Chairperson: Dave McKellar started our meeting by Introducing Rotary International’s new Vision Statement:
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
Guests and Visiting Rotarians: none today
President’s Time: David thanked Trish and the Breakfast Team for another successful Fall Fair Rotary Pancake Breakfast. We were reminded of Edna’s email concerning 3 new Rotarians who will be inducted next week at The Commons: Julia Feltham (1st corporate member + Miranda Forestall as a corporate designate); Virgil Hammock who is happy to once again become an active vs. honorary Rotarian due to the flexible schedule and relaxed attendance requirements; and Judi Cane, a former Rotarian from Ottawa (and toast maker extraordinaire). The 7810 District Conference will take place in Fredericton this weekend and along with several Rotarians, a whole carload of Rotaractors will be participating. Coming up on October 26 in Truro, NS is the Rotary Leadership Institute; Marita will be travelling to Truro with Chad and Chris and would has room for at least 1 more Rotarian. Take this opportunity to refine your leadership skills and increase your knowledge of Rotary. Finally, David honoured Dianne as the outstanding Rotarian of the month for her continued dedication to the club. Dianne has been president, Chair of Club Admin, member of many committees and the first one to volunteer for any event. Well done Dianne.
Induction of a New Member:
Louise introduced the newest member of the Sackville Rotary Club,
Chris Farella. Chris is no stranger to Rotary as he and his wife Alexandra have hosted 2 Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) students: Thomas and Benthe. Chris and Alexandra have 2 children: Max and Grace. Max himself is a RYE alumnist as he participated in a year-long exchange to Italy. Professionally Chris had an award-winning marketing career in Moncton but has recently switched vocations and is now working with Evertree Realty. Personally, Chris is a long-time volunteer and coach. We’re happy to have you join us a member of the Club Chris and are certain that both you and the Club will be a winning combination.
PinPal Stories:
- It’s been while since we’ve had one of these stories where a pin was actually involved so we were happy when Stacey let us know that she had a REAL PinPal story. While it’s not typical to meet Rotarians in court, particularly on the defence, that’s just where Stacey met this pin-wearing Rotarian. Turns out he was the lawyer for the defence and was the Secretary for D7820: Godfred Chongatera from RC Halifax Harbourside.
- Wynne also had a PinPal/Rotary regalia story. Recently he spotted a woman in Foodland wearing an Amherst Rotary Club jacket so he asked when and where their meetings were now. In response, the woman indicated that she wasn’t actually a Rotarian but that if he belonged to the Sackville club he could ask her Mom…Pam Harrison!
Birthdays: it was great to be in a setting where we could sing happy birthday to Josh who celebrates his big day tomorrow, Friday, September 27th.
50-50 Draw: Chris unfortunately drew the 7 of Diamonds not the 10 of Hearts so did not have the opportunity to go home with the $155.00 pot.
Happy Toonies:
- Dianne was happy to be home from a great trip to Ontario where she and Frank enjoyed stops in Rivière-du-Loup, Cornwall, Picton (where they visited with Trish’s parents in the most beautiful County in Ontario!), Grand Valley and finally in Hamilton for a family wedding. They made their way back to and through NB circuitously so that they could attend the funeral of Dianne’s Aunt.
- Charlie related a timeline of happiness: on September 12th they moved into their new apartment, on September 13th they heard that their house had been sold, and today, on September 26th he was happy to be able to walk to Rotary!
- Chris was happy and thankful that after a bit of a tumultuous year professionally he made the right decision to choose Rotary as his Service Club. His self-described “big personality (when needed)” and his desire to give back to the community make him a perfect fit for Rotary and Rotary for him.
- Trish was happy: 1) first on behalf of her Dad (who said he’d pay her back when he next visited) that Dianne and Frank had visited them in Picton and invited other Rotarians to get in touch should they be passing through Prince Edward County; 2) that her bathroom is finally finished; and 3) thankful to the club for helping so selflessly to ensure we hosted yet another fantastic Rotary Breakfast.
- Sue F. was happy that: 1) she doesn’t have to cook bacon for another year; and 2) that she has the type of brother who took it upon himself to clean the 3 BBQ’s used to cook said bacon, then to clean the floor of the porch on which the BBQ’s sit, then the chairs, then the windows and then the windows of the whole house. (While I love my sister I could use a brother like that!)
- Stacey let us know that Tolkein has had a dramatic positive change in his outlook and still likes to go to school – a huge milestone for the whole family.
- Marita thanked Chris for the great signs at the Rotary Breakfast and also let us know that “the Italians are coming”, her cousins and brother are coming home to celebrate a milestone family birthday.
- George fondly reflected that in 1975 he heard the Good Brothers at the Beamsville Fall Fair and then saw them again last night with the Capitol Theatre playing alongside Ray Legere.
Committee Reports & Upcoming Meetings
Club Admin: will meet next Wednesday, October 2.
Foundation: Marita distributed the Rotary tulips from Vessey’s today. If you were not at the meeting please contact Marita to arrange pick up.
Youth: Sue F. indicated that we will once again be distributing dictionaries to 75 elementary students on Thursday, October 10 (Salem Elementary) and Friday, October 11 (Dorchester Consolidated). We have a full slate of volunteers (including Rotaractors) for the Dorchester event but are still looking for volunteers to help at the Salem Elementary event so please contact her if you are able to help.
