Bags for Blokes was the topic presented this week at the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge by Dr Elizabeth Crawley pictured here with President Jenny Alexander Walters and Chairperson Penny Heighes. Elizabeth's children became alarmed at the number of homeless men they saw in Adelaide and were the trigger to together with her to start Bags for Blokes. They had seen a Van with laundry and washing machine near Vinnes and this developed a different understanding of homelessness. There appeared to be a gap in the services for men and boys so this is the support path they took. This started 5 years ago and they have now distributed over 400 bags and are looking for further support. The bags contain items like socks, jocks, drink bottle, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, towels, band aids, ponchos, antiseptic wipes, combs, shaving cream and razors. The Rotarians present promised to continue support. Its a great example of someone in the community taking Action. Well done the Crawley family. John Scarvelis
Fresh Oysters
Fresh Franklin Bay oysters delivered to Murray Bridge on the same day they are harvested from the sea.
$20.00 per dozen. This is a fund-raiser for Claude & Liz's grandson Max to travel to England for school boys cricket.
District Assembly Sunday 30th March 2025 Observatory 23, Hackney Road
Over 200 Rotarians gathered together to hear, learn and reflect on their club’s current practices with a view to improve the experience of current members while offering opportunities to attract new members.
The change of venue, format and the topics covered, allowed Rotary Club Board members to sit in groups and share the discussions, making real connections from the speakers to the current situations in our club.
District Governor-Elect, Rajeev welcomed assembly attendees, then shared RIPE Mario Cesar Martins de Camargo from Brazil's vision and message for the 2025-26 Rotary year - ‘UNITE FOR GOOD’.
Morning sessions included coverage of The Rotary Foundation, Regional adaptability - Zone 8 Pilot, the Regional Council and District 9510 Board and Committee structure. President-elects or their nominees also voted on the Budget approval which will be used to set the Club fees for the coming year.
Breakout Sessions covered
Youth and Community Programs
The Role of the Secretary
International Service Programs/Projects
The Role of the Treasurer
The breaks throughout the day were eagerly used to network with members of other clubs or catching up with Rotary friends
The afternoon session covered the ever important topic of Governance - What every club needs to consider regarding Governance, risk, protection and insurance - where we met the district officers and learned that in every club there is always room for improvement in this area. Our club will be sharing more information in this area in the coming months.
Finally our IT guru, Robin lead a session on the updated IT tools that we have to support all Rotgarians and the work they undertake
My personal thanks to those who attended, participated in the discussions, and brought back ideas for our club to grow into the next Rotary year
Roxanne President-elect
President-Elect Training
Saturday 29th March at Observatory 23, Hackney Road
Candidates started the day with viewing the 2025-26 RI President, Mario Cesar Martins de Camargo from Brazil's message for the coming Rotary year. He charged us with ‘not waiting for change - We need to MAKE IT HAPPEN - We need to UNITE FOR GOOD’
The aim of the day’s training was to provide us with an understanding of our role as a volunteer leader, being the coach of our club members. Throughout the day we gained knowledge that our role as a President will be about being an adaptable volunteer leader. We gained information about working with Presidents from within our Community Group (Group 7), understanding that our Rotary Community Leader is our coach and mentor
We spent time understanding the Rotary International Action Plan’s four areas of focus for growing our club
Increase our IMPACT
Expand our REACH
Enhance participant ENGAGEMENT
Increase our ability to ADAPT
We were given information on the current and evolving District Structure, the Zone 8 Regionalisation Adaptability Pilot, Rotary Community Groups, The Specialist Network and their roles and how personnel within each of these roles can help our club.
Finally, we shared a renewed understanding about the importance of membership - retaining members by enhancing their engagement and new membership opportunities
All of this was covered while completing a 53-page work booklet, recording ideas, opportunities and linking us to experts who will be able to support Presidents in their roles.
Roxanne President-elect
A Letter From Dorcas - School of St Jude
CALENDAR WINNERS
1st April
Draw Date
Value
Winning No.
Winner
Location
Sold by
1.4.25
$100
49
Janette August
Murray Bridge
Rotary
$50
882
Yvonne Hurrell
Goolwa
Goolwa Rotary
Object of Rotary
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.
