Dumfries Devorgilla Rotary had double reason to celebrate at their end of Rotary year meeting last week.
As well as handover for their new incoming President, they were also able to present founder Rotarian Charles Milroy with a Paul Harris Fellow Award as well as welcoming two new Rotarian members in Mike Baird and Robert Sommerville.
Charles Milroy was the first President of Dumfries Devorgilla in 2002 and is therefore a worthy recipient of the award named after Paul Percy Harris, the founder of Rotary International, the service organisation that has expanded throughout the world to well over 1.1 million members today. In 1957 the Paul Harris Fellows program was established to show appreciation for outstanding service above self. Paul Harris Awards are made to Rotarians who are deemed by their Club to have made outstanding contributions and Charles Milroy has certainly demonstrated such contributions for service above self, orchestrating events such as Dumfries Dragon Boats, Community Fireworks on the Whitesands and at Park Farm, as well as most recently the successful Making Most of the Coast project raising awareness of plastic pollution on our beaches, particularly on the Solway coast and in partnership with Solway Firth Partnership and Dumfries and Galloway College.
Dumfries Devorgilla were therefore delighted to present the Paul Harris Fellow Award and our picture shows incoming President Andrew Clark and Charles Milroy with the award.
Outgoing President Peter Atkinson was able to reflect on a most successful year for the club. The 20th anniversary year has been particularly busy with a range of activities for fundraising, assisting local charities, disaster response particularly for Ukraine, as well as social events and visits for the club. Notably Peter has been able to bolster the membership of the club by an astonishing 40% increase during the year and this was further highlighted with Peter being able to welcome two further new members to the club on the evening with Mike Baird and Robert Sommerville as welcome additions to the team as photographed with outgoing President Peter.
It is therefore hoped for a bright future to continue for the year ahead for Dumfries Devorgilla Rotary in their service to our community and new President Andrew Clark. Our group photo shows Rotarians along with guests from Annan and District Rotary and District AG Colin Vooght.
If you are interested in finding out more on Dumfries Devorgilla Rotary, email on [email protected] or visit their Facebook page @dumfriesdevorgilla.
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