Spoke 'n' Word 2nd July 2020 (Jul 02, 2020)

Issue 01

2^nd July 2020

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Presidents Plan

Jul 08, 2020 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Club Meeting: Membership

Jul 15, 2020 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Board Meeting

Jul 20, 2020 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

View entire list

Member Birthdays

Mark Caulfield

July 3

Graham Johnstone

July 17

Diana Gomez-Fullaway

July 21

Betty Tudge

July 28

Gerald Treasure

July 28

Spouse Birthdays

Mark Caulfield

July 3

Viviana Dominguez

July 19

Anniversaries

Anand Amarnath

Sheeja Prabhakaran

July 2

Gary Evans

Carol Evans

July 7

Rotary’s first virtual convention inspires members to innovate and stay connected
Rotary’s first-ever virtual convention attracted more than 60,000 registrants and 175,000 viewers during its weeklong program.

3D printers to the rescue
Rotary members join 3D print enthusiasts to make personal protective equipment in short supply due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Young at heart
Holger Knaack has a fresh vision for the Rotary of the future. With a little help from his friends, things should go swimmingly.

Supporting the environment becomes a new area of focus
The Rotary Foundation Trustees and RI Board of Directors have added a new area of focus: supporting the environment.

Watch: Italian clubs aim to protect hospital workers responding to COVID-19
Rotary clubs in districts across Italy worked together to procure state-of-the-art equipment needed to combat the deadly coronavirus disease for 26 hospitals around the country.

Meeting update:

It is unlikely we will be able to meet in person for a few weeks yet. Please take the opportunity to embrace technology because you have to not because you want to!

We are People of Action, so let's get on doing as much as we can while we can.

President

David Button

Treasurer

Gary Castricum

Secretary

Sam McCurdy

Rotary Foundation Chair

Mark Caulfield

International Service Director

Mark Caulfield

Vice President

Isobel Caulfield

Immediate Past President

Isobel Caulfield

Membership Chair

Di Scheepers

Public Image Chair

Sam McCurdy

Ex Officio Officer

Laury Gordyn

Youth and New Ideas

Tim Moore

Ex Officio Officer

Jack Kraan

Avenues of Service Chair

Adrian Froggatt

Fundraising Chair

Pete Batterham

Club Protection Officer

Graham Johnstone

On to Conference

Isobel Caulfield

Sergeant-at-Arms

Funno Funston

2020 Virtual Changeover

The Rotary Club of Berwick held its 59^th annual Changeover meeting on Wednesday 1^st July via Zoom.

Acting within the current COVID-19 constraints, a small ceremonial group of six gathered at the home of the outgoing President Isobel Caulfield, while approximately 50 guests participated in the meeting via Zoom. The ceremonial group included Isobel’s husband, Past President Mark, incoming President David Button and his wife Judy and MC Sam McCurdy with his wife Pat.

Isobel and Mark Caulfield, Sam McCurdy, Judy and President David Button

Among those participating were five Past District Governors and three former Exchange Students speaking online from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.

A significant participant in the event was 96-year old Betty Funston, who has missed only three of the 59 Changeovers since 1961. She placed the Sergeant-at Arms Chain of Office on her son, Adrian Funston (Funno), marking his second year in the role.

While acknowledging the constraints placed on the club’s activities over recent months due to COVID-19, Isobel highlighted the many achievements including the successful Carols by Candlelight and Australia Day events, as well as the support that had been provided to bushfire victims in East Gippsland. She also mentioned the successful Global Grants raised to purchase ventilators to help patients recover from life-threatening COVID-9 infection within Rotary District 7475 in New Jersey, USA.

Isobel’s year will be particularly memorable for the adaptability shown by the club members in embracing technologies, such as Zoom, to enable meetings to continue to be held within the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Isobel finished by thanking her Board members for their invaluable contribution.

David received the 'Chain of Office'

David received the 'Reins of Office'

David Button was inducted as President of the club by Rotary District 9820’s Immediate Past District Governor, Adrian Froggatt, all the way from Loch Sport in Central Gippsland via Zoom.

In his acceptance speech, David emphasised the need to for each member to become a leader in making this next year a success. Rotary needs to be more flexible and attractive to new members by forging new projects and increasing the community’s awareness of the many activities of the Club. He then introduced his new Board members and their important role in achieving these goals.

Centenary of Rotary in Australia Baton Launch

To celebrate the launch of the R100 Baton Relay, you are invited to join us via Zoom from Government House, Canberra in the presence of Governor-General and Mrs Hurley.

Rotary’s Centenary is a time of celebration. It is a time to reflect on our past, and take pride in all that has been achieved.

