Julie Mason—“You, Me & Us: Let’s Give to the World”
Julie described her childhood as “a simple country girl” growing up on a dairy farm. She learned that “gender is not an issue on a dairy farm” because everybody had to contribute. She went to teachers’ college and spent 58 years in schools. She joined Rotary 20 years ago.
She spoke about how Rotary started and the fact that it has stood the test of time. We need to ponder why people join Rotary and why they stay. Most people would say that they are in Rotary to do something for the community and to make friends. We need to make these aspects appealing to attract younger generations.
A major aspiration for Julie as District Governor is to emphasize membership. She is encouraging clubs to recruit a member a month. This would mean 12 new members for RC of Carlton. We all know of potential new members; we need to bring this into action.
Julie spoke about some signature events during her DG year:
- Purple Fingers for Polio in October.
- Social Inclusion Week in November.
- Rotary’s birthday on 23rd February. We are encouraged to have a celebration at our own club and share photos of this on Facebook.
- Women in Rotary Breakfast in March.
- Rotarians at Work in Community in April.
- Group Vocational Exchange to Philippines.
- Vocational Training Team to Cambodia.
There is going to be a new Facebook page for the district: Facebook.com/rotarydistrict9800. Julie encouraged members to ‘share the Rotary story’ by making short videos of the Club’s work and sharing them on Facebook.
Finally, Julie urged members to make a pledge to donate to the Rotary Foundation through “Every Rotarian Every Year”. She emphasized how much the Foundation contributes to a wide range of Rotary projects.