DG’s NEWSLETTER DG’s NEWSLETTER DISTRICTDISTRICT 9550 -- SEPTEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014

“Light Up Rotary” September 2014 –

Youth Service Month

2014-15 District 9550 DG Moorthy Karuna

In the last 2 months I visited 30 clubs and travelled more

than 18,000kms. I also visited Aileu Rotaract and Dili Rota-

ract in Timor Leste and Mareeba Interact (September is

Youth Services Month). I gained at least 2kgs in weight and

my fitness level has gone from bad to worse, because I strug-

gled to climb Mount Kootaloo Lookout in Dunk Island

which is only 271m high. During my club visits most mem-

bers were keen to discuss membership opportunity with me

(August was Membership Month). I attended the Member-

ship Webinar which mentioned a few times that having fun

is very important. I participated in Mission Beach Rotary

Cutten Brothers Walking Track Opening Ceremony and

Monster Market, where members were wearing the Rotary

Evolution T-shirt (Are you crazy enough?) and having fun.

Can you imagine what will happen to Rotary if Rotarians are having fun in public?

In addition to attending Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo Ball,

Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo Round Up Meeting, Board Meet-

ings with Mount Isa Rotary and Mount Isa South West Rota-

ry, I participated in Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo Float and

Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo Working Bee (July was Projects

Month). For the first time in Mount Isa Rodeo, there was a

Rotary Promotion Area. I was informed that next year the

Rotary Promotion will be better, brighter and bigger. Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo, which started in 1959 (55 years ago) by Rotarians will be by far the biggest Signature Project in District 9550 and maybe even in Australia.

Since we were unable to get accommodation in Mount Isa,

because of the Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo we stayed with

Friends of Rotary. Friends of Rotary provided discounted

motel accommodation in Tennant Creek and free motel ac-

commodation in Mossman. Tully Rotary provided free ac-

commodation in Tully. In addition, Rotarians in Tennant

Creek, Mossman, Mission Beach and Tully showed me their

Rotary Projects, Devil’s Marble, Mossman George, Tully

Head etc. Most clubs consider the District Governor and As-

sistant Governor as their guests during the official District

Governor’s Club Visits. I am very touched and hum-bled that some Rotarians and clubs go be-yond the call of duty by being generous with their resources (time and money) and made sure that my club visits were very special.

In the Rotarian August 2014 there is an interesting article

“For the past four years, the Bowral-Mittagong Rotary

has staged an annual Dream Cricket festival in Bowral,

the childhood home of cricketer and national sports icon

Don Bradman. Hundreds of children with special needs,

along with Rotarians and community volunteers, partici-

pate in the cricket-related activities. The idea has spread

to clubs and districts all over Australia, India and Sri

Lanka. The project had 5,759 volunteers, 28,061 hours

etc.” An assistant Governor who has been a Rotary mem-

ber for a few years mentioned to me that only 2 years ago

he became a Rotarian and fully understood engagement,

commitment etc. I hope Rotarians will embrace engagement full heartedly. Feedback is the breakfast for champions. Members are

upset that Rotary International changed Rotary Wheel

colour which they were very fond and proud of. Since the

previous Rotary Wheel colour worked, there was no rea-

son to change. If Rotary International made a mistake will Rotary International accept that they made a mistake and take the nec-essary remedial action to rectify the mis-take?

