Happy New Year to all fellow members, associate members and friends of Surfers Sunrise Rotary!
Well, 2025 has now come and gone. To all Rotarians their family and friends, I hope Christmas and the New Year has have been a very joyous occasion. To those still travelling, I wish you a safe and enjoyable trip home.
A big thank you goes out to Mario Fairlie for all his efforts in organising the procurement and the selling of the Rotary Christmas cakes. In total, we sold well over $3,000 worth of cakes. Special thanks also to Kane Chisholm of Kieser Bundall and the Bank of Queensland Southport, who sold the cakes to their clients. Did you know that every cake sold generates a contribution to The Rotary Foundation in our club's name? In total this amounted to $432.00
This Wednesday is a social meeting at the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club, at the usual time of 7.00 onwards. A reminder to all members that there is a social meeting at the Benowa Tavern this Thursday from 4.30pm and all are welcome.
This coming Wednesday 7th January will be a social meeting at the Surf Club. While, during the Surf Club's renovations, our 'formal' meetings are held at the TRYP Hotel in Southport, on alternate weeks we'll continue to meet socially at the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club. Come along for a cuppa and/or breakfast. The meeting will be in the upstairs venue, if the weather is nice, on the balcony. Lots of good banter and laughter, and - believe it - sometimes there are more club related matters discussed and solutions determined than on a formal meeting!
January is designated ‘Vocational Services’ month. [Yes, Henrietta, it used to be October, but let’s not quibble...] Let us reflect on our daily dealings with customers, suppliers, employees, partners - and competitors.
“Business is Business”. “Let the buyer beware”. “It’s tough out there”. “The ‘Dog-eat-Dog’ rule applies”. “Sorry, with Artificial Intelligence threatening, the gloves are off”. All too often we hear these expressions. And perhaps we may even have used them once or twice ourselves to justify our actions? Contrast these to the second part of the Object of Rotary, which instructs us to understand and practice
“High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupation as an opportunity to serve society…”
and you have a perfect contrast to the classical case of the unethical businessman spending an hour at church each Sunday morning…
The Four Way Test gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do this. It might be old fashioned, but it still applies today as much as it did when it was coined by a gentleman named Herbert Taylor, back in 1932. He didn't write it for Rotary, but to change the ethical standards of a company that faced bankruptcy. It was adopted by Rotary in the 1940's when Taylor was an international director of Rotary.
You may proudly display a plaque or a certificate in your office which quotes ‘The Test’. But, make sure that it faces you.
As is customary in our club, the first "formal" meeting of the calendar year is reserved for the President to conduct a Mid Year Review. What have we done so far, but more importantly, what needs to be done in the next half year? Is our club running smoothly? Are our members happy? It will be held next week, on 15th January.
Were we just a purely social club, we mightn't be concerned about 'Club Health'. But look at the first one of The Objectives of Rotary(yes, why not click on the link?). It is 'The development of acquaintance', but the second part of the sentence reads 'as an opportunity to serve'. The success of our world-wide organisation is due to the "opportunity to serve" component. The "serve" component is not just addressed to others, such as the recipients of our wheelchairs or our youth programs, or even the Christmas presents. It equally applies to ourselves, to our own club.
I encourage you to download and complete the Rotary Club Health Check. Go through the questionaire step by step, answer honestly. Some of the questions might appear to be "of no concern to me, that is for the Board of Directors' to worry about”. Permit me to disagree. Particularly for our newer members, feedback of what is good and what needs improvement is hugely important. You come in with fresh eyes. Members such as me and other oldies, who have been in Rotary for (groan) almost 40 years, may not even be able to see the woods for all the trees. You are invited to speak up.
Customary to their legendary organisational skills, Graeme and Ann Isaacson have again negotiated a delicious brekky on the top floor of the TRYP by Wyndham Hotel in Southport. Eggs Benedict with what surely must be a chef's secret Sauce Hollandaise, and the massive Acai Bowl, garnished with lots of fresh fruit, looked oh - so inviting... [Yes, I know... my skills as a Social Media blogger are badly lacking. I should have thought to take pictures of the meals BEFORE I had eaten it. Sorry. Well, you SHOULD have been there!]
Thank you Graeme and Anne for organising this, and thank you to the staff of the TRYP Hotel. A couple of additional photos on our Facebook page.
Our club has been offered to run a Bunnings Sausage Sizzle on Sunday 1st February 2026. Are you able to help? The usual three shifts need to be filled:
07:00 am - 10:00 am
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Please contact Ross directly to put your name down and indicate which shift, or advise that you are unable to make it.
Duty Roster - note: subject to change - please check every week. Note: Fellowship duty also is expected to be at the Project Shed on the Saturday following the meeting
January is designated ‘Vocational Services’ month. 
As is customary in our club, the first "formal" meeting of the calendar year is reserved for the President to conduct a Mid Year Review. What have we done so far, but more importantly, what needs to be done in the next half year? Is our club running smoothly? Are our members happy? It will be held next week, on 15th January.
