President’s Report 2005

I have great pleasure in presenting the 13th Annual Report for the Rotary Club of Diamond Creek.

I am very proud to have been your President for this year.

The 100th year of Rotary, and to have had the opportunity to celebrate Rotary with you all, and also to have the privilege to represent you all at the International Conference in Chicago.

We have achieved so much this year.

Our Centenary Projects:-

Naming of the Rotary Park in Diamond Creek and commencement of Construction of the Double BBQ and Shelter for which we have been recognised by Rotary International.

Our second Centenary Project combined with the Rotary Club of Preston to build the Bone Marrow Charity House is well on the way. This Project will be completed in President John Gatt's year.

The great night we had at the launch of the BMDI Charity House Project raising the profile of Rotary and raising over $12,000 for the Bone Marrow Donor Institute.

The Chartering of the St Helena Interact Club.

Our Matching Grant Project for building the Water Well in Rabaul.

Our contribution for the special Wheel Chair in Brazil.

Our Hosting of Rotary Exchange Student Jane Lindley from Overland Missouri, and our outgoing Student

Angus Mc Larren to Mexico.

The sponsoring of 2 RYLArians.

Our ongoing commitment to the Community running the Diamond Creek Town Fair.

We participated in the Centenary March through Melbourne on 12th February and we got great coverage including TV interviews

Our induction of 3 new Members, Kate Arthur, Matthew Swan and Sue Schreiber.

The great Social functions:-

Christmas in July at Walhalla.

Our Boat Trip on the Yarra.

Our Progressive Dinner.

Presidents Golf Day to be held on the 3rd June

The excellent Guest Speakers at our Club Meetings.

None of these activities would have been possible if it was not for the hard work and dedication of our members.

I would like to recognise the Board of Directors and Chairman of New Generations.

Secretary: PP.Steve Sampson

Treasurer: Stephen Howard

Sargent at Arms: John Arthur

Immediate Past President: PP. Joe DiNatale

President Elect: )

Club Service Chairman: ) John Gatt

Vocation: PP.Rod Draper

Community Service: Clyde Hulme

International Service: Linda Gidlund

New Generations Chair: Stuart Lord

I would also like to recognise the following Rotarians:-

Foundation Chairman. PDG. Brian Bowen

Membership Chairman. Geoff Farmer

PR Person & Family of Rotary. PP. Bev Baker.

On to Conference Chair. PP. Cliff Wearne.

Major Functions Co-Ordinator. PP. Ern Wardell

Attendance & Webmaster. PP. Robin Chapple.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being President of our great club in the Centenary Year of Rotary, and I thank all Rotarians for their support during my year.

I wish incoming President John and his team all the best for a very successful incoming year.

Yours in Rotary.

President Geoff.

Club Service

Sergeant at Arms

By the way John Arthur approached the Sergeant at arm job he must have thought he was still in the army. Any minor indiscretion by a Rotarian was pounced on with glee and any arguments only meant further fines. John continues to bring innovations to the section making sure we all gave up our money with a smile. Congratulations on a great effort.

Membership

Unfortunately we lost numbers this year. There were a few inactive Rotarians that eventually left for various reasons. Due to changing circumstance some of these departed Rotarian may be rejoining. The good points in the three new Rotarians that joined during this year were their age and gender. Two are in their twenties and two are female.

Program & Bulletin

In addition to his Sergeant roll, John Arthur had a very busy year as program and Bulletin editor. As with his sergeants dues he went about his duties with the program and Bulletin with military efficiency. A very good range of guest speakers and topics were arranged.

Public Relations.

A special thank you must go to Bev Baker for the high profile Diamond Creek has in our district. This is due to her efforts in reporting our clubs functions to RDU. There haven’t been many issues of RDU without one or two mentions of Diamond Creek. Please keep the great work going in my year Bev and I hope your success with RDU will follow through to our local newspapers.

Treasurer

Thanks go to Stephen Howard for his work over the past two years with the clubs finances. Recently work pressures have prevented Stephen from continuing this work and Clyde Hulme has stepped into the job. Stephen is continuing with finalizing last years accounts.

Secretary

Steve Sampson continued his great work in the very demanding role of secretary which he pasted onto our new Secretary Rod Mackenzie in March due to Steve overseas trip.

Summary

Rotary’s 100th year has seen our Club continue to server our local and international communities. Special thanks must go to our President Geoff and Glenda for their continuing commitment. Their enthusiasm with regard to the friendship exchange program saw many of us enjoying the company of a group of Rotarians from Colorado late last Rotary year. This I’m sure will continue as Rotary friends from Brazil where Geoff and Glenda visited last year will hopefully be visiting soon.

One of the projects started during Geoff year is the BMDI charity house which will be our Clubs largest project to date. Geoff and his company are a vital component to the success for this very substantial program.

John Gatt

Community Service

This has been a very successful year for the community service committee. We have completed the BBQ and rotunda at Hurstbridge, and will be commencing the BBQ and rotunda project in the Rotary Park in Diamond Creek. We expect this to be completed by July.

We were invited again to help with car parking at Lovegroves Winery again this year, and it was a fun day for those who attended. We managed to raise money for the Tsunami appeal as well.

The 2004 Town Fair was a great success again, despite the adverse weather and was a credit to the Club. Planning for this year's Town Fair is well under way and the event will no doubt be as successful as previous years.

The biggest project the committee is currently undertaking is the BMDI House in Doreen. The home is currently at frame stage and we expect the roof to be completed within 2 weeks. With an auction date set for mid October, this project is a great example of what Rotary can achieve.

