A Sign of the Times

After much presidential prevarication I finally managed to pull my finger out of you-know-where and had a sign made and installed on the facade of the Parkview Golf Club advertising our meetings. The sign was as discreet as the Parkview club required and looks suitably classy.

Mike Vink and Jerry Fraser, general manager of the Parkview Golf Club, flank the new sign at the front door to the clubhouse

     Because the sign was made by a regular supplier to Rotary, it cost only R1200. Signco have been doing Rotary work for many years and even sent someone to install the sign last week free of charge.

The new sign up close.It has the blessing of the Parkview Golf Club

     We owe big word of thanks to Signco for their great, prompt and friendly service. I was told that they also do Rotary banners and such like, so if we ever need anything like that, we'll know where to go.

Club Assembly
     Last week's meeting was taken up by a discussion on leadership in the club and took the form of a club assembly rather than an ordinary meeting. The turnout was good and the discussion lively. Ian Widdop led the discussion with the theme of how you lead a club of about two dozen strong-willed people, all of whom have different but real demands on their time.

Ian Widdop explaining a point

     He came up with the phrase of co-resolve, where the leader seeks to gain the wisdom of the group, or to put it differently, where he or she seeks to gain everybody's wisdom in the process of leadership.
     In a club like ours leadership cannot be imposed on the members. This leads to questions such as: how do we lead each other (given that the presidency revolves annually and most members would have to take a turn at some stage); how do we as members follow the club leader at any time? The third question is how do we support the club leadership?
     Relying on a simple majority, in other words, is often not enough in these circumstances.
     In support of these points the president pointed out that a proper succession plan, where prospective club leaders serve in administrative positions before taking on the presidency, needs to be in place so that there is not a scrabble to fine somebody, anybody who is willing to be president, at the last moment.

Once and future leaders ... Amina Frense was president in 2012-13 and Paul, who understands the club probably better than anyone else, has yet to lead it (hint!)

      Paul Kasango noted that New Dawn has always been a vibrant club, although there have been a few wobbles in the past. More people need a willingness to help with administrative tasks and other things, even if it is just to make sure that the flags and banners are put up in the mornings when we meet, that attendance is reported at the meetings and so on.

     The president said if the administrative work - filling in endless forms for District and Rotary International, for example - could be shared, there would be more time for, and effort put into, our charity work.
     Carol Stier pointed out that if the workload was spread out a bit, the club could be more hands-on involved in projects of our choosing.
     Julian Nagy said that because we're a small club, we need to be more focused and to do that, we need to agree on where that focus must be, and on the strategies to follow to allow them to bear fruit. The club gets drawn into things like the annual blanket drive which are not always directly linked to the results we aim to get.
     After a number of other members had spoken, Ian said the social leadership model is also a fellowship model, where members want to be relaxed in each others' company, which makes it easy for more members, especially newer members, to slot into a more supportive role. Members need to help each other .

Greg Smith and Julian Nagy listen to the debate.

       Julian offered to put together a one page summary of what each official post in the club requires. Several members pointed out that although a lot of this type of information is available on the RI website, it is often quite a problem to find it quickly.
     To summarise: a club board has to consist of the president, his secretary and the foundation officer. A treasurer is also a requirement.
     Clubs can then decide on someone to run projects and fundraising (separately or jointly), membership, youth matters and so on.
     Between us we'll have to decide whether to try to go back to a system of committees that meet monthly, or try to achieve the same goal with more ad hoc arrangements while still asking people to volunteer to be members of specific committees.
     This was a very interesting discussion and should be followed up in the new year.
     In the light of this, it is now a good time to ask for nominations for a president to follow Carol Stier. Remember the rules: if you ant to nominate someone, you need to ask that person whether they'd be willing to serve. If not, you cannot nominate them. If they are, you just need someone to second the nomination and pass the name along to either myself or Carol.

Matters arising
     Debbie Smith is the board member responsible for membership and will be approaching one or two people to help her forge ties in the Parkview and surrounds community to help membership grow. This year has been a good one for membership, with the first real growth in quite a few years.
     The next chapter is of course the induction of Debbie de Vries, who'll be our 24th member. At the last board meeting it was decided, and accepted, that she will be inducted at the Christmas party on 9 December making it an even more festive affair (more on the party below).
     To repeat what's happening in the upcoming weeks: this week will be the last club meeting for the year. The following Wednesday, 7 December, there will be NO MEETING.
     The first meeting in the new year will be on 11 January.

Apart from being a trumpeter, arranger and composer, Bruce also plays the EVI, a sort of electronic trumpet, pictured here

Speaker
     The speaker this week is Bruce Cassidy, my brother-in-law. Bruce is a Canadian jazz trumpeter and played with the American rock group Blood, Sweat and Tears in its heyday. Linda will be asking him questions and members must feel free to do the same.
     Bruce will tell the story of how he came to play the EVI as his new instrument of choice. If you're curious, come to the meeting, as he'll be demonstrating it!
     Paul Kasango attended a Foundation seminar the Saturday before last and we'll make time for him to report on it.

Cycle Race
     The Fast One 2017 cycle race takes place on Sunday, 29 January next year and New Dawn has pledged 12 marshals.
     Please confirm with Linda if you can help out on the day. It is a difficult race to marshal and the organizers need all the help they can get.
     Last year we were able to leave early enough to be back in Johannesburg in time for lunch.

The Christmas turkey before Greg gets hold of it!

Christmas Party
     We're looking for three volunteers to help carve the turkeys at the Christmas dinner this year.
     There was a carving competition at a Christmas dinner a few years ago (or was it at Alex Gano's Thanksgiving dinner? I can't quite remember, but it could have been.)
     The winner that night was Greg Smith, judged by a panel of professional chefs, so if Greg and Debbie can make it to the dinner this year, we'll be looking in his direction!
     This year the food is being served on planks that run the length of the table and we want to bring three turkeys to the table for effect. Once all the oohs and ahas have died down, the three carvers can start doing their thing. Whether they want to make a competition out of it is entirely up to them!
     There's no pressure, but I'm looking in the direction of the likes of Mike MacDonald, Julian, Ian and Paul and also hoping one of the women will volunteer either to carve the turkey or for Lucille's salmon!
PS: We're still looking for a few items to auction at the Christmas dinner so if you have something suitable, please let either Linda or I know. We've had great success with the auctions in the past and will eat to emulate it this year.
     A Thought for the Week: A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)