Rotary Club of Gawler February 1915 report

After a bit of trouble with the bulletin we are back on track for bringing you the news of what is happening in the club, in the district, and across the world of Rotary.

Our Rotary family has grown once again with PP Steve Barilla and his wife Grace becoming grandparents for the second time in recent months -this time to Son Michael and his wife who surprised them with a granddaughter Natalia. Congratulations to all from the club. 

Our community service started off this year assisting with the Australia Day Breakfast in Apex Park. We had a good turnout of helpers to the event, and it is always wonderful to join other service clubs for a combined event. 

Our guest speakers for February have been a wonderful update from PDG Marie-Louise Lees about her year as DG and what the next year brings with the Regionalisation Pilot project. 

Marie-Louise explained that being the first DG under the project there were many changes both withing her role as DG and the wider Rotary community. She began by explaining that it is a four-year process! Two years leading up; the year of, then the year after. One of her highlights was organising the multi district impact summit which relaced the conference. A change she made was supporting clubs when they needed it her rather than just formal visits. This had a side benefit of being able to return 56% of the allowances to the district which in turn saved the clubs in district dues. 

The pilot has now been extended to 2028 and the election of DG for 2028 has been put on hold.  

Marie -Louise invited anyone in the club to nominate for the Group 7 Community leader. This role was previously held by PP Ian Chase from the Rotary Club of Gawler Light; however, Ian has had to stand down. The other big project Marie-Louise highlighted is the Relocated Playground Project. More volunteers are always welcome into the project. Please contact Marie-Louise for more information. 

The presentation was accompanied by a wonderful collection of photos showing some highlights over the year. The final photo was of her final commitment as DG-the Rotary Club of Gawler’s changeover dinner. 

Our second guest speaker for February was Rob Chamberlain from Apex club of Gawler. 

Rob gave an overview of some of the events the club is involved in from local events such as Carols at Christmas, the Christmas markets and the Australia Day breakfast to wide large annual events like the Packsaddle and Marree gymkhana & motorkhana; and the implementation, upkeep and updating of the Apex parks which are in most towns. Rob shared lots of stories and photos of the events and certainly had people entertained with both successes and otherwise on some trips- flat tyres, loss of a trailer, wild weather among many. 

In a wonderful gesture when presented with his certificate and it was explained that a donation was being made on his behalf to vaccinate children against Polio, Rob handed his winning envelope from the wheel spin and asked it to be donated as well. 

What's coming up? 

Don’t forget if you have ideas for guest speakers or vocational visits don’t keep them to yourself share them with your committee so they can come to board to be prioritised and slipped into the calendar.