District Administration

Succession Planning is very important and I would like to

thank District Internet Communications Officer (DICO)

John Jennings for carrying out his duties diligently and

handing over all relevant information to the new DICO

Trent Nolan. Please request any change by email to DI-

CO@9550Rotary.org.au During my club visits I men-

tioned attendance is important, but engagement is more

important. Since engagement is very important, we are

trying to capture the information in the district. Please

provide the information to District Engagement/

Attendance Officer John Larkin by email to DistrictAt-

tend@d9550rotary.org.au I also mentioned that training is

very good in our district and clubs should have President

Elects ready to attend Potential Rotary Leadership Semi-

nar (PRLS) / President Elects Preparation Seminar

(PEPS) in November 2014. If any Rotarians who have

completed Master PRLS are able to help, please contact

District Trainer Marcel McLeod by email to District-

Trainer@d9550rotary.org.au

2

One of the great privileges of being

president of Rotary International is

having the chance to visit so many

parts of the Rotary world. Usually I travel to partici-

pate in Rotary events; speak at Rotary clubs, confer-

ences, and institutes; and encourage Rotarians in their

service. But as president, I am responsible for all

branches of the Rotary family. This means that it is

also my privilege to support the service of Rotary's

youngest generations: our Rotaractors, Interactors,

Rotary Youth Exchange students, and Rotary Youth

Leadership Awards participants.

When I see the work Rotarians do, I am always im-

pressed, always excited, and always inspired. When I

see the work of our New Generations, I am all of this –

and frequently I am surprised as well. Not by the quali-

ty of their work – for I have learned to expect great

things from them – but by the creativity and ingenuity

of their thinking. I look at what they have done and

think not just "What a great job!" but "What a great

idea!" Because every generation sees the world in a

unique way, and every individual has a unique point of

view. Faced with the same problems, we arrive at dif-

ferent solutions. This is why, in Rotary, our diversity –

of culture, language, expertise, gender, and age – is our

strength.

In Rotary, we try to take the long view in our service.

We aspire to serve in ways that will make a lasting dif-

ference, that will continue to have an impact after our

participation ends. Our younger generations, in my ex-

perience, share this sentiment, and apply it globally, by

focusing on environmental issues in new and innova-

tive ways. When I became a Rotarian, environmental

issues were barely on our radar. To young people to-

day, these concerns are front and center. Their perspec-

tive is a valuable contribution to the world of Rotary

service, and it is one that we should all encourage and

support. Just as they are learning from us, so should we

be learning from them.

The young people who are serving in Rotaract and In-

teract, and participating in Youth Exchange and RYLA

today, are the Rotarians of tomorrow. When we sup-

port them, we are supporting the future of our entire

organization. We are helping to train the men and

women who will be the club presidents, district gover-

nors, RI directors, and RI presidents of tomorrow.

August 2014

In Rotary, we mark August as Mem-

bership and Extension Month. There is a good reason

why we remind ourselves of the importance of mem-

bership early in every Rotary year: because the job of

growing our membership is one that we can never

begin too soon. It is also a job that we can never stop

working on. In order to keep serving, Rotary always

needs to be growing!

We have talked for many years about the importance

of the family of Rotary. In this Rotary year, I want to

make not just the family of Rotary, but our own Rota-

ry families, a priority in our membership. After 37

years of following me in Rotary, my wife, Corinna,

finally became a Rotarian last year. We attended the

chartering of a new club in Taiwan together, and she

said, "It's time for me to become a Rotarian too!" So

she joined that club. And soon, so did a lot of other

people. Now that club has 102 members, and it's the

second-largest club in Taiwan.

Inviting our spouses into Rotary isn't just about get-

ting our numbers up. It addresses the reality that Rota-

ry still has far more men as members than it does

women, and that is something we need to work on.

When we bring more women into Rotary, our clubs

become more appealing to prospective female mem-

bers – and become more productive as well.

This year we are going to have something new in Ro-

tary: a membership support team pin. This means that

if you invite a new member into Rotary, you get a spe-

cial pin to wear with your Rotary gearwheel. But we

all know that the job of growing membership doesn't

end when a new member joins. It ends only when a

new member is enjoying being a Rotarian and never

wants to leave! And making sure that our clubs are

enjoyable places to be is a key part of growing mem-

bership.

