Posted by Jed Wieland

Last Monday, President Dave Andrews gave us a synopsis of the upcoming year at his “Mini Club Assembly” held at Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre.   The evening was a review of where we were at and then where we would like to be at the end of the next 12 months with Dave noting that we were at a turning point.

Last Monday, President Dave Andrews gave us a synopsis of the upcoming year at his “Mini Club Assembly” held at Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre.   The evening was a review of where we were at and then where we would like to be at the end of the next 12 months with Dave noting that we were at a turning point. Aging and gender diversity were key considerations for the Club this year.

Statistics prepared by Bart Signal highlighted that:

  • The Club has an average age of 67.
  • 85% of our membership is over 60 years old
  • Ladies make up only 12% of the Club
  • 60% of the membership has 20 or more years-service to their credit.

One of the initiatives President Dave is planning is a reduction to 2 Dinner meetings per month.   The proposal would see:

  • First Monday, drinks and nibbles, meeting of committees.
  • Two dinner meetings would follow on the second and third Mondays of the month.

Dave’s intention is to have high calibre speakers at the dinner meetings with the Board also meeting on the third Monday.

The speaker’s programme will be headed up by Nick Loseby again and he is on the lookout for referrals of speakers of interest and relevancy to the Club and the Community. Already he has some excellent speakers lined up including, Ted Van Arkel and Gray Bartlett in July and the Honourable David Carter in August which should be very topical with the election just 10 or 11 weeks away.

A range of media will be promoted to members and Dave emphasised that we need to use our access to Facebook and the like to spread the word around upcoming events as widely as possible and to give as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy these events with us.

Community this year will be headed up by Wayne Griffin with the aim of driving what is important for the Community and what the Club should concentrate on, developing last year’s excellent initiative of working alongside community leaders.

A new portfolio for the Environment will be headed up by Roger Milne who will be working to surpass the aim of RI International to make a difference by each Rotarian planting at least one tree.

International will be headed by Jed Wieland, and activities are already underway with the arrival of Christopher de Blancke arriving from Denmark later this month.

Vocational under Alison Gilbert will include a focus on vocational visits as a highlight.

Peter Taylor takes charge of Ways and Means, watch this space for innovative ideas in the making.

Graham Kearns is advancing Trivia with the aim of filling the Edgewater Hall with 250 people over 25 tables all in support of the Life Education Trust.

Kelvin Davies reported that the 50th Anniversary committee now had funds totalling $25,000 and were targeting $50,000 by 2020.

David finished the meeting talking about membership and the tasks ahead an while he has established a strong membership committee, President Dave emphasised the need for all members to be aware and take advantage of opportunities to grow the Club.