AN ongoing commitment to the local community, Australian community and international community will guide the Rotary Club of Kerang in its 59th year.
The 24-member club held its annual changeover dinner at the Kerang Valley Resort on Friday night, to celebrate the past 12 months and induct a new board.
More than 70 people attended the dinner, including visitors from numerous other service clubs and community groups, as well as the Cohuna U3A Young at Heart singers, who provided entertainment throughout the night.
Outgoing president Terry Ayres praised all club members for their hard work during the year as he handed the reins to Annette Kelly.
“With an energetic club to deal with the challenges as they have so often done in the past – with their knowledge of what needed to be done – the club was sure to manage the projects that came our way,” he said.
Mr Ayres said the club had undertaken a wide variety of projects during the past 12 months, including the Art Show, the Cambodia Schoolies Alternative Trip, providing care packs to Kerang District Health, hosting another World’s Greatest Meal, and raising money for an Indigenous scholarship.
The club donated more than $15,000 in 2015-16, including sums of more than $2000 to the Rotary Foundation, the ARH Indigenous Medical Scholarship, Shelter Box Australia and Polio Plus.
“Polio still exists in two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – and Rotary has had a difficult time getting the job done, but with contributions such as ours and many others, we will get there,” Mr Ayres said.
“The current polio case statistics stand at 40 cases this year, compared with more than a thousand a day prior to the program beginning.”
New president, Annette Kelly said one of her primary aims over the next 12 months would be to show the community that the club’s members are “Rotarians serving humanity”, which is the 2016-17 Rotary International theme.
The changeover dinner included the induction of new member John Heitbaum, and Mrs Kelly said two more people would join the club’s ranks in coming weeks.
“I look forward to our year ahead knowing the excellent team of the Rotary Club of Kerang will proudly achieve so much for our local community, our Australian community and our international community,” Mrs Kelly said.
Other 2016-17 board members include president elect Gail Hogg, vice president Terry Ayres, secretary Karen Davey, treasurer Sid Hutchinson, project management director Gerardine Prendergast, Rotary Foundation director Chris Ellis, public relations director Ron Kelly and membership director Jenny Kelly.
