An inter-club sports competition is to commence. Starting with pétanque. Pat is keen we should win so that we can select the sport for the next challenge.
Thanks to the Red Puppy Appeal helpers - $425 was raised.
David also noted that there is an opportunity for Outward Bound participants to be fully funded expcept for $50.
Warren’s topic was “my year as President”. By way of history he reported that as a somewhat younger Warren in 1974, he joined the Eltham Rotary Club at age 20. The club comprised 12 or so people. An early experience with Rotary was trying a bow and arrow at a “have a go” day - Warren ended up as bow hunting champion. Warren moved to Tauranga and initially joined the Tauranga Rotary Club in about 1983. At that point the Tauranga club did not admit women. Not long after Warren arrived, that policy was changed and men “left in their droves”. The Tauranga Rotary Club did a number of big projects during Warren’s time in the club.
Warren was finding however, that with two growing sons and a new career, time got a bit tight, so he left the club. He was involved in a project in Hauraki Experience which took cadets to Waiouru. The Rotorua Sunrise Club asked Warren to do some youth training and the program became Rypen. Jon Mayson asked Warren to come and talk to Tauranga Sunrise about this activity and Rypen became a Tauranga Sunrise regular - that was about twenty years ago.
Warren has enjoyed having two exchange students staying with his family over the years and is pleased with the positive and profound effect the exchange program has had on them. In response to a question, Warren also admitted to a passion for cars, although he was quick to point out that some people have even more cars than he does – eg a Rolls Royce with flat tyres.
Sally was fined for asking Steve to stand in for her as Sergeant, and then turning up at the meeting anyway.
Steve noted the limericks which have been a feature of recent meetings and reported that he has actually been to Limerick. He was there for a rugby match and attended a local pub which turned out to be full of women, extending into the men’s toilet. In response to a request from some of said women, he ended up participating in a Haka in front of the men’s urinal. There was a brief pause while those present at the meeting contemplated this sight.
Steve spoke about the effort that is put, or is not put, into the selection of Secret Santa gifts. This arose from a Singapore exchange student that stayed with Steve and Jude, who as a gift, left them an ashtray. Steve was able to dispose of said ashtray in the next Secret Santa round. To his delight, the recipient of his gift was Peter Tinholt – a well known fit person and one of the persons in the club thought less likely to have need of an ashtray. Steve did note however that the calibre of the gifts he has given over the last few years compares favourably to the calibre of the gifts he has received.
Steve finished with a quote, “If you are dead, you don’t know you are dead, it is those around you that suffer. If you are stupid, it is the same.”
PREZ SEZ
SPEAKERS AND MEETINGS
We were blessed with some really outstanding speakers this month.
Larry Billodeau gave us an update on the Tauranga Foodbank and how they are making a genuine difference in the lives of those less fortunate. A spontaneous collection of foodstuffs from members attending boosted their cupboards considerably.
Olly Coffey gave a very interesting presentation on his work in eradicating muscular and joint pain and his presentation was well received by several members who undertake physiotherapy treatment, offering some fresh thinking on possible remedies.
Ray Dumble CEO of the Tauranga Airport gave a very polished presentation on this tremendous Tauranga asset and I must say in my time in the club I have never known a speaker elicit more questions from the floor.
However the highlights for me were definitely the presentations from two past Presidents, Sally Morrison and Warren Banks.
Sally spoke on a major club project working with lepers in Vietnam and she received a standing ovation from the club.
Warren spoke on his year as President, the many exciting projects that the club engaged in, including RYPEN and some of the remarkable personalities among the membership at the time.
To make the meetings even more memorable we had some simply outstanding Sergeants.
Starting off with Max Mason who it seems has created a bit of a monster with his penchant for limericks we then had thought-provoking and highly amusing sessions from Barry Fredheim, Pauline Cowens and Andrew Knowles followed by a typically side-splitting session from Steve Dorrington who told the best limerick I have ever heard. You just gotta ask him!
Thank you all of you for the amount of work and effort you put into these sessions.
Another memorable moment for me was the open discussion we had regarding our reaction to the tragic events in Christchurch.
I have always been proud of the club but never more so than during that discussion. The genuine compassion and outpouring of solidarity and support plus the willingness to confront challenging issues is something I will never forget and I thank you all so much.
The tenor of the discussion was that the best way we can be seen to do something to stand up against hatred and intolerance is to work within our local community rather than simply throw money into a fund for Christchurch.
Several really exciting ideas were brought up including working more closely with underprivileged youth, creating a Kia Ora Wall, reaching out to those groups who don’t normally consider Rotary as an option to see how we can be more inclusive, visiting the local mosque to find out what they might want. These are nowhere near exhaustive ideas but simply a starting point so please keep those ideas coming in.
RECOGNITION
Two outstanding women members were recognised by Rotary during the month.
I had the very real honour of presenting Kathy Webb with a Paul Harris Fellowship award recognising not just the fantastic contribution she has made to Rotary, particularly for Treasured Art but for the difference she makes in the lives of others within the wider Tauranga Community.
Then at District Conference Glenys Parton was the only one in the room who was surprised when she was awarded a sapphire pin to the PHF she received from the club last year.
This was in recognition of her remarkable efforts for ROMAC which go above and beyond what could be realistically expected.
Congratulations ladies!
MEMBERSHIP
Steady as she goes however as we can expect a few resignations before the year is out we need to be constantly mindful of getting in new blood. With this in mind, Pauline and her team will be putting together a Membership campaign which initially will focus on referrals from members. In light of the Club discussion on how we should react to the events in Christchurch, we will be looking to see how we can attract those groups who do not feature in our current makeup and particularly target younger people.
Please put your thinking caps on and come up with names of those colleagues, friends and those who you associate with in a professional capacity who you think might offer something to Rotary. We have a great dearth of tradespeople so consider your plumber, electrician, mechanic etc.
