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President Glenn's incoming address:

I am very honoured to be the 76th President of the Rotary Club of Essendon.  The Rotary International theme for this year is Building Communities – Bridging Continents. 

Following from our great 75th Anniversary year, we have a fantastic opportunity to build on our past achievements and expand the reach of the Club in the community.

Given the very positive response to our current format for weekly meetings, I do not propose to make any significant changes to the week to week running of our meetings. 

Our Board for this year includes Michael Baker (Vice President), Stephen Roe (President Elect), Anne Rogers (Immediate Past President), Shirley Kukk (Secretary), Vic Abfalter (Treasurer), Peter Baker (Youth & Vocational), Peter Halaseh (Marketing & Sponsorship), Boris Struk (Fellowship), Alf Puglia (International), Michael Mahoney (Community) and Maurice Mollica (Club Services).

Community

We will have an increased focus on local projects as a result of member feedback and opportunities presented by the closer relationship with the Moonee Valley City Council, which was a direct result of the 75th Anniversary events.

We will also be highlighting a different community organisation each month of the year.  Doing this will not only help those organisation, it will also give members more opportunity to be involved in community activity and also put us in the eye of the local community.

The Community Committee will also be holding some significant fundraising events, with a focus on attracting people from outside of the club to attend, have fun and find out more about our club.

International

We will be continuing with projects in our current locations of Myanmar, the Philippines and Kenya.  Through partnerships with external donors, we are currently investigating significant projects in Kenya and Myanmar.  This work is very well covered by the RI themes of Building Communities – Bridging Continents.

During the year, we are planning to have club delegations visit each of these countries.  Members, along with their family and friends who have been on previous visits all greatly enjoy the experience. 

Membership

Our aim is to boost membership numbers by following current strategy and by having a higher profile in the local community.  It is only with the encouragement of current members and the addition of new members that the club can continue this great work.  Once again this will be the responsibility of all members of the club.


Fellowship

Without fellowship, the achievements of our club would be fairly minimal.  In addition to our regular large events, we will have a series of fellowship functions on a smaller scale that will cater for all tastes.

Youth & Vocational

We will continue to provide encouragement to youth by supporting the established Rotary programs such as the National Youth Science Form and the Model United Nations and will continue to build links with local schools.

Our very successful Rotary Presents lunch will be held early in 2011 and we will have a number of vocational talk and workplace tours throughout the year.

We will be continuing our participation in the Victoria Police- Rotary- Business Leaders mentoring program.

The Rotary Community

It is only because of the huge community respect for the work of Rotary on an International and local level, that we are able to gain the support of our community.  It is our responsibility to support the Rotary Foundation, our District and associated Rotary Clubs.  Throughout the year, I will be meeting with Presidents from other clubs in our cluster, to help make our club and other clubs stronger.  We should also support other clubs by attending their social functions and a weekly meeting of another club if we can’t make it to our own. 

To further encourage contributions to the rotary foundation, we will be including information about the Every Rotarian Every Year program with your account for club membership fees.

The continuing success of our Club requires our ongoing commitment.  Allocating club roles this year included the consideration of giving a break to some of our harder working members.  To allow for this, I am seeking an increased participation from other members, without this our club will not prosper.