Happy 2013

St Johns Rotary is "closed" for the summer break and the first club meeting will be on Thursday 17 January 2013.

The club wishes all readers the very best for an adventurous and fulfilling 2013.  If you, or you know of someone who, would like to achieve some of this through Rotary then contact us by calling Beryl on 021 652 802 who will arrange for you to enjoy a no-obligation visit to meet some of our members and learn a little about what we do.

Here is some inspiration in the mean-time:

Our President Elect

Quickshot 2  - President Elect, Mary Ann , gave us a quick insight into her very busy life and family. Her three children are all getting on well with their lives, the eldest, Emma is at Uni studying medical chemistry, her son, AJ has his pilot’s licence and is now going for his commercial and the youngest, William is nearing the end of his studies at St Kentigern College. She has a student from France staying with them for a number of months. Her job has her looking after the safety of around 500 staff in the meat industry at numerous sites, a role which she never intended to stay in for this long - (5 years) but she thoroughly enjoys it.

THE PETER MCKENZIE SCHOLARSHIP 2012

2012 recipient, Jason Wei, with Andrew  Burgess,  Deloittes,  Louise Moore, Principal, Glendowie Collge and President Miles Cain, Rotary Club of St Johns Inc.

 

Established in December 1996   

                                                                                                               

Background  -  Peter McKenzie was a much respected member of the Rotary Club St Johns and to mark his untimely death in 1996, the Club resolved to establish a memorial fund to pay tribute to Peter's life and his work. Peter was a Partner in the international accounting firm Deloittes Touche Tohmatsu and his former Partners  agreed to contribute to this award. Peter also had a close association with the Lion Nathan Corporation and the Lion Foundation agreed to contribute funds towards the establishment of the award. Each of the above parties, namely Deloittes, Lion Charitable Trust and the Rotary Club of St Johns have contributed the sum of $5,000.00           

                                                                                                                                   

Selection Criteria  -  After consulting the Principal of Glendowie College it was decided that the selection criteria for a successful recipient of the award (of which there shall be one each year) are the following:       

                                                                                                                                   

1. Persons who have had all their schooling in New Zealand and who are currently attending Glendowie College and aged between 16 -18 years.       

                                                                                                     

2. Potential candidates are persons intending to pursue a career in accountancy and who, but for receipt of the award, might have difficulty in pursuing that field of endeavour.            

                                                                                                                               

 3. Persons who are of good character and repute and who have shown commitment to the community or who have the potential to do so.      

                                                                                                       

 4. The Rotary Club of St Johns will select a candidate in each year upon the recommendation of the Principal of Glendowie College.

 

Jason Wei, this year’s recipient, very accomplished academically, school dux, musician, 4 handicap golfer and aspiring Rotarian. Jason thanked the club for all that Rotary does in the community and expressed his appreciation for the scholarship received .                      

Bringing a new school and a new community together

 WOW, what a fantastic day. The theme was "Getting to Know You" - pulling the school, the community, business's and Rotary together.

The Stonefields Fair was held on Saturday 27 October; the weather was kind to us, turning into a very hot day. The fair was held as a community project in conjunction with Stonefields School and took 9 months from conception to fruition. The day was a great success with the fair being opened by the electorate MP, Simon O’Connor. There was a huge turnout of people from far and wide. A 5 year child turned the corner of the building and was heard to say ”OH MY GOODNESS, what have they done to my school?” There was all the sweet and food stalls from Stonefields School and St Johns Rotary organising and manning all the other events.

The Bouncy castle, under water aquarium and Old MacDonald’s farm, where children could pat farm animals and ride ponies, proved to be a great success, which left both children and St John Rotary members manning the events, all exhausted. Well done Peter and your team.

Alex G did a sterling solo job on the HuckFinn fishing contest, which was a big attraction for the younger kids. We even got Simon O’Connor and Cameron Brewer to do a fish off.

Underpinning the whole event was the entertainment. What a wonderful job this team did, headed by Slavica and Simon and what great talent we have out there. This was splendidly managed by our fantastic master of ceremony – Jo Holley.

