Our Club Christmas party was a great success.  The venue was ideal giving the younger people the choice of running around outside or playing with the pool table or table soccer. The food was good and plentiful - thank you to John Whimpress and his catering team and all those who helped serve and clear up. Carol singing led by Sam Cozens and his musicians/singers was very popular. The children loved the Night Before Christmas especially the presents that were given out by Father Christmas. Above all the company was extremely good.

Our next Christmas celebration is our Christmas Breakfast 7.00am at the home on John and Bev Scarvelis this coming Tuesday - always a great way to start the day.

A large number of people attended Brenton Lewis’s funeral and it was a great salute to a man who has done so much for Murray Bridge. I came away knowing Brenton better as those close to him spoke about Brenton’s life, his achievements and his vision for Murray Bridge.

This coming Tuesday we have our Christmas Breakfast at 7.00am, hosted by John and Bev Scarvelis. I know it is early in the morning but, the forecast is good, The venue is good, the cooked breakfast is good, and the company is extremely good.

To those who cant make this final meeting for this year I wish you a very happy Christmas filled with a lot of love and laughter and I will see you all at our first meeting of 2025 on January 7th.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas filled with warmth, laughter, and the joy of making a difference. I thank you for your dedication to Rotary and the communities we serve, making a difference to the world.

Below are some thoughts from the Regional Council

Does our club want to better meet the needs of our current and prospective members, better represent the community we serve, or provide a more inclusive club experience?

Adopting flexible membership and meeting options can help us attract new audiences, diversify our club, and make our members more engaged.

Read on to learn about the three key tactics our club can use to become more flexible!

Offer alternative membership types

By offering alternative types of membership, you can attract members who traditionally were unable or unwilling to join a Rotary club due to factors such as cost and time commitment. Such people could include busy professionals or people with young families.

These are some types of alternative membership options:

• Family membership

• Young professional membership

• Associate membership

• Corporate membership for business leaders and their employees

Or we can create our own membership type to meet the specific needs of our members!

Each type of membership can have its own policies on dues, attendance, and service expectations, which must be documented in our club bylaws. Rotary will count these people as members of our club if they pay Rotary International dues and are reported as active members in My Rotary.

Change your meeting format

By changing how and where you club meets, you can make your meetings more fun and engaging, and more inclusive for members who can’t attend traditional meetings.

Your club can meet in person or online, alternate between the two, or offer a hybrid meeting.

You can also change the format of your in-person meetings from the traditional meal and speaker to include service projects, leadership development, committee meetings and social gatherings. Some clubs even rotate where and how they meet!

For more information, download the start guide for flexible meeting formats.

Relax attendance requirements / reduce meeting frequency

These simple measures can make it easier for members with busy schedules to participate to your club in ways that are meaningful to them.

By focusing less on attending meetings, your members can contribute in other ways such as working on a service project, adopting a leadership role, or updating your club’s social media channels.

If your club meets in some way at least twice per month, you’ll meet Rotary International’s meeting requirements.

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

• FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
• SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
• THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
• FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.