District Assembly - Sunday 19th May
District Governor Elect Merv Ericson led the Assembly and explained the Rotary International Theme: Engage Rotary - Change Lives.
International President Ronald D Burton emphasised that, with the imminent final eradication of Polio by the end of this year, Rotarians had completed a very important chapter in our history and it was now time to start another with Future Vision where we embark on bigger projects by pooling our resources backed by Rotary Foundation and also engage more locally.
Every year Rotary inducts 120,000 new members globally but our total numbers have remained static at 1.2 million for the past 5 years because we have not retained members. A member has not succeeded until she or he has engaged Rotary and changed lives.
This year's District Assembly moved away from the traditional format where all the individual Directors came together in a room and just focussed on one Avenue of Service. Instead each Cluster convened to share ideas and plan for the forthcoming year. We worked together with other Clubs in the Whitehorse Cluster and and came up with a very solid plan which Harvey will bring to the Board for ratification.
The District Learning and Development Team provided a comprehensive Club Resource Manual which we will use to inspire us for more effective projects next year.