It’s the Sunday morning of Labour Weekend and as a write this report I have one last little job on the Chip van before it has its first outing following the refurbishment. It’s looking amazing both inside and out, with a huge thankyou to all the Rotarians who contributed to this project. It would however be remiss of me if I didn’t acknowledge the contribution that Doug Ridley has made on many days over the last couple of months to see this project to completion. Thankyou Doug.

We have made a small change to the speakers roster and we will be meeting this week as we have a speaker who will challenge our emotions and perspective on life. Dan Griffin is on a crusade to prolong his life for as long as he can so he can spend valuable time with his young family. If you would like more information before Thursday, then have a read of the article in the Southland Times.

We have decided to put our auction night back by a week to the 24th of November, so please get stuck in this week and help Sandra and her team to pull together a great list of items to auction.

For those of you who weren’t present at last weeks meeting, Brian presented a discussion document on behalf of the directors regarding how and when we meet, the frequency and the cost of meals which have gone up to $25 effective this week. The document is included in this bulletin.
A couple of members have expressed a concern that we should not be moving away from weekly meetings, however this is a discussion document for all members, and nothing will be confirmed until everyone has had their say.

There may not be much of a change in the leaderboard with the vast majority going NZ & SA but there are a couple hoping to jump a few places on the ladder. Still 12 points available next week with 4 for the Three vs Four and 8 for the Final.

We discussed the attached paper at our last committee meeting.  In the light of increasing meal costs, we agreed to circulate to our membership, with the recommendation that we reduce meeting frequency from weekly to fortnightly.

 

I agreed to review the paper to see if it remained current.  I believe it does, given that it was drafted as a discussion document.  Please circulate with the next edition of the bulletin, together with the following text:

 

All members will by now have been made aware of increasing meal costs. This development has led your Committee to re-visit the attached paper, which was drafted earlier this year as a discussion document.  You will note that the paper makes no specific recommendation.  However, in the light of prevailing circumstances, the Committee recommends that we should reduce the frequency of our meetings from weekly to fortnightly, with effect from 2024.  

 

This would have the following advantages:

• It would reduce the monthly cost to members, in spite of the increase in meal prices
• It would reduce two of the perceived barriers to membership
  • It would cost too much
  • It would take too much of my time
• It would reduce the difficulty of finding high quality speakers
• It would make it easier for members to commit to the role of President

 

Please review this recommendation in the light of the broader issues raised in the paper.  A vote will be taken on the frequency of our meetings in the near future.