The Rotary Club of Hindmarsh
Island was the last club chartered in our district, but sadly, it is also one
of seven clubs to hand in its charter over the last ten years, along with
Reynella, St. Marys, Glen Osmond, Morphettville, and most recently Marion and
Lameroo.
Rotary continues to grow at a
staggering rate in some parts of the world, including India, South Korea,
Germany, Taiwan, Brazil and in many smaller African and Asian countries. But
for much of the western world, it is more common for clubs to disappear than to
charter. But every now and then an opportunity presents itself, even if not
overtly.
As a long-time resident of
Adelaide’s outer southern suburbs, I have watched the urban sprawl rapidly
creep ever closer to Sellicks Hill, the southernmost point of the Adelaide
plains where the coast and the hills meet, the point at which the sprawl will
one day stop, or must at least slow down.
In this time I’ve seen the
coastal region from Seaford down to Aldinga grow to become a busy and thriving,
yet family friendly community, nestled between the hills, the vines of the
McLaren Vale region and the pristine beaches where my kids have splashed
joyously. They have also participated in gymnastics at the Seaford Recreation
Centre, have floated down the end of the Onkaparinga River where it winds
gently into the sea at Southport Beach, and they’ve climbed all over the
massive wooden playground at Jubilee Park in Port Noarlunga South. It really is
a fabulous community, but there’s just one more thing that could make this
community even more special. A Rotary presence.
I am delighted to announce that
we have commenced the process of chartering our district’s newest Rotary club
in Seaford. The Seaford/Aldinga region is the second fastest growing in South
Australia, second only to the massive growth around Munno Para and Smithfield
to the north of the city. But unlike Adelaide’s outer northern suburbs which
lie in District 9500, the expanding south is part of D9520, and the perfect
region to launch a new Rotary Club. The recent completion of duplication work
to the Southern Expressway and extension of the Noarlunga train line to Seaford
have helped make the region more attractive to those travelling into the city and
inner metropolitan suburbs for work.
It is customary for new Rotary
clubs to be sponsored by existing Rotary clubs, but this initiative will be
taken on directly by the District Membership Committee. We are under no
illusions with regard to the scale of this task. There is a lot of hard work
ahead of us, but we are driven and committed to this exciting venture. We need
to find 25 new members before we can even approach RI to charter the club, but
we will give this one hell of a crack. We want to build Australia’s newest and
most exciting Rotary club, and it may not look like what we’ve come to expect
of a Rotary club.
There will be some dedicated
Rotarians working to make this happen, but I want to pay tribute to a special
person who will be critical to the success of this venture. Cecilie Cardwell is
currently the secretary of the Rotaract Club of Flinders, and District Rotaract
Representative. But Cecilie has agreed to take on one of the most challenging
but rewarding jobs in Rotary, that of Charter President of a yet-to-be-formed
club. She was a RYLA graduate in 2012, RYPEN director in 2013 and RYLA director
in 2014, and I am confident there will be a massive return on the investment
Rotary has made in Cecilie through these amazing youth programs. Originally
from Norway, Cecilie has now lived in Adelaide for 5 years and recently
completed her Bachelor of Nursing at Flinders University and is currently
working for a nursing agency. As a former Rotaractor, I am so very proud that Rotaract
continues to produce our future Rotary leaders.
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