It is now that time of the year that many members go away to warm parts and leave an opportunity to build our Club while they are away.

The Club has an obligation to the Caterer to field 20 mealers each week (it is supposed to be 25) to keep our meeting costs at $20.70 pp and keep our venue. Two weeks ago, we fielded 14, this week 16. Members will be charged for the shortfall through their dues. Right there, we are looking at a $200 cost directly spread over all members. A knee jerk solution is to reduce the meeting frequency, find a shed somewhere that's cheap, meet at a friends house or Zoom it and hide out until all those members come back. Like any hibernation activity such as the one we just had with COVID lockdowns, it takes months to get back into rhythm if at all.

 

We can all jump up and down and complain that this is a great waste of members money OR we can accept that every member is responsible for the situation and should do what they can to turn a bad situation into a good one. We have the greatest opportunity for growth staring us right in the face, so let's work it in our favour. Let's face it too, 20 bucks for a simple dinner and a great venue is good value and we need to keep value in our membership equation regardless of the season.

 

So here's the plan. For each meeting from now until August, we should collectively endeavour to bring four new people, ie: potential Rotarians, business people, community leaders, inspirational people, speakers to the Club each week. That way we won't be wasting good food (which we are paying for anyway) and our Club will be exposed to many potential members to grow the Club. Our Club will also get a workout to improve its offer and move where it needs to be to attract people who want to give back to the community. Who knows, we might even get people who can expand our reach and grow our skillset. I know we do need to work on our offer, public image and communication skills, so this opportunity has additionally built-in opportunities!

 

Two weeks ago, attending members had a far-reaching discussion about reducing meeting frequency, meeting in a hall, having no meal and basically going into hibernation. From the discussion, it was apparent that dinner and a warm inviting venue were high on the list of musts. A bar, some IT facilities and a quiet room to have speakers or discussion were also important. Several stated that they would not come to meetings without dinner and may even leave the Club. I am certainly with that crowd; I have no time to find dinner along the way to a meeting and stuffing it down in the car is not an attractive option. I am sure fast food will cost more than 20 bucks too!

So let's get on with building on a wasted opportunity rather than thinking about wasting away. I can already feel the energy that new people will bring if we take the time to invite them!

 

P.S. I have heard that John Rosenthal has a whole street full of people to invite, so let's stop wasting time and start inviting people to our Club. We have a lot of things we need to get on with........!

An historical joint meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Berwick and Biggleswade (UK) was held on Wednesday 28^th April 2021. A meeting that would have seemed almost impossible before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in February 2020, was made possible by means of Zoom technology.

 

Biggleswade is a town in Bedfordshire England, which is approximately 60 km North of London, 30 km from Cambridge and approximately 17,000 km from Berwick.  The Berwick’s Club meeting started at 7:30pm, which equated to 10:30am in the UK.  Despite the tyranny of distance and the significant time difference, several of the Biggleswade members successfully linked in to the meeting.

 

After the initial pleasantries, the two Clubs exchanged information on their Clubs and the local projects that they were involved in.  President David Button explained how the two Clubs were initially connected.

 

Michael Scott-Worthington from the Rotary Club of Biggleswade had paid a personal visit during the Berwick Club’s Cemetery Working Bee in January 2020, to present a cheque from his Club to support the victims of the East Gippsland fires that had ravaged the area in November and December 2019. The bushfires caused the loss of five lives and destroyed more than 300 homes.

 

The cheque was subsequently added to other funds provided by the Rotary Club of Berwick to BlazeAid. It is a volunteer-based organisation, which assists disaster affected people to clear, repair or replace fences lost on their property resulting from natural disasters such as bushfires, floods, or cyclones. 

 

Past President Isobel and her husband Mark have spent the last two months working with BlazeAid in fire affected areas.  Therefore, it was appropriate that she should be our guest speaker on the night, highlighting the work that they were involved in, which was mainly removing and replacing fences destroyed by the bushfires.

 

Biggleswade reported that they have not had any face-to-face meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Group meetings, such as that in Berwick are unlikely for a while, as the UK is still very much in lockdown mode.  However, they advised that they have already had similar meetings via Zoom, with Clubs in Florida and the Cayman Islands.  Berwick is the first Club in the Southern Hemisphere that they have linked up with.

 

The interactions between the two Clubs was stimulating to all involved, so both Clubs agreed to stay in contact with each other in the future.

ANZAC Day commemorations in 2020 and 2021 were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At least, the 2021 commemoration allowed small, ticketed events to take place with invitations extended to RSL members, veterans, and families.

 

In Berwick, there was no march this year and the broader public could not attend the small private service that took place.  Instead, Casey residents were encouraged to pay their respects and/or lay a wreath at the cenotaph at another time.   Nevertheless, quite a few people from the general public still gathered at the cenotaph to watch the service.

 

 

On Saturday morning of 24^th April, Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Berwick and Pakenham met at the old St John of God Hospital site in Gibbs Street, Berwick. 

 

Their purpose was to load approximately twenty mattresses and some miscellaneous medical equipment on to a truck for delivery to the Rotary ‘Donation in Kind’ site in Footscray, for subsequent transport to Timor Leste.

 

With the use of three piano trolleys and some good teamwork, the mattresses were quickly moved from their location and loaded to the truck in approximately half an hour.

 

Once again, Rotarians combining from different Clubs proved to be “People of Action’ helping those in need here and abroad.