Oh lord and giver of all good, we praise thee for our daily food.
May Rotary friends and Rotary ways help us to serve theeall our days.
Quote of the Month
I believe civilisation is like a big building made of thousands and
thousands of bricks. Each of us is a brick supporting the grand structure we call humanity. We will build up Rotary and do everything we can to prepare it to meet the challenges of the next millennium.
Address to 1996 Rotary Convention, Calgary,Alberta Canada.
Bill opened the meeting and apologised for his malfunctioning vocal folds, which he said reminded him “of when I was a choir leader and my voice broke so I was sent back to being an altar boy”.
Bill welcomed Rotarians and Friends, and our District 9510 Governor Jeff Neale and Jenny, and our Area 5 Governor Craig Dowling.
Some sad news however, that Marie Rothe’s mum passed away recently at the age of 99, and our love and thoughts are with Marie and family.
Bill then gave a quick update on what’s been happening in our Club over the past few weeks:
Birthing kits have been ordered, they should arrive in six to eight weeks
Keith Adams is managing our program for 2021-2022; see Keith if you have ideas for speakers or activities.
Last Thursday the Board held our first Strategic Planning meeting; the Strategic Plan should be completed within the next few weeks.
We were asked to source a major prize again for the Rotary Polio Ute Relay raffle. This year the theme is “Fly the Barossa”. Thanks to Craig Rogasch and Geoff Schrapel for your support. We’ve also had commitment to glider and helicopter flights, and total value of the package is over $1800.
Eight Rotarians from our Club are going to the ROMAC lunch on Sunday 29th August.
We have received an invitation to the Kiwanis Club handover on Thursday 16th September; if you wish to represent the Club please see Sandie for contact details.
In Bill’s introduction to our 2021-2022 District Governor Jeff Neale, and Jenny, he mentioned that Jeff became involved in Rotary over 50 years ago, through his parents Shirley and Reg, who is a charter member of the Campbelltown Club. Jeff joined the Rotary Club of Campbelltown in 1990, serving as President in 2007-2008, and achieving three Paul Harris Fellow sapphires along the way.
Jeff is the Dealer Principal of Paradise Mazda, a family business started by Reg in 1956. While Jeff was a Divisional Superintendent of St. John he met his wife Jenny, a Registered Nurse and also a St John Divisional Superintendent. Jeff and Jenny were married in 1984 and retired from St. John to start a family. They have three adult children and recently welcomed a new grandson. Jeff’s other loves are music and trains, with a model railway in progress.
DG Jeff and Jenny have advised their intention to visit all 84 clubs in our District 9510, no mean feat!
In closing the meeting, Bill reminded everyone that the Board will meet next Thursday 26th August, then our next Club meeting will be Thursday 2nd September, with guest speakers from Southern Barossa Alliance.
Dear change-makers, Welcome to the new Rotary year — a year when you will be called upon to Serve to Change Lives and achieve big dreams. Because of your passion for achieving great things, we will grow more and do more.
Our Action Plan, Rotary’s strategic road map, sets our course and strengthens us for the future by focusing on four priorities: increasing our impact, expanding our reach, enhancing participant engagement, and increasing our ability to adapt. This year, I am honored to move these priorities forward by leading with vision and implementing several initiatives that I believe will result in positive growth during 2021-22 and beyond.
Expanding our reach through Each One, Bring One
Rotary is a vibrant organization that has spread to nearly 200 countries and geographical areas and has a rich legacy of fighting to end polio. Don’t you think we could have a greater impact on the world if more people were practicing Service Above Self?
Members like you are our greatest asset. But for the last 20 years, Rotary membership has remained stagnant. Through a program I am calling Each One, Bring One, I ask each of you to commit to welcoming one new person into Rotary or Rotaract in the next 12 months. This one act of growing Rotary will make you true change-makers, because you will have helped us achieve in just 12 months what we could not do in 20 years. Of course, you will need to engage and retain these members as well. Member engagement is equally important for our organization’s growth.
As we welcome new members, let us continue to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are ingrained into all aspects of Rotary. We believe that anyone who gets involved with Rotary — whether as a member, partner, or participant — must feel valued, respected, and welcomed. It is only by embracing the full diversity of the world that we will be able to grow and to achieve our goals.
I am thrilled that Rotaract membership continues to grow. This year, we are taking further steps to reaffirm and promote Rotaract as a distinct membership type in Rotary. I encourage Rotary and Rotaract clubs to find ways to connect with one another, perhaps by creating a mentorship program or partnering on a club-based initiative, district grant, or global grant. We achieve more when we work together!
