Bulletin report by Rob Gurney
President Elect Kaj Nieukerke opened the meeting at 7.00pm
Invocation: Ewin Stewart Standby: Maybe Sec Tom
Welcome: President Elect Kaj welcomed the small band of members present, acknowledging the recent passing of past Rotarianne Mrs Judy Paterson, wife of longstanding retired Rotarian Don Paterson, noting the funeral will be held at 2pm Friday 2nd June at the Esperance Uniting Church, Windich Street Esperance.
Raffle Winner: Bob Boord (wine)
President-Elect’s Report:Kaj Nieukerke
New Year’s Eve Fireworks- following the presentation to Council recently, it appears there will be no further approvals for Fireworks on New Years Eve, with the Councillors preferred option being to pursue a "Drone "display (at considerably more cost judging on a preliminary quote.) Our incoming Board will now have some serious thinking to do on our Club's involvement in the future direction of the event.
Appreciation- expressed thanks to Secretary Tom for chairing last weeks meeting at short notice, due to a bout of flu.
Club Forward Plans- will be presented following Directors Reports to get feedback from members.
Directors Reports
Secretary Tom Campbell
Director’s Annual Reports – These are all on hand awaiting the financials from our Auditors, for collation into the final report.
Treasurer- Brian Colliver
Annual Audit- reported the audit is nearing completion
Incoming Treasurer- Corrina has been working with Brian and appears to be grasping the duties of the job and the accounting system with ease, given her previous business experience.
Club Service- President Elect Kaj
Upcoming Meeting Venues- Advised there will b some disruption to meetings in early July due to our regular chef at the Golf Club taking holidays. Proposed to cover this with extra shed meeting and probably utilising the Pier if available. Members should also note the 19th June meeting with the DG will be at the Pier Hotel, not as previously advised
From the Floor
Neil McCallum- drew members attention to the lack of ventilation in our shed toilet cubicles due to the alterations required for the new firewall. There is also apparently a leak in the ceiling resulting from same alterations. Kaj to discuss with President Rod upon his return, to take up with the project contractor.
John Bridges- Queried who might be handling the Membership Portfolio, given the current Director Wes Graham has taken extended Leave of Absence. Also suggested greater attention be given to identifying projects which our Club is associated with to provide greater exposure of the Club and Rotary brand.
Sargeant’s Session - Tom Campbell (Acting Sargeant’s Assist – J Gray
Sgt Tom found sufficient cause and creativity to fine all in attendance, in some cases grasping at some very short straws to capture the unwary and relieve them of their cash
Buy the Box –
FIne of the Day- John Gray as Acting Attendance Officer for presiding over one of the lowest meeting attendances for many a year (13)
Planning Proposals for 2023/4 and Beyond - a presentation by President Elect Kaj for consideration/comment by members
Rotary Club of Esperance – Planning for 2023/24 and beyond
Introduction
There have been a couple of ‘coffee’ meetings attended by Rod T, Steve, Tom, Corrina and myself. From this a framework for a club plan has been established. It has been reviewed with the incoming board. This is an opportunity for members to express their views.
Goals
It seems appropriate to list goals for the club under two headings: Organisational Goals and Community Goals.
Organisational Goals
- Membership
We need to recognise that our club is aging, and younger hands are needed to continue the good work. We have taken steps to reduce the membership costs. However, the costs of regular attendance at the Monday meetings still forms a substantial barrier for the 40-year-olds that pay a mortgage, raise kids, etc.
Option – use the Rotary Friends avenue to tap in on the skills of people willing to contribute to our projects & events, leaving open to join Rotary in some form at a later stage.
Board member view
- Actively seek new members with a club target of 35
- Start a section of Friends of RCE
- Consider corporate members, including the Shire
- Mentoring
We must formally embrace new club members. They need coaching in the way the club operates. At the same time the club needs to learn how they can best start contributing. A club member (board member?) should be assigned to each newly installed member as a mentor..
Board member view
- Formally adopt the mentoring process
- Asset Optimisation
The club has valuable assets – fish van, drive simulator, merry-go-round, drink van, marquee. We need to maximise ‘return’ of these resources. There has to be an understanding how often they are being used, the club resources required to operate, the benefits gained through them (whether financial, publicity, contribution to the community).
Board member view
- A target is not helpful, but monitoring use give better understanding
- Fund Raising
One of the main purposes of the club is giving back to the community. We should identify the key programs our club wants to focus on. Once that is established we can determine the necessary resources (whether financial, man power, other) and gear ourselves to make these available.
Board member view
- A target is not helpful, but look at project based income
- Community Goals
- Focus
We should establish key focal areas for our support. We need to identify the main issues that are in line with Rotary International but also are critical in our community – such as mental health, child education. Once we establish these, we need to determine how we should best contribute (financially, actively, etc.)
Board member view (in line with Rotary International)
- Mental Health
- Child Education/schools
- Left the Lid
- Inclusion
The club only recently agreed to accept female members. We should explore opportunities to reach out to the Aboriginal community. We should look for their cooperation in club events – the AG show, New Year’s eve come to mind
Board member view
- Continue our current efforts
- Events
Contributions to major events have focussed around entertainment (stalls) and fund raising (fish van). We should consider expanding the number of events (currently Australia Day, New Year’s Eve, Ag Show, Mothers’ Day…).
Board member view
- Consider involvement with Mountain Bikes
- Increase the number of social functions
Projects
Following on from the above we should review possibilities of initiating activities similar to the Nulsen Bike project.PETS training has highlighted some worthy, small scale projects:-
* pregnancy assistance kits (knee braces, pregnancy bra’s,..)
* starter kits for school (pens, eraser, pencil case)
* year 12 kid tutoring
* transition primary to high school (uniform, laptop)
- Income
We should review the options to raise income from various sources.
Board member view
Consider sponsor involvement in club functions
Members present provided feedback and comments on the various topics put forward by the incoming Board members who assited formulating the proposal. Any members not present wishing to make any points on topics raised may do so direct to President Elect Kaj, for his information.
Attendance Report – John Gray (Acting)
Members 32 Present 13
- Leave of Absence 10 Apologies 8
- Silent 1
- Percentage 59 %
Attendance Officer requests that callers identify themselves clearly when making an apology on the Rotary phone.
Next meeting’s program: 5th June- NO ROTARY Public Holiday
12th June- Ordinary Meeting at Golf Club
- Invocation: John Gray Sergeant assist: Brett Guthrie
- Guest Speaker Intro: Ewin Stewart Guest Speaker Thanks : Kaj
- Standby: Hugh Mackenzie
President Elect Kaj closed the meeting at 8.20, thanking the Cooks and Mrs Louise Gray for the salads for this evening.
Calendar of UPCOMING EVENTS.
5th June Public Holiday No Rotary
12th June- Ordinary Meeting at Golf Club Speaker TBA
19th June- Partners Night to receive the District Governor etc. at PIER HOTEL
26th June - 2023/24 Changeover Night - Esperance Golf Club. Save the Date!
The Club has a dedicated phone for apologies either by verbal message or SMS text. Please notify by 10am on the day of the meeting. The phone number is 0474 165 997.
Please identify yourself when making an apology by phone.
Log-in and password: as per Rotary email 17/4/14. This may not work
Corrina Rawlinson is available to assist any members who are having difficulty in accessing the Rotary website and ClubRunner. Corrina can also assist with recovering forgotten passwords and log-in details (I think!!)
