
Changeover 2022 at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club on June 14th will long be remembered as one of the best ever Changeover dinners at The Rotary Club of Glenferrie. In a night that celebrated the impressive achievements of the club over the past year, over one hundred Rotarians and guests, including the District Governor and three past district governors, with Mr John Kennedy MP, Member for Hawthorn, and Councillor Jane Addis, the Mayor of Boroondara, witnessed President Dr Mark Ellis AM hand over the president's chain of leadership to incoming president Teresa Liu. District Governor Dale Hoy delivered the District Report. It was an impressive night, with much fun and friendship and a well paced, entertaining program that made full use of the new meeting rooms and facilities at Kooyong.
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Master of Ceremonies PP Charles Tran kept the evening moving at a steady pace. Introducing President Mark, he thanked Mark on behalf of the club for a year of outstanding leadership over a difficult and challenging, not one, but two years. The first and last time, said Charles, we hoped this would be necessary. The challenges, however, did not dent the spirit of the club. In fact they have made the club stronger.
Outstanding contributions from a number of Rotarians were recognised. PP Richard Blakeman became the second Glenferrie Rotarian to be recognised with a Royce Abbey Award for enthusiasm and commitment to the ideals of Rotary. David Abbey, Chair of the Royce and Jean Abbey Endowed Fund, introduced the award and explained its history (see below). The presentation was assisted by the only other Glenferrie Rotarian to receive the award, PP Ian Salek.
District Governor Dale Hoy assisted President Mark in awarding Paul Harris Fellow Recognitions to PP Robert Winspear, PP Thelma Hutchison, David Fallick, Christine Raw, Elizabeth Dumonic and Club Secretary Peter Moore.

Reflecting upon the reality that it usually takes one person with initiative and drive and a good idea to get a project started, it is only with the commitment of the club in coming together to support an idea, said PP Greg, that makes it happen. The strength of Rotary is that it brings together people of diverse skills and a common purpose in a powerful combination to bring great ideas to fruition.
This point was emphasised again as part of the District Report, delivered by popular District Governor Dale Hoy. DG Dale pointed out that Rotarians who are members of The Rotary Club of Glenferrie are part of a global network of over 36,000 clubs with representation in most countries in the world. Supported by The Rotary Foundation, Rotarians from around the world have raised considerable funds that are being channelled through Rotary clubs in Ukraine and Poland to deliver aid to refugees from the invasion by the Russian military. The Rotary Foundation has fast-tracked approvals to ensure aid is delivered quickly. There are 62 Rotary clubs in Ukraine, which have been highly active in delivering aid despite the extreme difficulties of working in a war zone.
The long awaited final presentation by outgoing president Dr Mark Ellis AM did not disappoint. Mark paid tribute to those who have contributed so much over a difficult two years. Despite a raging pandemic, causing interruptions to projects and preventing meetings, the club has recruited 18 new members over the past two years, one third of members are now female, and membership diversity has increased significantly. In addition to successfully expanding the number of Farmers Markets by adding a First Saturday Market, the organisation of the market has been streamlined such that fewer volunteers are required per market. Members completed two major projects in the past year: the Yarra Bank Reserve R100 Playground and the Lift the Lid Charity Golf Day, and has successfully added two ongoing programs to the list of regular club projects, RORP (Rotary Overseas Recycled Playgrounds), led by PN Mark Howlett, and RIMERN (Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network), led by Geoffrey Widmer. The club has embraced the new website on ClubRunner and technology such as Zoom for club, board and committee meetings. Embracing change is key to Rotary's success, and has been for over 100 years. In the words of Paul Harris, Founder of Rotary: "This is a changing world: we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again".
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