What a great week - Thanks to Caitlin for organising such a light hearted meeting on Tuesday - Trivia to a T - creating answers that challenged our thinking - starting with the idea of glass half full - and including just enough Rotary questions to show there is room for us all to brush up on our Club and local knowledge.

Congratulations to all members of the Club under the leadership of IPP Jenny Alexander-Walters, on being recognised by Rotary International with a Club Excellence Award for 2024-2025. This award is a global recognition of the club’s outstanding commitment to Service, Innovation, and Community Impact. It acknowledges our work and passion in such areas as Youth Development, Environmental Sustainability and the support of vulnerable communities, both local and global. Well done to all who served in 2024-2025.

Rotary International has also had a busy week

• announcing our new RI President for 2026-2027 - Nigeria’s Yinka Babalola. (see story below)
• The Membership Growth Committee making formal recommendations to the Board of Directors relating to Rotary Membership  (see story below)

Have you visited the Royal Adelaide Show yet? Or maybe you have plans to do so in the coming days. Don’t forget to visit the Rotary Club of Mt Barker with their Hot Cinnamon Donuts - Great value, Great taste. The van is next to the Secretary’s Office - you can't miss it. Pop by for a donut or 3 or just to say ‘Hi’ What a great way to promote the work of Rotary.

Today we have been busy with another Bunnings BBQ to raise funds for our continued community projects. The team was busy throughout the day. Thanks to Sue, for organising the team this week. Congratulations to Simon for all his efforts sourcing gear for the children attending the Calperum - Bunnings presenting him with their package of goodies.

Don’t forget that the topic for this week's meeting is Membership - one of the Actionsfrom our Fit For Purpose Club Action Plan. We have a speaker to present information and hopefully some time to discuss ideas on how we can increase our membership, attracting more locals for our busy Service Above Self

Looking forward to another great week, remembering ‘Together, we (All Rotarians, All Rotoractors), ALL GROW ROTARY

Roxanne 

RI Acts On Membership

The Rotary International Membership Growth Committee spent the last two days at #Rotary headquarters. Our productive time together led to five formal recommendations that we will be sending to the #rotaryinternational Board of Directors for its consideration. These recommendations are related to growing Rotary membership; modernizing the Rotary awards nomination, review and selection process; reaffirming the board’s priority focus on new club development within each region’s multiyear goal setting and membership action plans; supporting the general secretary’s ongoing efforts to provide specialized outreach and support to those Rotary districts that have not formed a club in recent years; and endorsing the continued development of external relationships to expand Rotary’s reach and in support of Rotary’s growth strategy.

RI President Elect 2026-27

Nigeria's Yinka Babalola Emerges As Rotary International President-elect

Rotary International has announced Nigerian Rotarian Yinka Babalola as its President-elect for the 2026/2027 Rotary year.
Babalola’s emergence marks a historic milestone, making him only the second African – and the second Nigerian – to lead the global humanitarian organisation. The first was Jonathan Babatunde Majiyagbe, who served from 2003 to 2004.
A member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Nigeria, Olayinka Hakeem Babalola was selected by the Rotary International Board of Directors following the resignation of SangKoo Yun, who stepped down to focus on recovery after cancer treatment. Babalola will formally assume office on 1 July 2026.
A statement by Ibim Semenitari, Rotary Public Image Coordinator, Africa Zone 22, Region 27 indicates that Babalola joined Rotary in 1994, six years after starting out as a Rotaractor in 1988. His leadership journey has seen him serve as District Governor (2011/12), Vice President of Rotary International (2019/20), and a member of the RI Board (2018/20). He has also played active roles on high-profile committees, including the End Polio Now Countdown to History Campaign Committee and the Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee, where he continues to serve as adviser.
Beyond Rotary, Babalola is an accomplished professional. An engineer by training and an attorney, he has more than 25 years of experience in the oil and gas sector, having held senior positions with Shell PLC across four continents. He is founder of Riviera Services Ltd., an oil and gas infrastructure company, and Lead and Change Consulting, an executive coaching and advisory firm.
His professional affiliations span the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Institute of Safety Professionals, and the Association of Change Management Practitioners. He also belongs to the Jericho Business Club in his home city of Port Harcourt, where he and his wife, Preba, reside.
A passionate Rotarian and philanthropist, Babalola supports The Rotary Foundation through a named endowment and as a member of the Arch Klumph Society. His humanitarian footprint extends to service as a trustee of ShelterBox UK and as director of the Safe Blood Africa project. His service has earned him several honours, including the Africa Centennial Heroes Award, the RI Service Above Self Award, and The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service.
As the Rotary International president, he will serve a one-year term, providing inspirational leadership, presiding over the Board of Directors, and representing the organisation globally.
Babalola’s election is being celebrated across Nigeria and Africa as another proud moment of continental leadership on the global stage.

