I'm Back - alive but not kicking

It has been a month since I last Blogged and my Blog Editor is feeling neglected so here is a short update. There will be more to follow over the Christmas- New Year break . Since my last Blog Margaret and I spent the last week of November in 30 degree heat in Brisbane where we attended ,firstly, a two-day combined New Zealand - Australia Governors Symposium and then the combined Zones 7b ( NZ ) and 8 ( Australia ) Institute. I will write more about this in a later Blog. On our return I entered hospital in Palmerston North on Tuesday 29th of November for surgery Four days later , on Friday, I was the only patient in the hospital and they wanted to close it for the weekend so I came home on the Saturday. The nurses and I had a wee party in my room on the Friday night - the only alcohol available wasn't drinkable. ( actually, I was due to be discharged on Saturday anyway )

I have been recuperating at home since and catching up on a multitude of both work and Rotary e-mails and working hard on my conference programme, in between sleeps and walks. The conference website is now live - check it out at http://www.rotaryconference.org.nz/ Margaret and I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a very happy New Year and a safe , sun-filled and fun-filled holiday. Thank you all for your commitment to Rotary. We still have six months to go in our year. This year as you know I am heralding change in Rotary which I believe is inevitable. I still have much to do in this regard and I look forward to your continuing support in the second half of the year

Some assembly required..

Compliments of the season to you all.

2011 Manawatu Business Awards

The 2011 Manawatu Business Awards were held on Friday 18th November and Margaret and I were privileged to be guests of the Awapuni Rotary Club who were sponsoring an award for the first time. Held at the Silks Lounge at the Awapuni Racecourse the event attracted 400 plus patrons and Awapuni Rotary got considerable publicity in front of the Palmerston North's business community. President Anand Srivastava spoke to the award during which he outlined Rotary's global community, humanitarian focus and cited Rotary's 4-way test and then it was my honour to present the Highly Commended and Winners trophies.
Opus was Highly Commended in the Inaugural Awapuni Rotary Club Integrity and Ethics in Business Award. I had the honour of presenting the award to Guy Dennis, Manager, Opus Palmerston North, a colleague in Opus.

Miss Manawatu - Miriam Schroeter , Yours truly, Awapuni Rotary President - Anand Srivistava) , Co-presenter - Dai Henwood, comic and TV Presenter.

Awapuni Rotary Club table

Announcing the winner of the inaugural Awapuni Rotary Club Integrity and Ethics in Business Award

The winners from Rural Fuel who did very well on the night picking up a number of awards and the supreme award.

Week 19

Week 19 and the last of our club visits. We have really enjoyed visiting all the clubs in District 9940 over the last four and a half months, meeting the Boards and the members and learning about their achievements and aspirations for the coming year.

Our last club visit was to Karori and they laid on a guided walk through Zealandia, the Kariori Wildlife Sanctuary. This ran a wee bit over schedule meaning the Board meeting was a little truncated so we will have to repeat the whole process again in the New Year. I will let the pics below do the talking. Clubs that have helped with fundraising and development of the Wildlife Centre are; Courtney Place, Johnsonville, Karori, Mt. Victoria, Port Nicholson, Wellington, Wellington Central, Harbour City, Wellington North, Wellington South.

We were very impressed by the projects Karori undertakes. This year their focus is the establishment of a Rotary Education Centre for students at Zealandia, an ambitious project which is estimated to cost $80,000. Already $40,000 has been found . It is hoped that other Wellington clubs will contribute to this worthwhile project which will give significant exposure to the Karori Club and Rotary in general.

I was also very impressed by the flyer that the Karori Club have produced to promote themselves and the 'Welcome to Karori' welcome pack they have sponsored. At the end of our visit we were presented with a book, 'Karori and its People', a very generous gift indeed.

Meeting with the Board - Russell, Coral, PDG David, President Michael, DG Bob, ADG Martin, Colin and Toby

The Story of the Building of the Dam

Kaka at Feeding Station

Young Tuatara at burrow entrance

View from Rotary Education Centre

Week 18

 Counting down now. In week 18 we visited my own club, Wanganui, and Stokes Valley.

Wanganui.

I was very pleased to hear that Wanganui, like many Rotary clubs this year, is focusing on engaging with our students and young people. Like many of our clubs Wanganui is supporting RYPEN, RYLA, Summer Science Fair and International Youth Exchange. I was particularly interested to hear that Wanganui, always a wonderful supporter of the Emergency Response Kit scheme, have been promoting ERKs to the 5 secondary schools in our area and that 3 other clubs now want to do likewise and do similar promotions to the secondary schools in their towns to bring about more Rotary awareness to students and young people. Wanganui City and Wanganui Rotary has a sister city relationship with Japanese city Nagaizumi-Cho. It was announced at a recent club forum that we are to be the recipient of a very generous donation by the Nakamura Family to be administered by the club for the education of young students in Wanganui schools studying Japanese.

Stokes Valley

Stokes Valley connived to do something special for our visit - something hinging on the 'H' in Wanganui. The pics tell the story - I think!! I owe a special thanks to President Russell Poole who drove me around Stokes Valley, showed me the land marks, and some of their Rotary Club achievements. Stokes Valley is a small club with a big heart, a focus on students and young people, and an excellent relationship with Taita College and 3 primary schools. The club is about to change its name, an outcome of the Club Visioning workshop 18 months ago. Like Wanganui, Stokes valley run a Foodbank Drive, which they carried out over two weekends, and participated in the Keep NZ Beautiful event.( COOL)

Playground at Plunket. Rotary funded and installed the fencing.

Garden of Remembrance. A fundraiser for Hospice.

Garden of Remembrance

 

Garden of Remembrance

President Russell in action

No comment!

Does this pic tell a story??

Maybe this one gives a clue.

RYPEN 1

On Saturday November 5th, Guy Fawkes Day, Margaret and I dropped in to RYPEN at the Kauwhatau Outdoor Pursuits Centre. The Centre was established by the Rotary Club of Taihape and 50 students were privileged to be accepted for the 3 day course - privileged because this year the course was fully subscribed and 15 students were reluctantly advised to apply again next year. Unfortunately , my camera ran out of battery power but I have been promised photos taken by another photographer. Regard this posting , therefore, as the first of two.

This is a wonderful program of Rotary D 9940 which, I understand, was initiated by Past District Governor Don Spiers from the Rotary club of Wanganui North. The Rotary Club of Taihape has once again done an amazing job in organising and holding this event in conjunction with Waiouru Military Camp. Another example of Rotary partnering with the community.

Waiting patiently for the dinner gong.

The male students introduced their dates for the night to Margaret and I at the door.

1127 1132

Wanganui South's Foodbank Drive

Held annually, this year on October 27th, the Wanganui South Rotary Club Foodbank Drive is an example of a relationship between Rotary, our schools, and the community which epitomizes the partnering philosophy.

The partners for this project are: Rotary of course, the City Mission, Wanganui Collegiate School and businesses in the community. During the early evening, 5:30pm onwards, the streets of Wanganui reverberate to the sirens of the 38 collection vehicles as they move around every street in the city collecting plastic bags of groceries. Wanganui businesses provide the vehicles, with or without drivers, Rotarians and business people are the drivers, and Wanganui Collegiate School provides the runners, 82 student volunteers who gave their time willingly to perform this service. Margaret and I dropped in for a few minutes to see Rotary In Action and, such was our interest in the project we didn't leave until about 8:30.

Some statistics. 272 large cardboard boxes were filled with grocery items ranging from tinned fruit and baked beans, to cereals, to toilet paper and soap.

I spent some time with City Missioner, Shirley Joy-Barrow, afterwards who gave me some sobering statistics. Food parcels issued in 2010 numbered 1384. This year 'til September: 1166. Referrals 2010, 539, as at Sept. 2011, 492. WINZ stand-downs, 169/174.

Our City Missions do wonderful community work and so do our Rotary clubs. Well done Wanganui South.

The vehicles line up to collect their Collegiate school runners

One of the many vehicles used in the drive

Upon return the vehicles are unloaded and the foodstuffs are transported by shopping trolley to

the sorting tables

Imlay Butchery provide a snack for

everyone before they depart

And the store rooms are once again chocka.

Week 17

We'd heard a lot about Petone prior to our visit. The shops for instance. Margaret couldn't wait to get there. But there is a lot more to Petone than great shops. Their iconic event and major fundraiser is the Petone Rotary Fair which is a little similar to the Martinborough Fair.
30-40 thousand people turn out for this event which raises funds for a number of service clubs. Rotary nets approximately $30k itself. And this event is organised solely by the Rotary Club of Petone's 23 members. Remarkable.

