At this time each year, 35,000 Rotary Clubs around the World hold a Changeover Dinner/Ceremony, bringing new leadership, new ideas, a new theme and renewed energy to each Club. This changeover of leadership occurs throughout Rotary - at International, District and Club level.
Rotary’s new International President is Mark Daniel Maloney, a lawyer from Alabama USA. Mark replaces from Barry Rassin. Mark’s theme for 2019/20 is ‘Rotary Connects the World’. He said ‘Rotary allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways, across our differences. It connects us to people we would never otherwise have met, who are more like us than we ever could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help.’ Darryl Iseppi from the Rotary Club of New Farm, is our District Governor for 2019/20. He takes over from Wendy Protheroe. Darryl wants to implement Mark Maloney’s vision of building a stronger Rotary and to grow our membership.
For the year ahead as we focus on ‘How Rotary Connects the World’, Darryl said his goal is to ‘ensure that we promote the great work of Rotary to a wider audience’. He feels ‘we need to enhance the opportunities for members of the public to be formal ‘Friends of Rotary’ if membership is not an option. Local and International projects are to be maintained. (And) we need to celebrate our 75 year partnership with the United Nations (UN) and Our Internationality. To do this there will be a major celebration in Brisbane on 13-15 March 2020. Rotary currently holds the highest consultative status that the UN offers to non-governmental organisations. Our Club will be sending a team from Bribie Island State High to Canberra to compete in the National Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) in 2019, and again in 2020. MUNA is a Rotary project designed to create an awareness of the role of the UN in mediating international issues.
Bribie Club President for 2019-2020 is Jeff Eustace, taking over from John Oxenford. Jeff is keen to carry on our involvement with the three Island schools. Our members will work with the newly established Interact Club at Bribie Island State High School (BISHS) and continue to work with our EarlyAct Club at Bribie Island State School. We will continue to pay for hearing tests at Banksia Beach State School and continue our Community Link Program at the two primary schools.
As well as MUNA, we will pay for students from BISHS to attend the National Youth Science Forum and the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment. In partnership with the Rotary Club of Caboolture our first Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Program for BISHS students will take place on 20 August. We have provided financial assistance and mosquito nets for the BISHS team going to Cambodia in September. Also we have engaged the services of ‘Coding Kids’ who will provide a series of professional development workshops for staff responsible for the delivery of the 2019 Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) Program at BISHS.
We will continue with our “Make a Difference Plant a Tree Project” with another planting day on Friday 26 July. On this day we will be planting native coastal vegetation along Woorim Foreshore to restore habitat and improve dune stabilisation. Please contact me on phone: 3408 7779 or email: annematthews49@icloud.com if you want to be involved.
I wish our three new leaders a successful 2019/2020 Rotary year, and thank our three outgoing leaders, for their commitment and leadership. As T.S. Eliot once said ‘For last year's words belong to last year's language, And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.’