Sprinkled between the entertainment programme was the fundraising Rotary spinning wheel, ably run by Chris and his team. This fundraising was only possible by the support from local businesses such as New World, Mitre10, Bunnings, Smart Marine, Wet & Forget.

Animates were another great success with many vouchers and products being given away and Margaret nearly coming home with a gorgeous Jack Russell called Max.

Tom and his team did a great job in pulling the sports teams into the community. These groups put up some generous silent auction prizes.

Denise and her team were very successful in pulling together local interests such as  Auckland University Tamaki Campus, Remuera Golf Club and Dove House.

Beryl and Colin manned the Rotary table with the assistance of an emergency tent and had videos to demonstrate what Rotary does. There were plenty of interested parties for Beryl to follow up with.

DG Ron Seeto also joined us at the event, which was great to see, and much appreciated given his large workload.

In the financial Engine Room we had Alex Mc and his team doing a sterling job ably supported by ASB at Lunn Avenue . We had Adian, the branch manager and two of his staff being present all day to support the event and offering efpos facility. The bank sorted all floats prior to the event and provided aprons for members to use as money pouches on the day. Adian also went with Alex to the bank to weigh and count the takings, making the process easier for everyone.

The school did a fantastic job in supplying and managing all food stalls, with a diverse range of food on sale.

While a big thank you goes to all the club for pulling together to make this day such a success I would like to particularly thank two people - Graham Fabian for supporting the event from the outset with $5,000 New World sponsorship which allowed the club to continue with the idea, knowing that costs were covered and Donald Bowie for all his organisation skills, in coordinating us all and keeping us on task.

A huge thank you goes to our other sponsors, who did not have a direct involvement on the day but who made financial contributions, these include Todd Property, Fletcher Residential, Barfoot & Thompson and White Cross Healthcare.

This event achieved all that we set out to do:

1 Connect with the Stonefields School and its community                     
2 Raise our Rotary profile in our community                                                     
3 Connect with local businesses                                                                           
4 Raise funds for our Youth Rotary projects

We should all be proud of our efforts, thanks to everyone for all your hard work.  

For a full set of pictures go to http://imagesbybrucehancock.com/stonefields-community-fair-27-october-2012/

This is another example of St Johns Rotary being active in the community.  Enquiries for membership or just to support the club can be made by phoning Beryl 021 652 802

A huge thanks go to the community-minded sponsors of this Fair:

Gold Sponsor: StoneFields New World, Lunn Ave
Silver (funding): Todd Properties, Fletcher Homes, Barfoot & Thompson, WhiteCross
Bronze (goods): Mitre 10, Bunnings, Smart Marine; Animates
Many Sports Clubs who gave vouchers for the silent auction

                                                                                                  

Jo Aleh's Olympic Journey

2012 Gold medalist Jo Aleh spoke to the club about her journey in yachting.  She was an early recipient of the St Johns Rotary Youth Yachting Award.  Members and guests came dressed nautical.

Even visitors to the club got into the spirit of the occasion - wet weather jacket,
PDF, sea boots and hand bag - well done Leanne

Active + Activity ... something for everone

Our Club Assembly took place on Thursday 20 September  and the committee’s proposed activities were outlined:      
        
Community  + International                                                                             
President Miles stood in for Chairman Paul Lyon and presented the plan for this year including the following activities:

                                                  

• Group Study Exchange (GSE)                                                                                        
• Shelter boxes - delivered to 32 countries so far, following natural disasters
• Emergency Response Kits - hundreds despatched to South Pacific nations         
• Ambassadorial Scholar                                                                                           
• Club Cluster Matching Grants                                                                                 
• Apia Community Playground (a cluster club initiative)                                      
• Fiji Preschool (also a cluster club initiative)                                                               
• St Johns Bush maintenance programme                                                       
• Dictionaries in schools                                                                                              
• Cure Kids                                                                                                                 
• The Great Kiwi Anzac Day Breakfast                                                                          
• Glen Taylor School -  Rangitoto Island trip or school camp support                    
• St Heliers Festival                                                                                                         
• Habitat for Humanity                                                                                  