Serve to change lives
Service is at the heart of my own connection to Rotary, which is why I want all of us to showcase Rotary’s good work by hosting Rotary Days of Service. Invite your members, neighboring clubs, local civic organizations, program alumni, friends, family, and the public to join you for a community service event. Let Rotary Days of Service be a celebration of our passion for doing good.
As your club decides which causes to support this year, please consider projects that focus on empowering girls and creating equity for them. Whether it’s through a global grant project or a local program that your club supports, we can all contribute to the important work being done all over the world to expand access to education, improve sanitation, and fight gender discrimination and inequality. Girls are equal stakeholders in this world, and they should have equal rights.
We also need to let others know about all the wonderful work Rotary does. Each of you is a Rotary brand ambassador, so use social media, local media, and your club’s website to show your community — and the world — how you and your fellow Rotary members are people of action.
Increasing our impact
My friends, you are resilient, and you are doing amazing things to fight COVID-19. We adapted quickly to support our communities at the start of this pandemic, and we are committed until the very end. Let’s work to ensure that vaccines are made available equitably worldwide and that people get vaccinated as quickly as possible.
We recently awarded our first $2 million Programs of Scale grant to Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia and will name our second Programs of Scale grant recipient this year. This award and our efforts to eradicate polio and fight COVID-19 are examples of how Rotary addresses significant needs on a large scale. These programs serve as models for how we can demonstrate our measurable and sustainable impact.
We have so much to look forward to in the year ahead, and together, we will do so much. Nothing is impossible for Rotarians and Rotaractors!
I am so honored to be on this journey with you.
Sincerely,
Shekhar Mehta
Rotary International President, 2021-22
DG Jeff Neale together with his wife Jenny received the usual Barossa applause expected of members and friends when they attended our meeting last evening. DG Jeff used power point to highlight the many challenges set by RI president Shekhar Mehta. Membership is one of the biggest challenges facing Rotary. Jeff said we are being asked "Each one to bring one" so that as we "Grow More we can Do More." Our club currently has 41 members plus 19 friends, many take extended holidays each year. Our presence in the Barossa Valley is well known through our Clothing Bin project, Our Men's shed, and our recent successful Barossa Air-Show. If, at the end of Bill's tenure, the club had nine more members and our numbers stood at 50, what an achievement that would be. DG Jeff also mentioned that the Polio Ute would be available to clubs later in the year for fundraising. In April 2022 Rotary in the Barossa will be hosting the Governor's District Conference and members of the club will be supporting this significant event. Rotaract throughout the world is growing and we need to consider the benefits of establishing a Rotaract/Interact Club(s) in the Barossa. Above all we need to "Serve to Change Lives"
President Bill, Area Manager Craig, Jenny & DG Jeff.
Jeff invited his wife Jenny to the podium to present her partner's project for this Rotary year.
AllKids Prek Trabaek Project
Jenny spoke about this project which is located in the south eastern corner of REAM in Cambodia. There are around 90 school aged children living in the area and the closest school is 17.5 kms away. Providing these kids with access to a variety of educational programs will complete ALLKids mission to give all children in the REAM Commune access to education. The Rotary Club of St Peters is a long term partner of allKids and has established a RAWCS project to deliver the aforementioned project. Jenny is seeking a donation from each of the 84 clubs in the district to support this project. The handout states that since 2012 AllKids has provided education to 1500 disadvantaged children in Cambodia. Rotarians, in the words of our RI President, "Dream Big" and "Serve to Change Lives". Jenny said, "Support of Prek Trabaek project will allow the children of REAM to "Dream Big" giving them hope and a future, for themselves, their families and their communities."
President Bill thanked Jeff and Jenny for visiting the club and handed Jeff the usual gift.
Editor's note. I have had the opportunity to visit several schools in Cambodia, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. From what I have seen the children are courteous, happy, disciplined, well mannered, neatly dressed and show a willingness to learn.
Sergeant Sue Graetz called on those members who had asked for a minute. Everyone knows that there are 60 seconds in a minute. However, the likeable Rotarian Peter Perkins stepped up and began talking about the club's very worthwhile Clothing Bin project. Peter will likely appear more often in the duty Roster alongside the category of 'Rotary Info' as he has no idea how long a minute is!...Editor
Now read on it is worth every minute of your time
The three clothing bins in the towns of Tanunda, Nuriootpa and Angaston collect recycled clothing and footwear to be sorted as a resource to stock two(2) "Op Shops" in Tanunda (Great Revival Shop) and Truro Op Shop
The Rotary Clothes Bins are a long established project of the Club. It is unique among Rotary's programmes as it does not raise a single cent for the Club. Yet it is undisputed as the Club's most successful community programme.
