Bulletin 07/05/20
Posted by Bev Maul-Rogers
Virtual meeting via Zoom, Thursday 7 May, 5.00pm
President Robyn welcomed all members and partners as well as prospective member – David Partis.
This was an informal meeting with no guest speaker but Ray Milner had agreed to speak about his passion for art and the paintings he has done. He had attended a short art class a while ago, and has continued painting - mainly landscapes. I’m sure that everyone was very impressed with his work and the talents he possesses. Thank you for sharing Ray. Below are images of just two.
Birthday wishes
Everyone celebrated with Ian Rogers his birthday – 89 on Thursday. Congratulations Ian.
Also with birthdays were Laurie Graham and Paul Stephens
Magic Moment – Richard Seabrook
Richard spoke of how cheerful and welcoming people were when out walking – the lockdown had brought out the good side of human nature. He also spoke of how he enjoyed volunteering at Riding for the Disabled and how rewarding it was to see the joy on the riders’ faces once they got on a horse.
Magic Moment
May14 Elaine Ruis
May 21 Colin Davis
May 28 Ted Mason
Jun 4 Roger Hill
A magic moment is a memory which impressed you or made you feel good.
Effects of the lockdown on business
Members spoke of how the lockdown had affected certain industries – some had been severely hit while with others the outlook was bright.
NOTICES
Taste Waikato
Congratulations to Roger Hill who promoted the Taste Waikato cookbook and had had bumper sales.
Still an opportunity to go into the opportunity to win a gourmet food hamper worth over $100. See below. Help Rotary and share these wonderful recipes with the wider community.
Help Rotary. Help your community. Rotary Cambridge has published a popular cookbook —Taste Waikato — featuring simple but innovative recipes — all stylishly photographed — showcasing the food of the region. Also featured are light hearted stories of local food producers. All money from sales goes to helping people in our local community.
Buy
Taste Waikato ($35) online at
www.rotarycambridge.nz./tastewaikato before 30 May 2020 and be into win a fabulous
gourmet food hamper worth over $100. Books will be posted during the current lockdown.
Salvation Army Food Bank collection – contributions of unperishable food
President Robyn has been reading that the Salvation Army is running very short on supplies for their Food Banks and suggests that members may like to contribute an item of unperishable food to the collection boxes when they go to the supermarket. Collection boxes are stationed at Countdown and Fresh Choice. People can also go online on
https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/help-us/donations
This is one way we can make a difference to families in need at this particular time and help our community.
DISTRICT NEWS
District 9930 AGM and next year’s budget approval
Please note that due to the cancellation of the conference and the Club Leadership Training (formally District Training Assembly), the AGM and budget approval for 20/21 will be held online on 28 May at 7.00pm. The meetings will be held one after the other. Rotarians are invited to join. More details on how to connect will be circulated shortly.
District Governor Peter Maxwell’s May Newsletter
Well that was April – where did it go?
Whilst we were all locked down life did not stand still. We have found that ......
- Rotary does actually “Connect the World”.
- We can learn new skills – especially around video conferencing and the use of Zoom. Whether we like it or not, it does work when needed. Maybe we could think about using zoom for all our committee meetings? Rotary International recently held their board meeting via Zoom – 66 participants spread over 19 countries using 7 different languages, (where there’s a will there’s a way).
- Rotarians have been involving themselves where possible in their communities – delivering shopping etc. I understand that the Rotorua Clubs have some 80 people that they are helping in this way – and Rotarians from Morrinsville have been busy shopping in New World in a similar vein
Tauranga Sunrise inducted 3 new members – via Zoom. I understand that Ukraine has seen their membership increase by some 300 members since they have moved their club meetings online – as people who normally live too far away from normal club meetings or through work cannot get there – now find that they can connect in and get involved. Food for thought.
- Katikati is setting up a Business Mentoring service – using the skills and experience of members to help local businesses. Rototuna is also looking at setting up a similar scheme with Te Waka – the local Economic Development Agency.
- Rotarians are helping charities to get their fundraising going again by helping to prepare Op Shops for re-opening
- Foodbanks and “sharing sheds” (where surplus produce is shared in the community) are being supported.
- Whilst Rotary’s International Convention in Hawaii due to be held later this month has been cancelled – the decision has been made to hold a virtual Convention in June – see www.riconcension.org for more details.
