Why is there No Rotary Club in this town? Let’s leave the comfort of our meeting rooms and go to towns and suburbs with no Rotary Clubs.

Article by IPDG Andy Rajapakse Assistant Rotary Coordinator

19th October 2020 was the first time I visited Evans Head, a beautiful small seaside resort town in northern NSW in our Rotary District 9640 in Australia. The day after my Governor’s visit to a Club, Past Governor Terry Brown from Lismore and Geoff Austin President of Casino Clubs took me on a tour of Evans Head 60 km away. Looking down from the hilltop lookout, I could see many rooftops and saw a great opportunity and asked them, “why is there no Rotary Club in this town?” They said for 4 years they have been talking about starting one, but no one took the leadership.

As we walked down the main street to get a feel of this town, I could not stop myself popping into the best-looking office of LJ Hooker Real Estate. Two ladies at the reception asked me how they could help. I asked, "do you have a Rotary Club in this beautiful town?" They said, "never heard of". I said, “Excellent. I am from Burleigh Heads Rotary and Rotary Governor for this area. I would love to gift Rotary to your town. May I meet your director”? In seconds I was seated in front of Brian O'Farrell, a friendly gentleman. Introducing myself as Rotary District Governor, I said it was surprising there was no Rotary Club in his town. And all 6 towns around him were connected, with Rotary Clubs in Ballina, Alstonville, Lismore, Casino, Iluka and Yamba. He said, “I don't know anything about Rotary. We only have a Business Chamber, and I am the Vice President. We can’t get members".

It was another opportunity. I said, Rotary could help connect his chamber with 36,000 cities in the world and help grow their membership. He asked, " how is that?” I said let’s start a Rotary Club. “Good idea, what do you want from me?” was his answer. I invited him to be my community champion to introduce Rotary to his town. "Yes”, was the answer. Immediately, he offered us a free stall at their first Chamber Business Expo on Sunday 24th Oct. The twist to the story is, he had known PDG Terry for 10 years, but they never spoke of Rotary!

I invited Geoff to be the mentor to this new Club and asked him to handpick the best team from his Club to start this new Club. Following Saturday, I returned to Casino to coach the launch team led by my Assistant Governor John Ooman, also from Casino Rotary. We had an impressive stall and a confident team dressed in Rotary shirts walking around introducing Rotary to business owners. There is no 2nd chance for a 1st impression. Impressed by our enthusiasm and action, the Chamber President invited me on stage to speak. Later he offered us free lunch, beer and ad space in the Chamber magazine to promote Rotary. We were motivated by the number of business leaders who expressed interest to join Rotary. Most had never heard of Rotary. We pitched right.  

On 10th November we launched Evans Head Rotary with a wine & cheese cocktail sponsored by our District. The 14 community leaders who gathered at the Bowling Club decided to start a Rotary Club and elected David Parker as President to move forward. It’s important to close the sale when the enthusiasm is high, so the community takes accountability to invite members and start the Club. Neighbouring Rotary leaders too joined to support their initiative. 

In January 2021 it was the 4th of the 5 new clubs to charter in my Governor year. This was only the 2nd Rotary Club formed in 20 years in northern NSW of our district. The club with 20 members continues to create an impact in the community and receive local council grants. On 12th December 2021 they organised a Christmas Parade and Carols to bring the community together. Their Facebook page reached 7,000 people in November with 1,100 engagements. There are no other service Clubs in this town of 3,000 residents. If we want to start new Rotary Clubs, let’s get out of our meeting rooms and go to towns and suburbs with no Rotary Clubs. How many towns don’t have Rotary Clubs? Isn’t starting new Rotary Clubs the primary function of a District Governor? Opportunities open only for those who look for opportunities!  

"This was the first time this small community of 3,000 people had come together to celebrate Christmas this way. They have had 1,000 people of their small community of 3,000 gather around Rotary's initiative. If I had not asked 'Why is there No Rotary Club in this town?', what would this Christmas look like there? See those happy children and parents", said IPDG Andy Rajapakse.