Hello everyone, 

 

District 9685 Conference weekend has been held and was a great success. Congratulations to DG Christine and her team for outing on such a successful, and inspiring conference. There are so many Rotarians in our District doing many wonderful, meaningful projects. It makes me proud to say I am a Rotarian. 

DG Christine and her Conference Committee were delighted with the 320 colourful beach goers who joined them on Friday night at the Crowne Plaza. Following canapes and drinks on the mezzanine floor, party goers found their tables in the grand ballroom decorated with a beach theme. They then settled in for great food, great entertainment with guest speaker Brad Baker and then ‘Open Fire’ duo encouraged us to dance the night away! On Saturday, 450 attended the plenary sessions at the EV Church auditorium. What a venue! The Conference delivered: a spectacular showcase, inspiring speakers, great company, and the chance to ‘catch up’! Thank you to all members that attended to make this 2024 District Conference, special. I am proud of what we achieved and my sincere thanks to my committee for delivering on every aspect and meeting my expectations. 

Thank you, DG Christine

The Walk to Say No to Domestic Violence raised over $2,000.00 on the Friday afternoon, with many local high school students joining Rotarians in the walk along the foreshore of Terrigal. A further $6,000.00 was raised from the obligatory Rotary raffle at the Gala dinner. Well done all. 

I wish to thank our invited guests who came to our early morning assembly on Friday 22 March 2024. Participants from the Summer RYPEN, Nathan Young and Kazuma Calder for coming and talking to us about their experiences at RYPEN. These students from Marsden High did their school and parents proud. Thank you Jackie Young and Yoko Calder for accompanying the boys to our meeting.

We also heard some insights into the RYLA weeklong leadership course that created two new RYLArians. Thank you to Aiden Sauvano and Jane Suh for a captivating presentation to help us know how the leadership course has helped shape your work life and has helped you prepare for your life journeys ahead.  Thank you, Desi Mulder, for attending the breakfast to hear your wonderful employees speak of their experiences. Thanks also for allowing them the time off work to attend the RYLA experience. 

A special thanks also to James Hole, Manager of Bendigo Bank North Ryde for attending our early morning meeting. James got to meet Aiden, who was sponsored by Bendigo Bank to attend RYLA 2024. We heard from James about how important supporting our youth of the community is to the Bendigo Bank ethos. We are delighted that Bendigo Bank is,  once again,  a Bronze sponsor of our eFun Run  this year.

Our very own Youth Exchange son, Currito, spoke of his month-long excitement in his report. How much the conference meant to him and having met Greg Page, the original Yellow Wiggle, plus realising how important knowing CPR and having an AED close by, is to saving a life. Not to mention a bit of hero worship happening for Currito as well.
A few days of fun and frivolity followed for the Exchange students, from Sunday to Thursday, with their trip to Canberra. By the report and the photos, much learning and much more fun was had, especially at Questacon. Well done Currito, now back down to earth for a bit.

It is with great excitement that I announce the eFun Run site is live and accepting registrations. Well done Pam Wood for getting this all together. Further information is available in this bulletin. There will be a couple of walks we will be doing as a group as well. So, stay tuned as these details are finalised. Bob Selinger OAM is organising a special history walk around Parramatta. It sounds wonderful and I am very much looking forward to that.

Until next time.

Cheers
Bernie.