Page 3 - Rotary Matters - February 2021

DGE Jeff Neale

It is just shy of two years, 17th Feb 2019, when I was selected as
District Governor for 9510 in 2021/22. The two years and five months
away then is now only five months. Jenny and I are looking forward to
leading the District and we are excited about the opportunity to visit
every club in the District – hopefully face to face.

The last 18 months has seen us all face varying challenges in our personal lives and also in Rotary.
COVID-19 has presented one of our largest challenges. Fortunately, Rotarians have stepped up and met this
challenge with support to those in need in the community, but also many switched their meeting nights to
Zoom meetings to ensure their club was able to keep working and members were safe.

I can report that plans for the 2021/22 year are well underway. I am just putting the final touches in place
so that we can lock in training for all our leaders. All being well, training and the District assembly will
remain a face to face proposition.

Jenny and I are about to attend the International Assembly – virtually over 10 days. The first general session
is at 12.30am on Tuesday where the RI theme for 2021 will be announced.

We then have sessions each morning at 12:30am, and breakout sessions around lunchtime each day. It is
disappointing not to be attending in person, but obviously there is no way it could have gone ahead given
the current global situation. However, Rotary has done an excellent job in preparing to present the Assembly
online and from what we have seen, the experience will be as good as can be, under the circumstances.

Jenny and I would like to thank District Governor David and Lyn, and District Secretary David Fenton, for their
help and guidance in our preparations. We also acknowledge my own Rotary Club of Campbelltown and a
string of past District Governors for their support and advice.

2021-22 RI President Shekhar Mehta has announced his RI Theme for the 2020-21 year.
A Rotary member since 1984, Mehta has served Rotary as director, member or chair of several
committees, zone coordinator, training leader, member of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of
Technical Advisers, and district governor. He is also the chair of Rotary Foundation (India).

Incoming Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta
urged members to become more involved in service
projects, saying that caring for and serving others is the best way to live
because it changes not only other people’s lives, but also our own. “Rotary
kindled the spark within me to look beyond myself and embrace humanity,”
he said. “Service became a way of life for me and I, like many others, adopted
the guiding philosophy that ‘Service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on
this earth, and I want to be a good tenant of this earth."

Jenny and I are looking forward to working with and sharing this theme and the RI President’s message
throughout District 9510.

Yours in Rotary
DGE Jeff Neale

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