- And the list goes on, if your club has any novel initiatives – then please share these either through this newsletter or on the District’s various Facebook pages.
Looking ahead
- We are exploring how we can say Thank You to all the essential workers who have kept things going whilst most of us have been locked down in our bubbles. A suggested two-stage initiative has been circulated to your Assistant Governors for consideration. This involves holding a club event to say thank you – followed by four Regional Events where key people can be more formally thanked.
- Whilst we need to hold our AGM (normally held as part of our conference) and also get next year’s budgets approved (normally done at District Training Assembly) we have taken the decision – with the club's approval to hold these online. So Rotarians are invited to join us on 28th May at 7.00 pm – online for these meetings which will be held one after the other. More details on how to connect will be circulated shortly.
- One of the big advantages of holding our meetings via Zoom is that we can involve participants from anywhere in the world. Can I suggest that we take advantage of this by inviting speakers to talk to us who would not normally be able to travel to our meetings? For example – on our conference website ( https://www.9930conference.org/speakers/ ) there is still the list of the speakers who were going to come. I am sure that they would be willing to speak to your club. Cam is a professional speaker, but he will probably be the only one to charge. A name to add to this list is Archbishop Sir David Moxon, who was the Director of the Global Freedom Network ( see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0imviDZxj0 ) who has told me that he is happy to speak to Rotary Clubs. If you do have a special speaker – please let the other clubs around you know so that they can join in with you.
There is one structural change that we are bringing into the District. At the present time, we have 12 Areas each with their own Assistant Governor. The Districts Board, with a consultation with the AGs, has conducted a review identifying the following
- Areas have been in place for many years.
- With the “ebb and flow” of clubs, areas vary from 2 to 7 clubs.
- The expansion of the key towns and cities within the District need to be addressed proactively.
It has therefore been decided to move the Areas into 4 Clusters namely Waikato, Coastal Bay of Plenty, the Lakes and Hawkes Bay with the AGs in the clusters working as a team with one of their number (from each cluster) being invited to attend District Board Meetings. The existing Areas will be maintained but they might evolve further over time.
The advantages we see from these changes are
- AGs become part of the decision tree.
- AGs become conversant with the workings of the District and be better channels of communication to and from their clubs.
- AGs can be more proactive in their area
- This change will bring our District more in line with other NZ Districts.
I heard a quote from a club president recently, "Who wants some lemonade? Making lemonade out of lemons is a strategy that is near and dear to many of us. So, how about we make a little lemonade together?" We are living in a rapidly changing environment that needs bold imaginative and timely interventions. What may be right today may well be wrong or different tomorrow, so we need to be agile, responsive and willing to change as our communities need us more than ever before.
Churchill is reputed to have said “never waste a good crisis” – so Rotarians likewise. We must grasp the opportunity to adapt to this new world and take advantage of these changes, so we remain relevant. We need to be flexible, not stubborn. In Maori stubborn translates as upoko mārō which literally means frozen soil. Frozen soil stops growth. If Rotary is to thrive, we must make sure our soil is well fertilized and watered.
Ka noho ki to kainga (Stay home)
Pakaru te hurihanga (Break the chain)
Kia ora ai te iwi (Save lives)
COVID-19 - TRIVIA QUIZ AND INSPIRATION
Answers to last week’s quiz
The question was: “Any 10 of the 11 mini chocolate bars found in a box of Cadbury Favourites.” (so there are 11 potential answers)
Boost; Caramello; Cherry Ripe; Crunchie; Dairy Milk; Dream; Flake; Moro; Old Gold; Picnic; Turkish Delight. Mint Bubbly was also in old editions – let you have that!
This week’s quiz
- What colour is the star on the Chilean flag?
- What is the longest River in England, at 354 km?
- With a magnitude of 8.2, New Zealand’s largest earthquake occurred in 1855 in what region?
- What is the only continent located in all four hemispheres?
- With around 147 million people, which country is the ninth largest by population in the world?
- With a capital called Basseterre, what is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population?
- San Marino is a microstate which is entirely landlocked by what single country?
- Which of the following is considered a port town as opposed to a city?
- What is the capital city of Venezuela?
- The Gibson Desert is found in which Australian state or territory?