Stonefields School Community Fair - a club activity

New Generations -  Vocational                                                                 
Chairman Peter Walsh outlined the committee’s plan:    

                           

• International Youth Exchange -  inbound and outbound                                   
• Challenge Camp - for physically challenged young people age 16-24                 
• Trees for survival                                                                                                 
• Interact - students 14-18                                                                              
• RYPEN - Rotary Youth Programme of Enrichment - students 14-17                 
• RYDA - Rotary - Rotary Youth Driver Awareness - Year 11 students                  
• RYLA - Rotary Youth Leadership Awards - Young adults age 18-24               
• Rotaract - a club for young men and women 18-30                                     
• Vocational visits - to places of business of interest to members     

                    
Club Service
Chaiman Andy Francis reports:

                                                                                    

• Bi-monthly committee meetings are supported                                         
• Fellowship is good                                                                                                         
• PR is good - articles appearing in Courier newspaper                                               
• RLI - Rotary Leadership Institute - well supported by members                           
• Social activities - work needed to ensure a fun and exciting year

 

St Johns Bush gets a tidy up

On Saturday 22 September a bushel of club members and partners spent an energetic and enjoyable few hours helping to tidy up the St Johns Bush in Meadowbank as a part of the club's environmental programme.  Within the bush there is a circular trail that passes a stream and a lagoon through quite thick native bush - the tranquility is such that you could almost be in the middle of the Waitakere Ranges rather than residential Auckland so this is a "must" for those needing a few minutes exercise and escape from the bustle of the day.

 

Community Fair in October - join in

Here is an opportunity to support the Stonefields community.  Volunteers are welcome or you may wish to suggest a person or organisation who could provide entertainment etc or just come along on the day.

SOPHIA NIEDIEDT - OUR INTERNATIONAL YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT

We welcome Sophia to our club and our country and look forward to getting to know her over the coming months.  Sophia lives in Wilhelmshaven, North Eastern Germany with her family -  mum, dad, brother and their dog, Emma.

At school she studies, amongst other subjects, English and Spanish which are her favourite subjects. She believes languages are the key competence to international understanding, which paves the way  for understanding and learning about other nations.                              

She plays the saxophone , which is her favourite instrument and has played for four years in her school orchestra. Her family has hosted other IYE students from Argentina and Ecuador. 

Sophia loves travel and has visited many countries with her parents. After her exchange year with us she will complete her school examinations and afterwards do an apprenticeship, perhaps in an advertising agency. 

The club has enjoyed a number of excahnge students over the years.

Project Kidney - help create a future

Catherine Healy, editor of the East & Bays Courier introduced us to “Project Kidney” the latest fund raiser by the Suburban Newspapers Trust and the Mad Butcher in conjunction with the East & Bays Courier.                                                                    

Catherine focused on the heartbreaking story of little Violet  Woodward and her mum and dad, Roxana and Robbie. Violet was born with severe kidney problems and subsequently both had to be removed. She is now dependent on peritoneal dialysis to rid her body of toxins. She and her mum are now in Auckland from Christchurch where her dad has had to remain for his work. They live at Ronald MacDonald house and spend many hours at Starship Hospital for Violet’s treatment.      

The object of “Project Kidney” is to raise $132,000 for the purchase of 4 new haemodyalysis machines to be installed in a dedicated children’s unit at Starship Hospital. Currently they have only 2 and the ward is stretched to the limit. Violet, once stabilized will go on the transplant list to await a new kidney, which will have a lifespan of around 15 years so she will require constant medical care all her life. We wish her well for the future.
                                                                                                                                                                  We thank Catherine for her heartfelt presentation and wish her all the success with the fundraising effort.

PS:  We have a son with a kidney transplant so hope you will consider supporting the above.  Colin and Beryl

RYLA candidates on a high

The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards programme brings together young adults who have evidenced leadership qualities and will benefit from a seminar covering a balanced programme of lectures, discussion groups and interaction over a week long period.       
      
