Buddy Groups - It has been great to see these working so well, with a number of situations coming to light that we have also been able to help with. Thanks for doing your best to make sure everyone has someone to talk to. New groups for the upcoming week are as follows-
John Abraham, Chub Fletcher, Ryan Luckman, Jim Stevenson, and Berwyn Arthur
Rebecca Aitchison, Raymond Francis, Carolyn Johns, Alan Meyer, and Gavin McKenzie
Tony Alden, John Gregan, Mick Laming, Chris Paul, and Jan Dugdale
Janice Bayliss, Raewyn Francis, Mike Johnson, Charles Ruddenklau, and Billy Parker
Jane Bell, Grant Eames, Martyn Jensen, Ewan McKenzie, and Reese Millar
Peter Bell, Cara Gregan, Brian Kitchen, Adam Rivett, and Billy Boyne
Mark Brown, Stuart Duncan, Peter Hughes, Jim Rayner, and Enid Sadler (Jim will do Enid)
Ken Buckingham, Pauline Dore, Greig Moore, Mark Shefford, and Amellia Lindsay
David Chamberlain, Michael Horne, Alan Maitland, Ian Moore, and Harvey Wood
Sharyn Cain, Donald Hunt, Robin Murphy, Calix, and Pat Campbell
John Coles, Ailsa McKenzie, Bridget Wilson, Bev White, and Pat Collins
Gary Dennison, Paul Grigg, Dylan Murray, Paul Studholme, Jim Young and Lil Bailey
Colin Dore, Sam Rooney, Matt Simonsen, Russell Wallace, and Natalie Moore
CLUB ZOOM HAPPY HOUR - Don't forget that Dylan has organised a zoom meeting each Friday evening at 7pm, he will email you the details. Last Friday we had 16 log ins with 22 participants - plus a couple of cats and a rather large "puppy". DG Tania and Phil joined us from the comfort of their home in Balclutha, where they are working on indulging in an office romance haha. The topic for the evening was wahts your tipple and what have you been reading... amongst other topics. Some of the authors mentioned included Patrick French, Lee Childs, Tom Scott, T.M Clark, Wilbur Smith, and David Lagercrantz (who writes in the style of Stig Larson). There were a few stories I can't mention on here so you'll have to tune in to get all the gossip :)
... and so you are prepared for next time, here's a little zoom bingo to play
ROTARIANS OUT AND ABOUT... and safe at home!!!
Rotarians have certainly been baking and cooking up large - although I've seen lots of pics from the ladies but not many from the gents.... are you being shy lads? Russell is certainly pulling out all the stops and will need some competition for the ANZAC biscuit comp above. This week he's been on soup making duties, and check out all that red currant jelly!!! (still no tiara, which is mildly duisappointing)
Bridget has been busy harvesting black boy peaches and check out these superb looking bagels she made from scratch (drool)
The Murray household will never want Bec going back to work based on all the amazing photos and lovely sounding recipes we've been hearing about!
Ailsa, Pauline, and I have been busy sewing for the Waimate Patchwork group 28 day challenge - a new block comes out to do each day. Pauline is also very busy sorting stuff for Inner Wheel (President) and she is also starting making a lovely wreath for ANZAC day
All this baking, and hanging out at home could be a bit rough on the waistline so Cara is motivating us ladies to do a "Fight isolation inflation" challenge - where we try to complete 50km of walking/running/cycling a day as a group. Prizes are on offer but to be fair I think some of us are going to need the "stick" more than the carrot approach haha (yep me) I am also impressed to see Mark S out on huge bike rides around his countryside - 70km+ one day! Pooches are most welcome on the walkies - isn't Jane's new pup Oscar just adorable.
Kens clearly been busy as well but I havent got to the bottom of exactly what he's up to...
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SEND SOME PHOTOS OR YARNS ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN UP TO AS IT IS A GOOD WAY TO KEEP IN TOUCH :)
Presidents Message
ZOOM FUN FOR EVERYONE
Zoom and online meetings are really taking off all over the world. We have our club one, District ones, and you can also tap in to a range of others. In the early hours of the other morning there was one that had the RI President as the speaker and it attracted 300 rotarians worldwide despite the timezone challenges.
This morning I joined in a Rotary Public Image presentation hosted by Evan Burrell (Australia), and Alison Frye and Krysta Peterson (USA). 76 participants joined in from NZ, Australia, all over the US, Nigeria, Vermont, Canada, France, Ghana, Scotland, and the UK just to name a few. Would you believe it there were 3 from D9980 - with me, DG Tania, and Aydan from NRG Invercargill all listening in.
