Club Secretary Karin Soster was the chairperson for today's club meeting at Gilberts. Guests included Arto, Gary, and our guest speaker - Alexandria TazareCLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Vice President Linda O'Brien stepped in for President Neville who was unable to attend today's meeting.
Linda updated everyone with a few club meeting processes now that we have relocated to Gilberts.
Club Meeting Roster
- the roster for Cashier and Regalia is no longer required and has been dropped.
- however, a new roster has been created for a Welcome Host each week.
- the role for the Welcome Host is to greet club members and guests, including the guest speaker, as they arrive and direct as required. Members need to pay and order/collect their beverage at the ground floor before moving to the upstairs meeting room. The guest speaker is not required to pay, but should place their order for their preferred breakfast option and beverage, before being directed to the upstairs meeting room. Eventually club members will become familiar with the routine, however, the Welcome Host should remain on the ground floor until the guest speaker arrives.
- the club meeting roster displayed on the club website home page will list who is rostered for Chairperson and Welcome Host each week.
Breakfast Orders
Members are requested to include their breakfast order in the comments section when registering their attendance on the club website. This will eliminate some of the processing delays being experienced at the counter on the ground floor when everyone arrives at the same time.
Members will need to recall what they have ordered when paying on the ground floor, and to collect the relevant colour block from the ground floor counter before moving to the upstairs meeting room.
Member Badges
Unfortunately, Gilberts is unable to provide storage for club items, including club member badges.
Members are asked to keep their club badges with them, and take home/bring back to wear at club meetings as required.
GUEST SPEAKER - Alexandria Tazare - RYLA 2026 participant
Julie Reid provided a brief outline of RYLA, and introduced today's guest speaker, Alexandria Tazare, our club's sponsored participant for this year's 2026 RYLA program that was held recently on Phillip Island. RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and is a program that commenced in Brisbane in 1960 following a youth festival organised as part of a Royal visit in 1959. Rotary International adopted it as a youth program in 1971. The first RYLA event in Victoria was held in 1968. The program is designed for participants aged from 14-30, though in the main, the majority have been in the mid - to late 20's age range. The program aims to promote positive leadership and motivation, build communication and decision making skills, goal setting, and build self confidence and self esteem.
Alexandria is currently in her third year studying for a degree in politics at Monash University. She spoke of her experience at this year's program, admitting she was unsure of how the program would unfold, initially expecting it to be similar to school camps that she had attended during her school years. However, she soon realised this program was totally different, and was all about leadership and personal development. She was one of 45 participants - all strangers to commence, all with different backgrounds, but who soon became firm comrades with shared goals and aspirations to better themselves. She spoke of the guest speakers who spoke of leadership, the team building activities, and the challenges each participant faced with varying levels of confidence in public speaking. Each participant had to present twice during the week-long program, and whilst Alexandria admitted to lacking confidence at the beginning, she feels the program and the skills she learned during the week helped her to overcome her fears for public speaking. The program changed her perspective on leadership, and mentioned one quote that resonated with her was "alone - one can go fast, but together - we can go far". She spoke of the professionalism of the program, the personal development she experienced, the connections she has made, and what a difference this has made to her life. In closing, Alexandria expressed her gratitude and thanked Julie and our club for sponsoring her attendance at this year's RYLA.
MEETING CLOSE
Secretary Karin reminded board members of next week's board meeting on Wed 12/8.
The rosters for Sunday's Bentleigh Market and next week's club meeting were announced, before Linda closed the meeting.
