What a privilege it has been to serve as President of the Rotary Club of Dubbo South during our significant 60 year milestone in our club's history. As we celebrated 60 years since our charter in 1966, we reflected on the incredible legacy of service, fellowship and community impact built by generations of members.
This year has been filled with achievement, growth and connection. We welcomed two new members, Lyndal McRae and Santosh Koirala, whose enthusiasm and commitment will help shape the future of our club.
One of our greatest successes was reintroducing the weekly newsletter. Not only has it streamlined communication and significantly reduced the volume of emails sent to members, but it has also become an important record of our club's activities and achievements.
Ensuring our meetings remained engaging, informative and fun has seen attendance almost double throughout the year. We have been privileged to hear from an incredible range of speakers, including Joe Flick on "Bringing Them Home", representatives from the Askari Project discussing elephant conservation, Carol Mudford introducing us to Shedway, and presentations on the Nepal Eye Project, among many others.
The introduction of "Member Lessons" created some of the most entertaining meetings of the year. Few will forget George proudly wearing an apron while Sue taught members the finer points of baking packet cupcakes!
We celebrated the achievements of our youth exchange programs, particularly welcoming home Sabrina Jones from Germany and following the adventures of our inbound student Tereza, who embraced every opportunity presented to her during her year in Australia.
A highlight of our 60th Anniversary celebrations was recognising two outstanding Rotarians, David Duffy and Simon Keough, with Paul Harris Fellow recognitions for their exceptional service to Rotary and our community.
As only the second female President in the club's 60-year history, I have been humbled by the support, friendship and encouragement of our members. Together we have celebrated our past, strengthened our present and laid foundations for an exciting future.
Thank you to every member, partner and friend who has contributed to another outstanding year of Service Above Self.
