Michael Reed takes the helm at Torquay Rotary

TORQUAY Rotary’s new president says his club has done its best to adapt to the knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and will have to keep adapting over the next 12 months.

The club held its annual function for the changeover of the management team last month, which fortunately took place between lockdowns.

Incumbent district governor John Clue and past district governor Phil Beasley were the special guests, as Torquay Rotary Club past president Jan Emmett passed the baton of leadership to new president Michael Reed.

Mr Reed said there was no doubt the continuing pandemic was frustrating, and Ms Emmett’s year as president was “a real juggle” as well.

“But you do what you do. Last year, we were fortunate with thinking outside the box – we did manage to have our drive-through barbecue, and I had my big shave, and we’ve had Pets on Parade; our online pet show.

“This year, at the moment, it’s still early days, but it’s just one of those things.”

He said Torquay Rotary planned to have two face-to-face meetings, an online meeting and a social night each month, but this would depend on the level of restrictions.

“In theory it works well, but in practice, I guess we’ve got to see what happens from one week to the next.”

Mr Reed joined the club in 1992 – making next year his 30th in Rotary – and was previously president of the club in 1999-2000.

“There were a lot of hands-on projects when I first joined. We did the two barbecue rotundas; we did all the boardwalk around Jan Juc that’s currently being repaired and replaced; the steps leading down to Cosy Corner; the playgrounds,” he said.

“It’s one way Rotary has changed a lot – we used to spend a lot of weekends on that, it was a lot of fun doing all of those.

“But as far as the structures of meetings go, there hasn’t been a lot of change.”

He said one of the biggest changes was Rotary allowing women to become full members in the early 1990s, and the number of members at the club had grown considerably since then.

“When I was president last time, we had 17 members and it took us a long time to get a lot above that – you’d pick up a couple of new members but then a couple would go.”

The changeover function also saw the induction of two new members – Martin Duke and Claire Slocombe – and three Paul Harris Fellowships being presented to Mr Reed, Marg Isom and Kelly Binyon.

Kithbrooke Park resident Bev Close received a Community Service Award for her contribution in producing 100 toiletry bags for Indigenous school children for a recent Rotary “End Trachoma” project.