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At this weeks meeting (19.10.06) of Donaghadee Rotary Club President Mark Brooks welcomed District Governor Howard Caskie, Anne Johnston President of Donaghadee Ladies Probus Club, Patricia McMillan President of Copeland Ladies Probus Club, Liz Adams President Cloughy Ladies Probus Club and Rex Armstrong Vice-President of Shoreline Probus Club. Mark then outlined the part played by Les Jones, a Rotarian for over 40 years, in founding Probus Clubs in the area. Les was a member of Newtownards Rotary Club when he formed his first probus club in his hometown of Donaghadee. Donaghadee Men’s Probus Club came into being in 1976 closely followed by Newtownards Probus Club. It was 1986 before Portaferry Probus Club was formed with many of the founder members coming from Kearney. As Donaghadee Men’s Probus club had a waiting list Les decided it was time to form another club so Shoreline Club was formed in 1994. Always one for the ladies Les thought it was about time there was a female element in Probus so Donaghadee Ladies Probus arrived in 1997. Cloughy Ladies Probus Club came into being in 2003. Initially they had only 6 members but now they have 18 very dedicated club members. As Donaghadee Ladies were at their full capacity with a large waiting list Les set about forming yet another Ladies Club so Copeland Ladies Probus emerged in 2005. There are seven very active clubs in this area and still counting. President Mark Brooks then asked District Governor Howard Caskie to present Les Jones with a Triple Paul Harris Award. Howard Caskie then explained that the Paul Harris Awards were originated to raise money for the Paul Harris Fellowship. In G.B. a Paul Harris Award is given by a Rotary Club in recognition of the work by the recipient for the club and Rotary in general. Howard pointed out that this was the first triple award in the District. He said that there was no one more worthy than Les and the District thanked him. The D.G. said that it was a pleasure to come again to Donaghadee the epitome of a Rotary Club. He continued by saying that he had been visiting Rotary Clubs since 10.7.06. and hoped to visit them all by November. He pointed out that he had 3 roles ,his family, Rotary and his practice as an Optometrist. He said that the response from the clubs had been exceptional. He then outlined the busy schedule of a D.G.and explained about his Rotary training in San Diego. Howard then listed the 4 nominated areas of emphasis for this year 1.Water management 2. Health 3. Literacy 4. Hunger and more locally those nominated by the R.I.B.I. President, Barnardo’s Cancer Research and the Wheelchair Foundation Impact. The D.G.stated that he was optimistic for the District but it could do better. He said that he had seen some things which gave him concern such as Presidents with little time in Rotary, with Presidents coming through for the second time and people going from Club President to Assistant Governors. He said that we must not lose members because meetings are not interesting. He continued by saying that he wanted clubs to be more effective and to be more effective they must 1.Increase membership 2.Support Rotary Foundation 3.Implement successful Rotary Projects 4.Develop Rotary leaders i.e. District Officers He stated that where Rotary is tomorrow depends on what we do today. The District Governor then paid tribute to Mark Brooks as club president. Mark thanked him for his inspiring talk and presented him with a painting of Donaghadee Harbour by Les Jones. Mark then pointed out to the members that the club had won two awards at Conference one for attendance and one for the best web site (at www.donaghadeerotary.org). Donaghadee was the only club to win two awards. |
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