Ryan Geluk CPA, CA was last night, July 4, 2015, officially sworn in as President of the Rotary Club of Road Town. Photo: VINO

The New President of the Rotary Club of Road Town Mr Ryan Geluk was pinned by Past Assistant Governor Mr Ron R. Potter. Photo: VINO

The board which was also installed last night comprises of Immediate Past President Mr Shan Mohamed, Vice President Ms Sonia Webster, Secretary Mr Anthony Clarke, Treasurer Nany Katra, Sergeant at Arms Mr Vincent Wheatley, President Elect Nelcia St Jean, Membership Director Jacqueline Daley, Public Image Director Lavina Liburd, Youth Service Director Everette Fraser, Club Administration Director Mr Elvis ‘Juggy’ Harrigan, Foundation Director Mr Vance Lewis, Fund Raising Director Geraldeen Johnson and Service Project Director Mr Charlie Benjamin. Photo: VINO

The guest speaker for the night, President of Kiwanis International 2014-2015 Dr John R. Button who flew in from Canada specifically for the last night’s ceremony and celebration moved the audience with his presentation when he moved the challenge admonishing Rotarian to be a part of a team with a servant leader and not a boss leader. Photo: VINO

President Ryan Geluk and his parents. Photo: VINO

The gala event which was laced with fun, fun, and more fun as Rotary Club of Road Town is popularly known as the ‘Fun Club’, was held at the Long Bay Beach Resort, West End, Tortola. Photo: VINO

“During this Rotary year, we want to engage the community and invite them to participate in our service projects; working alongside Rotarians and experiencing what it feels like to help in Prostate Cancer screenings, which help to detect early stages of prostate cancer thereby increasing the likelihood of survival,”

Continuing his community call, Mr Geluk said, “We want the community to work side-by-side with Rotary so that we can do more – it is always said that more hands make light work or more hand allow us to do more work. Rotary International speaks of larger, more impactful projects and by getting the community involved in our projects, we can do more.”

According to the new President of the Rotary Club of Road Town, organisations such as the BVI Rugby Football Union have already jumped on board and are ready to serve and make it part of their community outreach programme for the players to give back. “This is the kind of support, response and passion we are looking for…imagine the amount of work that we will be able to do with a number of strongly built, fit young men!”

Leaders never say ‘I’

The guest speaker for the night, President of Kiwanis International 2014-2015 Dr John R. Button, who flew in from Canada specifically for last night’s ceremony and celebration, moved the audience with his presentation when he challenged Rotarians to be part of a team with a servant leader and not a boss leader.

“Servant leaders never say ‘I’, they never think ‘I’, they say ‘we’, and they think ‘we’, and when the job gets done ‘we’ gets the credit. The ‘boss’ says go, the servant leader says ‘let’s go’, they provide the services and remove the obstacles even if those obstacles happen to be evil…,” said the guest speaker.

Mr Geluk has taken over the presidency from Mr Shan Mohamed who last night congratulated his successor and challenged that the set pace be continued. And while Mr Geluk was told he has very big shoes to fit, he reminded the audience that he has very big feet.

The board installed last night comprises of Immediate Past President Mr Shan Mohamed, Vice President Ms Sonia M. Webster, Secretary Mr Anthony Clarke, Treasurer Nany Katra, Sergeant at Arms Mr Vincent O. Wheatley, President Elect Nelcia St Jean, Membership Director Jacqueline Daley, Public Image Director Lavina Liburd, Youth Service Director Everette Fraser, Club Administration Director Mr Elvis ‘Juggy’ Harrigan, Foundation Director Mr Vance Lewis, Fund Raising Director Geraldeen Johnson and Service Project Director Mr Charlie Benjamin.