Immediate Past District Governor Dianne North would like to congratulate all the clubs in our District for the effort they have put into the 2019-20 Rotary year. It wasn’t an easy year for anyone. We started the year in drought, then the bushfires hit and destroyed many areas in our District. Just as we thought things were coming good COVID-19 hit us. This has severely impacted on many club activities – community service, fundraising and social. All clubs should be congratulated on the way they adapted to the many challenges that occurred during the year.

 

It was a difficult decision for the Committee as to which clubs should receive the District Awards which are usually presented at the District Changeover. There are so many clubs in our District doing amazing work in their local communities and internationally. It was appreciated that Assistant Governors helped by making recommendations. IPDG Dianne has now enjoyed visiting clubs to personally present these awards.

 

Now that all clubs have received their awards it is time to congratulate them all and announce who the recipients are.

 

Best Club – The Rotary Club of Strathfield leads the District in many areas. The club has two International projects in Sri Lanka, for which their International Service Director, Thaya Ponniah, received an Avenues of Service Award from Rotary International. The members organised a very special, very moving online ANZAC Day service. The members are very active with their Interact Club, Homebush Boys High School, and the Strathfield Rotaract Club. The club received a Significant Service Award from Rotary International for all the community service work carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2019-20 the Club received a Rotary Citation with a Platinum Distinction and was among the top three clubs in the District for per capita giving to The Rotary Foundation.

 

Best PR and Marketing – The Rotary Club of Granville – Many of their activities receive great recognition and coverage in the local media and are also mentioned in State Parliament regularly. With such events as their International Women’s Day Awards, an Information night, where they gained several new members, and Graffiti Removal Day, they always manage to get local politicians and dignitaries to attend and participate.

 

Best International Project – The Rotary Club of Illawarra Sunrise has sent a medical and dental mission to The Philippines in January every year for many years with teams of doctors, nurses, dentists and many people capable of providing manual labour skills. Work undertaken includes immunisations, dental treatment, building homes, providing computers to local schools, toys, shoes and clothing to the locals, and many other things. This is a partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Glenhaven in District 9685, the Rotary Club of Seaton in District 1175 in England and the Rotary Club of Metro Bacolod in District 3850 in The Philippines.

 

Best Local Community Project – The Rotary Club of Kings Cross held a Paws4aCause Dog Show at Rushcutters Bay Park in October 2019. There were many stalls available on the day with such things as dog portraits, children’s face painting and veterinarian advice. There were lots of dog competitions including fancy dress, best hairdo and best dressed pooch. This was a highly successful event attracting crowds of people from everywhere wanting to show off their dogs.

 

Best Vocational Community Project – The Rotary Club of Padstow has run the Youth Vocational Awards for many years now. The hospitality students enjoy highlighting their skills by serving some delicious food to start the awards evening. The awards recognise all those students who are studying trades at high school. These students don’t usually receive such recognition.

 

Best Youth Initiative/Project – The Rotary Club of Macarthur Sunrise runs Discobility four times a year. It is an evening of music, dancing and karaoke for young people with a disability to give them a chance to enjoy some fun with their friends and carers. Everyone gets pizza, chicken, drinks, pies and ice cream. The DJ does a great job and has a good rapport with everybody. Everyone has a lot of fun with lots of loud music, dancing and lots of laughs.

 

Best Club Bulletin – The Rotary Club of Concord regularly produces a high quality, very informative bulletin with lots of Rotary information, local history and newsworthy stories. There is one thing that really brightens my week, and that is reading the weekly bulletin from the Rotary Club of Concord.