hard work and Past President Gerald Treasure for stepping up to lead the Club in the last month. He also thanked Secretary David Button and other Club members, who have so willingly provided their support.
In particular, he acknowledged the love and support provided by his wife Di and son Scott.
Geoff concluded by challenging everyone to follow this year's Rotary Theme and "Be the Inspiration".
Dhee, a solo singer and guitarist, was introduced to sing two songs.
He is a 16-year old student who attends Haileybury college and has been singing and playing a guitar, since he was 5 years old.
He will be one of the performers at this year's Carols by Candlelight event.
Dhee sang "Better be home soon" and "Down under".
News Snippets
Delivery to Donations in Kind (DIK)
David Cutler reported that on the 10th of November, a delivery was made by the Rotary Club of Berwick to the 'Donations in Kind' warehouse, consisting of:
27 computer monitors
4 ss trollies
1 examination bed
2 blood collection chairs
50 boxes of caps, scarves and miscellaneous items
The caps and scarves were donated by the Melbourne Rebels, thanks to Cheryl Zuhlsdorff and were picked up at a self-storage facility in Richmond.
The computer monitors were collected by Diana Gomez-Fullaway and David Button, and the medical equipment collected by David Cutler over a long period.
Dave Button’s truck was used for the pickup and delivery, and apparently was full to the brim.
Well done to everyone involved.
Berwick & District Benevolent Society's
Annual Christmas Food & Toy Collection
Firstly, President David Collyer and the Board Members would like to express their thanks and appreciation to the members of the Rotary Club of Berwick for electing them, as the new Board for the Berwick and District Benevolent Society ('The Society'). They hope to justify the support by continuing to increase the scope and success of ‘The Society’ in the future.
‘The Society’ has been very busy in the last few months, organising with the Schools, Colleges and Shopping Centres around Berwick, for the positioning of collection cages for students and shoppers, to facilitate donation of food and toys for those in need.
‘The Society’ will then collect and deliver the donated goods to Casey North Community Information & Support Service (CNCISS). They in turn make up food parcels and together with toys, deliver them to needy families in the City of Casey just before Christmas.
This year two new Colleges have been added to our list, Hillcrest Christian College and Berwick College. Berwick College has even added the following request on their Facebook page "Can you donate preserved food and toys in good condition for families in need within the Casey area? Organised by Berwick Rotary, help us make a difference this Christmas by filling the cage located in the foyer of administration with donations to the Benevolent Society..."
Unfortunately, the Shopping Centre which has provided the most in the way of donations over the years, has not accepted a collection cage this year for reasons beyond our control.
Last week Laury Gordyn and Mark Caulfield assisted David in delivering cages to a total of four Colleges and one to Berwick Market Square Shopping Centre. In addition, three Colleges are doing there own collections for the cause and their donations will be picked up when notified later.
As David will be going into Hospital on 12 December, Mark and Laury will need some help in picking up all the collections, as well as then returning all the cages to ‘The Shed’. So if some of you can help, your assistance will be very much appreciated.
2019 Multi-District Conference
Registrations for the first ever Victorian Multi-District Conference are going well.
There are now over 1,000 Rotarians going and that has to be an opportunity to network, inspire and connect!
There will be a list of informative speakers, some excellent entertainment and a Rotary Showcase to knock your socks off. There will also be a Peace Summit on Friday and a concurrent Youth Forum on Saturday for 18-30 year olds.
The conference will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 15-17 February 2019.
Early bird registration before 30 November will cost:
$175 per person, or
$125 per person for Rotarians < 2 years membership to encourage new members.
$110 per person for the conference dinner, which is optional.
Neil Stitt of the Organising Committee advises that we will be having 2 rides for the 'Ride To Conference' next year.
We will be having a short ceremonial ride into the multi-district conference on the Saturday morning, 16 February. There, we will meet up with riders from other districts, to enter the conference.
We will also be having our usual week long ride, which this year will be from Monday 25th March (meeting up on the Sunday night) and finishing on Friday 29th March at lunchtime-based out of Bairnsdale. Past riders from recent years will have already been sent information from our ride committee.
Anyone who would like to ride with us or join our support crew in March, is welcome. and please contact our Registration Secretary, Jenny Rice, at jenny@ultrasigns.com.au . We ride up to 100 km a day for the week with plenty of breaks and great fellowship, both on and off the bike.
Past riders and support crew are most welcome to join us in February in the short ride to enter the conference, when we will all be wearing a special polo shirt to mark the occasion of raising a grand total of $1,000,000 over the duration of the ride, since it started in 2002, A fantastic effort by a lot of people over the years.
The shirt will be great and will cost $45.00 . Because of the timelines needed to get the shirt made for the conference in Mid-February, we need riders to register.
For past riders and support crew who would like to join us for the ceremonial ride into the conference, we need you to register before the 14 December, 2018 and pay $45.00, to enable the shirt to be made and ready for the conference.
For the ride in March, riders and support crew will receive the special shirt as part of their ride registration, as they usually do. Again please complete the registration form and submit by 14th December, 2018.
International Youth Exchange
Our clubs sponsored outgoing Youth Exchange Student Tara Wilkinson will embark in January on her 12 months Exchange in the USA (where to still TBC).
We wish Tara all the best and know her exchange will be a life-changing experience she will cherish.
As part of sponsoring Tara, our club must commit to hosting an incoming student from the USA for July 2019 to June 2020 period. Rotary Club of Berwick has a proud history of supporting this program and to meet District 9820 request, we are seeking host families over the 12 months.
Ideally, we are seeking families to host over a 3 month period, but are open to families who can host for shorter periods.
The Exchange student is required to attend Berwick College, regular club meetings and Rotary annual District Conference, with club members offering to include him or her in other events/activities to ensure their exchange is a memorable experience.
CAN YOU:
Host for 3months…….. July - September 2019 ……….October – December 2019………….January – March 2020 ……….. April to June 2020
Host for a shorter period with the above months
For further information refer to Isobel Caulfield or Di Double, who have both been host ‘Mums’ in the past.
With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, Diana Gomez-Fullaway gave an update on the arrangements for the 'Carols by Candlelight' event to be held on Saturday, 15 December..jpg)
PP Geoff Double has been the Sergeant-at-arms since the Changeover in July.
DG Janne Speirs stated that the 2019 Conference is unique in that several Districts have come together to organise the one event..jpg)
DG Janne Speirs stated that the role of a Club President is very important in that they are expected to serve the Club with enthusiasm and look after its welfare.
P Geoff began by confessing that he was more nervous now than when first made President in 2015.
Dhee, a solo singer and guitarist, was introduced to sing two songs. 
David Cutler reported that on the 10th of November, a delivery was made by the Rotary Club of Berwick to the 'Donations in Kind' warehouse, consisting of:
‘The Society’ has been very busy in the last few months, organising with the Schools, Colleges and Shopping Centres around Berwick, for the positioning of collection cages for students and shoppers, to facilitate donation of food and toys for those in need..jpg)
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