A Business Meeting, Pat Dalziel, Anns' Bridge Drive, a Progressive Lunch, Richard Tonkin bares all and Family Membership of Rotary?

Last Week
It was a Business Meeting but with fewer members than usual owing to three funerals and none of them Rotarians!
There was an interesting  report back on preparations for the Arts Festival.....including a name change to Art Expo and a new logotype which will appear in here in due course.  Congratulations to Roger Lloyd and his committee for reinventing the event and for the success they are having with three months to go.

Rabson Banda

Selwyn Kossuth and Mark Franklin

We welcomed two visitors, Rabson Banda, a Rotaractor from Nairobi, Kenya and Selwyn Kossuth from the Rotary Club of Mississauga, Canada







Rotary Africa - Rotary Ann Pat Dalziel's 100th Birthday
The latest issue of Rotary Africa has a very interesting article about Pat Dalziel.

Rotary Anns' Bridge Drive 13th May.

They have appealed to us to supply prizes for this and I know that some Rotarians also participate in the Bridge Drive.  Wine or chocolates seem to be the most popular prizes. 
The Anns always help us with the Art Expo and we always help out with the Bridge Drive.  Prizes can be given to Les Short at a Rotary Meeting.




Progressive Lunch Saturday 21st March
If you are going just be in touch with Pam Donaldson as soon as possible.

This Week
Richard Tonkin is going to reveal all!.....and we will picture it in The Ramble, a world scoop!

A family affair; Rotary Club of Tagbilaran, Philippines

Chartered: 1970

Original membership: 25

Membership: 44

Share alike: The seaside city of Tagbilaran on the island of Bohol attracts scuba divers entranced by stunning coral reefs; on land, sun-seeking tourists tramp in the shadows of the otherworldly conical humps known as the Chocolate Hills. The Rotary Club of Tagbilaran meets needs in the city and the agricultural and mining-centred areas beyond.

Club innovation: Many residents of Tagbilaran who might want to join Rotary found the cost and time commitment prohibitive. To attract them, the club allowed shared memberships between family members. 

Victor Bantol is a “strong believer in the good works of Rotary,” he says. Yet he was a reluctant joiner, to hear his wife, “Baby” Louella Bantol, tell it. In 1998, she says, Victor was required to join by his then-boss, a member of a club on Mindanao island. Victor’s membership led to Louella’s involvement, because his job as an engineer entailed travel to manage a mine on another island. “In my husband’s absence, he always asked me to represent him at the club meetings and project implementations,” Louella says. “I came to love Rotary.” She joined and eventually served as club president and assistant governor in District 3860.

Victor was impressed — and inspired. “I supported her in all activities,” he says. “I was changed and I became a very active member.” The couple’s example led the club to embrace shared family memberships as a way to involve family members. The cost of Rotary membership is a barrier for many Filipinos, says Irena Heberer, club president. Prospective members whose spouses were already Rotarians often said, “We cannot pay for one more,” Heberer says. Under the club’s new policy, a family pays for only one membership.

The Bantols became active recruiters for the club. “We invited our friends to our club meetings,” Victor says. “We showed them our projects and let them feel the importance of sharing resources with our marginalised brethren. Many became members and later became reliable club officers.”

When a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Bohol in October 2013, Rotarians were on the front lines. Victor Bantol led a team conducting rescue and recovery operations, an arduous and heartbreaking task. The Rotarians also cleared paths and repaired a bridge to allow relief aid to reach those affected.

The English-speaking club maintains a busy schedule of projects, including a symposium to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Other continuing efforts include hygiene and sanitation education and road safety tips for schoolchildren. The club partners with the Philippine Gift of Life Foundation on medical missions providing surgeries for people in need.

In an area that has increasingly become dependent on tourism, ecological projects have become a focus of the club. “Our contribution is to help protect and enhance the environment through tree and mangrove planting, coral trans-plantation, coastal and beach cleanups, and promoting a plastic-free Bohol,” says Heberer. The club also planted a friendship garden at a limestone quarry. “We hope that one day it will become a tourist destination in the province.”

The club carries out its activities with joyful vigour. “We try not to stress the members with too many serious meetings,” says Heberer. “Even if we follow rules and regulations in the regular meetings, we try to make them lively and interesting.”