Rob Edwards, our guest speaker
last week, gave us a good start to the year with his talk on "the
good, the bad and the ugly" of direct marketing. And now we know
just how extensive consumer advertising has become – on average,
each of us sees 7,000 messages per day!
Welcome back to Ted Ingall,
returning after a brief illness and now firing on all cylinders. I
know registrations for the district conference will be high on his
agenda.
Congratulations to Kevin
Freund, now "sworn in" as vocational services director after he was
unable to attend the changeover due to illness.
A benefit of being an incoming
president is the visibility gained of the wider world of Rotary –
in particular, the amount of RI and district support available to
presidents, directors and club committees is extensive.
We gained a glimpse of this
last week when Raymond McCluskie put on his assistant district
governor's hat and spoke to us about his role. Raymond can marshal
district support for membership development and programs such as
RYLA and many other initiatives. I suspect he is also the DG's
undercover agent!! Raymond mentioned RI President Bill Boyd's
citation program I would like to see Strathfield receive a citation,
but the criteria are broad and include completion of projects in all
avenues of service. That means club member involvement. More later,
after consideration by your board.
I trust Angelo Franco will
appreciate the bound copy of last year's bulletins presented to him,
but fellows, there must be someone who is willing to take over from
him in this his third year as editor. At this stage the future of
the bulletin does not look bright! Please see Brian Johnson or me
to discuss the commitment required – which is not great (and only
basic computer skills are needed).
Thanks to Steve Taylor for
getting the fellowship program off to a flying start – see details
later in the bulletin.
And it seems we can sing after
all! We just needed a good choirmaster (thanks Peter Foss) and some
creative lyrics (thanks Alan Petersen). A "Song for Harley" promises
to be a great success.
Thanks for the gentle reception
at my first meeting – I'm sure it won't last!