I would like to thank all my fellow Committee members for their hard work and commitment throughout what has been a busy year.

Clyde Hulme

VOCATIONAL SERVICE:

Vocational Service is that part of Rotary that seeks to apply the ideals of service in the pursuit of all vocations. To this end, Rotarians adhere to and promote the highest ethical standards in all occupations as they relate to employers, their competitors, their employees and the public. Rotarians represent their own club to their vocation, and their vocation to their club.

In this Rotary year, many of the activities normally associated with Vocational Service have been allocated to the New Generations Committee as recommended by the District Governor of the day. The two main projects undertaken by our Vocational Service committee this year have been the Shine On Award and the Pride in Workmanship Award.

Shine On Awards for this club come under the banner of a multi-District cooperative effort by all five Southern Districts working together, to recognise outstanding community service by people with disabilities. As a club, we recommended Sharon Lacey for the Award and she received a Certificate of Commendation from the Awards Committee at Yarraville on 17th April. Sharon is legally blind but despite this difficulty, set up, and still runs after 17 years, the Diamond Valley Squares square dancing group, which not only serves the needs of its own members but which is also well known for taking sessions in a range of schools, nursing homes and other aged care facilities throughout our area.

The Pride of Workmanship Award is given in recognition of those people within either the workforce, or the arena of community service who stand out among their peers as those giving excellent effort or performance. At the time of writing, this years Awards from the club have not been given but are scheduled for completion in June.

Rod Draper

International Service

– the fourth Avenue of Service

“the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service”

Our plans for each of the International Service categories and the results:

World Community Service

Donations in Kind – We requested a site visit to the DIK warehouse to encourage volunteers from our club to participate on a regular basis. For a variety of reasons including miscommunication, this site visit did not happen.

Special International Observances and Events

We planned special activities, speakers or information sessions at the club to celebrate the following dates

World Understanding and Peace Day - 23rd February

World Understanding Month (February)

Rotary Foundation Month (November)

Our combined meeting on the evening of 23 February 2005 provided a great celebration. Without realising it, John Arthur supported the other events by providing us with information in the club bulletin.

International Educational and Cultural Exchange Activities

The Rotary Foundation

Nominated a Paul Harris Fellow and make presentation on the 100th Anniversary of Rotary. This suggestion relocated in the calendar to the Changeover night.

Continued to raise funds by donations to the Silver Cup and Sargent’s fines along with the Football Tipping and Melbourne Cup Quinella. Ern Wardell plans to continue the Football Tipping and Quinella activities and donate them to The Rotary Foundation.

Used the funds raised to support another matching grant possibly with a club from another country as per the RI Celebration of Rotary, see PE Glenn Estess’ plans. A Matching Grant is underway for another well. Provided information to educate new members.

Group Study Exchange

Nominated a team leader and team members for Group Study Exchange. Contact Tina Talarico, Primary School teacher as she was interested in applying again. We sought other nominations. Tina was not able to participate. We sought and did not find a Team Leader from the club.

International Meetings

International Convention – Chicago 2005, promote attendance. Geoff and Glenda Swan and Linda Gidlund will attend.

Centennial Twin Club Program

Considered participating in the Centennial Twin Club Program (1 of the following items): two clubs from different countries; agreed to complete a special program; International Service project; Youth Exchange or Friendship Exchange. The club will provide another well.

Recreational and Vocational Fellowships

Encouraged and educated club members regarding the choices available. Invited a guest speaker: more than 75 fellowships worldwide; Rotarians sharing their favourite activities and professional interests; develop new friendships and to advance opportunities for service. Robin Chapple does this for us (again without realising it) by passing on information to our e-mail group from the Rotarians On The Internet (ROTI) group, as it brings the international aspect of the organisation to our club. Thank you Robin.

CLUB

Continued to recognise the international nature of Rotary. We toast another club each week. The club selected usually meets on Tuesday and from any of the 201 countries where Rotary exists or somewhere in Australia.

Thank you club members for enjoying and participating in the Sargent’s fine sessions, giving generously to the Silver Pot and the enthusiastic support of Footy Tipping and Melbourne Cup Quinella. Thank you to Ern Wardell for continuing his passion for The Rotary Foundation!

Linda Gidlund

The Rotary Foundation

Two important TRF activities were achieved during this current

Rotary Year:

Participation in a Matching grant

Donations to TRF Annual Giving

Matching Grant 54115 Rotary Club of Rabual 9 Water Wells

Participant Rotary Clubs: Kenmore, Aspley, Brisbane North and Diamond Creek

Value AUS $12,000.00 +TRF Grant of $6,000,00 Total $18,000.00

TRF Approval October 2004

Completion. Expected End of May 2005

Our contribution of $1,500.00 to the matching Grant 54115 has been credited to our TRF account, RI Parramatta by the Rotary Club of Kenmore.

Donations to the Rotary Foundation

April 005 Aus$ 1,437.50

Carryover from2003/04 Aus$ 2,305.00

Matching Grant Credit Aus$ 1,500.00

Total Current Credit US$ 4,480.00

These donations have been the result of voluntary giving each week by our members and visitors through the Silver Cup, Sergeant-at-arms fines endeavours by John Arthur, the football tipping competition and the Melbourne Cup Quinella organised and run by PP Ern Wardell.

It has been a pleasure to have been a member of the International Team under the leadership of Linda Gidlund.

Brian Bowen.

TRF Coordinator