Rotary Club of Plimmerton
Visitors
President Kay welcomed our two club speakers for this evening, Bill McAulay and Barry McEwen. She also welcomed Philip Mottram, Greg Moller (from K-Mart), Caroline Shields (Head Teacher from Awatea Kindergarten), Janine Brownie (Moira Gallagher Kindergarten), and visiting Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Porirua, Area Governor Kath Beattie, President Angela Blair, Secretary Paula Williams, and Jenny Williamson.
President's Announcements
Kay's President's Bottle of Wine was presented to several people this week because:
- Jenny and Ron Lucas helped get the Porirua Garden underway with a proposal and then much labouring to build the garden beds. Thank you for getting the project started.
- Graham Craig has done a superb job of managing the operational part of the project by, amongst other things, obtaining soil, planting seeds and seedlings, installing a watering system, and now harvesting vegetables for the Food Bank and of course the work roster. Others have come on board to help too.
Kay also presented a chokkie fish to Jenny for her brilliant organisation of the Sweet Georgia trip. Even the weather wasn’t as bad as we expected.
Please give Kay final decisions about the Wanganui Garden and Golf Weekend next Tuesday. You can email her if that is easier.
Registrations are being taken for District Changeover and Kay would love to have company on Saturday 25 June 10.00am-3.30pm in Otaki.
Next week there will be a discussion of whether to introduce Corporate membership to our Club, primarily as a means of increasing membership and raising our community profile. Depending on the decision of the Club a vote to change the By-Laws may subsequently be needed. Pros and Cons will be presented by John O'Connell and Graeme Tongs. Please come prepared to share your opinion.
On Friday 20 May some members, led by Peter Sinké, will be testing new microphones.
The speakers said …
The speakers said …This week’s speakers were two club members- past President Bill McAulay and Barry McEwen. They described progress on the Taupo Swamp/Plimmerton Domain restoration project, which is now in its fourth year.
Their title was an old Chinese proverb: ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago’, meaning that the benefits of the project and all the hard work will be best appreciated by our grandchildren’s grandchildren. Trees are like that- they take a long time to grow to maturity. As Mike writes, this is an excellent project for our club. It is part of a national Rotary effort, does not require funds, it engages many of our members, raises our profile in the community, and cements our relationship with the Council.
Viewpoint
ViewpointGraeme Blick gave us the Viewpoint tonight. He said that we should look for the opportunity for our young people as there might just be a hidden talent there waiting to be discovered.
What’s coming up in May and beyond?
Kāpiti Climate Change Action Group member Chris Paice is a grandfather to two children under 10. Next week Chris will talk to us about Climate Change.
Here's advance notice of the Cooking Demonstration for the Drowning Prevention Project. After Covid delays, this will now be held on Thursday 9 June at 7.00 - 9.00 pm. The venue is 24 Margaret Shields Avenue. The available space limits numbers to 20. The cost is $20. It is open to all - men and women. Three wonderful cooks, Chris Blick, Sheryl Perera, and Carolyn Wallace will demonstrate making snacks/nibbles which will be provided as supper. A very worthwhile cause. A fun evening. Kay is taking names for attendance now at 46nanakay@gmail.com Please email her even if you put your name down in February. Note that we have changed this to an evening event.
Kay gave very advance notice that plans are afoot to organise a visit to our sister club of Brighton North in Melbourne in March 2023.
You can find future events here.
Snippets
President-Elect Denise gave a brief outline about what we can expect to enjoy at Changeover on Tuesday 5 July. The event will be held at the Wharewaka Function Centre, Wellington - a 4-minute walk from Te Papa, starting at 5.30 pm. The theme is 'A Touch of Glamour'. More details will follow.
Donna briefly outlined the Pre-School Clothing Project and gave special thanks to Greg Moller (son of Bill and Jocelyn Moller) who arranged for KMart to support this project for the past two years while we have been collecting clothing for four kindergartens. She introduced Caroline Shields from Awatea Kindy who told us that the clothing had made a huge difference to the children, particularly those from Syria who have been struggling with unsuitable clothing for the New Zealand climate. The additional clothing had helped to make the children happier as they were now on the same playing field as the rest of the children. Janine Brownie from Moira Gallagher Kindergarten told us that the participation by the children had increased and the new clothing was having an impact on their learning and development Specifically they could now run and jump in the playground in their new gumboots and get wet without fear of having nothing dry to change into. Kay said how lovely it was to hear that something we do is making such a difference in the community and gave renewed thanks to Greg Moller and KMart. This project has been funded by donors who wish to remain anonymous. However, by using Rotary resources the initial funding has been significantly leveraged by Donna and her team.
This week’s happenings
Sera Toloi from the Salvation Army has written to Graham Craig to thank us for our contributions of fresh vegetables from The Porirua Garden. She says that all the vegetables provided are of value and the quantity supplied is sufficient to last a week. She says that they greatly appreciate the work done by the group and that the planting, harvesting, and packing have gone beyond what was expected.
Parting thought
With all that has been happening in politics lately, Bruce Phillips gave us a brief preamble before delivering his passing thought tonight with a quote from Mark Twain. "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.”
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 Kay.
Please arrive at 5.45 pm if you're on Door duty or hosting the Guest Speaker 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.
