In the lead up to the new financial year, I am getting a fair amount of practice with the duties of the President of the Club. President Peter and Bernie are travelling up north and enjoying the warm weather on Magnetic Island.
It was a very important meeting last Friday where an open forum discussion was led by Bob Selinger on the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We had the privilege of having Mina Howard, District Governor-Elect, present at the meeting. We also had Nic Witton attending who is an active member of the Jews for Social Action, a volunteer social justice group which works closely with the Indigenous community. A number of Rotary clubs in district 9685 have already come out in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart with statements on newsletters, Facebook and the like. Many clubs have introduced acknowledgement of country as part of their meeting procedures. The forum canvassed views from participants with view to encouraging Rotary Clubs to support the three key elements of the statement: Voice, Treaty, Truth. It was wholeheartedly supported by the members of our club present at the meeting.
At the Board Meeting on 31 May, the final disbursements were agreed by the Board. We are very fortunate to have had successful fundraising with the Carols 2021 and the North Ryde eFun Run 2022 enabling us to support very important causes as well as our community. The Board also decided to retain the current club meeting format for the period from July to December 2022. The current format is that we have two Club Meetings per month, with a Guest Speaker if possible, via Zoom. We have one Club Assembly per month at Dunmore Lang College as a Face to Face and Zoom breakfast meeting.
As you know, our Club has been regularly doing the BBQs at Bunnings store at Gladesville. The fifth one for this Rotary year was held on 4 June 2022. It was a very busy day and the Club raised funds close to $1,700 which is a very good result for our club. A big thank you to all the volunteers on the day. Our next Bunnings BBQ is on 27 August. The club has decided that the money we raise from that day is going to be donated to the Riding for the Disabled (RDA) at Marsfield. We are hoping to have volunteers from RDA join us on that day.
The planning for ‘Christmas Carols on the Common’ event in December 2022 as a joint event with the Rotary Club of Macquarie Park commenced with a meeting this week. Victoria has put a huge amount of thought and structure in preparing the project documents which helped immensely with the initial planning session. We have had some members nominate already; we need a full club effort to make the event a great success.
The Changeover Dinner will be held on Friday, 24 June 2022 at North Ryde RSL and we are looking forward to a wonderful night of celebration and recognition, as well as welcoming new members of the Club. A reminder to advise me as soon as possible (if you haven’t already) of your attendance, plus your family and friends (including any dietary requirements) as we will be finalizing the numbers and advising RSL Club shortly.
The District Changeover is being held on 2 July at the Hornsby RSL. It is a time to celebrate the achievements of Clubs this year, meet your fellow Rotarians from across District 9685 and to enter the new Rotary year with optimism. If you would like to attend, please register soon as the event is filling up fast.
I thank everyone in the Club for their commitment and energy and look forward to meeting you in person at the Changeover Dinner.
Sandeep Rathi
Rotary Club of North Ryde
President Elect 2021-2022
Rotary District 9685
Email: sandeeprathi.au@gmail.com
Mobile: 0481 008 303
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