I can’t believe we’re halfway through the year already – it feels like I haven’t left home! Our District has fared very well through this year of COVID and, although our numbers are down slightly, clubs have worked so hard to keep their members engaged that we have come through, thus far, with flying colours. This is particularly impressive when you consider that, of all the Districts in Australia, ours has (so far) been the hardest hit with the long and tight Melbourne lockdown impacting all the D9810 clubs. Well done to everyone and let’s keep hitting sixes for the rest of this Rotary year.
Like many of you, during the week I had the pleasure of attending my own club’s Christmas function. Ours was an outdoor roast meal with plum pudding dessert. It was all topped off by a visit from Santa. I hope all the Christmas functions went well and Rotarians can enjoy a couple of weeks’ rest before New Year activities start to take off.
Speaking of having a rest, Open Doors is talking a short break and will be published again on 18 January.
This issue will be great for holiday reading with;
• Passport Club for D9810
• Fantastic membership inspirations
• Two new Rotary markets
• Australia Day celebrations
• Centenary Book
• Polio news.
• Finish off by taking a virtual tour of RI HQ
Greg and I wish you all a wonderful summer break and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. I hope to see everyone soon – COVID permitting!
Governor’s Travels
Last weekend I was out and about again visiting Rotarians at the new Doncaster Hill Market (see below) and at the Mount Waverley Rotary Market. RC of Mount Waverley certainly has is Public Image sorted as you can see from the pic of Pres Loretta and me standing in front of the club’s market stall. Great to see all the members wearing their Rotary shirts!
Passport Club for District 9810
As part of our new membership strategy at District 9810 is hoping to start a Rotary Passport Club. Any existing Rotarians who are interested helping to set up this new club should contact me (DG Alma) to discuss how it might all work.
For those not sure about the concept, a passport club offers
- Encouragement to visit other clubs and participate in their club activities regularly
- Relaxing the attendance policy
- Offering a variety of meeting formats
- Meeting less frequently
- Focusing meetings on service or social activities
- More affordable option
- Measuring club health by participation rather than attendance
For more information see https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50071/Documents/en-au/24ea7097-f702-441d-bc2a-abd2583a3c7a/1/
Membership Inspirations
Something from out on the wing for this issue’s membership inspiration. This video is presented by self-styled “Rotary Geek” and social media influencer, Tiffany Ervin, PDG of District 7670 (western North Carolina). What does recruiting college footballers and recruiting Rotarians have in common? Mark Spier, Head Football Coach of Western Carolina University explains all. The video is about 12 minutes so perfect for viewing over a cuppa. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEjd4UrUQEI&t=102s
Promote Your Op Shop
Does your club run an Op Shop? Grab some free promotion of your fundraiser by adding it to the list accessed from the front page of the D9810 website. Just send the details to Webmaster, Trish Carr of RC Box Hill Burwood (find her contact details in Club Runner), and she will put the information up for the whole world to see.
I’ll Get it Right Eventually!
In the last issue of Open Doors I managed to put the wrong story and pic together. The Community Bank Pinewood Grant process includes a “Pitch It” event. I managed to pair the photo of President Ralph of RC Glen Waverley with a story about RC of Waverley! Apologies to all involved.
The results of the Pitch It event garnered success four Rotary clubs in the Monash area. They were;
Rotary Club of Mount Waverley Kangaroo Chairs for Monash Hospital $3,000
Rotary Club of Waverley End the Coward Punch $3,900
Rotary Club of Monash Radio Lollipop Christmas Project $3,500
Rotary Club of Glen Waverley Support for COVID Affected Families $2,400
Congratulation to all four clubs and best wishes for successful projects.
Clubs Join Forces for New Market
In November RC Doncaster opened its new Doncaster Hill Rotary Market. The event was a success and was followed up with a second market day last week. RC Doncaster put in a massive effort over the lockdown period to put the market together.
Along the way the club realised that the person power required to run the market could easily divert them from their community services activities also, the members of RC Templestowe had been helpful in making the market happen. So the clubs 
have now decided to join forces to run the market and have moved it from the second Sunday of every month to the first Sunday of every month, with the next one on Sunday 7 February.
DG Alma enjoyed and egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast. With Alma are, from RC Doncaster, President Barry Halpern and Wendy Stanford and from RC Templestowe PE Luce Bastian and Co-Pres Felix Wong.
