Bulletin 26/03/20
Posted by Bev Maul-Rogers
COVID-19
What a difference a week (or even a day) makes. Last Sunday we were at ALERT LEVEL-2, quickly moving on Monday (if I remember correctly) to LEVEL-3 and into full lockdown ALERT LEVEL-4 at 11.59pm on Wednesday. We are now in our own bubble for four weeks at least.
Keeping engaged/connected is crucial during this time and we are fortunate to be living in a technological age with the advantages of e-meetings/catch ups.
Message from President Robyn
I hope everyone is doing ok and managing well. Keep in touch and try to join next week’s ZOOM meeting, it’s fun, it’s free and we have the virtual bar open! We’ll be looking for stories at next Thursday’s meeting.
To protect yourselves, your loved ones and the community please observe the government’s and MOH direction to:
- go to the supermarket alone, wear the gloves provided and a mask if you have one, use sanitiser & try to reduce the number of visits to the supermarket. Commit to buying an item once you have picked it up.
- When you’re walking keep it local and keep your distance (2 metres) from others if you meet in the street - it’s amazing how many people say hello with friendly face now!
- if you’re walking your dog keep it on a lead and don’t let it near other dogs
- Remember that driving in your car is to be kept solely for going to the supermarket, medical appointments and filling up with fuel. No driving to parks, beaches etc or for a Sunday afternoon drive.
- Practice a high level of hygiene with frequent handwashing and wipe down surfaces with sanitizer frequently
Take care
Virtual meeting via Zoom, Thursday 26 March 6.00pm
A good number of Rotarians joined the Zoom meeting set up by Bill Robinson who managed our chat together. President Robyn started “proceedings” referring to the impact of COVID-19 on our lives. Rotary across the world was being affected, with usual meetings being cancelled and of course events and activities. This affected how we are able to help in our usual manner. We could however, make use of the modern technology to members’ benefits – most importantly keeping engaged and connected. She encouraged people to keep in contact with others by phone, text, email or modern technology platforms eg Zoom, Skype, Facetime.
Everyone then had an opportunity to talk about what they had done on the first day of lockdown. All had various stories to tell and the time we spent together was fun and a good opportunity to interact with each other.
A few comments from those who attended are below:
Greg Gascoigne – restoring a tractor
Richard Seabrook – receiving great help from the Te Awa Lifestyle Village; walking on the river track; has had food delivered; noted the Village hospital was closed for two weeks
Kim Prichard – his two boys are doing lessons at home and he is supervising that – school is sending lessons through the post and email; keeping in touch with overseas friends.
John Tarbutt – in this different climate he has observed that people are so much more friendly; Linda and he have responded to the call from the MOH for retired practitioners to apply to return to help with the impact of coronavirus
Don Wilson – he was concerned about how people are being treated in other countries such as India.
All others – had interesting accounts of their first day in lock down and said that the e-meeting was a great idea
Everyone thanked Robyn and congratulated Bill for setting up the Zoom meeting. It was a great idea, relatively easy and fun.
Another e-meeting will be held next Thursday, 2 April at 6.00pm. Please join in and connect with fellow Rotarians – join in the fun, enjoy the fellowship and keep the spirit of Rotary alive.
Status of upcoming events
CLUB
- Club meetings – face to face meetings cancelled until the end of June. E-meetings will continue
- Race to Raise Funds – 23 April postponed with review of the project and possible future date be carried out in July 2020.
- Bookarama – May - postponed with review of the project and possible future date be carried out in June 2020.
- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – 2 May – postponed
Please note the following:
DISTRICT, INTERNATIONAL AND ZONE
- All NZ & Australian Rotary District Conferences cancelled
- 2020 District Conference 22 – 24 May. Cancelled. Full refunds of Registration Fees will be made in due course
- The Rotary International Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii cancelled
- Rotary Learning and Information workshop – 28 and 29 March, Morrinsville cancelled
- Club Leaders Seminar 9 May, Taupo cancelled
- RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) cancelled
- RYE (Rotary Youth Exchange) The district will not be receiving any Inbound Youth Exchange Students in July. However, District will be still going ahead with the selection of outbound students for next January (situation permitting) so applications should still be submitted
- RANZSE – exchange to Australia cancelled
- RFE (Rotary Friendship Exchange) visits to USA and UK – cancelled
NOTICES
Next e-meeting
Thursday, 2 April via Zoom at 6.00pm – no longer than 40 minutes. Bill will send you a link to join.
Magic Moments or other comments
It would be good to have a collection of Magic Moments or something you would like to talk about with others (perhaps what you’re reading, music you’ve listened to, something on TV). It would be good to share these with other Rotarians via the Bulletin so please send contributions to the Bulletin Reporter – Bev Maul-Rogers.
Bears in the Window
Latest craze - spotting bears in the window. Bulletin reporter and Keith have their own bears in the window – left to right “Christmas Bear”, “Big Ted” (80 years old) and “Panda Bear” 😊
DISTRICT NEWS
Rotary Convention in Rotorua Cancelled
