Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Western Endeavour - Issue No.: 1117 Issue Date: 28 Apr, 2024

This is just a short article giving a brief discription of my encounter with Rotary District 1850's Governor. He attended our Rotary meeting last monday night(28/08) to give a speech on his philosophies on how Rotary in Germany could be bettered.

I am however very sorry to report that I have completely forgotten the gentleman's name. It's not very customary to make a big fuss out of names here in Germany and as a result I don't know his name, nor the first name of my club President. Sorry!

Anyways, moving along, I mentioned that the Governor spoke to us as a club on some of his philosophies on how Rotary in Germany can be made better and I have to say, he's on the money with a few points. To outline the main ones, he suggested more events in Rotary with female involvement, he also encouraged the club members to take an active interest in their exchange student(where was this man in February!?) and he highlighted the importance of equality among club members. For example, he suggested there be no specific seating plan for the President and his Vice, Secretary etc. Instead he suggested the President intergrate with other members and hold the meeting from his chosen position. An interesting suggestion, but also a valuable one I thought, because German Rotary is very elite and too much importance is placed on each man's position in the social ladder.

I spoke with The Governor after the meeting and he was delighted to hear me speaking with him in German and even more delighted when I proudly announced I come from Perth, Australia. His son, I soon discovered, is currently a doctor in Melbourne.

It was very encouraging to see such an influentual man with a warm and friendly demeanour, in a position of power in Rotary, it doesn't happen often here in Germany, so hopefully some changes could be on the way!

That's all for now folks. Until next time!