This year there were 126 participants and our club sponsored 6 of these.   Julio Seric, Nicola Francis, Chris Pemberton, Izac Hancock, Simon Exeter, and Emmeline Croft were the very worthy recipients. Each entertained and informed us with an account of their experiences. Nicola was impressed with the high calibre speakers who gave accounts of their life’s setbacks and how they overcame them and continued to live life to the full.     

Izzac, Emmerline, Chris Nocola, Andy F, Slavica S, Julio

                                                 
Emmeline came into the programme with absolutely no idea of what to expect and found the week exceeded her expectations by far. Her insights for a fulfilling life were perseverance, drive and leadership. Izac described the “create a business session” and has learnt lots about the process of business had many insights into his own personality and began many new friendships.  Chris explained the outdoor endurance event which pushed them to their limits but has provided them with great leadership skills.             
                           
Julio told us of the work they did Kids Help Camp and other work in the community. He was very motivated to help others and has developed great skills for his career. He was selected as Co MC at the final dinner attended by around 270 people.       
                   
They thanked St Johns Rotary for sponsoring them and Andy Francis in particular for the time given for the interview and selection process. 

For more information about RYLA go to http://www.ryla.rotarysouthpacific.org/

Learning new skills

One of the advantages of Rotary membership is the opportunity for personal development.  Colin and Beryl attended the recent Visioning facilitator training which had been available for all Rotarians to take part in.  There were 23 attendees from 4 districts for a days training (and great networking).  "Visioning" is explained below.

Taking part in a mock project priority assessment exercise

A strong and effective Rotary Club is vital to retaining and attracting quality members. Vision Facilitation (or "Visioning") is about strategic planning for Rotary Clubs. Something few Clubs do effectively! The Rotary International Club Leadership Plan recommends every Club develop a long-range strategic plan. It's about continuity and consistency of leadership and programming. A strategic plan sets the stage for future progress.

Visioning helps a Rotary club design its own VISION, and then set out the steps necessary to achieve that vision. The result is not a vision decided by the Rotary District or by Rotary International. It is a vision designed and endorsed by the Club's own members.

Visioning is not just another membership programme. It addresses all aspects of the life of a Rotary club. It is not a program just for struggling Rotary clubs. It is a programme which can benefit any club. 

  

Specifically, Visioning gets club members to focus on:

  

• Continuity of leadership, vision and process
• Consistency in programming
• Consensus toward solidarity and unanimity in purpose and action

The outcomes from the Visioning must follow normal club protocols for ratification and implementation.

Visioning is the "where do we want to go"  and Rotary Leadership Instituite is the "knowledge need to get there"

St Johns Bush - a small piece of natures paradise

“In times to come it will be as beautiful a place as the heart can wish”          Quote Bishop Selwyn’s wife Sarah

Thanks to the commitment of local resident, Margie Hatrick-Smith Johns Bush behind the St Johns Theological College was preserved through the purchase by the Auckland City Council of the two blocks of land from the College —3 hectares in 2002 and 1.1 hectares in 2004 thereby saving substantial areas adjacent to the main bush from new housing development.                                                                                

Much work has gone on since then to establish the bush to what it is today. The trees were scheduled with size and variety. Another 1000 trees and shrubs have been planted. Around 160 species of plants and fauna have been identified including native fish in the streams. There is a 150 year old Kauri tree along with native and exotic tree species. Pest control for possums and rats has taken place. Vast amounts of undergrowth have been removed mostly by hand. Pathways have been installed and signage to attract visitors erected.

Our own Toni Millar has been heavily involved along with TV celebrity entomologist, Ruud Kleinpaste. Our club has supplied identification plaques for many trees. Open days have been held to help recruit volunteers for routine maintenance of paths, weeding and general tidy up of this wonderful asset to our community.     

The vision of Margie and others has come to flourishion and the bush will endure long into the future for the enjoyment of all.                                                

The club’s community Committee is looking at how the club can continue an association with the bush, probably through some form of hands-on conservation project.  For all it is recommended as a place to take the family for a walk, and a club picnic next summer is a distinct probability. .        

