A prize for the best caption. Email to Dave at woodiesnz@xtra.co.nz by next Friday
PREZ SEZ #2
August was another very busy month for the club as our Committee Directors started implementing their goals and objectives. Between them they have some very exciting projects planned for the year.
The highlight of the month for me was having District Governor Graham Jull visit us and present Glenys Parton with a thoroughly well-deserved PHF.
As we know, Glenys has been an inspiration in ROMAC, virtually doubling the number of operations available to help Island children lead a normal life. Well done Glenys!
DG Graham gave us a run down on the many exciting projects other clubs are running and gave us the inspiration to do even more in our local and international communities. I was very proud to hear the glowing comments on the Club from the DG. Well done everybody!
Early in the month we inducted Philipp Wilkens as a member. Philipp and his wife Maria have recently moved to Tauranga to establish a business and are very keen to give back to their new community.
Welcome aboard Philipp!
CLUB VISITS
During the month Anna Kendall arranged club visits to Te Papa and Otumoetai clubs and Te Papa reciprocated with three members attending one of our meetings. One of my aims was to increase interclub activities and this is happening with Otumoetai club offering for us to join with them in one of their major fundraisers. Anna has more club visits planned so if you, can please support her.
SPEAKERS AND MEETINGS
During the month we had some fantastic speakers.
Chris and Sophie Rapson gave us a rather sobering presentation on the issues facing the Merivale Community which struck a chord with many present. This was followed by a vibrant presentation from one of Tauranga’s hidden secrets as Simone and Ciska told us about the wonderful work they are doing to help those less fortunate in our community through art at The Incubator of which of course Ken White and Larissa Allen are trustees.
We then had a surprisingly well attended Club Assembly where the Directors were able to present their goals to the club. It was a little sobering in that it was quite evident that as a club we need to knuckle down and raise funds to enable us complete the projects we have set.
With this in mind Warren Scobie sought fundraising ideas and was inundated with suggestions from members. These suggestions have been whittled down to twelve and each Committee can then decide on a fund raiser they would like to run with.
At one meeting we had two very talented young people present to us.
Our Exchange Student Eduardo gave a hilarious presentation on his recent activities in NZ and this was followed by an excellent presentation from Will McCall who we funded to go on Outward Bound. He has certainly matured and Will says that going on outward bound has clarified his ideas on what he will do with his life and has given him the knowledge that if he puts his mind to it he can achieve anything.
A wonderful project which is funded by our biennial Whisky Tasting event.
Once again we were delighted and amused by some amazing Sergeants who painlessly extracted several hundred dollars from us. Thanks to Ron Devlin, Steve Dorrington, Pauline Cowens and Warren Banks for so brilliantly handling this vital club role.
SOCIAL EVENTS
Julie Hignett hosted her Committee to a highly successful dinner party where it was agreed that the Committee would support Threads in the Pacific, a wonderful programme giving hope to destitute women in the Islands. A hardy band of members had a few drinks and a bite to eat at The Phoenix on a very miserable night and despite being pushed forward a week Friday Fives was well attended.
MIKE BATCHELOR
Past member Mike Batchelor was awarded Honorary Membership of the club for the decades of service he has given us.
A well-deserved honour. Congratulations Mike!
Mike has now been allowed to go home after his recent operations and he would welcome a visit.
PROJECT LAUNCH
During the month we launched our sponsorship of The Rooms Project at The Elms and Wayne Shadbolt, James Clague and I represented the club at the official launch. Our artist is local man John Roy and if you want to learn more about this extraordinally talented artist check out our Facebook page.
The team also launched Savealife in its new form. We are hoping to get a stand at the upcoming Home Show how and Dave will be seeking volunteers to man the stand over the weekend.
This has been an incredible money spinner for the club and given our financial position it is vital that the whole club supports the Club in this campaign.
We also held our first Past Presidents (Kaitiaki) meeting which was a really valuable one for me as I benefited from over 200 years of wisdom in the club, its history and its culture. Thank you all so very much!
Julie launched her Black Toilet Paper fundraiser which seems to have captured the imagination with toilet rolls going out the door like hot cakes. Monies raised will assist with International projects and our commitment to ROMAC.
THE FUTURE
So what have we got coming up?
1. On 7 September Dave Woodhouse will regale us on his year as President, but with a difference as his club was in the UK.
We then have speakers as wide and varied as WW1 Commemorations, Police Dog training, ultra-endurance eventing and the Tauranga Art and Garden Festival.
2. On Oct 7 we are going to hear Barry Vercoe’s world premiere at Tauranga Boys College, followed by an event still to be finalised by Warren and his events team.
This is an historic occasion and tickets are selling fast so get yours now!
3. On Nov 10 we have our major fundraising event, Treasured Art. Thanks to the hard work of Kathy Webb and her team this is looking to be a real highlight of the Tauranga Arts calendar. As we get closer to the time we now need much more club involvement so please expect a tap on the shoulder from Kathy. We still need more art and more buyers so please contact your network.
4. On 29 Nov to 1 Dec we will be hosting a team of 6 Rotarians and their partners from Sao Paulo (Eduardo’s home city). I was so damn proud of the club that we secured 8 host families in less than 5 days. No other club that I am aware of could have done this! A sign of a healthy club!
Michele and Simon Beaton have kindly agreed to be our club liaison with District.
The timing of our hosting is perfect in that they will be able to attend a meeting and Friday Fives. We will however be seeking help and assistance to put together an interesting and varied list of activities whilst they are in Tauranga. Any offers or suggestions to Michele please.
5. In late February we will have Bob’s World Famous in NZ BBQ. Bob has not been able to put this on for a couple of years but those that have been in the past rave over Bob and Jen’s hospitality at their magnificent property.
Put that in your calendar now!
6. On Mar 3 Warren and his events team will be running the second edition of the K Valley Cycle Event. This is a fantastic day out and we hope to see the majority of the club take part in some way.
With this in mind ADG Ron Fyfe and the Area 6 Presidents are putting in a submission to Council to have K Valley name change to incorporate the word Rotary in recognition of the years of service given by local clubs towards planting and making the area more user friendly.
That would be a very fitting recognition of the work put in by Rotary and no more so than the dedication shown by Ian Burns who has over the past decades been instrumental in encouraging hundreds of Rotarians to plant trees in the valley.
Heaps going on and we are truly living up to the Rotary motto “Be the Inspiration”.
to become a Paul Harris Fellow and as the minutes passed, it became obvious to everyone that our own ROMAC champion was about to be honoured (I think Glenys was the last to realise!), A double honour as DG Graham was on hand to present her with her pin and certificate. Well deserved. Congratulations Glenys
DG GRAHAM JULL then took the floor and started by likening Tauranga to Christchurch – so much building work going on. He has visited our city 3 times in the past week and we are #24 on his list of visited Clubs – nearly half way. Travel, says Graham, is obligatory with his job, one instance being accepting an invitation to D6980 in Florida prior to the International Assembly in San Diego - one highlight being to have witnessed a night launch from Kennedy Space Centre (I suppose that should have been 'Center'). He took great delight at having a meeting in the America's Cup Room and reminded his fellow DGs who had their hands on the Cup. Some statistics for our District:
up with the PM yesterday and then launched into a series of anecdotes:
