A President Elects Perspective....Katrina Finn
Posted on Feb 07, 2017
It was Katrina Flinn (President Elect & recent Paul Harris Society inductee) who sneakily spread her address to the club over an extended time, before and after lunch.
While eating each member was faced with a prompting and thought provoking questionnaire about his/her motives for being in Rotary. Answering succinctly to the common theme behind questions such as: - Why do you come to Rotary each week?, Why is it important?, Why does it matter to you?, and so why are you part of Rotary? proved difficult and made one think about oneself.
Those intellectual answers touched on personal development, and altruistic contributions to society while others were more direct citing fun with friends and the camaraderie of doing something worthwhile with mates.
The main body of Katrina’s address started with a wonderful analogy from nature about teamwork. Flying geese evidently congregate so that each enjoys some uplift from those around it, somewhat like the drag effect which cyclists employ in the “peloton” formation. Energy savings can approach 40%. Also the continual “honking” of the geese is perceived to be giving encouragement to each other.
These two features teamwork and support are keys to health in a volunteer club environment.
Touching on next Rotary year Katrina talked about membership, reviews of our existing and possible new projects, and fund raising developments as obvious foci. Each will be addressed in a concentrated manner at different but limited periods so as to preclude any perpetual diversion.
Cognizant of the roles to be filled and individual members capacity Katrina told how she was in the midst of framing next year's team and each members part. We were reminded of that remark of DG Neville John to “give whatever time you have free however small...that will do”. Good luck Katrina all past presidents especially understand the task.