We had a very informative meeting last week, with Simon doing a stunning-stand-in speaker job providing a full account of local Dove Hospice activities. It was great to learn (or be reminded) of the strong connections our Club has with them. Thank you, Simon, for stepping in and sharing with such passion.
This week’s meeting is allocated to Project Forum time, where we encourage members and committees to discuss and plan upcoming projects. Top of the list for full club update on progress and ‘what is needed next’ is our Golf Tournament. We also have Quiz Night to secure a date for; and the Hospice High Tea idea to discuss. Directors then want committees to look at our list of club projects (over the full Rotary year) and get feedback on where we want to focus our energy. All highly relevant to assist with forward planning.
Looking forward to a great breakfast, fellowship and some focused enthusiasm and energy on Projects.
President "Resilient Robyn" welcomed a small crowd of only 24 members. Both Robyn and Hugh updated the gathering on some highlights from last weeks Board Meeting and the very successful Board Strategy Meeting held last weekend. Members look forward to learning more over the next few weeks and next weeks "Committee" Meetings will be the perfect opportunity to start learning..
Unfortunately our Guest Speaker Janine Ewan, from Dove Hospice, had to attend to a personal incident overnight and was unable to join the meeting. However, President "Resilient Robyn" slipped into ad lib mode and immediately launched Plan B, seamlessly. Simon was coerced into stepping-up in Janine's absence, but more on that shortly.
Also scheduled to speak this morning, in the Snap Chat spot, was David Hartstone to update us all on the status of our upcoming Golf Tournament". It is now only 3 and a half weeks until the Tournament Tees off and to date we only have sponsors for four holes, out of 18 and 3 teams registered to play, way way short of the numbers needed to make this close to a successful fundraiser.
Lesley is in the process of securing the volunteers needed to run the event on the day, but the need for more sponsors, teams and prizes is starting to reach a critical stage. If any members have business contacts, friends or family who would like to play and/or sponsor in some way - please contact David asap!
David has also just returned from a three week golf tour of Cambodia and Vietnam. David found the tour astounding, beautiful people, great food, great scenery and fantastic golf on immaculate manicured golf courses. He also saw unbelievable poverty in many places and he was reminded on numerous occasions of just how lucky we are to call New Zealand home! David's next trip is another golf tour - this time to the Canadian Rockies.
Simon was then invited to share some thoughts on Dove Hospice, the work they do in the community and the relationship with St. Johns Rotary. Dove has three full-time staffed beds within the St Andrews Hospital and Village complex. The Hospice employs 65 paid medical and admin staff and 450+ volunteers, who are mainly required to operate the six Hospice Shops across the Eastern Suburbs.
Apart from offering care and treatment to terminally ill patients, Dove is also offering more and more services to caregivers and families of the patients. All services are funded without one dollar from the Government, with funding coming from revenue from the shops, bequests and donations.
St. Johns Rotary has had an association with Dove Hospital since we were established and we can be very proud of the ongoing association in the following way; Isabella has been the patron for 30 years, Gary Key recently stepped down from the Board, after 10 years service, Graham Fabian is currently the Chairman of the Board and Simon is a Board Member. Over the years our club has also been involved in other ways and the Board are keen to see this relationship, not only retained, but grown - watch this space.
A huge thank you to Simon who stepped at the last minute to make the Presentation which was excellently presented with passion and enthusiasm.
Be sure to attend to be updated on upcoming projects and learn how you can participate and contribute.
THURSDAY MARCH 5th - DINNER MEETING
GUEST SPEAKER - PROFESSOR SHAUN HENDY, Plus meet our next batch of science students from the Eureka Science Expo.
CLIMATE CHANGE - "Is it Real"
This Dinner Meeting is "A 4-way Evening of Science". Allan has planned an exciting meeting with 4 speakers sure to stimulate interest and discussion. Professor Shaun Hendy, from University of Auckland, is a frequent commentator on scientific matters on radio (eg. Bryan Crump's RNZ show) and TV, and has great talent in explaining complex things in simple ways.
Shaun leads off with a presentation reporting his personal journey over a 12-month period to respond to climate change. This was the subject of his recently released book.