People come into Rotary for all kinds of reasons, but

they stay because Rotary is fun to be a part of. So I

want to remind all of you to have fun in your clubs

and your districts. Rotary is based on the idea that our

service is more effective when we serve together with

our friends. So let's enjoy our Rotary service, share it

with others, and Light Up Rotary together!

Presidential Message GARY C.K. HUANG President 2014-15

3

District Governor’s Message

Presidential Message

Membership Update

Letter from Mossman

District Grants

IN THIS ISSUE

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE:

On the 17th August, myself, PDG Allan

Church, Rotarians Ben Thompson from

Townsville Sunrise Club, Jeanette Stu-

riale and Maree Lopez from Mareeba

Club attended a Discovery Cafe Interac-

tive Workshop at Caboolture dealing

with Membership, Public Image and

Public Relations. The concept of the de-

livery of this program was first class and

it is hoped that this type of presentation

can be delivered for all Rotarians dur-

ing membership training in our District

later this year and also early next year.

The program delivery allowed a number

of brainstorming type sessions where all

participants were encouraged to come up

with ideas on the betterment of member-

ship increase along with improved PR

efforts throughout the District. Positive

comments resulted as a result of this

workshop. Topics included but not lim-

ited to Clarifying our message, Who are

our customers, engaging members, re-

tention through progression, Innovative

methods for Public Image, communi-

cating our values, building our brand,

good ideas that work and building media

relationships.

I look forward to presenting some of

these areas at our future District Train-

ing along with my fellow Membership

Chairs in John Palamountain and Jean-

ette Sturiale with input from Ben and

Maree and not forgetting our PR Chair

Allan Church.

Regards

Tony Goddard

District Membership Chair

4

Rotary Club of Mossman Dear DG Moorthy,

Thank you for your informative official

visit to our Rotary club of Mossman.

I had the pleasure to briefly converse with

you about the importance of the Club Vi-

sion Program.

The following feed back is an extension of

our short conversation about this subject.

Our Club embraced the Club Vision pro-

gram in 2011, a few months before starting

a new Rotary Year. I firmly believe that this

programme revitalised our Club.

We took advantage offered to us by our dis-

trict Club Vision Facilitators PDG Jeff

Crofts, PDG Phil Dempster and DG Nomi-

nee Ian Lomas who professionally man-

aged the session giving each members par-

ticipating in this program a sense of owner-

ship of our Club by being able to opine and

accept the prevailing views.

By the end of the session all members had

a sense of responsibility for the future out-

come of our Club. Our enthusiasm was re-

inforced by a strong membership participa-

tion at the ensuing District Conference

where well chosen speakers excelled in

their aim to motivate the audience.

These experiences emphasized my view

that if a Club and its members choses to

take advantage of the numerous develop-

ment resources offered by the district, such

as: Club Vision, Basic and Master

PEARLS, PETS, PEPS, Assemblies and

Conferences, its objectives will be easier to

achieve.

Thanks again for being with us on Monday

and Tuesday; I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Until next time,

Regards,

PP Theo

5

District Newsletter Editor -

Joe Calvaresi

joe.calvaresi@gmail.com

(Cut off date for publication is the

27th of each month)

District 9550 Grants for 4 years

25 Clubs have received a grant in the last

four years. Due to overwhelming response

for 2014-15 District Grants, do not be dis-

appointed if you do not get the total

amount that you applied or missed out

completely. We are trying to support as

many clubs as possible. A contingency

amount has been set aside for Group

Study Exchange (GSE).

If we do not proceed with Group Study

Exchange (GSE), the amount will be real-

located to clubs.

Rotary Club of Atherton Moorthy, On behalf of our Rotary Club of Atherton committee and members I would like to extend a thank you for attending our meeting tonight. We gained inspiration from you regarding our need to actively work together to gain new members including doing things differently and thinking outside the square. Iam sure that this is will have a positive influence on all members. We wish you all the best for your 2014-2015 leadership role as our District Governor. Regards

Bronwyne Snowdon Secretary

P r o g r a m

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