Click here to register your attendance.

Once registered you will receive a link to Zoom prior to the event.

We look forward to you joining in and making your mark on history!

COVID time is planning time

by David Button

In my line of work as a plantsman, winter is the quiet time when all the planning for the year ahead is done. Planning is vital for a successful year and also a good time to assess where you are in relation to competitors and where you didn't perform to expectations.

For Rotarians across the world, the current Coronavirus pandemic has brought about a perfect opportunity to plan for when we are able to get back to a more normal routine. Who knows how long it will take to get back to doing what we love best, but without a solid well thought out plan, we will not be bouncing out the gate to seize the opportunities before us when the time comes.

Club Rules: Getting our house in order

Meeting 8th July 2020: PDG Tim Moore

As many of you would know the RC of Berwick is an incorporated body and we have obligations, one of which is to have our Club rules (Constitution) registered with the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Whilst there is a set of model rules any organisation can use, in our case our club is constituted by an agreement with Rotary International as to how we are formed and managed.

Our last set of registered rules are from 2014 and since then Rotary has modified their constitution after consultation with all

districts in the world – in 2016 and 2019 at the Councils on Legislation.

Solicitor David Whiting in D9800, a Rotarian and frequent ABC 774 radio presenter has kindly provided a set of rules that all Rotary clubs in Victoria (slightly modified in NSW) can use that meet the requirements of Victorian Law plus correspond and are consistent with Rotary International club constitutional changes plus good governance. These include past updates to Rotary attendance requirements, more flexible club setup (such as Satellite Clubs) and new membership types.

Not only is this great news, but it would normally cost around $500 if we took legal advice to form our own. A win-win for all clubs. Why wouldn’t we use them?

David has also provided us with an updated set of recommended and ‘Australianised’ By-Laws that are consistent with the recommended ones of Rotary International too, particularly in regard to more information on membership types, processes, mediation and funding and accounts. By-Laws do not

have to be registered but help the Club Board and members to know about important ongoing matters and processes of the club. We have some past By-Laws, particularly in regard to large project management, that we will update and recommend for inclusion.

Myself and Adrian Froggatt will take these to the board in due course. The board will then review and make a recommendation to members to be considered at a Special Meeting or the Club AGM. We will provide a copy of these to all members in due course.

Tim Moore

In the beginning there was.....

by David Button

I have been in Rotary for 15 years. I joined through the coercion of my then neighbour Mark Caulfield and Isobel to do something different other than working. I didn't feel a quick connection to anyone in the Club at the time but that all changed when PP Laury Gordyn declared that a 4WD trip was being planned and asked would any members like to be involved.

I had always wanted to go 4WDriving, so I signed up not knowing what to expect. That first trip was when I finally made a connection to the Club. The Desert Dueller crew know who they are. It is thanks to them, some cold desert air, plenty of fireside banter and red wine that I am still a Rotarian.

One of the things I learnt on my first outing with Rotarians on that desert trip is planning. First up was to have enough supplies and equipment to last in the desert for 10 days. Once we were travelling, each day, we had a starting point and a destination. But each day we also had a new leader and a new navigator. We would head off on whatever route the new leader would take us. Sometimes we ended up in some strange places, but every day was an adventure.

This Rotary year, we have a starting point, which is now and a destination in 354 days. A clue to our destination is in the Presidents Plan, a strong, healthy, well trained and vibrant club. How we get to our destination is entirely up to each of us. I am sure I will take the back roads and make a few wrong turns, but that is all part of the adventure, right?

An important part of any journey is stopping along the way to reflect on our progress, relax and plan our next steps. We must choose a path for the next leg and be prepared for an adventure into the unknown. As long as we get to our destination by beer o'clock, everything will be ok.

Every member needs to be prepared to be a leader for at least some part of our journey, whether it be as a committee chair or a committee member. We are not taking a sightseeing tour, we are taking a Rotary adventure to test the limits of our commitment to our community.

Then we will all play a meaningful part to a successful year.

Surveys: Why getting the right information matters

We all love surveys don't we, not. Even if we hate them, surveys form an important part of developing new and creative directions that a company or club can take to being more in tune with their customers or members. An open group discussion on a topic cannot deliver a representative result as it is usually dominated by a minority and not the majority.

Our Club has several major hurdles to climb over in the coming months which the board will have to deal with. Surveys offer the perfect delivery of information from people who are willing to offer their input. Do our club a favour and contribute to our Meeting Survey by clicking the link below.

Take me to the Meeting Survey!

Do you want to see what a great group of people we have? Click HERE for this weeks slideshow.

Thank you to our sponsors.