It seems only a few weeks since Jama Farah asked me to be president elect (PE) for his year as president. In a fit of absence of mind, I said, yes. We are now nearly at the end of my first month having had the Changeover night, the District’s changeover night, a second meeting at The Plough Hotel and soon to come, my first Zoom Board meeting. Apart from that, there’s been a Zoom meeting of our cluster’s Presidents and a veritable e-blizzard of emails from everywhere except someone in Nigeria offering me a fortune.  Read More...

Welcome to the new Rotary Year of 2021-22, the Centenary year of Rotary here in Australia and New Zealand in which we follow the lead of our Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta and ‘Serve to Change Lives.’

In between two Covid lockdown restrictions, on 10th July at Hyatt Essendon Fields, 250 Rotarians came together to celebrate the District 9800 Changeover. It was wonderful to enjoy face to face friendship and fellowship again.

Clubs across the District, in many cases forced to juggle dates due to COVID restrictions, hosted their changeover events. Both Maureen and I, plus other members of the District Leadership group attended all Changeovers across the District and we were all impressed by the extent of community activity and impact over the last 12 months especially during the difficult COVID period. 

The District Networker Newsletter will be issued twice a month commencing the first and third week of August.

Our District website has been updated and District events will continue to be published under 'Upcoming Events' on the home page.

The popular Morning Tea with the DG will continue on Saturday mornings commencing August varying the format to include themed events and some interactive sessions. 

Any other feedback on enhancing communication across the District will be gratefully received.

On behalf of the District Leadership team, we look forward to working with clubs and Rotarians to help increase our community impact over the next 12 months.

Dale Hoy

We are now in the peak of club changeovers and DGE Dale, DGN Amanda, DGND Ron, partners and I have been greatly enjoying every event. I know I speak for all the G-train members when I say how amazing it is to see the incredible spread of Rotary activities across the District; to take in the atmosphere of every club; and to learn about the many successes that clubs have achieved during the 2020/21 year with the projects they have undertaken that make such a difference in the world. We are also buoyed by the plans that club leadership teams have for the year ahead.

I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all Centenary Presidents and club leadership teams for your incredible efforts in ‘Opening Opportunities’ through what has been a challenging year.   Read More...

By Dale Hoy

How fortunate we were, after having to change the date of the District 9800 Changeover to Saturday 10^th July, to be able to have 250 Rotarians meet between two Victorian COVID lockdowns for an enjoyable face to face day of celebration and fellowship and the wonderful location of Hyatt Place in Essendon Fields. Read More...

By Henry Drury

Things happen on riverbanks. On Monday 8 June 1835, John Batman wrote in his journal “…that I am glad to state about 6 miles up found the river all good water and very deep. (sic) This will be the place for a village”.

That river was of course the Yarra and the village, Melbourne. Unsurprisingly, the south side of the river became South Melbourne and supported the young city with breweries, engineering works and food processing while shipping utilised the newly constructed docks and warehouses.

https://rotarydistrict9800.org.au/stories/southbank-rotary/

By Fabienne Nichola

A group of Rotary Clubs have been invited to collaborate and create an 8-kilometre Melbourne Pollinator Corridor (MPC) from the Botanical Gardens to Port Melbourne. This initiative is inspired by Emma Cutting who has led a street garden project in the very densely populated urban area of South Melbourne. For more details see the The Heart Gardening website and Emma’s Instagram page. Read More...

By Past District Governor Julie Mason AM

It is always delightful to welcome new members to Wyndham Rotary – new members bring new project ideas. And so it was that we found out about an opportunity to make a difference in India.

The new project was to prevent avoidable blindness across all age groups, with beneficiaries located in remote villages in India that had no access to primary or tertiary eye care. This project motivated Wyndham Rotary for the first time to apply for an International Grant from The Rotary Foundation.

https://rotarydistrict9800.org.au/stories/blindness-prevention-in-india/

District 9800’s ‘Innovation During COVID’ Award Recipient

Each year Rotary Castlemaine’s national Truck Show brings over 200 trucks (and lots of spectators) to the Mount Alexander Shire and raises in excess of $40,000 for a range of community projects and local charities. With COVID-19 restrictions, the 32nd annual Truck Show scheduled for 28-29 November 2020 had to be reimagined. Read More...

By John Granger

History and culture have weaved wondrous paths in Fitzroy. Football club photographs at the North Fitzroy Arms Hotel provide insights of the old town showing flint-eyed teams of serious, tough men with laser-parted oiled hair. The 1944 premiership team was Fitzroy’s last and, nearly 80 years on the team’s remnants reside in Brisbane. Read More...

By Jane Pennington 

The Rotary Leadership Institute

The Rotary Leadership Institute Program presents a wonderful opportunity for experienced Rotarians, new members and indeed people interested in finding out more about Rotary to take some time to experience the history, current and new initiatives related to this great organisation we call Rotary.

This four-part program is now available online. Read More...

Happy Belated Birthday to our July birthday folks!

Angus Scott-Walker -9^th

Emanuel Tumino – 11^th

Robert Newman – 28^th

Maria Silber – 29^th

August Birthdays!

Diane McGrath – 20^th  

Rotary Leadership Institute Program
August 8, 2021, 11:00 am to August 8, 2021, 12:30 pm

The Rotary Leadership Institute Program presents a wonderful opportunity for experienced Rotarians, new members and indeed people interested in finding out more about Rotary to take some time to experience the history, current and new initiatives related to this great organisation we call Rotary.

DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION WORKSHOPS
September 19, 2021, 9:30 am to September 26, 2021, 1:00 pm

Help Build a Better Rotary

The workshops are for Rotary club Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champions or Rotarians who have an interest in creating change and ensuring their Rotary club is more inclusive and supportive of the community.

• 19th September in Melbourne, registration at: https://www.trybooking.com/BSZOD

• 26th September in Woodend, registrations at: https://www.trybooking.com/BSJQN

These FREE workshops are led by 'Courage to Care’ and will explore:

• Creating awareness of the dangers of prejudice, racism and discrimination

• Educating to challenge attitudes and behaviours

• Demonstrating that every individual can make a difference

• Transforming “bystander” behaviour to “upstander”

Each Workshop is funded by D9800 and will conclude with a light lunch.

Community Event Open Day
October 9, 2021, 8:00 am to October 9, 2021, 4:00 pm

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS

Join us to celebrate 100 years of Essendon Airport

A day celebrating our past, present and future.

VOLUNTEER SHIFTS
9.30am - 12.30pm
12pm - 3pm
On site parking, event entry, coffee and lunch vouchers provided.
All event parking proceeds go direct to the Rotary Club. 

To register to volunteer contact:
Rod Gurry
Rotary Club of Essendon North
0412 338 844
rodgurry@hotmail.com

Rotary Zone 8 Virtual Conference
September 11, 2021, 10:00 am to September 12, 2021, 4:00 pm