Shaun will be followed by 3 talented senior secondary school students whom our club selected and sponsored for the 2-week National Science & Technology Forum held in Auckland in January. They are Emma Taylor from Glendowie College, and Finn Welham & Julio Romero from Sacred Heart College. All have indicated their gratitude for our assistance, and are keen to share their personal experiences and impact on their future study and career choices.
Please plan to join us for the first Dinner Meeting of the year, along with your spouse, partner, friends and family, for this evening meeting and please promote attendance to others.
THURSDAY MARCH 12th - BREAKFAST MEETING.
GUEST SPEAKER - GRANT NICHOLS & KAREN OATES, REMUERA GOLF CLUB: Karen is the Insights and Membership Manager working alongside Grant who is the Operations Manager. Rotary St John has had an extremely long and excellent relationship with the Remuera Golf Club, but do we really understand how the club impacts on our community? By attending this meeting you will gain a great insight on the club and its planned future development.
The 2020 St Johns Rotary Golf Tournament is coming up and your support is needed. Please go to this DOCUMENT and have a look at the options available to you, your friends and those who wish to help us make a difference in our community.
All members can also assist promoting this event by adding a post to your Facebook Page. Please see next story with specific details on how you can assist.
St Pius X Catholic School had an official blessing last Friday to celebrate their new school buildings. RSJC has a long and close association with St Pius (Y1-8) via Dictionaries in Schools, Junior Citizen Awards, Guitar music programme; installation of a Defibrillator and, very recently, a team from RCSJ built two raised garden beds and helped to set up a garden water tank.
Miles, Ainie, Murray and Robyn attended the Blessing. It was a lovely occasion featuring the Most Rev Bishop Pat Dunn resplendent in his crimson robe, and other local dignitaries. The school currently has a roll of 104 pupils but with the new buildings, they are now ready for 200; with an eye in the future for double this capacity.
The children made the occasion special with lovely cultural performances filled with smiles, giggles and enthusiasm. Following the official blessing we were able to tour their new buildings, partake of a delicious afternoon tea and also check out the RCSJ raised garden – now waiting for our identification plaque and planting.
We will be returning to the school in a few weeks to make another donation of dictionaries to a specially selected class.
Although a little late in promoting, please take note of the February Environmental Challenge, detailed below. Please try and make a difference in this final week of the month and watch out for details of the March Challenge shortly!
District Conference, which is being held in Auckland this year, is now only 3 months away and President Robyn is very keen to see a good turn-out from our club.
More details below and on-line registrations are open now, and here is the link for more information and registration;
Although RYLA is still several months away, June 27th to July 4th, we have already begun the selection process and this will be completed over the next month. Accordingly we now need your help to identify potential candidates, aged between 18 and 28 who already demonstrate leadership capability. Candidates could either be sponsored by our club, or others who would be sponsored by Corporate Partners.
To date we potentially have 6 nominations, but these folk need to be interviewed and selected, and we are looking for at least another 6 nominations to ensure that we have a solid base of candidates to choose from.
Have any questions? Know of any potential candidates? Please contact Tom Street at your earliest convenience.
Did you join Rotary to do good things in the community?
You can help or join in all projects (whatever the committee), just contact the committee director and/or project team leader. In most cases, you can include family and friends. Enjoy your Rotary: Be an active Rotarian
Also scheduled to speak this morning, in the Snap Chat spot, was David Hartstone to update us all on the status of our upcoming Golf Tournament". It is now only 3 and a half weeks until the Tournament Tees off and to date we only have sponsors for four holes, out of 18 and 3 teams registered to play, way way short of the numbers needed to make this close to a successful fundraiser. 
Simon was then invited to share some thoughts on Dove Hospice, the work they do in the community and the relationship with St. Johns Rotary. Dove has three full-time staffed beds within the St Andrews Hospital and Village complex. The Hospice employs 65 paid medical and admin staff and 450+ volunteers, who are mainly required to operate the six Hospice Shops across the Eastern Suburbs.
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Although RYLA is still several months away, June 27th to July 4th, we have already begun the selection process and this will be completed over the next month. Accordingly we now need your help to identify potential candidates, aged between 18 and 28 who already demonstrate leadership capability. Candidates could either be sponsored by our club, or others who would be sponsored by Corporate Partners.
