We had a wonderful social night, shared with the Rotary Club of Ryde, at the North Ryde RSL Club on Friday 30 May to celebrate our Youth Exchange student, Mei Yamamoto’s, 17 birthday. Rob Wilkinson organised with the club to set aside an area in the Green Bar of the club, which has a piano, for us to share a meal and be entertained by Mei playing the piano for us. Thank you to Bernie Mason, from our club, and Julie Thorp, from the Ryde club, for organising a birthday cake and presents for Mei. After most of the people had departed, we were continued to be entertained by Phillip Ward and Rob Wilkinson on the piano, together and individually.
At our Board Meeting on Friday 30 May the Board determined the allocation of funds raised for this Rotary year. The Board also agreed to participate in a District Global Grant Application for a project to supply solar powered water pumps in India. My thanks to Bob Selinger for driving this initiative for our club.The Board also agreed to donate to the District 9660 Disaster Fund to support people affected by the recent floods in northern NSW and QLD. More detailed information about the financial report for this year along with reports from all Areas of Service Directors will be in the Annual Report which will be available at the Annual Celebration Dinner and will be uploaded to the club website.
We were joined at our Zoom club Meeting on Friday 6 June by District 9685 Governor Elect Michele Ellery. Michele had contacted the club previously when she was the District Governor Nominee for 2026-27 to ask if she could attend one of our meetings. After arranging the meeting for the 6 June Michele’s role had been brought forward 12 months.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that we have a new member, Nick Martorana, joining our club. I have known Nick for many years, and he is going to be a wonderful asset for our club. Nick will be inducted to our club and to Rotary at the Annual Celebration Dinner. Welcome Nick!
Unfortunately, we will be losing three members from the club for this coming year. Makram (Mak) Khalil, who joined our club on 1 April 1986 has decided to have a well-earned rest due to some health issues. I would like to thank Mak on behalf of the club for everything that he has done for Rotary and, in particular, for our club over his 39 years as an active member of Rotary!
The other members who are leaving at the end of this Rotary year are Queenie Seto, who joined our club in Nov 2022, and Ruth Gosbell, who joined in Aug 2023. Both Queenie and Ruth have been wonderful volunteers at our Carols on the Common in 2023, our Bunnings BBQs and other club fundraising events. Mak, Queenie and Ruth will continue to receive the bulletin and information from the club and are most welcome to join us at any time. We will miss you!
I look forward to seeing all our guests at the Annual Celebration dinner on Friday 27 June. This is a great opportunity to celebrate all the achievements of our club over the past year in supporting our community both locally, nationally and internationally. It is also an opportunity to thank the members and supporters of the club for all their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm for the projects, events and fundraising activities of the Rotary Club of North Ryde. Thank you to everyone who has already replied to the invitation. If you are intending to come and have not yet replied please do so as soon as possible as we need to confirm numbers with North Ryde RSL.
Club Secretary, Pam Wood will be sending out an online member satisfaction survey to all members very soon. Please take the time to complete the survey and submit it electronically. The information from the survey will help president Elect Mandy Van and the new Board to develop the plan for our club for 2025-26.
