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Visitors

In his exciting new role as a Porirua City Councillor, President Euon welcomed a host of visitors, including Nathan Waddle who has also gained a seat on the Council, also representing the northern ward.

The editor is at a bit of a loss as to how to capture the atmosphere at our meeting this week, let alone mention all the visitors by name. Suffice to say that the visitors almost outnumbered the members! The evening was joyful, exciting, and noisy and many people lingered long after it was all over. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll let the photos do the talking. There were past exchange students, future exchange students, exchange students from other clubs, host parents, Counsellors, District officers. Everyone seemed to be smiling and soaking in the vibes. What a happy evening ...

The Speaker said ...

You really had to be there to fully enjoy the wonderful presentation that Cristóbal SUÁREZ, known by us as Cris, gave us. He donned a traditional Chilean alpaca poncho and is seen here with Erik Dekker, one of his best friends from Aotea. If the speed of his delivery occasionally outran his pronunciation, he more than made up with it with his wonderfully cheeky sense of humour and the amount and variety of subjects he covered. Inserting his presentation here as a pdf, rather than a pptx, means that the video - 'the magic of the dance' - is missing, but you can get a copy of the pptx from Peter, who obviously helped him with the technical side of things. Cris urged members to invite him to anything and everything so that he can squeeze every moment out of his exchange. As you can see from the photo above, he was well supported by his friends.

Viewpoint

Was this a PC Viewpoint? Well, not really. In this case, ‘PC’ means Porirua College. This week our ‘Viewpoint’ was outsourced to a guest of the club, Chris Wood, the deputy principal of PC.  Chris is a local, who after getting a business degree at VUW decided his vocation was teaching, and he never looked back. PC has had a chequered past as we know but nowadays is vision-driven, under the light of the school’s rising sun emblem. Students are pushed to realise their potential, and this shows in their academic results, which are steadily improving. Chris noted the almost complete rebuild of the College since 2009, and that they have begun delivering the curriculum in a different and more flexible way. He acknowledged the closeness of our club to the College, through the efforts of David Knight, Donna Reed, and President Euon, and thanked the club for its support and encouragement. 
Past President Donna presented a cheque to Chris for the Chromebooks and raincoats that the club has donated to the College.

The two students who accompanied Chris, Ana Lata and Fiona Sopi thanked the club and spoke warmly (and extremely well) about the sponsorships that they had enjoyed, Ana to Outward Bound and Fiona to RYPEN. Fiona, standing next to Chris, also mentioned that she had thrown her hat into the ring to take the position of Head Girl at Porirua College next year. We wish her luck. 

This week's happenings

Our National Earthquake Drill and Tsunami Hīkoi, is taking place on Thursday 17 October 2019 at 1.30 pm. What precautions are you planning? You might like to check out some possibilities here. It's always good to be prepared ...

Porirua Rotary is staging a Diwali themed dinner to raise funds for the 'End Polio' initiative. The dinner will be held at the Plimmerton Taj on Sunday, 27 October at 7.00 pm. The cost is $40 per person for starter and mains buffet meal. This event was great fun last year. If you would like a ticket, please get in touch with Past President Donna.

Many of us will remember Helena Sadler, one of our International Rotary Exchange students from Brazil. Here she is, halfway through her journey to become a medical doctor.

And Jenny Lucas, recently returned from (another) trip mentioned that she and Ron caught up with one of our former Exchange students from Switzerland, Jess (Jessica Nüssel) on their travels and will be welcoming her and her family to New Zealand for a holiday in February next year.

We have been asked if we can help with collecting funds for The Neonatal Trust. If you can help at the North City Mall on Thursday 7 November or at Wellington Airport on Friday 15 November, please get in touch with Samantha Bennett.

Snippets

Six holes have, so far, been sponsored for the Mary Potter Hospice Charity Golf Tournament on Friday 22 November which means that we need sponsors for another twelve. Please do everything you can to support Chris for this event, coming up with ideas for sponsorship as well as prizes. There's lots of work to do to make this work.

There will be an exciting BBQ on Sunday 3 November but there's a catch. Attendance at the BBQ requires a serious workout, cleaning up the Pauatahanui Inlet beforehand. Please meet at Browns Bay car park at 10.30 am wearing warm clothes and strong shoes or boots.

Remember the Melbourne Cup night on Tuesday 5 November which was covered in the 1 October Update. Alan Nicholls is still working on the details, many of which are set out on our Events page.

What's coming up in October and beyond?

Next week, Tuesday 22 October, we will hear from Justin Hodgkiss, Associate Professor, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington and Co-Director of The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. Justin will speak on the opportunities afforded by new materials and nanotechnology, particularly with respect to managing climate impact.

You can find all future events here.

Parting thought 

Leigh Corner gave us the sobering parting thought from a remarkable young lady, Greta Thunberg: 'People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you.'

Who’s on duty for the next month?

Unable to do your duty? Please find a replacement and inform Philip Mottram.
If you're a late 'no show' please tell President Euon.
Please arrive at 5.45 pm if you're on Door duty or on Introduction duty to greet the Guest Speaker and be his/her host for the evening.
Need to apologise or bring additional guests?
Advise the Receptionist at Professionals before 10.00 am on the Monday before the meeting on 233 9955 or email paremata@dwre.co.nz if you prefer.
Please provide the name (and spelling if necessary). The same applies if you're going to be late.
Euon reminds members that it is the role of the person saying Grace to host Cris for the evening.

 

 

Weekly Update - a PC Viewpoint - 15 October 2019

 
 
 
Guests are welcome to our Dinner Meetings. 
For apologies or additional guests, please phone or email Phillip Whearty before 10.00 am on Mondays (or before 10.00 am on Tuesdays if Monday is a statutory holiday) on 027 448 9094 or email philip.whearty@harcourts.co.nz

 

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