Feedback

Another great meeting today!  There were three visitors along having a look at the club and learning more about Rotary.  One has submitted her application to join and another will be back next week for a second look and the third, on his first visit made the following comment:

I really enjoyed it. What a great atmosphere and lovely people.
I was very impressed by the work you do.
I hope to see y’all in the future.

- Dr Trevor W

... he is so right.  We need to keep on inviting good people along.  Thanks to those who are ... there are several new people coming over the next couple of weeks.

VARAYAME— farewell and birthday wishes.

Left to right:  Roger (ROMAC), President Miles, Varayame, Gary

After successful treatment and rehabilitation, Varayame is heading home. Many thanks to all involved in this life changing event in a young man’s life and also to Neil Dewar for his huge contribution to dental work for both Varayame and his mum.

Varayame and his mother have in place, thanks to Roger and the club, the ability to gain educational skills that when completed will enable them to earn a living.

The Italian Affair

What a great evening we had to celebrate this year’s changeover.  Members and partners enthusiastically entered into the spirit of the theme and a wide spectrum of Italian culture was represented.  The mafia attempted to control the evening but alas, the clergy prevailed and had them mend their ways.  

A number attempted to conceal their identity behind masks but fooled no-one. Yet others donned the colours of the flag looking very Italian. A few dapper Italian Gentlemen were in attendance and raised the dress standard considerably!! 

The evening’s stand out’s were the Gondoliers. Two crews competed, but one (who won best dressed award) were unfortunately left up the canal without a paddle!!  The formal part of the evening included the departing  address from President Bruce with a presentation to each of the outgoing officers  with thanks for their work and dedication throughout the year.

The increase in membership during the year was recognized and again, congratulations to Beryl Robinson for her outstanding efforts to bring this about.  President Bruce was presented with the customary cartoon caricature.

Reading is even better

Funds to good use

For some outsiders, the Sergeant's Session at meetings can seem a quaint and old fashioned activity.  In our club it is a fun few minutes that adds interest and value to an already great meeting - certainly all leave each meeting knowing they have spent their time well!

The donations from the coins contributed during the Sergeant's Session go to those smaller funding requests not otherwise covered by the projects of the committees.  The following is a summary of donations made so far this Rotary year.  Any member can make suggestions to the Sergeant.

This year we’ve raised $3,844.98.
Of which funds have been distributed as follows
Citizen’s Advice Bureau     $163.50
Illi (food costs, etc.)      $250.00
GSE Team Fiji transport     $100.00
Polio Plus    $250.00
Mobility Dogs       $200.00
Club Charitable Trust    $1,450.50
Total      $2,518.00

Leaving a balance of $1,326.98

Building futures - literally

A couple of times every year a group of members, and usualy their partners, get together and join in on a Habitat for Humanity build.  These are extremely fun, hands-on projects and therefore very popular with our members as the pictures below show:

Just another example of why Rotary is so great!

Learning to make a difference

There are many opportunities for personal development etc in Rotary and the annual district Leaders Elect Training Seminar (open to all Rotarians) training provides some of these ...

Nearest to farthest: John, Peter, Mary Ann, Slavica and Brenda plus Beryl in row behind John.

Seven members went along to the district's Leaders Elect Training Seminar on 20 May to learn more about Rotary and how they could be more involved in the success of the club, and how they could gain more from their Rotary membership.  Three of our members were also specialist breakout session presenters - John about PR and Sergeants, Colin about websites and social media and Beryl about Rotary Down Under.

10% of the members of the district attended to hear information they could put into practice in the Rotary year ahead in a way that would strengthen their clubs and grow their involvement in their community. Throughout the day there were takeaway quotes like:

• Service is the rent we pay for being a member of our community
• Setting goals for yourself is a necessary part of achievement
• Take Rotary seriously - not ourselves
• Look for the opportunity in the problem, not the problem in the opportunity

In addition to the broad training topics provided, guest speakers included:

• An overview and insight to good PR - once people know what Rotary does ... they join us: the story is that good!
• Event planning - it's not about you, it is about them
• Cure Kids and the upcoming Rheumatic Heart Disease project in the Pacific