However, it is not unknown for club members to raise concerns with the quality of clothes and shoes collected. Club members do not have the capacity to vet items received even though some items are of dubious quality and ongoing sales value. Although the bins have more than adequate signage indicating that the bins are only for clothes and footwear, all sorts of miscellaneous and dubious items are received that are consigned to the rubbish bin. Now do not get me started about the poor quality of plastic bags and other sorts of bags that are dropped into the bins. It is not uncommon to pull out a bag of clothes and between the bin and the car boot, the bag disintegrates with the effect that clothes are spread all over the ground.
In spite of the frustrations that Rotarians bear from collection and transport of goods to the sorting shed, the army of intrepid sorters from Great Revival Shop and Truro Op Shop hardly bat an eyelid as they know that once goods are in their Op shops, the items are readily sold. Even so-called rags, inferior quality clothes not suitable for sale, are bagged and transported to Adelaide, for which Rotary receives payment.
In the past 12 months, despite both shops being closed down for extended periods due to COVID, both Op shops are recycling "gold mines". A total of $90,000 has been raised from the Op Shops sales in the last 12 months. The money is then distributed to various charities and community groups across the Barossa Valley. In fact our Club's programmes of the University Scholarships and Operation Flinders are two which are supported from these funds. The Truro Op Shop makes a regular monthly payment to Rotary.
I know of no other Rotary fundraising programme that is as successful as the Rotary Clothing Bins.
Rotary Club of Barossa Valley - see below the various committees where each member/friend is represented.
Vocational Committee
Team Leader, Bryce Lillecrapp, Members David Adams, Mark Graetz. Bronwyn Lillecrapp, Grant Schuyler, David West
Friends Karin Bosomworth, Peter Flaherty, Phil Graetz
Community Committee
Team Leader, Peter Perkins, Members, Hans Haan, John Little, Philip Martin, Craig Rogasch, Geoffrey Schrapel, Peter Sich, Geoff Zerk
Friends, David Braunack, Peter Manning, Vicki Manning
Membership Committee
Team Leader, Sue Graetz, Members, Peter Perkins, Marie Rothe, Bryce Lillecrapp, Bronwyn Lillecrapp.
International Committee
Team Leader, Gavin Sidhu, Members, Keith Adams, Ray Fiebiger, Brian Graetz, Rick Kessner, Max Rasmus, Robert Sloane, Peter Thomas
Friends Bruce Dutschke, Russell Johnson, Mary Martin
New Generations Committee
Team Leader, Catherine LawlerMembers, Donald Farley, Ian Mader, Beverley Stephenson, Anne Tunnicliff. John Tunnicliff. Prue Maitland.
Friends Sandy Carruthers, Kevin Hoskin
Fellowship Committee
Team Leader Roxane CanningMembers, Peter Canning. Roxane Canning, Patrick Ritchie-Haydn, John Semmler, Peter Frazer, Keith Millington.
Friends Elly Monfries, John Monfries, Chris Woidt,
Rodney Woidt,
Barossa Valley Foundation Trustees
Chair Grant Schuyler, Secretary John Semmler, Treasurer Rick Kessner Trustees Mark Graetz, Don Farley, Prue Maitland, Sandie Simons, Club President, Club Vocational Chair.
Sergeants. Ray Fiebiger, Mark Graetz, Sue Graetz, Bryce Lillecrapp, John Little, Philip Martin, Peter Sich, Sandie Simons, Robert Sloane, Keith Millington, David West. Patrick Ritchie-Haydn.
Website, Media, Keith Millington, John Tunnicliff, Catherine Lawler
PHF Recommendations President, Peter Sich, John Little, Peter Canning.
Friends of Rotary Sue Graetz
Police Checks Recorder Prue Maitland.
Bulletin Editor Robert Brookes
Clothing Bin Roster Peter Thomas
Child Protection Officer Prue Maitland
Club History Grant Schuyler
Great Revival Shop Rep. Don Farley
Ring Pulls. Bryce Lillecrapp, Bill Simons, Mark Graetz
Awards Committee PDG’s Robert Brookes, Peter Thomas.
