A big welcome home for John Savory. John and Heather arrived back from Egypt and Europe and no doubt will have plenty of stories to share with us.
We were all pleased to have Madeleine back with us again.
Of course the meeting was about two important club matters. The club received the annual report and accounts for 2017-2018. When you see the number and range of activities that we are involved in it is quite inspiring to know that as a group we continue to make a positive contribution to society. Thanks to Gavin and his team and all members for their contributions in our 57th year. A particular thanks goes to Charles Davidson who, despite no longer being an active club member, compiles our annual report.
Our second item of business was a vote on trialling three changes to our meetings for the second half of my year as president. 6 members who were not present provided proxy votes in addition to 23 who were present.
- That the RCH ceases to meet weekly and meets twice monthly – yes 26, no 2, abstain 1.
- That the RCH removes the regular invocation in its current form – yes 19 no 10.
- That the RCH removes the shrapnel box from its regular meetings – Yes 21, no 8.
As a result the club will meet twice monthly from February. There are a couple of arrangements already in place that will mean some variations such as bowls night on 15th January and our annual visit to Howick coastguard on 19th February.
The new schedule will be 1st Tuesday will be speaker night when we focus on bringing prospective members, friends, family and other guests. The 3rd week will be club night when our focus will be on club business and projects.
Committees will be free to arrange their own meetings and the board will continue to meet monthly. For those who will miss the weekly opportunity to socialise I recommend that you continue to do so but make your own arrangements at a time and venue that suits. David Teape has been doing a good job getting members together and some also meet for coffee. Please don’t stop if anything do more.
I would like to take a moment to thank Juergen Arndt on behalf of us all, for his dedication to publishing Keyway each week. Juergen does not benefit from his association with Rotary. He chooses to help us in this way.
Christmas is a special time for us and I hope it is for you. I am writing this after taking my grandson, Simon, to the movies. We saw the Grinch, for those of you who haven’t experienced the characters of Dr. Zeus, the grinch is a character who despises all things Christmas and has a “Damascus moment” courtesy of a little girl and everything is sweet after all. At the end he offers a toast that sums up what Jeannette and I wish you all “To kindness and love the things we need most.”
Have a wonderful Christmas, a new year to remember, and a holiday to reinvigorate your soul.