Welcome
President Ray welcomed visitors Lee Powell (St Peters School), Mike Ryan (Guest Speaker), Jackie Leatham and Days for Girls representatives Anne Blewden and Deb Robinson.
Waipa Fun Run – thanks
Lee Powell from St Peters School extended thanks to the Club for assisting with the Waipa Fun Run marshalling. This had been a great help and she relaxed on the day knowing that this task was in good hands. $15,000 was raised for a school project.
Guest Speaker – Mike Ryan – “Enabling our Communities to Benefit from Digital Technology”
Mike Ryan from Ultra Fast Fibre gave an interesting and informative presentation on the installation of optical fibre broadband. Ultra Fast is a locally-owned business with WEL and Waipa Networks being the co-owners. The company was established in 2011 and covers the central North Island area. They are contractors who do the work passed on to them by the retailer. Mike explained the processes and timelines of installing ducting in the ground and also bringing the fibre into homes. Connectivity in local towns (Cambridge, Te Awamutu, etc) has enabled business opportunities that were previously not possible. Ultra Fast is now concentrating on rural areas (eg Tamahere). Initially they were processing orders at the rate of 5,000 per month to new homes with a reduction now to 2,000 per month. He referred to coverage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan which will be available on Spark Sport, rather than SkyTV. He encouraged people who wanted to watch the Rugby and did not have fibre to order it now otherwise it would be too late.
He estimated that 40% of small town populations were unable to afford a digital service and this potentially impacted on education when children are doing much of their work in the digital space. Mike stressed the need for keeping safe when using the network with this being one of the biggest concerns, particularly for children and youth who should not be given unlimited access to technology. He recommended the website – www.netsafe.org.nz where useful advice and warnings are available.
Garden Festival – Presentation to Days for Girls
Anne Blewden and Deb Robinson were in attendance to receive a cheque from Carey Church and President Ray for Days for Girls. Days for Girls had been given $1,000 from the proceeds of the funds raised at the 2018 Garden Festival. Anne Blewden thanked Rotary on behalf of the group.
Notices
Bookarama – book sorting continues this coming Monday.
Matching Grants
Opportunities for matching grants available. Members were encouraged to see Doug Lang if they had ideas for a community project for which the club could apply.
IYE – home hosting
A reminder we are looking for home hosts for a French student who will arrive in July. The Board has committed to continuing to support the IYE programme – so the support of members would be appreciated. If you would like to home host or know of someone, who is not a Rotarian and would like to home host please let Greg Gascoigne know.
Taste Waikato – special promotion
Jan Bilton advised of a Mothers Day promotion being embarked upon. There is a chance to win a free cookbook through Facebook by sharing with friends.
Interact – presentation of cheque for Shelterbox
Ian Grant (Youth Director) has advised that the Cambridge High School Interact Club presented a cheque at the District Conference for the purchase of a Shelterbox.
Anna Taylor – Para-Olympian – thanks
Anna had been one of the Para-Olympian speakers a few weeks ago and sent her thanks for the opportunity to attend and share her story. She has had a fantastic trip to Holland for the Para-Olympic World Cycling Championships which has helped her to progress in her career in cycling. She is keen to give back to the community in appreciation of the help she has received.
Balloons Over Waikato
Waikato Sunrise Club had sent thanks for the help of Cambridge with the Balloons Over Waikato event on Victoria Square.
D9930 Rotary Learning and Information – A weekend seminar is being held in Rotorua on 6/7 April where participants share, learn and challenge ideas and concepts. This is an interactive weekend where topics are discussed like:
- Attracting and engaging members
- What Rotary is all about, ethics, objectives and the difference Rotary has and can make
- Creating projects and working as a team
- Creating a strong, engaged club
- Communication, publicity
- How to use skills and knowledge and connections to contribute to your club/community
Please see Robyn if you would like to attend.
Paul Stephens
President Ray invited Paul Stephens to speak to members.
Paul said it was with regret that he is tendering his resignation from Rotary Cambridge.He has deep respect for Rotary which has been a major part of his life and hugely beneficial.He recounted some of the highlights of his time with the club – hosting and counselling youth exchange students and taking a GSE team to Denmark with Peter Parr’s team.Paul is to retire soon and will not be spending a great deal of time in Cambridge, as he will be travelling to Australia to be with family and to parts of New Zealand.He doesn’t want to lose the contact and will turn up occasionally to meetings and hopefully still receive the Bulletin.He congratulated club members on all that they do and wished them well.Those present acknowledged Paul with acclamation.
2019/20 Board of Directors - Nominations
President-Elect Robyn announced the nominations for the 2019/20 Rotary year Board of Directors.
These were:
President-Elect – Bev Maul-Rogers
President-Nominee – Ian Grant
Secretary – Chris Crickett
Directors -
Club Service – Ian Grant
International – Greg Gascoigne
Community – Ken Leatham
Vocational – Don Wilson
New Generation – John Bullick
Treasurer – Bev Heron
- Robyn Crickett, Seconded: John Tarbutt
That the nominations be accepted.CARRIED