The Editor looks back on fifty years of Rotary Bulletins, as part of Vincent Chen’s Vocational Service series, “What’s New in my Vocation?”  

Once a must-have apparatus for every school/office where document reproduction was required, the Roneo machine has now become obsolete technology.

Younger generations might not be familiar with the device and most likely have not even heard of it. But for us older generations, the Roneo machine provided copying technology as photocopiers were yet to be invented.

Stencil duplication was a low-cost printing method that worked by forcing ink through waxed-paper stencils on to target paper.

Who could forget the purple ink that rubbed off on your hands, the copies had a smell that was recognised by any 1960-70’s school kid?

The machine was suitable for reproducing a small number of documents such as school worksheets, exam papers or community newsletters.

Such was the technology we used for a Rotary Club Bulletin, when I joined Rotary in the seventies. Ideally, it took a team to produce. 

Firstly the content was hand-written, then typed on to the Roneo paper. Round and round we cranked the handle, and the copies slid out. Still wet, they had to be carefully picked up to avoid smudging. 

When suitably dry, they were folded and slid into envelopes. Then the recipient’s name and address was handwritten on the envelope, a stamp licked and stuck on. 

They were eventually carried to the nearest letter-box, usually when it was time to walk the family dog.

My Rotary Club at the time was astute enough to address their bulletin to the member’s wife: this ensured she knew the dates of upcoming social events. 

When the desk-top computer and home printers came along, it made production easier. We could add images, and cut-and-paste articles from Rotary International, Rotary Down Under and the District Newsletter, which saved a lot of laborious typing. 

We still had to fold and post the bulletins, but using the printer to put the recipient’s name and address on the envelope was another handy short-cut.

As more and more people acquired home computers, we gradually switched to e-mail for distribution of our Rotary News, using “snail mail” only for those who still required it. (One of our members, a Past District Governor, insisted on a hard copy. He liked to read it while sitting on his balcony, accompanied by a nice glass of “red”)

And today?  We use ClubRunner for a template, sending our members this electronic newsletter.

As you see, each item contains a heading and a summary: 

Not interested? Move on.

Interested? Click on “Read more”.

It works for me: it is certainly an improvement on cranking the Roneo handle.

I hope it works for you. 

Pics:The cover page of a mail-out Keilor Rotary Bulletin, 1979

A 2004 Toorak Rotary Bulletin notes a Richard Logan as a visitor from Richmond Hill Rotary Club.

Royalty-free images from Pexels