ROTARY OF PERTH PRESIDENT'S UPDATE - 06TH FEB 2018

I have to say it…Happy New Year! I hope you had a great Christmas and holiday break! The second half of the Rotary year is now on! And given we’re well into February with many of us having been back to work for a month now, the kids or maybe even the grand kids are all back in school, etc. its time to move on!

While we haven’t been meeting each week, there has been a tremendous amount of work keeping the wheels of the club and our projects running by so many people. Here is a quick update on a few areas to get you back up to date:

Vienna Pops. The last major event of 2017 and the first major event for 2018 was our Vienna Pops concert on New Years Eve. This year’s concert was run a little differently from the way it has been run in the 29 years past! And for a number of good reasons! Firstly, the Perth Concert Hall was undergoing renovations and as a result, we had a change of venue to Winthrop Hall at UWA (by the way, did you know that Winthrop Hall was built by the AT Brine & Sons builders…from whom the Campbell family are related?!). Secondly, we decided to run both a 2:00 p.m. matinee concert as well as the traditional NYE concert. This new format proved very popular to people who had not previously attended the concert. Many found the accessibility of the afternoon session convenient and festive and look to attend this coming New Years Eve.
 
The performances by the Vienna Pops orchestra and the individual performances by our line up of professional performers was enjoyed by all. Max Wung, our 12 year old locally grown Cellist was perhaps one of the stand out musicians on the day. Thanks to the continued work of Barry Thornton, both Max and the club received great publicity on this ongoing community supportive event.
 
In all, over 1500 persons attended the two concerts. We typically sell around 1200 tickets to the single concert each year so it looks like we will continue what could be a new tradition at the 2018 Vienna Pops Concert! Of course, with the change of venues, format, and the addition of new members to our Vienna Pops team, there were some hurdles to overcome but to the audience, there was nothing but praise and admiration of the fantastic performances on the day and night! I’d like to thank in particular, Mark Coughlan, our Artistic Director and Conductor on the evening, Jill Dawson, Ashley Whitworth, Hugh Stowell, Minh Dang, Wesley Sim, Amanda Stephenson, and Joseph Wambua for stepping up and “taking action!” Without the selflessness of our members, our club could hardly achieve what it has!
 
On the home front, PP Graham Peden, Dom Carrington, Beatrice Cervi, and Kathy Kusinski and a number of other members have for much of the year been hard at work contributing to the planning, paperwork, approvals, and now the management of subbies for the fitout of our new Rotary HQ (same building but on level 5). With the unyielding support of PP Jeff Leach, the future home of the club and District will support and facilitate the club’s ability to achieve even greater things. Handover is scheduled for 7 Feb and representatives from both the RCP and District are meeting together this week to discuss fitout, audio visual, and IT needs. Please stay tuned in the coming days/week for the call out for ‘all hands on deck’ when we will need assistance to physically move furniture and items from Level 1 to Level 5.   Pictures coming soon………
 
PP Larry Hirsch has also been working hard behind the scenes to organise the first Rotary Means Business Event of the year. In the coming weeks, Larry and the RMB team will be making a special announcement on RMB which recognises the great work that Rotary and more importantly, Rotarians do for the community.
 
No doubt you will find in this week’s bulletin a number of projects and events that are in the final or near final stages of planning. There are so many opportunities for members and even non-members to get involved in. All you need to do is ask and your support will no doubt be appreciated!
 
Among some of the areas of support needed are:
 
Chinese New Years lunch on 16 Feb 2018. We’ve got three inductions planned for the day, Chinese Lion Dancers, and the Deputy Consul General of China in attendance
 
One in a Million Dinner on 22 March 2018 with the Rotary Club of Crawley. This is a joint project with the RCC where our two clubs are working to raise the profile of grass roots efforts to address the issue of homelessness in the Perth community. Auction items and your attendance is needed! Please see Jill Dawson if you can assist.
 
Stitches of Hope Sleeping Bag Project. We’re now in Stage two of the campaign. Members of the team are in Cambodia checking on the status of the manufacture of the sleeping bags by the local sewing team. In a couple of months, these will be shipped by sea to Perth where we’ll finalise the fund raising effort prior to gifting these sleeping bags to needing people. If you can support financially (each sleeping bag costs $50) or can assist in the marketing and distribution of sleeping bags, please contact Alta Terblanche.
 
Rotaract Masquerade Charity Ball 10 March 2018. Let’s support the efforts of our Rotaract Club who are organising the gala event in support of the Perth Homelessness Support Group. We’ve committed to buying at least one table! Please contact Jill Dawson if you’d like to join it! The Rotaract Club is also seeking items for their auction. Please contact the Rotaract President, Renu Pantula (president@rotaractperth.org.au) if you can assist.
 
There is so much happening and these are just some of the ways that you can get involved in serving our community. There is no way we coast into the second half of the RCP year! Thank you for all that you do to serve!
 
Join Leaders. Exchange Ideas. Take Action.
Yours in Rotary, Stephen Inoyue - President - Rotary of Perth 2017/2018