Rotary Club of Plimmerton
Our new Pesident, Denise, had this to say at the start of her year.
'Tena koutou katoa
'Thank you for your time this evening.
'Firstly I want to acknowledge the leadership throughout 2021/22 of immediate Past-President Kay. Thank you for our discussions throughout the year and for enabling me to be part of your success.
'Your leadership team for this year is:
- Treasurer – Bruce Couch
- Secretary – Nick Walmsley
- Youth – Colin Whyte
- Administration – Tania Woodcock and newly minted President-Elect
- Communications – Philip Reidy
- Social Director – Kay Phillips, immediate Past President
- Environment – Bill McAulay (non-board) will chair the committee, and drive the actions and I will represent the committee at Board meetings
- Iwi – Maori engagement – Dexter Traill (non-board)
- Principal Advisor to the President (formerly known as mentor) – Brian Greaves
'Thank you to Peter Sinke, for your tech special prowess this evening, much appreciated.
'Thank you to Dexter, toku hoa rangatira, for your MC duties this evening and for driving Miss Daisy throughout the year ahead.
'I want to talk to you, my whakapapa with the Rotary Club of Plimmerton. In September 2002, I attended GSE selection and was selected to join the outgoing team to Denmark. RCoP sponsored my selection application and my time away. At that time I was a Sergeant at the Royal New Zealand Police College. The GSE experience made fundamental changes to my worldview. Judy Bain was the District Governor, Noel Evans coordinated the outgoing team's duties.
'Upon returning to New Zealand, I completed my obligatory duty of meetings to outline my GSE experience. Danish hosts, Rotarians became lifelong friends with one couple Annette and Hans-Erik Emborg remaining in contact to this day and visiting NZ eleven years ago to attend the wedding of our daughter Waimarie and son-in-law, Daniel.
Hans-Erik wrote to RCoP, recommending and supporting my application to become a Rotarian. In November 2003 I was inducted by then-President Brian Greaves. I chaired the Youth committee before leaving for Auckland in April 2006. While in Auckland I served as President for Somerville Rotary Club in the 2015/16 year, earning the club’s first RI President Award for club attainments.
'I'd like to draw your attention to the 2022/23 RI emblem “Imagine”. "Rotary International President Jennifer Jones imagines a Rotary where members act to make their dreams become reality and make the most of their club experiences. Jennifer urges us to engage more with each other and use these connections to build partnerships that change the world.”
Studying the "Imagine" logo,
- The circle in aboriginal culture signifies our connections to one another. The dots represent people and there are 7 because of Rotary’s areas of focus.
- The circle and the dots together become a navigational star – our guiding light.
- The solid green line is referred to as a digging stick, used for hard work.
- Since Rotary members are people of action – it represents a tool for getting things done.
- The colours, green, purple, and white are not necessarily connected to aboriginal culture. As we celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion, expressing ourselves differently in what we wear, gives us connection.
You can interpret the colours as,
- Purple for polio eradication
- Green for the environment (our newest addition to our area of focus)
- White for peace (our core mission)
- Together they are the colours of women’s movement, the Suffragettes.
'I acknowledge the presence tonight of my Counties Manukau police colleagues, Superintendent Warwick Morehu, Detective Inspector Darrell Harpur, former Inspector Dexter Traill. We never imagined through any of our weekly deliberations of the fortunes of the Warriors, where, before the game we would talk tactics, our expectations, and then following the game our disappointment and how we would be better coaches. We never imagined tonight, all of us together again, in this beautiful whare and the occasion. Counties Manukau policing is unique and the hub of policing.
'I imagine Matariki. Who would have imagined we would have an indigenous public holiday celebrating the rise of the cluster. That it would be celebrated across the country. Matariki is also a time to reflect on past, present, and future. For the past, I’m mindful of the journey my Welsh, English, and Cook Island ancestors undertook to travel to NZ by boat to this beautiful land and who now rest within papatuanuku. For the present, I watched the dawn of the new matariki holiday and observed and created memories with our moko. I had the joy the night before watching the rise of matariki with our daughter Waimarie and Daniel son-in-law who are here this evening with our two moko. Hearing moko relay the stories of separation of Papatuanuku and Ranginui, how the matariki cluster came about by the resulting fall out of their children. I marvel at what our moko are learning at school relating to our own traditions. I’m excited about the world they will grow up in.
Looking to the future, I imagine RCoP 5 years from now:
- I imagine Membership to be engaging, agile, we will have grown. We will be further immersed in our community.
- I imagine a thriving relationship with Ngati Toa Rangatira
- I imagine our reach locally, district, Pacific and globally growing.
'For now I want you to start imagining how we might celebrate our club's 50th anniversary in February 2023 with community initiatives and a formal gala evening. Can I just say, I do enjoy gala evenings, (just putting it out there for the organising committee).
'I ask each of us to imagine what gift we will give to our future club members when they celebrate 100 years of RCoP.
'At next week's Committee meeting I will outline plans for the year.
'Tonight, I want us to imagine ourselves transported back to a time, where we fox-trotted, twisted the night away, waltzed, danced the Gay Gordons (can we still say that these days), rock'n'roll, shimmied, discoed, potatoed and chicken danced. I have no idea what the chicken dance is (note to self to look it up some time).
'Tonight is your night, let’s celebrate our good fortune, remember those who are here and those who have left for the stars and connect once more in friendship and dance.
'I hand the mic back to Dexter, Emcee, to introduce the next part of our evening.
'Ngā mihi, kia ora, thank you.