Petone also is the envy of many New Zealand cities because of its Walk of Champions - 150 plaques (costing about $700 each) cemented into the footpath on Jackson Street commemorating the achievements of its sports men and women who have represented their country while living in Petone.

A big thank you to President Neil Potter and members of the club for their hospitality on the 1st of November.

The Historic Petone Police Station

A happy inmate. I was locked in for all of a minute

Mixing and mingling prior to the meeting _ 1112 and Margaret made friends with the chef and from him extracted his recipe for butterscotch sauce.

I made friends with the parents of former All Black Alan Hewson.

And then it was onto the street to tread the Walk of Champions.  I found the plaque of my boyhood hero, Robert William Henry Scott - Bob Scott. Bob was a former member of the Petone Rotary club.

International Exchange Students Marae experience

Immediate Past DG Howard and I drove to Fielding to the Kauwhata Marae for the International Exchange Students Marae experience. Here Howard and I both addressed the hui and Howard presented the outgoing students with their blazers and greeting cards.

Parents of the outgoing students waiting to be taken onto the Marae

The visiting students

The outgoing students, resplendent in their new blazers

Weeks 15 & 16

Week 15

A light week this week, only one club to visit, Raetihi-Ohakune.

A typical cosy meeting at Raetihi

President and District Councillor Don Cameron in an unusually serious frame of mind. He had just been told the operating account was in deficit. I heard the exact same report as an AG in 2008

Week 16

No visits this week. Monday was Labour day and my son's 21st birthday fell on Tuesday so we stayed firmly rooted in Wanganui for the week. Families come first. Spending 4 days in the office at Opus was rather a novelty though.

Then, on Saturday evening , Margaret and I were very privileged to be part of the Official Party at the bi-annual Last Night of The Proms concert. This event is staged by the Rotary Club of Wanganui Daybreak with the proceeds, this year in excess of $7000, going to a local charity. The effort that goes into the organisation of the event by Wanganui Daybreak is huge and all members are involved. Truly Rotary in Action and I am mightily impressed. It was great to have Immediate Past DG Howard Tong and Jenny Flannigan staying overnight with us who, along with Dexter and Celia Bambery, here early for Presidents' Elect Training the following day, attended and enjoyed the fun. It was a 'riotous' night for the sell-out crowd in excess of 700 as the montage of pictures below reveals.

The Official Party outside the Royal Wanganui Opera House

Event Manager Robert Gaskin with Jennifer

Immediate Past DG Howard Tong and Jenny Flannigan

British Military Attaché Lt. Cnl. Timothy Woodman and his wife Shelly

Yours Truly in costume with Robert Gaskin

 

The Official Party at a Photo Op on the way to the Opera House

Week 14

I have come to life again. I am mortified that it has been almost 4 weeks since I have added to my Blog. (But there you go, life gets busy, especially for DGs... ed)


Week 14 occurred in early October and we established again at our base apartment on Queen's wharf to visit Wellington, Pencarrow, Wellington Central and Mount Victoria clubs. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos to share with you from Wellington Central or Mount Victoria. Wellington is our biggest club , current membership 156, and are targeting a membership of 200 over 5 years. They have inducted 13 members in 4 months, 8 of them women. Wellington Club is a Pilot Club for the Associate Membership pilot scheme. Mount Victoria is a Pilot Club for the Innovate and Flexible Club Pilot. These pilots are in their implementation phases and it is a bit early to report progress for these particular schemes. Wellington Central are very keen to direct their efforts this year to the Christchurch Earthquake recovery effort.

Our visit to Wellington coincided with the last meeting of Intern Vanessa Higham, a student at Massey University. Rotary had been recommended to Vanessa for her internship by Dean Frank Sligo. " Why would i want to do my Internship at a car firm" she asked him . Thankfully, she said, her first impressions of Rotary were not accurate

Over the period of the Rugby World Cup rugby fanatic Rhys Barlow delivered a 5 minute entertaining talk each meeting on the previous week's results and the likely outcomes for the coming week's fixtures. Those punters who took his predictions seriously did seem to be faring too well in the club sweepstake

This gentleman came up to me after the meeting and said that "Anyone who had worked for the Ministry of Works can't be too bad" It was Colin McLeod, an ex-Commissioner of Works

We made some new friends at Pencarrow - The Kure family

Pencarrow have a special relationship with the local Fire Service 0990 and I got to 'drive' one of the fire tenders

I met an old 'friend' at Pencarrow, Vocational Scholar Amie Ritchie