Co-Presidents St. Johns Rotary, Penny McGarry (Ph: 021 702 310), and Lesley Harris (Ph: 027 4935 498)
Thursday mornings' ZOOM meeting was a BLAST!
Just as well we have a spare Co President as Co President Penny was attending the Doctor's meeting for her Mum who is in hospital, we all, of course, wish her well.
David Stone joined us, it was nice to see David for a little of the 'irreverence' he associates with the Club!
Apart from the usual notices and 'mind bending' Sergeants session we had volcanologist Dr Ian Smith's presentation on "Living with Volcanoes" It was very interesting and I'm sure we are all better informed and respectful of the volcanoes that form a big part of what Auckland actually is.
What better way to end with the following closing (aptly provided by Penny);
22 Members and 1 guest Zoomed in to our weekly Zoom Meeting last week.
Co-President Penny submitted her apologies, but Co-President Lesley stepped in to chair the meeting.
A few Club Notices as reported below were tabled prior to our guest speaker taking the floor;
We are still awaiting confirmation from the Remuera Golf Club, to see if our last get-together for the year, on 11 December, can be held at the club. Watch this space for more detail.
Either way the Foodbank collection at New World on the 11th Dec is confirmed.
Peter B confirmed that the Working Bee was proceeding on Nov 21, as now reported below.
Our Guest Speaker, Dr. Ian Smith was then introduced to the Zoomers.
The title of Dr Smith's talk was "Living With Volcanoes". Dr Smith is now retired, having spent his entire working life studying volcanos. The study of volcanoes and their eruptions has taken on renewed significance over the last 40 years, as major eruptions around the world have impacted communities and disrupted patterns of human activity.
In parallel with that, there has been an extraordinary development in techniques focused on understanding how volcanoes work, and how the potentially dangerous impact of their eruptions can be mitigated. Ian’s research has focused on volcanoes of the ’Pacific Rim of Fire’ particularly the southwest Pacific Islands and New Zealand. He has worked as volcanologist at the Central Volcanological Observatory in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, the University of Toronto in Canada and at the University of Auckland.
Ian knows his subject well and explained that Volcanoes are like politicians - unpredictable, and they don't always do what you want! He advised us that the Auckland Seismic monitor is currently "quiet", (which was good to hear), but it won't always be like that, hence the importance of constant monitoring and studying.
A very interesting talk and sincere thanks to Dr Smith for his time.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25th - BREAKFAST ZOOM MEETING - 7.30am: Guest Speaker - Robert Wheadon:
Topic – "IT Helpful Technical Tips"
As a computer programmer for over 20 years, Robert has a Bachelor and Masters degree in Computer Science from Waikato University along with a Certificate in Web Development. This year he started "On Beam Consulting", to assist people with their systems and generally help make things go. For more details, go to www.onbeam.nz. Robert is the partner of our member Ruth.
This presentation will provide ideas to help people in their daily use of computers, such as;.
Backups - really handy when things go wrong
Taming those pestering upgrades
Keeping your passwords safe
Fun Internet Facts
Electronic Recycling - being a tidy Kiwi in the 21st century
What to do when your system stops (apart from take a deep breath)
Staying out of trouble online
How to find qualified IT people to help you
and more....
THURSDAY DECEMBER 2nd - DINNER ZOOM MEETING - 7.00pm - Guest Speaker - Sarah Blyde:
Sarah is a project engineer at Rocket Lab, a space company that builds and launches the Electron rocket in New Zealand. Sarah grew up in Auckland and went on to study engineering at the University of Auckland before moving to Western Australia to work as a petroleum engineer. While there, she became fascinated by the growing space industry and decided she wanted to be part of all the action so went to France to do a masters degree in space studies.
The pandemic kicked off halfway through and she came home to New Zealand to finish her studies remotely before ending up with her dream job at Rocket Lab! Space isn't her only passion though - you'll often find Sarah out training for her next marathon, on the water kiteboarding, or hiking up a mountain somewhere.
It's now time to be chatting with your networks, local businesses, friends, family etc etc, all whom have been on edge awaiting the arrival of this year's Rotary Christmas puddings!!
Our "ultimate pudding salesman" (Christie Rutherford), has supplies ready and waiting for your order.
These are a great little fundraiser for the club! To avoid disappointment contact Christie asap to arrange to your purchase. Price $20, same as last year.
To Order: email Christie at windesign@xtra.co.nz, or phone 027 4731378
Pickup: Christie will deliver if required, or you can arrange to pickup from him - It couldn't be simpler - order now!!
Yesterday, eight keen club members and one very supportive spouse (thank you Helen), gave up watching the All Blacks Live, (lucky them), and instead were outside in Apirana Reserve for our club's first working bee in months, and what a beautiful morning it was!!
Earlier this year our club participated in several other working bees, planting native plants in this reserve, but thanks to the Covid Lockdown we have been unable to organise further working bees to assist in weed control, until now. After a solid couple of hours weeding there wasn't a weed to be seen. Many thanks to all who participated. To others who missed the opportunity yesterday - never fear - there will be other opportunities to be involved in the months ahead.
A WOW moment : Seven Sharp : Bell Birds in Waiatarua (link below)
Local Orakei Board Member Margaret Voyce, thought that members maybe interested in viewing this Seven Sharp item - a story on Waiatarua Reserve - right next door to our Rotary Home at RGC.
This Expo is designed to showcase the numerous volunteer organisations in the district, and of course Rotary and certainly St. Johns Rotary, are taking this opportunity to promote our club, our projects, our events etc etc
Let's show the public just how active we are and how much good we do in the community.
Colin is our go to man in coordinating our participation in the event, but he does, of course, need others from the club to support his efforts. To date he has a few members who have put their hand up to assist, but he is still looking for others, particularly between 10.00 am 12 noon or from 12 noon to 2 00 pm.
Details:
Date: Saturday 12 March 2022 from 10am to 2pm
Venue: Auckland Netball Centre, 7 Allison Ferguson Dr, St Johns (next to Stonefields).
Are you able to assist Colin and other club members? Please contact Colin now.
A young blonde girl in her late teens, wanting to earn some extra money for the summer, decided to hire herself out as a "handy woman" and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.
"Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint the porch. How much will you charge me?"
Delighted, the girl quickly responded, "How about $50?"
The man agreed and told her that the paint and brushes and everything she would need were in the garage.
The man's wife, hearing the conversation, said to her husband, "Does she realize that our porch goes ALL the way around the house?"
"That's a bit cynical, isn't it?" he responded.
The wife replied, "You're right. I guess I'm starting to believe all those dumb blonde jokes."
A few hours later the blonde came to the door to collect her money. "You're finished already??" the startled husband asked.
"Yes," the blonde replied, "and I even had paint left over so I gave it two coats."
Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50 and handed it to her along with a $10 tip.
"Thank you," the blonde said, "And, by the way, it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus."
Co-Presidents St. Johns Rotary, Penny McGarry (Ph: 021 702 310), and Lesley Harris (Ph: 027 4935 498)
22 Members and 1 guest Zoomed in to our weekly Zoom Meeting last week.
Our Guest Speaker, Dr. Ian Smith was then introduced to the Zoomers. 
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25th - BREAKFAST ZOOM MEETING - 7.30am: Guest Speaker - Robert Wheadon:
THURSDAY DECEMBER 2nd - DINNER ZOOM MEETING - 7.00pm - Guest Speaker - Sarah Blyde:
Yes its that time of the year again!
Volunteer Expo - New Date!