Topics included Public Image, Social media presence, branding, use of Canva, People of Action campaign, and what we can do during the lockdown. It was a very enjoyable and worthwhile presentation that concluded with question time from the participants. I certainly suggest you check out some of these online sessions.
Another top notch Zoom session I attended this last week was a cooking class with "Chef" Rotarian Rebecca Aitchison. Oh my golly we were drooling just watching as Bec created a scrumtious sounding main meal of cauliflower/bean puree with fillet steak, honey, walnuts, burnt butter sage, red wine jus................. Dylan got the pleasurable task of enjoying the end result - lucky bugger!
Ethan and I have also been sewing wheat bags ready to hand out to organisations like Lister, Hospice, and Ronald McDonald House. There are always little projects we can carry on with if we have some spare time :)
HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES - big congrats and good wishes to the following on their special days
4th April - Peter Bell Birthday
5th April - Mick and Pam Laming Wedding Anniversary
10th April - Adam Rivett Birthday
12th April - John and Sandra Coles Wedding Anniversary
Well that's probably enough from me this week.
Take care, stay safe, and yell out if you need anything
Sharyn
KEEPING UP WITH CALIX
Message from Calix - I don’t have a lot of photos but I’m spending a nice isolating on a farm , kindly hosted by the Meyers . Far to busy to get bored here there is always something to do in a farm, stacking pea straw bale , move some cattles ...
and if there is nothing to do I can still carry on the puzzle or go for a run . Last time I ran 18 km ( proud of me lol )
Thank you for the Rotary who still make my exchange very enjoyable despite the situation
CHILLING OUT IN CHILE
Message from Reese - The past two and a half months in Chile have been absolutely amazing! Arriving in the middle of January, I landed right in the middle of the school holidays which only end at the start of March. This means I’ve had a very, very long holiday! During this time I had the opportunity to go on vacation with my host family south of where I’m based (Talca) to Chiloe, Puerto Varas and Pucon. All very beautiful places, with amazing views of either the sea, mountain ranges, vulcanos or lakes. I got to go on incredible walks, boat cruises, visit the beach, visit the local markets, try local foods (the belly had a bit of a stretch there...), visit museums, and more. It was a wonderful trip. Back in Talca I’ve astonished everyone by how tall I am, made great connections with my host family and have gotten to know the area quite well. School here started on the 2nd of March and I was seriously enjoying it. I was making new friends, getting MASSIVE amounts of exposure to the language and all around having an absolute blast. However, that didn’t last long. After just my second week of school all schools in Chile got closed due to COVID-19. This of course is unfortunate news for an exchange student, however better for the overall safety of everyone. Since then, I’ve been staying at home and keeping safe. I’m spending a lot of my time with my host brothers. We do quite a few things together in the backyard, such as play table tennis, football and do our PE classes together. Apart from this, we also spend some time playing together on the PlayStation. Since the closure of school, I’ve also had a lot of free time. I’m choosing to spend it to learn how to use image manipulation software. From drawing things, to editing faces on to pieces of fruit, I’ve found it to be quite interesting and somewhat entertaining.
The past two and a half months in Chile have been absolutely amazing! Arriving in the middle of January, I landed right in the middle of the school holidays which only end at the start of March. This means I’ve had a very, very long holiday! During this time I had the opportunity to go on vacation with my host family south of where I’m based (Talca) to Chiloe, Puerto Varas and Pucon. All very beautiful places, with amazing views of either the sea, mountain ranges, vulcanos or lakes. I got to go on incredible walks, boat cruises, visit the beach, visit the local markets, try local foods (the belly had a bit of a stretch there...), visit museums, and more. It was a wonderful trip. Back in Talca I’ve astonished everyone by how tall I am, made great connections with my host family and have gotten to know the area quite well. School here started on the 2nd of March and I was seriously enjoying it. I was making new friends, getting MASSIVE amounts of exposure to the language and all around having an absolute blast. However, that didn’t last long. After just my second week of school all schools in Chile got closed due to COVID-19. This of course is unfortunate news for an exchange student, however better for the overall safety of everyone. Since then, I’ve been staying at home and keeping safe. I’m spending a lot of my time with my host brothers. We do quite a few things together in the backyard, such as play table tennis, football and do our PE classes together. Apart from this, we also spend some time playing together on the PlayStation. Since the closure of school, I’ve also had a lot of free time. I’m choosing to spend it to learn how to use image manipulation software. From drawing things, to editing faces on to pieces of fruit, I’ve found it to be quite interesting and somewhat entertaining.