Inaugural Market a Success for Emerald
RC Emerald & District inaugural Trash2Treasure Market was held recently. There were 14 stalls, although more had been booked. Market goers were asked for a gold coin donation at entry. The market featured significant inputs from a number of Rotarians and great club teamwork. There was a good vibe with lots of positivity and goodwill on display from the stallholders and patrons alike. The club managed to raise a total of about $1,000 for the day.
Wheel Chair Hoist Available Free
Kevin Harrison of Rotary Club of Rowville Lysterfield has a wheelchair hoist which he is prepared to give to anyone who can use it. See the picture. If you are interested, you can use Club Runner to contact Kevin.
Interplast Project for this Rotary Year
Way back in issue 3 of Open Doors we published a request from D9810 Interplast Chair, Peter Lewis of RC Bentleigh Moorabbin Central. Peter is keen to raise $21,000 to send an Interplast team to Tonga and he suggested that clubs may like to consider contributing $999 each to bring this project to fruition. Currently he is nearly half way to his goal with 5 clubs plus his own chipping in and also some private donations adding to the total. If your club is interested in assisting this amazing project, please us Club Runner to contact Peter.
Australia Day
Many clubs are preparing for an Australia Day celebration with the assistance of a grant from the National Australia Day Council. Those clubs will be joining clubs from all over Australia in sharing the theme for this year which is “Reflect, Respect, Celebrate”. The collaboration between Rotary clubs in Australia and the National Australia Day Council represents a boost to our Public Image activities of about $1.2 million.
Centenary Book
As part of the R100 celebrations a 350 plus page, quality, colour, hard cover book will be available for distribution in early April.
The print run will be quite small so, for individuals who wish to pre-order a copy sooner would be better than later. The cost of the books will be $25 plus postage and orders can be placed with PDG Harry Durey by email at hdurey@bigpond.com
One free copy of the book will be available for every club (Rotary Clubs only, not Rotaract and not satellite clubs – sorry). The books will be sent to me and I will be doing my utmost to distribute them to clubs – not sure quite how but we’ll cross that bridge when it’s time to worry!
Your Garden Our Future
The Rotarians for Bees team and the Environment and Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) recently presented a webinar on the importance of pollinators. This video is an hour and a half long but full of great guests and wonderful ideas. Well worth a look for those keen to establish environment related projects. https://www.esrag.org/pollination-webinar-november-2nd
Polio News
As of this week the total number of Wild Polio Virus cases was 138 (56 in Afghanistan and 82 in Pakistan). For the whole of 2019 the total was 176 (29 in Afghanistan and 147 in Pakistan). Rotarians can keep up with the news in the fight against Polio at http://polioeradication.org/
A really interesting video is available about Polio surveillance efforts and cases of surveillance success. If you wonder why the EPN effort needs so much money, this video will help to answer the questions. It is also very apropos for the current COVID situation as it uses terms with which we have all become too familiar. It’s a little over 4 minutes long and worth playing to your club. Here’s the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY4AaZq9sSY
Please remember that End Polio is the District Governor’s Partner’s project for this year and both Greg and I hope that clubs and individuals will make an extra effort to support the project during 2020/21.
Rotary and COVID Vaccination
A few days ago I had an email from RI President Holger Knaack (well alright! It was a circular to all District Governors) about Rotary’s role in the COVID vaccination process.
Without diminishing our role in the eradication of polio, which remains our highest priority, Rotary does have an important role to play. Clubs are encouraged to;
- Utilize Rotary’s knowledge of vaccine safety and efficacy based on our polio eradication experience to conduct vaccination education and communication outreach in your communities. This will need to be tailored to local contexts to address unique cultural and regional needs. Your leadership will be critical in crafting the appropriate messages and strategies.
- Engage, where appropriate, with our current polio eradication partners WHO and UNICEF at the country level to offer Rotary’s support to COVID-19 response activities, including vaccination efforts.
- Partner at the local level with governments, corporations, and foundations to support Rotary activities at the country level.
Club Finder Updated
Rotary International reminds us that now is the perfect time to visit and connect with other clubs around the world through online meetings and virtual events. The updated Club Finder tool can help with this. Don’t forget to update your club’s meeting information (time, place, meeting language, and whether your club meets in person, online, or both) so fellow Rotarians and clubs can easily find you. Why not do it now?
Virtual Tour of Rotary One Centre
Since none of us will be visiting the USA any time soon, it might be a god time to take a virtual tour of the Rotary HQ – you could even take your club along.
