Community service committee - volunteers are needed to clear the trails in preparation for the Trail Bike Ride. Please let Mark Shefford know if you can help and he will contact you for the working bees. You will need high-visibility vests, sturdy shoes, and strong gloves.
Alan Laurie thanked the club for their support of Steam-Up Day at Bushtown. Rotarians supervised the car park and ran a BBQ. Over 750 visitors came through the gates.
President-elect Alan Maitland is looking for help during the up coming new Rotary year. Alan needs someone to lead the Rotary phone book project, taking over from Aisla Mckenzie. The club will also need three volunteers to write the Rotary Networker.
District Governor- elect Dylan Murray reported back to the club that 89% of our district's clubs voted to support the merger with District 9970.
Youth committee - John Greegan reported that strong support for Nanas for Schools project means that the first pod of nanas has been set up to read to Bluestone School in Timaru.
Carolyn, our rep, reminded us to spread the word on the grant below
Guest speaker; Stuart Duncan - new member talk.
Our club's newest member, Stuart Duncan, introduced himself to the club. The club has been lucky enough to hear Stuart speak on other occasions as CEO of Waimate District Council. Tonight we heard more about his personal story. Stuart grew up in Whanganui with his parents, brother and sister. Stuart's mother died tragically when he was young, and this influenced a defining attitude of his to cherish every day. An engineering apprenticeship in Whanganui led to engineering work in Hamilton and then Queensland, where Stuart also enjoyed a playing professional rugby league for the Atheron Roosters. Stuart met his wife, Carol when he was travelling between Cairns and Thursday Island for work. His engineering work led to consultancy for Australian local government, and most recently to local government in New Zealand. Stuart has been a generous supporter of our club, and his enthusiasm for photography has been to the advantage of our community. I hope Stuart and Carol enjoy their involvement with our club.
Thought for day. "Some people are not shaking hands because of coronavirus. I'm not shaking hands because the supermarket has run out of toilet paper" (anon).
ROTARIANS OUT AND ABOUT
SOUTH CANTERBURY CANCER SOCIETY RELAY FOR LIFE - 14TH MARCH 2020
(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
Presidents Message
WHAT A SURREAL TIME WE ARE LIVING IN
Thank you so much to everyone who supported our Relay for Life team 'The Rollicking Rotarians', whether by participating on the day, donating to the cause, or cheering us on. It was an amazing, emotional day and I am super proud that our club were part of it. DG Tania an Phil came up for the day and put in a huge effort with the number of laps they completed, family members joined in, and with a number of Rotarians in other teams, as well as ours approx half our club was there for the event.
The provisional total at the end of the day is above, and our team contributed just over $3000 towards that! Yay us! Thank you all once again!
The rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19 has left many people feeling very anxious, and a number of changes needing to be made to help control the outbreak. You will have received an email from me regarding this weeks meeting, and further information will go out after our Board Meeting tomorrow night. I reiterate to please get in touch of you need any support at all. As for some specifics already -
D9980 Conference in Balclutha has been cancelled
The Sport Waimate Triathlon has been postponed until late in the year
Our Rotarians in Kenya are trying to get back to NZ as soon as possible but will be in isolation for 14 days on their return (we will do what we can to support)
The Trailbike ride decision has not been made just yet as we await further information.
District is working on the situation with our Rotary Youth Exchange students, both inbound and outbound, and are keeping us in the loop as decisions are made
Meals on Wheels - a discussion is to be held regarding who should be delivering these as we move forward
Other things will probably arise but we will keep you informed via email or phone as they do.
Please take care of yourselves, your family, and your friends/neighbours. Make decisions that are right for you, and remember that Rotary is your family too and if we can help we will.
