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Visitors

President Bill gave a warm welcome to our two speakers, Bill Day and Adrienne Murray. He also welcomed Philip Mottram and Honorary Members Les Austing, Jim Dearsly, Richard Sherwin, and Peter Turner.

The speaker said …

'It's all about our children and grandchildren' writes Mike in his report on what last night's speakers, Bill Day and Adrienne Murray had to tell us. Our role now and in the future is in supporting the new Wellington Children's Hospital. As you will read later in this Update, we raised $304.20 with the sale of shortbread during the evening.

What’s coming up in April and beyond?

Next week, 27 April, we will welcome two speakers from The Salvation Army in Porirua who will talk to us about the many different social services they provide to the wider Porirua community.

The next Drinks and Nibbles will be on Sunday, 2 May from 4.00-6.00 pm. Usual arrangements apply and Chris will tell us the venue shortly. If you haven't joined this happy event and would like to, please let Chris know.

The official opening of the last section of Te Ara Piko will take place at The Light House on Thursday 20 May. There will be more details about this soon as the event also recognises the completion of the pathway between Pauatahanui and Camborne. For the fit, it will mean you can walk from the Paremata Bridge to Pauatahanui (and return) with plenty to enjoy along the way.

Looking ahead, Chris Garrett is organising another Garden and Golf weekend from 8-11 October in the Wairarapa. He has pre-booked 12 double rooms at Solway Park in Masterton for the nights of 8-10 October in anticipation of demand. Please let him know if you are interested in going so that he can confirm bookings. You can find more details about the weekend here. More information will be added from time to time.

To see future events, you can go here.

Snippets

Bill drew our attention to the national book launch of Mana Tangata People of Action about People of Action: 100 years of Rotary Clubs in New Zealand and the South Pacific. The venue is the National Library of New Zealand, 70 Molesworth Street, Wellington. If you would like to go to this free event on Wednesday 12 May at 5.45 for 6.00 pm, please RSVP by 3 May to secretary@rcw.org.nz

Les Callear, who is project managing the major 'Dancing with Life Education' project, brought us up to date with how it is developing. The event is based on the well-known 'Dancing with the Stars' but on this occasion, all the dancers at this event will be amateurs. Many sponsors have stepped up to help to make this a successful fundraising event on Saturday 13 November 2021 but more sponsors will be welcome. As the event will occur close to Christmas, Les suggests that members might approach organisations and suggest that they might make it a Christmas function for members of their staff, or clients. Les provided a wealth of detail about the event and this is set out on our Events page.

Peter Sinke reported that Cris Suarez and his family are living a very Covid-restricted life in Chile, particularly hard to bear today as they celebrate his birthday. He asked Wendy to pay a tribute to all that Cris had meant to the Club when he was our International Student and she then asked Jim to lead members in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. He is seen here on his last night with us wearing and holding his parting gift of Phoenix gear. We hope the photo helps to remind him of how much he is missed. 

And speaking of birthdays, Bill took the opportunity to wish Kay - celebrating the occasion with a garden trip down south - a very happy birthday too.

And wait, there's more. Denise told members that their family is celebrating as well with a party to celebrate Dexter's 33 years and 14 days with the Police. He is leaving to become Director of Maori and Community for the Office of the Ombudsman, a new role that he is setting up. 

Donna writes that thanks to the generosity of members, a box of shortbread was sold last night and $304.20 was raised for the Wellington Regional Children's Health Trust. The odd total is thanks to those who donated their change!

This week’s happenings

Donna, and her friend, Av, went shopping on behalf of the club before dropping the purchases to Jan Hammond at Manaaki Kindergarten Association who will deliver to Ascot Park and Awatea Kindergarten. What a mission! They overfilled two trollies with winter clothing, spending $3,180.40. KMart allowed an additional $20 discount on almost 300 already discounted items. They bought leggings, long-sleeved T-shirts, underpants, socks, hoodies, sweaters, skivvies, heans, track pants, corduroy skirts, tights, jackets, rugby jumpers, quilted track pants, rain jackets and mittens. The difficulty was in making gender-neutral choices although a few Spiderman and Frozen sweaters sneaked in! Their purchase left $1,690.50 for shoes and gumboots. After searching, they were helped by Number One Shoes and will make purchases once the orders come in. They have a buy one, get the second half price deal which will help. The next step in this process is to apply for a matching District Grant to double their spending after a robust evaluation process and reporting to our anonymous donor family. How generous is that and what a difference it will make to so many children and their families.

The Zonta Club of Mana is promoting their 'Celebrating Mum High Tea' on Saturday 8 May at Khandallah Town Hall, 11 Ganges Road, Khandallah. The cost is $25 or $35 with bubbly and funds will go to the CanSurvive Dragon Boat Club to enable survivors of breast cancer to compete. You can see their poster here

The Christmas concerts staged by the women at Arohata, in conjunction with The Zonta Club of Mana have been highly successful. This year there will be a change to a concert based on Matariki. There is limited seating so, if you would like to attend, bookings will open in two weeks. Details will follow soon. 

Wendy and Donna felt very privileged to have been invited to Maisy Bentley's 21st birthday party on Saturday evening (albeit a year late because of Covid). We were surrounded by her wonderful family and friends and were totally blown away by the charm and friendliness of so many young people. Maisy is seen here with Tom who's bending his knees because he's very tall and Maisy can fit under his arm! Currently, in her fifth year of LLB(Hons) and BA (International Development and Māori Studies), Maisy is working as the National Administrator for the UN Association of NZ, an intern at the YWCA, and across various community and academic organisations. She has secured a position at Chapman Tripp where she has summer clerked for the past few years. She has a very bright future to look forward to and, amongst her many 'jobs', she also works with several voluntary organisations.

thanks to Graeme Tongs, you can now find the March Minutes of the Board and Charitable Trust  in the Intranet.

This year WELLfed will be five years old! That's a big achievement since they started off in 2016 and we congratulate them. 

Parting thought

Dexter Traill gave us the Parting Thought. In view of its solemnity, he asked members to stand. He said, 'I te hekenga atu o te ra, tae noa ki te aranga mai i te ata. Ka maumahara tonu tatou ki a ratou. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning. We will remember ...

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 - It's all about our children and grandchildren - 20 April 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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