At a formal ceremony held on July 6, 2019 under the patronage of Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason, GCMG, DA, QC, Governor General of Barbados, the new board led by President Peter W. B. Williams was installed. Rotarians, Rotaractors, Partners-in-Service, Special Guests and Friends of Rotary joined together in fellowship to welcome the new board.
Immediate Past President Shawn spoke of the projects, fellowship events and activities undertaken during his year, reciting month over month. He ended his address by thanking his board for their support and presented a Certificate of Appreciation to each member. Director Makonem was commended for the great work he has done with our Rotaract and Interact Clubs and was awarded The Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
President Peter began his address by congratulating Immediate Past President Shawn and his Board on the successes of the past year. He went on to note that “our Club is blessed to have serving on this year’s Board, talented Directors with a sense of purpose, Directors with a blend of youth and experience. It is even more of a blessing that five of our Directors are women”.
The Board was pinned by our Patron, Her Excellency the Governor General.
President - Peter Williams
Vice President – Elvin Sealy
President Elect – Fiona Hinds
Secretary – Ermine Darroux
Treasurer – Meryl Stoute
Director Community Service – Adrian Sealy
Director International Service – Heather Tull
Director Membership & Youth Affairs – Makonem Hurley
Director Public Relations – Arlene Ross
Director Club Administration – Tony Williams
Sergeant-At-Arms – Peter Arender
Immediate Past President Shawn Franklyn
President Peter reminded the club of Former Rotary International President Barry Rassin who called on the 1.2 million Rotarians around the world, to “Be the Inspiration”. He stated “we will continue to keep Barry’s words in mind as we embrace our new theme “Rotary Connects the World” and pursue Rotary’s Vision – “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves" lead by our new RI President Mark Daniel Maloney.
President Peter spoke of our Rotary mantra, Service Above Self, simple yet powerful and thanked our partners-in-service, our families, and our friends for their continued support.
He also stated that “if any one of us worked every day for our entire life, we could never achieve as individuals what we achieve together”. He highlighted one of our best examples and the power of Rotary which is the eradication of polio, a cause that has united Rotary for over three decades. “When Rotary launched the PolioPlus program in 1985, more than 350,000 people were afflicted with polio each year in 125 countries and reports now show that there were only 33 cases of polio in the world last year”
President Peter also mentioned some of the projects outlined for the New Year including:
i) Assisting QEH Blood Center with new equipment and to raise awareness of the importance of blood donations.
ii) To build awareness of the QEH kidney transplant programme and the benefits of Barbados developing an organ donor programme.
iii) To support the efforts of our District Governor, Trevor Blake by joining our Caribbean neighbours in battling diabetes.
iv) To support early music education through the Suzuki Music programme
v) Being good stewards of our environment by continuing the work started by Past President Paul to encourage sustainable living and installing compost units.
He noted that the club will continue with its annual outreach activities including the beach party for the Children’s Homes, our beach clean-up, and our Senior Citizens Christmas Party.
President Peter thanked the Barbadian public for their continued support in assisting the club in raising funds by way of our annual events namely Carols by Candlelight and the concert for the Schoolhouse for Special Needs as well as the exciting new fundraiser - RotaGames, which was launched this year.
During the ceremony, Honorary Member Krystal Boyea was pinned and Past District Governor David Edwards was recognized for his work with Rotary International as he just ended his role Special Aide to RI Past President Barry. Director Makonem was also commended for the great work that he has done in supporting our Rotaract and Interact Clubs. He received the Paul Harris Fellow Award from outgoing President Shawn Franklyn. Special congratulations was also extended to the Barbados Rotaract Club for being recognized for the best project in our District.
President Peter ended by saying “Rotary connects the world. Rotary has changed the world. We too must change and create better versions of ourselves. Rotary is on the cusp of eradicating polio. Is it impossible to dream that our next goal should be World Peace? “
The new board is eager, excited and looking forward to the task ahead. They pledged to serve in their respective roles to the best of their ability for the continued development of the Club and the community.