President's Report. President: Peter Clark. (P.P. 2009-2010) Dear Fellow Rotarians, Forrest Gump's Mamma said, "Life is a Box of Chocolates". We as Rotarians have chosen to make Rotary a part of our lives and in varying degrees we each experience our own 'box of chocolates'. My time as President has been interesting. I have never before, held a position where it is 'management by committee' and not a cent can be spent without approval of the board. In some ways it is a far cry from my former corporate life of pay-for-performance and managing multi-million dollar budgets. However, the two elements that I found to be common to both environments were: We each measure success differently, for some it's a numbers game, for me it was about our Club making a difference in our world and having some fun along the way. Financially we again exceeded the previous year's income and this is largely due to the teamwork and esprit de corps that exists amongst our members. Well done! Our 59th year was certainly a year of change for our Club, probably the most change members have seen. We adopted and implemented the Club Leadership Plan in accordance with Rotary International's guidelines and began the process of working in functional teams. I was not surprised that we lost some members along the way as not everyone likes change our goal should always be to have quality not quantity. We developed and implemented Risk Management and purchased a sound system, laptop computer and digital projector thus securing our independence from either Everglades or our own Club members. There were additional changes thrust upon us by the new management of Everglades. Many found the new room and the change of caterer to be less than desirable and in some ways this hindered the plan of working in groups at Club Assemblies. Over the last few meetings this seems to have been resolved thanks to the persistence of PP Don Tee and a new more flexible caterer. I was fortunate to receive strong support from PP's Susan Baldock, John Perks, Don Tee, Charles Brock and Trevor Walker. They acted as mentors and were good friends in some of the more demanding moments. Thank you for filling in for me when family needs, or work prevented me from being at either a weekly meeting or a fund-raising event. Thanks also, to the few who acted as Sergeant-at-Arms, often at very short (or no) notice. My thanks go to Roy Bunney who willingly took on the task of Risk Manager and who, in spite of his deteriorating health, wrote our Risk Management policies. Thanks also, to Jan Steele, who stepped into the position of Vocational Service Director, you made a real difference. My heartfelt thanks also go to Annette Karton, who took on the role of Pinion editor and producer (as if you didn't have enough to do!). You did a great job especially coping with my just-in-time reports! You are all great Rotarians. So, my year as President was another of life's 'boxes of chocolates', most of which were rather tasty. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve Rotary in this way. Yours in Rotary, |