District 1010 Governor Ken McLennan

Wed, May 17th 2023 at 12:50 pm - 2:00 pm

Ken nears the end of his term as District Governor.

Before speaking, Rotary District 1010 Governor, Ken McLennan, presented the 'Rotary St Andrews Citizen of the Year’ award to Lisa Cathro, owner and organiser of the Zest Cafe on South Street. Having been introduced by Angela Fowlis, Lisa explained that as well as serving excellent coffee and cakes, her cafe has the best trained baristas, supporting those facing barriers into employment or who would otherwise struggle to find employment, running on a philosophy of togetherness. A further award of the Elgin Salver was presented to Iain McIver for his work organising the weekly welcoming committee. Nearing the end of his year as District Governor, Ken has visited almost all the Rotary clubs in District 1010. He brought greetings from Rotary International President, Jennifer Jones, and took up her theme ‘Imagine’. He asked what the Rotary Club of St Andrews, now, 96 years old, will be like in the future, urging Rotarians to ‘Celebrate the past, but be courageous and build a future, fulfil your dreams and have fun doing it’. Looking back, he praised Rotary’s huge global fund-raising effort which has virtually eradicated polio world-wide (down to only 22 cases in 2022); in more recent and current times he praised the support of money, clothes and aid items to Ukraine, and this club’s work for local charities such as CHAS. He stressed that today's members need to look forward and be prepared change; that younger people are the key to a successful future, bringing fresh eyes and ideas. Noting Jennifer Jones’ statement that membership is like a ‘revolving door’ where half the new members leave within three years, Ken stressed the need for the club to be what he called' i-cubed' -inviting, inspirational, irresistible- and to keep this in mind as it plans for its 100th anniversary celebrations.