The Youth Committee will be meeting at Sue’s house on Monday, September 30th at 7 pm; please let Sue know if you plan to attend – all are welcome.
Fundraising/Pancake Breakfast: Trish will be creating a document that outlines the timelines, tasks, roles and responsibilities associated with our Rotary pancake breakfasts. When this is complete, she will be circulating it to the club after which we will schedule a full-club brainstorming session on how we continue to make these breakfasts a success of the community, the Club, and the Rotarians involved.
Speaker: David McKellar, RC Sackville Club President, introduced himself as the speaker for our Club Assembly and brought us up-to-date with the progress toward incorporating the RI President’s Vision for 2019-2020 and on making our club “irresistible” (to members and potential new members alike).
David has a long career as a Rotarian in Ottawa where he was President, Board member, and involved in District work. He watched as Rotary membership plateaued in the 1980s and slowly began to decline worldwide. Many clubs in our District (7810) are at or below the minimum number of members, (20) and others are in danger of folding. Coming to Sackville, he had not intended to become a Rotary president again but finally felt he had something to give to the club and could help the club transition to reflect the contemporary ideals of the current RI president and several before him.
In 2016, Rotary International began the slow process of guiding Rotary to “catch up with the times”. Clubs were provided more flexibility, attendance requirements were relaxed, membership became an integral part of each successive RI president’s mission statement, and the notions of inclusivity and diversity in that membership rose to the fore as ways to appropriately reflect a Club’s community.
RI President Mark Maloney, in his opening remarks stated “the first emphasis is to grow Rotary — to grow our service, to grow the impact of our projects, but most importantly, to grow our membership so that we can achieve more.” He urged leaders “to offer alternative meeting experiences and service opportunities to make it easier for busy professionals and people with many family obligations to serve in leadership roles.” He stated “we need to foster a culture where Rotary does not compete with the family, but rather complements it. That means taking real, practical steps to change the existing culture: being realistic in our expectations, considerate in our scheduling, and welcoming of children at Rotary events on every level.” He went on to say that many of the barriers that prevent people from serving as leaders in Rotary are based on expectations that are no longer relevant.”
David quoted RI President Maloney in his July address to the club and repeated the message today:
“While the club remains the core of the Rotary experience, we are now far more creative and flexible in deciding - what a club can be, how it can meet, and even what can be considered a Rotary meeting. We need to be organized, strategic, and innovative in how we approach membership, forging wider and deeper connections to our communities and forming new club models to attract and engage more, and more diverse members.”
President McKellar and the RC Sackville Board of Directors took up the charge of the RI President this year. As President, David started with 5 Goals that he communicated to both the Board and to the Club:
- Ensure that we are an inclusive and diverse club
- Explore new community partnership opportunities
- Relax our attendance requirements (come when you can but also consider committee time as participation time)
- Create alternate membership strategies, 2 of which we have in place now: corporate and family.
- Trial a flexible meeting schedule and format.
Club Meetings:
For the next 3 months (Oct-Dec) we will have a predictable meeting schedule but like many other clubs in the District, ‘meetings’ will be held in various locations and will have differing formats:
1st Thursday of the month: breakfast meeting at The Commons
2nd Thursday: service project or meeting with a community partner
3rd Thursday: breakfast meeting at Joey’s
4th Thursday: after work/evening social in locations TBD
5th Thursday: will be decided as necessary
Membership:
After next week (October 3rd) we will have inducted 8 new members into the Rotary Club of Sackville: 7 Rotarians and 1 Corporate Designee. The Rotaract Club grew by 96 members this year! The Board continues to define and refine other new options for membership such as the ‘Friends of Rotary’ membership type that serves to introduce people to Rotary through volunteering or participating on committees with the hope that they might consider becoming a Rotarian. All members are encouraged to reflect on the letter sent by our District Governor and think of potential new members from our community.
Volunteerism:
Rotary is a service organization and as such, volunteerism is at its core. Volunteerism includes not just participation in projects in the community but also within the club. Marita is looking for individuals who are interested to serve as a member of the Board of our Club and still has positions open. Please speak with Marita if you are interested in helping to shape the future of the club. We will vote on our slate of officers at the Annual General Meeting in December.
Vocational Service:
President David and the Board are exploring opportunities to collaborate with The Commons and tap into the expertise that resides within the club. Could club members provide legal, financial, marketing, or other assistance to members of the communities and students? More to come on this later.
Finally, the back page of the October 2019 Rotarian magazine suggests we “Reinvent the Wheel”, that Rotarians and Clubs work to ensure that Rotary is relevant to today’s society…and that’s what we’re trying to do right here in Sackville.
Discussion:
President McKellar’s presentation was followed by an impassioned discussion. Some members indicated that they were disappointed that they were not consulted prior to the implementation of the major changes to the style and timing of club meetings in particular. Some members expressed concern that they did not have a voice in the Club after which they, and all members present, were urged to become part of the solution by volunteering to take on one of the Officer positions available on the Board. The President and the Board have been working together on the changes to-date and none of those that have been introduced thus far are final, rather they are being continually evaluated to determine what the best fit is for the club. The club was reminded that Board meetings are open and they are invited to attend.