Rotary Does Make A Difference

Olivia and Ashleigh are the 2 young children of farmers in Jabuk, about 40 minutes past Tailem Bend on the road to Sydney. Mum and Dad (Nerissa and Brenton Forster) were really struggling to see light at the end of the tunnel. The Drought hit their farm hard and they were desperate to survive.  
We received these thank you cards by Snail Mail last week – what a delightful surprise.

 Rotary and our partners at Farmers Relief Agency delivered 11 Tonne of Hay direct to the Forster’s farm in July. This was a life saver for their entire family. Olivia and Ashleigh now see smiles on mum and dad’s faces for the first time in ages; not to mention the very happy sheep and cows on their farm. They bound out of bed now with renewed hope!

 Brenton & Nerissa’s farm is one of 245 Farms to receive Rotary fodder so far!

 On Average – we’ve delivered about 10 Tonne of fodder per farm

• We’ve delivered to farms from : Eyre Peninsula through to the Mid-North region; Flinders Ranges; Riverland; Murraylands; Murray Mallee; Cooke Plains; South East and across the Adelaide Hills
• Some farms get 700kg Bales of first grade hay; Some get 1 Tonne Bags of high nutrient; high protein Sheep Pellets perfect for mummy sheep and separate pellets for their cuddly lambies!
• We’re directly aware of 5 Farmers Lives we’ve saved now … just by turning up!  Our caring truckies (farmers also themselves) often stick around for a chat AND of course provide a delivery of HOPE in the form of fodder.

AS I TYPE …

 2 more Triple Deck truck loads of Hay are on the way over the Nullabor, carrying 192 bales weighing 134 Tonne. 
2 more will come the following week.

 By Friday 29^th August, a further 18 Farms will have received hay deliveries, taking our total farms helped to 263.

 Our aim continues to focus on delivering responsible volumes of fodder to each Farm to get them through the 5 months ahead, until local hay supplies have either grown in their own fields, or become available again in the local fodder stores at affordable prices.

 BEES say thank you as well!

 Now you’re scratching your head aren’t you!!  Why bees!?

 Our South Australian Bee Keepers have being doing it tough as well. No flowering crops such as fields of yellow canolla, means not only are their bees not producing honey, the bees themselves don’t have food to eat to survive.

Bee keepers have been needing to also FEED their hives to keep them alive.

 We are very thankful for a set of $500 AMPOL fuel cards supplied by the Rotary Club of Sydney!! Yes … Sydney!! These cards have enabled us to activate Bee Keepers and other local community members to be Hay Delivery agents, keeping them busy and drastically improving their mental health. 
Other similar locals in the community benefit from this local Rotary project in similar ways. It’s a huge, well coordinated effort to do our best to reach into all sorts of nooks and crannies across South Australia. Beyond Olivia and Ashleigh’s thank you cards, Rotary receives so many messages of thanks for ‘turning up’ … for stopping to chat … for on the side hugs and showing our local community cares.

