“The hour has come” when the President must present his Annual 2026-2027 Plan for the Club. With the Club Changeover, the Camberwell Art Show (CAS), the District Changeover and TGIO celebrations successfully accomplished, it’s time to re-enforce the things we want to continue with and to explore new opportunities and to adapt to the modern challenges faced by Rotary.
To enhance and support my presentation and to add to our Rotary motivation and the spirit of Service above Self, I opened the meeting with a short video titled “Find Your Purpose” by John Kehoe, a world-renowned Canadian writer and trainer on Mind Power.
Further to this I used the story of my first encounter with John Kehoe in 1994 in Durban, South Africa. Essentially what he projected then, set me on my life’s journey. “Big dreams, need real action not just sitting around and having more dreams”
Some key elements and focus areas of my plan were (Aspirations, Vision and Dreams);
Membership:
Membership is the Lifeblood of our Organisation.
Membership needs marketing and a marketing budget.
Membership needs actions plans and tools (TBA)
Membership for the health, prosperity and stability of our Club requires engagement beyond the Membership Chair/Committee and extends to all members
The Modern Club Model – needs to have all these elements and more. Our philanthropy brings us to Rotary but members today need more to stay actively engaged.
Fun, flexibility, friendship, fairness and the ease of membership.
Making the best use of our strengths and sharing them kindly and courteously to assist others with their weaknesses.
Our first Service Above Self, is to our members.
Music is the Food of our Soul:
Using music to create a nicer and attractive vibe.
Using the joy of dancing to connect us across all ages.
The dream to create our own magical Rotary Song and Dance using “Jerusalema” as our inspiration (Sponsor a music and dance competition to drive this initiative).
Imagine a Rotary song and dance that incorporates input from schools, local artists including aboriginal lyrics, instruments and jives. When this goes Global, we will be proud, it began in our Rotary Club, here in Camberwell (Create Lasting Impact).
Dreaming Big Projects:
Long overdue, concepts for new big projects. In Boroondara, the CAS and the Sunday Markets were born with someone’s great innovation and creativity 61 and 50 years ago respectively. We need something new, vibrant and different to engage and challenge the creativity of newer members.
Potential New Projects in Camberwell -Sunday Night Markets, Rotary Music festival/Show, A Rotary Peace Square, An Annual Rotary Peace BBQ Festival, A Rotating Rotary Illuminated Peace Wheel.
Effective Club Committees- are vital in raising funds to support the various charities we support. To ensure that a fair and expeditious distribution of our funds and our hands-on support, we encourage all members to join one or more committees. We need your invaluable strengths, wisdoms, insights and experiences to guide your respective chairs and the Board in these important matters.
Special Announcement:
It was my honour and privilege to hand the certificate of appreciation and recognition and to congratulate Peter Pratt on his amazing and impressive 30 Year Club Membership. In his long service with our Club, he had an equally lost list of important accomplishments;
The Community Service Committee is running the annual clothing and blanket drive. The items will be donated to St Vincent de Paul who will give them to in need people in Boroondara to keep warm. Jackets, jumpers, scarfs, blankets, baby and kids clothing are ideal. Please bring them to our weekly dinner at the Tower hotel over the few weeks.
Your help is needed! Volunteers are required for the following event. Click on 