Don’t forget membership is everyone’s responsibility so keep inviting friends and associates along to meetings.
SOCIAL EVENTS
A successful Friday Fives with 15 members along to wind up the month. Several members hosted small dinner parties and BBQs to maximise the last of the great summer weather. Michele Beaton is planning another round of the very popular Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in June and in May we will be competing at petanque with several local clubs. More on these events later.
OTHER EVENTS
With a 40% increase in participants and 17 members helping on the day, the Great K Valley Cycle Challenge was a great success raising around $1400 for youth-related activities. A stunning morning ensured a good turnout particularly from family groups and everyone has spoken to say they will definitely be back next year. Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to Rhonda and Darren Wisbey for the hundreds of hour’s work that went into making this such a successful event.
Later in the month, we held our annual RYPEN weekend which was once again a huge success with 38 students from 10 local high schools attending a weekend where they were challenged physically and mentally. Well done Dave Robinson on yet another successful event and huge thanks to all those members who gave up some time to help. It would be remiss of me not to make special mention of Steve Dorrington and Jude who were camp mother and camp father for the whole weekend.
Well done you guys!
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Jane Nees is working on getting articles from each of our amazing women members. These will be put on the Rotary Oceania website.
Thank you to Wendy Showan for organising the highly successful Red Puppy Appeal with several members giving up their time to raise $425 for this great cause.
As mentioned before members all brought along food items for Tauranga Foodbank when Larry spoke to us and he was blown away by this unexpected generosity.
Warren Scobie and I attended a Tauranga Rotary Club meeting to support Antoon Moonen who together with former member Mark Wussung was guest speaker. Antoon spoke on a community Map App he is developing and Mark spoke on a possible joint club project to complete the Waimapu Estuary walkway. Several other local clubs also were represented. Definitely some possibilities here.
PUBLICITY AND PR
Wayne is doing a fantastic job on our Facebook page with several articles every week. If you haven’t done so please visit the site and share it with your friends. If you have photos of club activities please forward them to Wayne to be put on Facebook.
Julie Hignett can’t seem to keep out of the media spotlight with yet another great article and photo in the Bay Sun.
Well done Julie!
Also a couple of articles on Bill Holland in both the Sun and the BOP Times which mentioned the club.
Thank you Bill.
Photos and commentary on the Cycle Event completed a busy month media-wise for the Club.
BOARD MATTERS
A membership campaign to be put in place.
An outreach group of senior members to be formed
Life A Plenty Charitable Trust confirmed as a local organisation we would like to help.
Survey on cricket clean-up discussed and letter to be sent to Bay Oval Trust with our recommendations.
Schools to be contacted directly regarding Outward Bound and RYLA opportunities
Discussion on feedback from open forum on how we respond to Christchurch and support for a range of local opportunities to memorialise the event.
Approval given to further investigate Waimapu Walkway project.
Agreed that one August meeting to be replaced by a social/fundraising event on the preceding Thursday.
Club Quiz Night to be postponed to later in the year due to logistical difficulties in April.
WELFARE
Wonderful news for Bill Holland that he has been fully cleared. Shows the power of positivity and determination.
Congratulations Bill and we hope to see you back more regularly at Rotary shortly.
Sadly Mike Batchelor has had a bit of a setback and is currently recuperating in Tauranga Hospital after a nasty fall. He is expected to be hospital bound for up to three weeks so please get in touch.
THE FUTURE
- On April 14 and again on the nights of 23 and 24 April we will be hosting students from Hong Kong which through the generosity of Simon and Michel Beaton will see our coffers boosted by over $6000 for youth-related projects. Volunteer hosts only need to provide meals and a bed for the night with the kids immersed in activities during the day.
Many of our members have taken part in similar home hosting initiatives and all say it is a richly rewarding experience. We are still struggling to fill host duties for the latter visit so if you have not done so already please put your name down.
- The Graeme Dingle Foundation will once again be promoting Drop Your Boss in the form of a parachute jump with sponsorship raised going to one of the GDF programmes. This will be in April before the weather turns against us. Several of us have taken the plunge which I can honestly say is a thrill of a lifetime so give some thought to participating, raising funds for a great cause and having fun whilst doing so. An update on this is that two Past Presidents Kevin Atkinson and Simon Beaton have both agreed to be thrown out of an airplane at 12000 ft. Give A Little pages have been set up if you want to sponsor.
Woohoo! Well done guys!
- Saturday 4 May join Warren and me at District Training Day in Taupo.
- Interclub petanque competition Sunday 12 May at Club Mount.
- Movie night at new cinema complex at the crossing followed by desert. To be held in May.
- Early June Michele will be doing another round of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
- Early in July Dave Woodhouse has planned another of his famous Whisky Tasting evenings with proceeds to go to Outward Bound and other youth-related activities.
- Thursday, August 22nd will be a fundraising/fellowship night out at 16th Ave Theatre.
- Sally and Mary are working on an upmarket event to tie in with the Garden Festival with the proposed beneficiary being the Life A Plenty Charitable Trust. There will be much more on this in weeks to come but suffice to say it will have a very high profile.
- And if that is not enough we have the Club Changeover celebration to be held at a venue yet to be decided upon on 5 July. Several potential venues have been visited with another to be visited next week at which stage quotes will be considered. This evening event will replace our normal breakfast. Put this in your calendar now.
Cheers
Pat
Guest speaker - The speaker was introduced as one Warren Banks, being a Cantabrian and old boy of Shirley Boys High School, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the NZDF and part owner of a jet aircraft. 
Sergeant Session - Steve Dorrington started by noting that his car also gets flat tires in the garage although he does not claim it is part of any particularly desirable collection of such vehicles.