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The President's Pen

Hi All,
 
We were graciously hosted by MensShed on Thursday and it was great to see the work Mal McLennan and his team are doing in the community – rat traps, water walls and, for small donation of a cake, they have someone who can pretty much fix anything. 
 
The breakfast, kindly sponsored by New World Stonefields, was delicious. MensShed and Rotary have a huge amount in common and with a little thought I am sure we can collaborate on projects to support our community.  Please reach out to Mal and the team if you have any great ideas!
 
This Thursday we have arranged for Sam Lucas to zoom in to give us an update on Onja and our guest speaker, Peter Lester, will be giving us the inside view of the Americas Cup – definitely worth attending.
 
Please RSVP to Robyn if you would like to bring a guest.
 
Take care and see you on Thursday
Hugh
 
President: Rotary Club of St Johns
Phone: 021 0813 7313
 
 
Stories
With Deepest Sympathy
It is with deep sadness that we heard the news over the weekend of IPP Robyn's Mum passing.  Mums play such an important part in our lives and it is very hard to say goodbye.  The club sends Robyn and her family our deepest sympathy and may the many happy memories that the family has, live on forever.
Meeting in Review - October 29th 2020
At our first "Offsite Vocational Meeting" in quite sometime, 26 members were hosted by our neighbours, at the "Auckland East Men's Shed" in Abbotts Way.  Men's Shed members cooked a delicious BBQ Breakfast and several Shed Members joined us and escorted STJRC Members around the facility explaining how the Shed works and the type of activity conducted at the facility, both personal activity as well as a range of commercial and community projects.
 
The Shed has now been open for close to three years and in that time an incredible amount of time and effort has gone into refurbishing large parts of the facility.
 
There are now 120 members and others (male and female), are welcome to apply for membership, at a cost of only $50 annually.  The current age of members ranges from 25 to 94. 
 
In the past year they have assisted with 105 community projects, including making 3,500 Rat Traps, and the number keeps growing as the community strives to counter the rat and pest problem in the area.  As a not for profit organisation the Shed cannot make a profit, but they welcome donations for the work they do and they also receive some funding from various organisations and trusts to assist with the running costs.   
 
 
KEV's CANDID PHOTO ALBUM;
 
Are you sure you've paid for breakfast?  I don't see your name here!
 
If Isabella says this is the right way to do it - that's fine with me.
 
I tell you, all this handshaking just before the Presidential election is hard work!
 
Just because its called a MENS Shed, doesn't mean that the blokes think they know all the answers!
 
Murray & Miles - if you want to see the Editors notes you need to read the Bulletin, not look over his shoulder!  
 
Who's been drinking my coffee?  I'll find you and I will make you make another cup!
 
Of course you are not too young to join.
 
 
Where do I find the "Free Range" Stamp?
Club Activities & Other Important Dates to Diary
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5th - Dinner Meeting.  Venue - Remuera Golf Club.  Time 6.00 pm for 6.30 pm.
Update on "America's Cup" and ONJA". 

Popular Sailing comentator Pete Lester will give us an update on what's happening with next year's America's Cup regatta.

Hopefully technology will allow Sam to "Zoom" in to give us an update direct from Madagascar on phase two of ONJA.

RSVP is essential for this dinner meeting.  Please RSVP to Robyn Ingram Now!!

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12th - Breakfast Meeting.  Venue - Remuera Golf Club.  Time 7.00 am for 7.15 am.
Guest Speaker Stacey Ayre, Operations Manager for St John Clinical Communications Centre.

Stacey leads a team of Duty Centre Managers and Call Handler Team Leaders in the safe management and coordination of emergency calls. She is accountable for the delivery of high performance, high quality service in her role with St John New Zealand, based at Mt Wellington.

Stacey is the partner of member Chris Herlihy.

 

 
 
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12th - Breakfast Meeting.  Venue - Remuera Golf Club.  Time  7.00 am for 7.15 am.
Club AGM, followed by Guest Speaker, Tania Thomas.  Tania is the Mana Whakahaere, (CEO), of Te Roopu Taurima and is also the Immediate Past President of Rotary Club of Otahuhu and current D9920 Committee Chair for Rotary Clubs.

Tania has been invited to speak to us about her current work for Te Roopua Taurima; and to share ways our Club could seek to engage with Pasifika and Maori in our local community. 

What is Te Roopu Taurima?  They are a Kaupapa Maori service that supports people of all ethnicities with intellectual impairments arounds New Zealand.  They provide residential and vocational support to clients, known as Tangata, as well as out of family respite care, caregiver support, high and complex needs support, and choices in community living.

Please see following link for more information - or better still come along to our club breakfast meeting on the 12th of November and hear all about it from the CEO herself!!

https://www.terooputaurima.org.nz/

 


 

Onja Up-date - September 2020
Below is a copy of the latest report from Sam.  If you have any questions regarding the progress report, be sure to attend our Dinner Meeting this week, (5th of November), when we are planning to bring Sam direct to us via Zoom!!
 