 SPECIAL THANK YOU to our partners at Farmers Relief Agency doing the really hard work (Michael and Martin are also Rotarians based in Victoria) … but also to our lead truckies Matt and Tim Eckert & family – plus their entire team at Mentara Park Farms at Meningie. In fact, the passion that these 2 Brothers and their family have to work with FRA & Rotary is to be commended.

 It’s more than just delivering fodder!

 FUN FACTS 
Matt Eckert (pictured below at rear with Rotarians Bill Marles and Michelle Tink) has himself driven to and from Western Australia 4 Times so far for Rotary. 
Each trip is about 2,800km over and 2,800km back. So Matt alone has covered 22,400km in the last 2 or so months.

 Just his truck alone has brought in 270 Tonne of Hay. 

DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE GREEN DROUGHT !!
You may have driven around the hills and Adelaide surrounds and seen green fields everywhere.

 GREEN DROUGHT – is where the fields look pretty, but in fact because the rain came so late, the COLD days and nights mean that if a crop has germinated, it’s growing very slowly.

 It’s likely to be November / December before harvest can occur.

 Many fields you’re seeing could be just grass or weeds coming through.

 Or the crops are simply so small, they have not nutritional value, even if the farmers allow their livestock into the paddocks to graze.

 MUCH of our Community do not realise there are many country zones in particular through the Riverland; Murraylands and Mid-North who have NOT received robust rainfalls.

 A lady on a farm 20 minutes south of Berri telephoned us last week to say their farm has only received 22mm of rain since June!
 

VISIT & PROMOTE : our Project Page please. We update it all the time with our latest deliveries. Have a look at some of the Town Names we’ve been to – Dig out Google Maps for a bit of fun to see how far and wide Rotary has gone.

https://rotaryadelaidecentral.org.au/projects/save-sa-farmers-livestock-giant-hay-bales-appeal

 ASK : your friends to consider making a Tax Deductible donation please. Every Dollar we raise goes to buying the fodder! PIRSA (Govt of SA) are currently still funding our Transport Costs.

 https://donations.rawcs.com.au/42-2024-25

Bill Marles
Project Manager – S.A. Drought Relief project

 0410 523 106 • Hay@RotaryAdelaideCentral.org.au 

SALA Art Tearooms at Callington

As the poster advertising the event states: Cold and Wet outside? Warm and Welcoming Inside!

Those who ventured to the Callington Memorial Hall on Saturday 16th August stepped in from the winter chill and enjoyed:

• A vibrant SALA exhibition by the Bremer Valley Artists
• A pop-up artisan market full of unique, handmade creations
• Freshly baked scones, jam and whipped cream served with hot tea/coffee with a Devonshire Tea served in the tearooms created by the rotary Club of Murray Bridge

A large group of Rotarians arrived just after 9-00am and began by setting up the Tearoom with beautiful lace tablecloths, layered with embroidered overlays - reminding us of older times when crafts such as embroidery or fabric painting were common. The final result was a beautifully set up room that was inviting those visiting the artists to stop for a while and enjoy each other’s company over a scone with jam and cream and a hot cuppa - with real china teapots.

Several Rotarians used the opportunity to brush up on their Food hygiene and food prep skills as part of their Food Supervisors Training. Another great opportunity provided by Rotary for its members

Freshly baked scones were coming out of the oven throughout the day and were very popular - especially the Gluten Free varieties - some visitors purchasing these scones to take home with them

While our Rotarians prepared lots of baked goods for the Trading Table, we were also assisted with the variety and volumes of goods from the families and friends of the Callington Primary School. The school will be the beneficiaries of the funds from the day when they travel to the City in December to spend the day at the Semaphore Carousel and the beach. The Caramel chocolate slice was so popular, it sold out in the first 2 hours.

The next planned event for Callington Tearooms will be in October.

CALENDAR WINNERS 

26^th August

 

Value	No.	Winner	Location	Sold By
$100	589	Sue Hammond	Strathalbyn	Strath Darts
$50	560	Claire Smith	Strathalbyn	Strath Darts