Visitors: Charles Cato ( Guest speaker )
Welcome Back to Bill Holland, Adrian Pohio, Chris Rapson and Rod Large
Birthdays: Kat MacMillan
Anniversaries: Dean Thompson
Rotary Anniversaries: Lynda Burch 23 years, David Robinson 12 years
Notices
Roster for Larissa Allen meals (gluten free)
Let Glenn or John Carlson know if you are able to assist - still a couple slots left
Waitangi Day opportunity for fundraising with gold coin donation.
See Buddy.. If we can help as a Club on the day some of the gold donation will go to the club
Christmas Puddings only $23 each
See Dave McDonald, where selling like hot cakes ( opps puddings ) this morning
Barry Fredheim Asked Warren Banks
to stand and introduced that he was going for his Blackbelt in Karate on Saturday, this entails 2 hours of program to test fitness and then 40 x one and half minutes continuously fighting. Our best wishes to you Warren, you have this nailed. The club is proud of your achievements and resilience. Note. Barry is also doing Karate and has a goal to follow. The Club showed there support and appreciation.
Quiz Night 29 November ( Next Tuesday )
Contact Wayne to enter a team or come with a couple friends and join a table of individuals.
Wayneshad@gmail.com
Remember our final breakfast for the year is December 16th, no gifts this year but a collection for Foodbank will be taken.
Container Co would like to invite you to attend our fundraising event on the 15th December at Omanu Golf Club in support of the Graeme Dingle Foundation.
Registration along with a BBQ is from 11.00am at the club and also a sausage sizzle and refreshments at the 2nd and 5th start blocks with a roaming cart throughout the day.
We are pleased to advise that ALL money raised from the entry fees and a couple of auctions will be 100% donated.
We will also have a hole in one option, longest drive and straightest drive
We will be limiting the amount of teams so don’t miss out
Please RSVP back to rsvp@containerco.co.nz by Friday 2nd December 2022
0manu Golf Club - 15 December (Ambrose Tournament) - 12pm Shotgun Start 4 players per Team - entry: $500per Team ALL Proceeds (incl Auction) go to Charity
Speaker 25 November, Charles Cato NZ’s Relationship with Tonga
Les introduced our guest speaker, Charles Cato, former Rhodes Scholar to Oxford University, and retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Tonga.
Charles spoke of growing up in Whakatane and thinking that one-day he would retire to the Bay of Plenty. He completed his secondary education in Auckland, and attended university there, before studying at Oxford.
He had a varied career in law, working both as defence counsel and as a prosecutor, before being appointed to the bench in Tonga.
Charles spoke with great affection for the Tongan people, repeating that they were loyal and hardworking folk who valued education. Although there is no Government funded welfare there, all the children appear to be well fed and well dressed, as families place high importance on this.
On arriving in Tonga he was given a rather large dog, Bama, whom he quipped could have won the Melbourne Cup. An admirer of President Barack Obama at that time, he varied the name to Obama. The dog had proved a good guard dog, protecting him at one stage from an intruder, and came back to live with him in Tauranga.
Charles enjoyed recreational opportunities in Tonga and its islands, including diving. He was also fond of the species of crayfish there, once he learned the proper way to prepare them.
Regarding his judicial role, Charles aimed to not have offenders appear before him again, and therefore spoke to them a lot. There is no legal aid in Tonga, and sometimes an accused had no legal representation. On occasions Charles might assist the defendant by cross examining a witness, something that would be frowned upon in NZ.
Having lived through some devastating cyclones, climate change is of concern to him. But he spoke of how resilient Tongans were, getting vital infrastructure up and running shortly after disaster struck.
Charles is concerned about the growing influence of China in the South Pacific and sees it as a result of less interest from the United States and other allies. Tonga is indebted to China, and he worries about the consequences should the debt be defaulted upon. He recognises his views about this and other matters are controversial, but believes NZ should increase its aid. The world order is changing and we should respond to that.
Sergeant Indeevar Duhan
There was a collection of what happened in this date in the past with a couple jokes thrown in.
One from Indeevars daughter - what is Brown and sticky?? Hmmm ... answer SICK not what we all thought.
second . What is a room fill of turkeys with microphones doing?? ... Going to a Roast
Parting thought: Katt
Something about knowing the longest living Barbara ??
She is a fossil clam discovered alive at Naples Point, in Santa Barbara but assumed had been lost to the passage of time.
Sergeant:
The Sergeant opens the meeting at 7:00 a.m. by calling it to order and providing a grace of their choosing. Guests are then invited to collect their breakfast followed by club members. Following the speaker thanks, the sergeant asks the speaker to draw raffle winner then has the floor for 5 minutes on any subject of their choosing—humorous, irreverent, informative—almost anything goes!
Actions if you are unable to carryout your duties
If you find that you are not going to be available to do the one assigned to you, please find someone to do the duty in your place, even if you are on ‘Back-up’, and then let Jim Rickard (jim@builtin.co.nz) know the name of your replacement as soon as you can.
Please do not call on the person assigned the duty of 'Back-up' to stand in for you. His / her sole responsibility is to take over the duty of anyone who does not turn up on Friday morning.
