Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley In Touch August 2014 | Page 5

Presidential Message
bership. After 37 years of following me in Rotary,
my wife, Corinna, finally became a Rotarian last
year. We attended the chartering of a new club in
Taiwan together, and she said, "It's time for me
to become a Rotarian too!" So she joined that
club. And soon, so did a lot of other people. Now
that club has 102 members, and it's the secondlargest club in Taiwan.
Inviting our spouses into Rotary isn't just about
getting our numbers up. It addresses the reality
that Rotary still has far more men as members
than it does women, and that is something we
need to work on. When we bring more women
into Rotary, our clubs become more appealing to
prospective female members – and become more
productive as well.
This year we are going to have something new in
Rotary: a membership support team pin. This
means that if you invite a new member into Rotary, you get a special pin to wear with your Rotary
gearwheel. But we all know that the job of growing membership doesn't end when a new member joins. It ends only when a new member is
AUGUST 2014
enjoying being a Rotarian and never wants to
In Rotary, we mark August as Membership and leave! And making sure that our clubs are enjoyExtension Month. There is a good reason why we able places to be is a key part of growing memremind ourselves of the importance of member- bership.
ship early in every Rotary year: because the job of
growing our membership is one that we can nev- People come into Rotary for all kinds of reasons,
er begin too soon. It is also a job that we can but they stay because Rotary is fun to be a part of.
never stop working on. In order to keep serving, So I want to remind all of you to have fun in your
Rotary always needs to be growing!
clubs and your districts. Rotary is based on the
idea that our service is more effective when we
We have talked for many years about the impor- serve together with our friends. So let's enjoy our
tance of the family of Rotary. In this Rotary year, Rotary service, share it with others, and Light Up
I want to make not just the family of Rotary, but Rotary together!
our own Rotary families, a priority in our mem-

Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley

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