A happy bunch of Rotarians and friends turned out for our Changeover on Tuesday at Kooyong LTC.
DGE Ron Payne gave the toast to Rotary International in husky rather than the silky tones we expected, and in so doing he made us all feel part of our wonderful organisation.
President Andrew acknowledged the work of PDGs David Rosback and Bernie Walshe, and David Corrigan by electing them Honorary Members of the Club. Charlotte England, Dorothy Gilmore and Geoff Wright were recognised as Paul Harris Fellows, and Jane Drury as the most prolific contributor to The Bulletin in her role as a “Jester”.
The Award for Rotarian of the Year went to PDG Dennis Shore, who has continued to work for Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation since 2013 when he was District Governor 9800.
President Andrew also thanked his board and a number of Rotarians for their work in the running of the club, before delivering his Annual Report.
The retiring board looked pretty happy, each with a “show bag” containing a bottle of effervescent liquid. Check out Victor Chen (left)
Members celebrated two years with Andrew Crockett as President, and enjoyed seeing him pass the baton to Doug McLean. We now look forward to another exciting year in Rotary under our new management.
You can see some photos of the happy evening at:
Footnote 1: I tried to put the wind up President Andrew by quoting the Rotary “Manual of Procedure”, which states that the President remains in office until midnight on 30th June, and as Rotary’s head office is in Chicago, he would be President until midnight, USA Central time. Chicago is 15 hours behind Melbourne, so he would remain Club President until 3pm (local time) on 1st July.
However Andrew was unfazed, and used to dealing with bush lawyers. He returned serve with an obscure footnote: “I prefer to rely on the wording of the Club Rules, Article 11, Section 5 (b) which states that ‘The president takes office on 1 July and serves a period of one year’ - i.e. until midnight on 30 June the following year.”
O.K. I give in: Doug McLean becomes President at midnight.
Footnote 2: PDG Dennis Shore receiving the “Rotarian of the Year” Award brought back memories of his wonderful District Conference in Albury, in 2013. Our members recall the hard work we put in, especially that of Conference Chairman Noel McInnes. And the fun of it all, how John Blackman kept us laughing, and the satisfaction afterwards.