Bulletin 21/05/20

 

President Robyn welcomed everyone including David Partis. Good to see some faces that haven’t joined before.

 

No speaker tonight but members enjoyed the quiz put together and presented by Andrew and LesleyAnn.  There were three categories – Food and Drink, James Bond and General Knowledge – each with 10 questions.  Scoring was not high but Kim Prichard (with the help of Celia) scored a good mark of 15 and wins the voucher up for grabs.

 

Our speaker from last week – Kelly Bouzaid, CEO of Cambridge Chamber of Commerce had sent through a slide showing where local credit cardholders had spent their money in 2018.  The slide is being circulated as a separate document.

 

 

The 2020-2021 Planning Survey to assist President-Elect Bev and her team plan for the incoming year closes at 12noon Sunday, 24 May.  A very good response so far – if you haven’t yet submitted yours please do so and “have your say”.

 

The Nominating Committee have met to consider a President-Nominee who would lead the club for the 2022-23 year.  President Robyn announced that John Bishop has been recommended.  Members were asked to propose to President Robyn by Wednesday, 27 May any other member for consideration. If no nominations are received, John Bishop will be declared duly elected.  A vote will be required in the event of more than one candidate.

 

A small team has been established to organize the Changeover.  The proposed date is Saturday, 27 June in the evening and hopefully we will be able to meet in person by then.  The Don Rowlands Centre at Karapiro is being investigated as a venue.  We can look forward to the Bruised Brothers Band playing.

 

Just a reminder that e-meetings will continue for a few weeks yet and that Andrew and LesleyAnn would be organizing guest speakers for most Thursdays.  Look out for the roster of those assigned to introduce and offer thanks and if you’re not able to join the meeting please arrange a substitute and let Bill or Robyn know.

 

The Board met on Tuesday and among items on the agenda was the matter of the club’s future meeting place.  It may be that we will be unable to return to Resthaven so investigations are taking place as to other options. A decision on the venue should be able to be announced at the next Zoom meeting. The timing on returning to meeting in person will depend on the restrictions, or lifting of these as determined by the government.  The liquor licence application is on hold at the moment pending a decision on the meeting location.

 

Although Peter Fisher had not been very well and had been in hospital he was home now and improving.

 

There were 7 loads of firewood to be delivered to Community House clients and we would be donating these.  A working bee was scheduled for 10.00am on Saturday 23^rd.

 

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.

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.

 

Colin said to celebrate their 60^th wedding anniversary he and Marie had taken a cruise to the South Island. He recounted a magic moment in visiting Milford Sound with Mitre Peak.  New Zealand has many beautiful sights to show off and as we currently are unable to travel overseas, he recommended that we support our tourism industry by visiting our own country.

 

The Sergeant’s joke this week was read by Deb Robinson.  Here it is:

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Nova Scotia back country.  As I was not familiar with the backwoods I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. 

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around.  I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before, for this homeless man. 

And as I played "Amazing Grace", the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head was hung low, my heart was full. As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen anything like that before, and I've been digging septic tanks for twenty years."

 

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.

 

As the Club Leadership Seminar (formerly the District Assembly) on 9 May was cancelled, DGE Grant Spackman and the training team have set up an on-line training schedule for incoming directors and officers. These will be held over the next couple of weeks and our incoming team members have taken the opportunity to register for a relevant seminar.

 

 

 

Rotary Give Every Child A Future, is Rotary Australasia’s centennial project to introduce three vaccines into nine Pacific Island countries.

 

It has just reached a significant milestone with the approval of NINE Global Grants by The Rotary Foundation.

 

These grants, one for each country for the first year of the project, have a combined value of US$1.3 million.

 

Rotary Give Every Child A Future was launched across Australasia to celebrate the100th anniversary, in 2021, of Rotary International in the region. For three years, Rotary will fund the introduction of rotavirus, pneumococcal and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for Pacific Island children in Kiribati, the Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue and Nauru, and support the introduction of these vaccines in Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Implementing new vaccines into a country’s immunisation programme is very expensive. It is this phase that RGECAF is supporting.

 

With commitments from governments to continue funding these vaccines after three years, this project will see children protected from life-threatening diseases, and families protected from the loss of a mother to cervical cancer, for generations to come.