Performance Milestones:
 
Coding
Getting towards the completion of their training, it's exciting to see students creating some amazing websites and applications. In September they completed their final HTML and CSS projects and the results were great.
They were given a single page website design and were tasked with turning it into a web page using the raw building blocks of the web.  Achieving such accuracy with such well written code is much more than is expected of a junior developer which is wonderful to see.  Now students are using JavaScript and React.js to create more complex and dynamic sites.​ ​
 
Teachers / staff
Shaun, the specialist CSS and HTML teacher left us a week ago. Originally we were planning to have him until September however with his course complete we all agreed it was best for him to fly out.  We are very fortunate to have Loïc on our team who has done an amazing job pioneering our first JavaScript and React.js course. Although being alone now he has a really tough schedule and 2 months ahead.
We are actively looking for two coders to join us next year. To continue teaching and guide students into work. We are considering candidates from Madagascar and abroad as the airways are already partially open to Madagascar.
   
 Schedule
Crucially we remain on schedule for the fast-paced coding programme, which will come to completion at the end of this year. At this point those that are deemed ready to work will start doing so. At most, I expect a third of the class to be ready, and the others will continue studying until they too are ready. Concerning the two-year study period, I think we set the bar perfectly for this cohort. No doubt those who are ready in two years will have achieved a momentous feat, and the fact that we think some will be ready shows that it was enough time. Naturally others will take longer to get to the required level and this is something we will allow for in future too.  Thanks to Grant we have plenty of reserves to extend the course.
 
Financials
Budgeted spend for quarter: N/A
Actual spend: $15,425
Unexpected items (over $100):
● School supplies: $913 - This was for a dehumidifier - crucial for the good keeping of our computers and other electronics, and for forty new books from the book depository
● Travel staff $128 - This was for 12 taxi journeys while Rina was in the capital and no buses were working due to coronavirus restrictions.
● IT equipment: $701: This was a speaker phone (for virtual guests to be able to speak to the whole class easily, two webcams, and high quality 3G / 4G router.
 
 
District 9910 Bulletin

In the absence of a D9920 Newsletter, it has been suggested that members maybe interested in reading the October Bulletin from District 9910 - this as a source of good general Rotary knowledge.  

Time For A Smile

 
Next Meeting:
 
Dinner Meeting.
 
Thursday November 5th, 6.00 pm for 6.30 pm.
 
Venue - Remuera Golf Club
RSVP to Robyn Ingram Essential.
Bulletin Contents: 
  • The President's Pen
  • With Deepest Sympathy
  • Meeting in Review - 29th October
  • Activities & Important Dates
  • District 9910 Bulletin
  • Time for a Smile
Speakers
Nov 05, 2020 6:00 PM
Updates on The America's Cup and ONJA Madagascar
Nov 12, 2020 7:00 AM
Operations Manager for St John Clinical Communications Centre
Nov 19, 2020 7:00 AM
CEO Te Roopu Taurima
Nov 26, 2020 7:00 AM
Trees for Survival
Dec 03, 2020 6:00 PM
Phoric Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Dec 10, 2020 7:00 AM
$10 Secret Santa
View entire list
Meeting Responsibilities
Thursday 5 November EVENING
 
Set-Up
Figueiredo, Avinash
 
Attendance
Gunn, Liz
 
Greeter
Wheadon, Ruth
 
Speaker Host
Key, Gary
 
Thanks & Close
Gilmer, Gavin
 
Set-Down
Figueiredo, Avinash
 
Stand-By
Fabian, Graham
 
Thursday 12 November
 
Set-Up
Harris, Lesley
 
Attendance
Hillman, Mark
 
Greeter
Herlihy, Chris
 
Speaker Host
Jones, Simon
 
Thanks & Close
Gerrard, Tricia
 
Set-Down
Gibson, Steele
 
Stand-By
Ingram, Robyn
 
Thursday 19 November
 
Set-Up
Bhana, Prabha
 
Attendance
Belthazar, Jane
 
Greeter
Forman, Michelle
 
Speaker Host
McGarry, Penny
 
Thanks & Close
Buchanan, Peter
 
Set-Down
Street, Tom
 
Stand-By
James, David
 

Club Contacts

President: 
Hugh Scott-Russell 021 0813 7313 
Secretary, Treasurer & Apologies: 
Alex Gatt 021 571 722
Presidents Elect: 
Penny McGarry 021 702 310   &
Lesley Harris 027 4935 498
Sergeant: 
Michelle Forman 021 0277 9456
Club Services: 
Robyn Ingram  022 0200 171 
Bulletin Editor: 
Pete Walsh 021 747 858
Membership: 
John Lewisham 021 375080
Website:  www.rotarystjohns.club
Our Meetings
 
We meet Thursday for breakfast at
7:00 am for 7:15 am start,
except for the first Thursday of the month, when we meet in the evening at 6:00 pm for dinner.
 
Remuera Golf Club
120 Abbotts Way
Remuera
Auckland 1072
New Zealand 
 
All Rotarian's are welcome 
including family members.
 
Others wanting to visit are most welcome - please phone or email:
John Lewisham. Ph: 021 375 080, email; jdlewisham@gmail.com
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