Rotary District 9650 "The Inspirator" Edition 2, Thursday July 12th 2018

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Thoughts from the DG - Week 2 
The first week in the passenger seat road-tripping around our district was really enjoyable. We attended a club changeover in Boggabri, and a DG visit to the Wee Waa and Narrabri clubs. While there, we met quite a number of familiar faces, and it was really good to meet them in their club and community environments. 
One of the highlights was attending a Public Speaking Competition for Primary School children at the Sacred Heart School in Boggabri. The Boggabri Club has been sponsoring this event for the past 18 years – it was inspirational to see these young ones in action. I told them they'd have a head start in the big Rotary Public Speaking competition when they get to High School (they don't have a High School in Boggabri). One of the children spoke with passion about the drought, and it was really evident everywhere we went. Her final words were "Let's all go out and do a rain dance!"
Thanks to all those who responded to the email I sent out regarding the drought situation in our District. The upshot is that our International Director and RAWCS Chairman, Reg Pierce, is putting together a Project (which I've signed off on) to help our District Farmers though this drought - more about this shortly.
We enjoyed the hospitality of David and Sharon Grellman in Wee Waa, on their farm just outside the town. This year will be David's third term as President; it's only a small club, but they are all passionate Rotarians. And the next evening, we met David's Mum and Dad. His Dad is a member of the Narrabri club – that's keeping it in the family. While talking to the incoming Narribri secretary, Julie Herbert, I discovered that she was a former member of Inner Wheel and she and her husband are now both Rotarians.
I'd been thinking about Inner Wheel, and had asked myself why our women couldn't be Rotarians in their own right today if they wished to, especially as we are trying to encourage more 'family / Partner' members.
There are all sorts of possibilities today. I did a bit of research and discovered Inner Wheel was formed way back in 1924 by the wife of a Rotarian who was also a nurse and a businesswoman. Of course women were unable to join Rotary in those years. Times have changed since then. We have 6 Inner Wheel clubs left in our District, and four of the clubs are in our western regions – Narrabri and Inverell were formed in 1957, and they have 32 and 28 members respectively; Tamworth in 1983 now have 49 members, and Wee Waa in 1996 have 22 members. The two coastal clubs are in Port Macquarie formed in 1976 now have 42 members, and Forster Tuncurry in 1999 now have 16 members.
That's a grand total of 189 members – not a bad average for 6 clubs. Nationwide, there are almost 4,000 members. They meet only once a month, and that could continue if they became Rotarians, and they wouldn't have to necessarily join their partner's clubs – they could form a satellite club or a twin club or one of their own. Anything is possible, if that is what they want. It's just a thought, but let me know what you think.
We are back out west for the next week or more. The Narribri club is having a late changeover this year, and the Picnic in the Pilliga Pottery will be on our agenda - they are doing this as our Partner's Project. Come along if you can, the poster is in the Inspirator. Until next week, Send to Editor, Andrew Maughan Andrew@webmogul.com.au