Message from the Co-Presidents Week 9 February 2026

 

Notes from the President 

Last Monday we had our first Rotary meeting for this year at the Canterbury Neighbourhood Centre. It was nice to see so many members back ready to have a great but also a productive year.

John Wolmesley chaired the meeting and told us about his wife’s nephew who has just moved to Birregurra in Western Victoria, only to have to deal with the raging fires in that part of the country. He has joined the CFA and John portrayed some of the frightening situations that he has experienced recently although fortunately he has not lost his home. Johns words were a reminder of the horrors that much of Victoria has been and is still experiencing. Several emails have been sent out by the Rotary community in detailing help that may be required in the form of financial aid, goods or physical effort. Please read those emails before attempting to contribute because it is important that the communities receive what they need  rather than what we think they need. 

I will add that Nora is up at Tallangatta , with this being an area that has been heavily hit by the fires as well, and she  has been involved in providing help to to the local people whose lives have been affected and it will be interesting to hear her perspective as well.

We did not have a speaker this week because I wanted to address the club about my plans for the coming year. We have a well motivated, active club but I wanted to stress the need for keeping all members active and busy with either social or community activities , and especially engaging our 10 new members. Interested parties join Rotary to be busy and involved and although we have some great projects there is certainly there are many more that we could be involved with.

There is a chart included in this summary which lists the projects that we are involved in or have the possibility of involvement. We need member participation to be able to continue our projects but also develop different projects within the club . Hopefully the newly discussed committee structure will enable this to happen, without the burden being carried by too few members. I also discussed  the need to have committee members able to provide backup support when required.There is some work to be done and this will be discussed at the board level next week.

On a lighter note I was able to congratulate Benji on the expected arrival of a new little son in July this year. Hunter will have a little baby brother. On an even lighter note I will be announcing those who have had a birthday in the week before our meeting and this happy member will receive a free raffle ticket and hopefully win the prize.

Lastly, I I listed the Rotary and social events coming up in the next couple of months and hopefully members of our club will participate. These events will be listed in the bulletin weekly. Elizabeth Shephard also spoke at length about the benefits of attending the Rotary multi District conference which is to be held in Horsham in late March. It would be nice to see some members of our club attending but I need stress that it is necessary to be proactive because there is certainly limited accommodation around Horsham

Once again, thanks for attending the meeting and hopefully it will be a year where by members of the club are able to actively participate and feel wanted.
 

Jillian Woinarski