President Peter's Musings

Another cold morning and another good attendance.  It's always refreshing to see so many happy faces at 6.30am on a winter's morning.

 

We welcomed our soon to be inducted member, Jim Lombard, and for the last time before he heads back to the land of four seasons in a day, Rotarian Ken.

 

Alan Still OAM, proposed the International Toast to the Micronesian Island of Guam.  We are all hoping that the statistics once again quoted by Alan, remain current for a long time and are not changed by the advent of nuclear war.  Heaven forbid!

 

Rather ironically, our Chairperson for the morning, Stephen Engstrom, was sporting an extra cheesy smile. Stephen and his partner, Annie, ran away to Palm Cove on the weekend and came back married.

We wish them both, all the best for a healthy and happy life together, and offer our congratulations on this fantastic occasion.

 

Helen introduced our Guest Speaker, Shelagh Brennand.  Shelagh suffered a Stroke at a relatively young age and since then has become a Stroke Ambassador.  She speaks regularly about the warning signs of Stroke and the Risk Factors associated.

Shelagh pens poetry for a living as well.  She is selling copies of her book at just $15, a special price for Stroke Week.  We were all delighted to hear two of her poems, spoken in her beautifully broad Yorkshire accent.  We wish Shelagh all the best in her role as a Stroke Ambassador.

 

Thank you all for coming along today and a reminder of next week's duties,

 

Chair - Arnoldo

Desk - Trevor (we need a replacement)

Intro - Judy

3MM - Pam

 

Have a great week and weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again next week.

 

The 1989 Council on Legislation vote to admit women into Rotary clubs worldwide remains a watershed moment in the history of Rotary.

 

"My fellow delegates, I would like to remind you that the world of 1989 is very different to the world of 1905. I sincerely believe that Rotary has to adapt itself to a changing world", said Frank J. Devlyn, who would go on to become RI president in 2000-01. 

 

The vote followed the decades-long efforts of men and women from all over the Rotary world to allow for the admission of women into Rotary clubs, and several close votes at previous Council meetings.  The response to the decision was overwhelming: By June 1990, the number of female Rotarians had skyrocketed to over 20,000. By 2010, the number of women was approaching 200,000.

 

Interestingly, our Club consists of approximately 33% women.  Many of our female Club Members have and still hold Director and positions of leadership since women were invited to our Club.

 

Our first female President was Lyn Gahan, in 2000-1. Since then until now, we have had 8 female Presidents, including our current Treasurer, Deborah Taylor who held the position for two years, being 2013-15.

 

Other female Past Presidents from our Club include, Anne Rattle, Julianna Neill, Helen Fox, Pam Snyman, Judy Clark, and of course IPP Anna Wheildon.

 

Noticeably, Roger Todd was the last male President, in 2012-13. While our next President is another female, Bernie Strong.

 

I am very proud to say, Our Club certainly attracts strong women, indicated by the number of females we have in leadership roles.

 

Past President 1993-94, Merv Paddison gave us a behind the scenes look at how Women were invited into our Club. Apparently there had been much discussion about the impending decision for some time. A secret ballot was decided to provide the answer, with a 75% majority necessary for the motion to pass. The vote was held and more than 75% voted for Women to join.

 

Interestingly, it was not until the year 2000 when the first Woman was invited along.

 

Oh, how times have changed, thankfully.