It’s hard to believe that as at the time of writing (1/11) there is less than 8 weeks to Christmas! Time seems to fly by. We must be having fun!
Guest speaker
Our latest guest speaker was George Booth from Fremantle, actively involved in tourism, and a regular visitor to Alexandra and our club. He and Josephine have a holiday home at Clyde and he always makes a point of contacting us when he is over this way. He talked about sustainability and the need for change, both for Rotary and the tourist industry.
The Fremantle club has 25 members, an average age of 70 years and raises $40,000.00 for charity per annum. The club has moved from a lunch meeting to an evening gathering and started a new business mentoring meeting for 25-40 year olds. It seems to have worked well. The younger associate members have volunteered to do some community work and the club constitution was changed to accommodate them. Fremantle has a population of about 30,000.
Our club is exploring ways to grow our membership too. Having different types of “meetings” is one idea. For instance in recent times we have cancelled two usual Tuesday night meetings and had a social “away” night at the Ferris Road Brewery and organised a movie night for the 2nd November. And the Quiz Night on November 13th will be an alternative Tuesday evening too. This is not something new. We have routinely done this before over the years.
I would like to see some sort of different event at least once per month, possibly twice, and would prefer that we organise such events first before we cancel our usual Tuesday meetings rather than the other way around. I realise these different events take some organising, there will need to be some forward planning, and guest speakers too have to be arranged some time in advance. Benn has to be involved as well. It’s something to talk about probably in the New Year now.
Other things.
- The Light Party was a great success. There was quite a crowd in attendance. Rotarians were highly visible in their Hi Viz jackets. Les was a revelation getting sausages out to the customers. Thanks to everyone who helped out.
- Jillian has done a good job too arranging the movie night. Both sessions sold out! Thanks Jillian and everyone else who has helped out or attended.
- Jim Carroll, Stu Beattie and team have done a fine job getting the Armistice Memorial ready for the unveiling on the 9th November. A special thank you to those who braved the rain and cold to pour the concrete.
- Some of us attended a breakfast presentation by Ice In Line when they outlined their plans to develop and improve the facilities at Alexandra to include two new curling lanes. We should hear further about this in the near future. We ought to be able to help in some way.
- Karin is organising tree planting at Roxburgh, Clyde and Alexandra. Information has been sent out.
- Quiz night is Tuesday 13th November. This is one of our biggest fund raisers and always well supported.
That’s all from me.
