Greetings everyone and Happy New Year to you all!! It was a wet Auckland Christmas for me but still lots of fun. One member of our Yuletide group up there received a small drone as a present. It was smashed into a tree before the day was over but should be flying again by now.
Barry Hambleton has sent out a report on the book sale. What a fantastic result! Especially when there was some apprehension as to how it would go after a change of date was forced on us. Congratulations and thanks to Barry, Kevin and Mike Rooney for their leadership of this effort and to everyone else who helped out one way or another. Andrew’s relentless promotion of this event on Facebook helped immensely and overcame any worries that the public wouldn’t get the change of date message. Kevin told me at one stage that he calculated 42 club members had been involved in some way. So well done everyone! It looks like we might stick with the new format in the future. Funny how things work out sometimes.
January 22nd is our first club meeting of the New Year. John Whitaker is our speaker. Richard is finalising arrangements for the Mt Aspiring Tititea Lodge renovation party leaving on January 25th, Ian Mann has been in touch with Jim Carroll looking for help with supervision of the Department of Corrections Saturday work parties (perhaps the Ren Lothian Clutha bank tidy up could be included?), we have the 4 Way Test Speech Competition coming up in March and the Professional Development Exchange with Tasmania in April. So a few things to start off the year!
Rotary International President-elect Mark Daniel Maloney explained his vision for building a stronger Rotary, calling on leaders to expand connections to their communities and to embrace innovative membership models.
RI President-elect Mark Daniel Maloney announces the 2019-20 presidential theme, Rotary Connects the World, to incoming district governors in San Diego, California, USA. See video of his speech.
Maloney, a member of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, USA, unveiled the 2019-20 presidential theme, Rotary Connects the World, to incoming district governors at Rotary’s annual training event, the International Assembly, in San Diego, California, USA, on Monday.
“The first emphasis is to grow Rotary — to grow our service, to grow the impact of our projects, but most importantly, to grow our membership so that we can achieve more,” Maloney said.
Maloney believes that connection is at the heart of the Rotary experience.
“(Rotary) allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways, across our differences,” Maloney said. “It connects us to people we would never otherwise have met, who are more like us than we ever could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help.”
Maloney also called on every Rotary and Rotaract club to identify segments of their community not represented in their club by creating a membership committee with diverse members.
“Through Rotary, we connect to the incredible diversity of humanity on a truly unique footing, forging deep and lasting ties in pursuit of a common goal,” he added. “In this ever more divided world, Rotary connects us all.”
Maloney urged leaders to offer alternative meeting experiences and service opportunities to make it easier for busy professionals and people with many family obligations to serve in leadership roles.
“We need to foster a culture where Rotary does not compete with the family, but rather complements it,” Maloney said. “That means taking real, practical steps to change the existing culture: being realistic in our expectations, considerate in our scheduling, and welcoming of children at Rotary events on every level.”
Maloney said many of the barriers that prevent people from serving as leaders in Rotary are based on expectations that are no longer relevant.
“It is time to adapt, to change our culture, and to convey the message that you can be a great district governor without visiting every club individually, and a great president without doing everything yourself.”
Relationship with the United Nations
During 2019-20, Rotary will host a series of presidential conferences around the world, focusing on Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations and the UN’s sustainable development goals that many Rotary service projects support. More information will be available in July.
In 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its charter and its mission of promoting peace. Rotary was one of 42 organizations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the 1945 San Francisco conference, which led to the UN’s charter. For decades, Rotary has worked alongside the United Nations to address humanitarian issues around the world. Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status that the UN offers to nongovernmental organizations.
“Rotary shares the United Nations’ enduring commitment to a healthier, more peaceful, and more sustainable world,” Maloney said. “And Rotary offers something no other organization can match: an existing infrastructure that allows people from all over the world to connect in a spirit of service and peace and take meaningful action toward that goal.”
My first few months back in Austria were very relaxing, I settled in quite well, travelled a little and meet up with Gordy, Mary and Lotte in Italy. In September school started again, which is kind of stressful this year since I have to catch up on quite a lot, but it is looking good so far. Just before Christmas I was acting in a school play which was a huge success. I will attach some photos of it. I had a really nice Christmas with my family and now school has started again. There is heaps of snow here in Austria at the moment. Not that far from us, all the schools and roads are closed because they have four meter of snow. There is only half a year of school left for me and then I am finished, which I am looking forward to! Its hard so say what my plans for the future are, because the closer I get to actually finishing school the less I know what I want to do… I will probably work for a few months after school, to get my hear clear, maybe I will go to Ireland and work on a Farm, near the coast so I can go surfing, but I am not sure about anything yet. I have been thinking about NZ quite a lot over the Christmas holidays. I like to think about what I did exactly on that a year ago.
I hope you and the other Rotarians are doing well and that you all had a lovely Christmas!
A request for an internship on a winery by the daughter of a German Rotarian. If you are able to assist please contact President Charles for more information.
For the fourth year many people gathered to celebrate Christmas on the "village green" at St Enoch's Church. The event exists because Christmas is for everyone. 140 people some local, many from around the world joined to celebrate Christmas 'kiwi' style. Ham, bbq salads and deserts featured. A big thanks to the club for core funding the event, and to the many people that contributed, special thanks to Mike Rooney, and to Justine Baird and her superstar boys who manned the bbq in the hot sun.
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