Club President's Message

President's Message - Kerry Teskey (2023-2024)

Hello friends, fellow leaders and problem solvers.

I am delighted to accept the role as President of this great volunteer organization. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. 
 
I’m grateful to be a member of this club, and to be able to feel the warmth and compassion that we that we have for each other. We are a family with diverse backgrounds and interests that come together to make good things happen. There is a tremendous feeling about being part of something that is bigger than yourself, and that connection you feel when helping someone, or perhaps being
the recipient of someone else’s help.

As a fellow volunteer, it is my goal to harness the tremendous energy, skills and compassion that is in this club. Rotary is about Service Above Self and we call ourselves “People of Action” for good reason. Some of us in the club may be getting older, but we are certainly not obsolete. And though some people put their focus on being happy, I think most Rotarians believe that happiness is merely a byproduct of usefulness. Thus, I see our purpose as a club is to be Useful, and to be Honourable and Compassionate.

We at Rotary have many examples of being useful. Those include the Rotary Trail, the Rotary Stage at the beach, the Grand Bend Community Health Centre, the 97 large ship containers of school and medical supplies we’ve sent to needy countries, last years new eye glass project in Africa, and the historic signs and the water stations located throughout our town. Of course, we have before us numerous other unmet needs and opportunities to be useful within our club and in our community. This leads me to 4 primary goals for the coming year. They are:
  1. Rally the support of our community for the creation of a community centre in Grand Bend and to help our local governments in this venture. A community centre has long been a dream of our club, and so well deserved by our community.
  2. Continue our support towards the environmental legacy that Peter & Esther Warner initiated with the Warner Preserve and the associated Arboretum that is currently under development.
  3. My third goal is that we fully engage and educate all of our membership, which includes the numerous new members that have joined during the past 3 years. As such, we will have a new position called “Club Trainer” that will help us embrace and inform all new and old Rotarians so that we can be better informed and more productive. Thankfully, Martin Ward has stepped forward and accepted this important new role.
  4. My fourth goal is that we rebound from the COVID years with more fun and social events, so that we can get to know and support each other to a greater degree. Our mates and families are an important part of our lives and I want us to know one another better. Rotary is a place of fellowship, where we can share our laughter and our tears. After 3 years of social distancing, I hope that we can re-introduced the concept of a HUG - that personal embrace that strengthens your heart and soul. So let’s look for those opportunities to connect with each other again, and support each other, in good times and bad and celebrate life with a big hug.
A great thank you goes to the chairs and volunteers of our numerous committees - where the rubber meets the road real work happens. Please keep up the great work you are doing.

I’m very excited about our new Rotary year and I look forward to our time together. Since we improve the odds of getting what you want when you expect and aim for them, it is my hope is that you expect great things for our club and from ourselves. Let’s have fun as we set out to be Ambitious, Useful, and Compassionate.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve.
 
Cheers.

Kerry Teskey