"It used to be that people worked five days and had their weekends free, but a lot of people work seven days now. And people have all sorts of other commitments," he said.
The club had well and truly made its mark on Kaitaia though, not least by way of the town clock (which wasn't universally admired even when it was erected, but it was very cutting edge when it was new).
The list included the picnic area and walkways at Lake Ngatu, the Rotary water wheel outside the community centre, the tri-lingual welcome/farewell signs at each end of Kaitaia and the paddling pool at the Kaitaia Municipal Baths in Bank Street.
Rotarians built the nurses' recreation hall at Kaitaia Hospital, bought resuscitators for St John, and raised money, much of it by way of trolley derbies, for worthy causes such as the Heart Foundation, the Foundation for the Blind, Red Cross and the Crippled Children Society.
The club also had a real passion - and still does - for supporting younger generations, manifested by the likes of student exchanges, annual public speaking competitions (the Rishworth Cup and the Bob Shutt competition), and also hosted and contributed to group study exchanges.
Members bent their backs to plant trees and generally beautify the hill above Kaitaia. They painted the Awanui Scout Hall, installed seats on Jim Durbin Drive (South Road), and planted no fewer than 77,750 pinus radiata seedlings as their contribution to the Far North Community Forest at Waipapakauri (which in recent years has benefited all manner of Far North causes).
Garage sales, auctions, golf tournaments, 'race meetings' at the community centre, rural/urban dinners all contributed to the coffers and to the club's fellowship.
Mr Yelavich recalled being part of a working that drained what was then a quagmire at Kaitaia Intermediate School early in his Rotary career. The digger driver did his bit in return for a dozen beer, and newly-inducted member Tony Brljevich, a drainlayer by trade, was made good use of.
"Working bees were fun," he said.
"When I was the president I got some of the ladies to come up with some lunch and the club would buy a few beers when we knocked off around midday. Actually that wasn't a bad way to keep everyone working into the afternoon.
"We built the helipad at the hospital too, and we contributed Rotary International campaigns, like eradicating polio.
"We used to demolish buildings and sell the materials, we supported the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programme in schools, we hosted Rotary clubs from the city and overseas (including 29 from the Banbury club in England).
"No one seems to want to do anything for nothing these days though. Everyone wants to be paid."
People certainly chipped in back in the day. He recalled serving as the chef when Kaitaia Rotarians painted a woolshed at Mitimiti, Lands and Survey happily supplying a hogget.
Other highlights included the awarding of Paul Harris Fellowships, most of them to Rotarians but also to some outside the organisation. Mr Yelavich, John Foster and Percy Erceg had subsequently been awarded the next and highest honour, the sapphire pin.
"We don't hand Paul Harris Fellowships out willy nilly. We need a good reason to award them," he added.
"There must be hundreds of people who deserve them and have never got one, but they cost the club $US1000, so that has to be taken into consideration.
And the highlight of highlights? Hosting (with Warkworth) a district conference in Kaitaia, catering for 618 people and everything running like clockwork. Followed no doubt by Mel Cooper, the only Kaitaia Rotarian to serve as District Governor, but there will be many more stories next week.
