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Visitors

We were blessed with lots of visitors this evening. President Bill welcomed our speaker, Dr Russ Ballard from the Rotary Club of Wellington. What he had to tell us about the Rotary Forests Project attracted members from Tawa, Porirua, and Johnsonville. From Porirua, Bill welcomed Bevan Smith, Jenny Williamson, Angela Blair, and Kath Beattie, also our Assistant Governor. From Tawa, he welcomed Elizabeth Sutton , Richard Hutchinson, John Melveille, Gaylene Lines, and Philip Harland and from Johnsonville, Neil Haydon. Bill also welcomed Partners Sue Couch, Janet Reidy, Carolyn Wallace, Velma Knight, and May Bass and Honorary Members Chris Blick, Jim Dearsly, Peter Turner, and Ron Lucas.

The speaker said …

As Mike writes, Dr. Russ Ballard has a CV of some weight, having been a scientist, senior public servant, and Chancellor of Massey University. He is also a member and past President of the Rotary Club of Wellington. Last evening he came to talk to the club about the Peace, Remembrance, and Community Forests Trust

Viewpoint

Jenny Lucas gave us the Viewpoint tonight (at very short notice). She gave us a teaser on a recent visit to the Chatham Islands remarking on the immortal words of Fred Dagg - 'We don't know how lucky we are.'

What’s coming up in April and beyond?

Next week, 6 April will be our Planning Meetings.

The meeting on 13 April will be a social evening, 'Would I lie to you?'. Six club members will be asked to tell us a story and we have to guess whether it's true or not. Failure to get it right will result in a gold coin donation, so bring plenty of coins with you!

Remember to put these important dates into your diary:

  • Guess Who's Coming to Dinner on Saturday 10 April will have the same arrangements as previously. A dinner party with several venues simultaneously. We start at a member's home to see where everybody is going and then head off to each host's home. The two-course dinner will be catered and cost $37.00 per person. An evening to enjoy good food and excellent company. If you missed the checklist please, let Kay know if you'd like to be included by Easter Monday. And please let Kay know if you will be happy to be a host. We need more hosts, please.
  • We're thinking of going either to Virtuoso Voices at the Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday 22 May or Jersey Boys at the Opera House between Saturday 22 and 29 May as our May Club social outing. Please email Kay if you are interested. Both are popular and we'll need to book very soon.
  • Changeover is on Tuesday 29 June at the Silverstream Retreat. The theme will be announced very soon. Our graphics expert is busy. Please let Kay know if you are coming if you have missed the checklist.
  • Looking way into the future, the Club Christmas Party will be on Tuesday 14 December at Judgeford Golf Club.

To see some of our future events, you can go here.

Snippets

President-Elect Kay mentioned that shortbread orders were still open and would be delivered after Easter.  If you forgot to put in your order, contact Kay quickly while there's still time.

John Melveille invited members to join Tawa in a Tawa Rotary Car Fun Run on Sunday 11 April. Questions will need to be answered en route, fun is to be had and there will be prizes. The Run will finish at the home of Elizabeth Sutton, 26 Oxford Street with afternoon tea. The entry fee is $12.50 per person with a maximum of $30 per car. The proceeds will go to Wellington Children's Hospital. One team of four has already committed. Join us!

Gaylene Lines mentioned that she had raffle tickets with excellent prizes and would be available to sell them at $5 each or 5 for $20 at the end of the meeting.

Nick Walmsley brought us some news from Bill Shields about how our Cambodian students are getting on, particularly despite the Covid restrictions in that country. Bill will send a more detailed report when restrictions settled down and things became more normal.

President Bill reported that we had been given an award of Bronze Donor at the Rotary Conference to acknowledge our contributions of over US$100,000 to the Rotary Foundation. 

This week’s happenings

We have received the following note of thanks from Alison Cox to those who helped with collections for the Red Puppy Appeal. She said, 'Thank you for making time to assist with the annual Red Puppy appeal for 2021. Without the support of members from Plimmerton Rotary, the work Blind Low Vision NZ does would simply not be possible. Hopefully from this appeal, more people will have access to a guide dog. I will ensure you are advised of the total amount raised in Porirua & more importantly the sum you helped collect from the New World Porirua site.' President Bill added his thanks to those who had volunteered.

The Zonta Club of Mana has sent us their April newsletter which makes interesting reading as usual. You can read it here.

President Bill and Treasurer Graeme have both received information from the Rotary Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, asking if we would like to participate in a survey. The goal of the survey is to better understand how Rotary members and participants perceive and experience DEI. Bill will explain this more fully at next week's meeting.

Parting thought

Don Johnson gave us the Parting Thought tonight with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, 'What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.'

Who’s on duty for the next month?

Unable to do your duty? Please find a replacement and inform Graham Wallace.
If you're a late 'no show' please tell President Bill.
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.

Weekly Update - Russ Ballard talks about trees - 30 March 2021

 
 
 
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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