What an awesome fellowship meeting we had last week with great uptake on our fun challenges. Thanks to all members who were able to zoom in! Prizes announced further on in the Bulletin.
Now Day 26 of Lockdown, I am sure most of our membership listened to PM Jacinda’s announcement this afternoon. Happy news that we are moving carefully to Level 3 next Monday.
For this week’s meeting we have an ANZAC celebration planned. Members are cordially invited to join in while you breakfast! I also invite you to please consider donating the usual ANZAC breakfast fee of $25, for us to pass along to the RSA. Please email Secretary/Treasurer Alex, if you would like to take up this donation offer.
Our ANZAC meet agenda will include the National Anthem, followed by a delightful walk down Club-History-memory-lane (via a short video) to show the origins of RCSJ’s ‘Great Kiwi ANZAC Breakfast’. Respected member Alan Mayne will then share with us; and RYE Student Elise from France will tell us about an historic connection her hometown has with Kiwi soldiers. We will then open our meeting to any member who wishes to share or chat.
I’m looking forward to Thursday morning, meanwhile as Jacinda said, “Keep your bubbles small…stay safe…be kind”.
Another very successful "Zoom" Meeting for RCSJ last Thursday with 29 Participants including Honarary members, Mary Ann & Andy and David Stone - great to see you all and thanks for joining in.
The theme of the meeting was; "Life in your Bubble".
All participants entered into the theme which called for wearing hats, outrageous shirts and an opportunity for all to show off their technical skills, by customising the Zoom Background. Some of the results were very good while other results highlighted the members lack of technical skills, although many were able to blame the software and or their computer, rather than themselves!!!
Either way it was all good fun and it is great that we still all have an opportunity of staying in-touch during these crazy times as members also had the opportunity of sharing highlights of what's been going on in their Bubble. Some good stories were shared and its very good indeed to hear that, as a group, we are generally still quite sane, despite the situation we find ourselves in.
Best background and dress-up prizes were voted on toward the end of the meeting and the winners were!!!
Background/Photographs shared:
Peter B - creative cupcakes complete with fungi
Muriel - Stonefield Rainbow
Mary-Ann & Andy – scrummy-supersized soon-to-be-wine grapes and an excellent selection of hats.
Hat prizes to:
John L – historic hat (his father’s wedding day top hat)
Patrick Bell – with hair?
Tricia – her craftily fashioned feather hat
...And the Winners shall receive;...none other than an iconic "Choccy Fish" - Not sure if they will have to share the one fish, or they will each receive their own? Be sure to attend our first face to face meeting to find out!!
The real highlight of our last meeting was the Announcement of "District Governor Nominee", none other than our very own Allan Smith, who will be very capably supported by his loverly wife, Sue, and of course the entire membership of the Rotary Club of St. Johns. DG Gary Langford was delighted to be able to share with us, the letter below sent to all Clubs in District 9920;
"It is with great pride that I pass on this news to you all, which came in via email yesterday evening from District Governor Gary Langford:
District Governor Nominee selection 2022-2023
I am pleased to advise that the District 9920 Nominating committee have
selected Allan K Smith as District Governor for the Rotary year 2022-2023.
The selection is subject to objection by a Rotary Club within a 14 day period but only if the club has previously suggested a candidate to the nominating committee.
Allan is a Past President of the Rotary Club of St Johns, District 9920 Area Governor 2020-2021,and a panel member of the Rotary Governance Working Group.
Sue is the NZ Operations Manager for ROMAC - Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children and works as a volunteer for many organisations such as the Cancer Society.
Jan and I wish Allan and Sue every success in their year as District Governor and I look forward to Allan joining the DG train as District Governor Nominee.
Regards Gary Langford District Governor 2019-20 Rotary District 9920"
To the St Johns members, and all those others worldwide who have congratulated me on the DGN nomination, I am truly humbled. Sue and I are still surprised how others within the world of Rotary, both in NZ and as far away as France, have sent notes to us. It certainly has highlighted what a strong organisation Rotary is.
We wanted to say a special thanks for your support and as a club we are proud to represent you at this level. The next 4 years will be a journey of learning and more importantly, having the opportunity to contribute to the strength of Rotary as we adapt within our communities after such an unusual time.
Club activity and regular Thursday meetings are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 Virus and the associated lockdown.
However, on Thursday April 23rd, we will hold our fifth "Zoom Meeting" at 8.00 am. Watch out for your "Zoom" invite via email, from President Robyn, which she will send out on Wednesday evening. We look forward to having more members join in! Its easy, you get to sleep in, in fact you could even join in from the comfort of your own bed, and more importantly its free!!
The Rotary Club of New Market's next Zoom meeting will be held tomorrow night, Tuesday April 21st at 7-30pm. This is another meeting relating to the #Covid19 pandemic, as our guest speaker is Professor Cris Print.
Cris is a Professor at The University of Auckland Department of Molecular Medicine & Pathology. Cris's work involves genomic & bioinformatic technologies coupled with traditional pathology to better understand human diseases. He has a 25-year career in academic medical research and biotechnology, including work in Australia, the United Kingdom and Japan.
Cris is currently Chair of the Auckland Regional Tissue Bank’s Scientific Advisory Board, and a Principal Investigator in the Maurice Wilkins Centre, Director of Auckland's Genomics Into Medicine initiative. He is also a Director of ESR who are at the forefront of the fight against #Covid19 in NZ.
RCSJ members are most welcome to join in - Cris is a very good speaker and a close friend of Rotary Newmarket. We gave him a PHF. lf you would like to join our Zoom meeting please email me-Brian@flairstrips.co.nz. We would welcome Rotarians & Friends to attend.
Pictorial update from PDG Stuart Batty, Executive Director, RNZWCS Limited (Rotary New Zealand): Delivery to those living in tents as their houses have been shattered. Pictures tell a thousand words. Thank you to all those Rotary supporters assisting today’s distribution in Tonga.
As scientists work to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus, we can do our part to keep our communities healthy by helping Rotary spread the word about the importance of vaccinations during World Immunization Week, 24-30 April.
Immunizations save millions of lives every year and are widely recognized as one of our most successful and cost-effective health interventions. Yet outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases continue to put children’s health at risk around the world.
Rotary knows firsthand that #VaccinesWork. Since 1985, we’ve contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children from polio. When children receive the polio vaccine, their pinkie fingers are marked with purple ink so health workers will know which children received the vaccine. Today, only two countries continue to report cases of polio caused by the wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Take action in three easy ways:
Raise awareness of vaccination and polio eradication efforts by painting your nails — or pinkie — purple, or customize our new End Polio Now artwork with your signature and words of support. Post your pictures on social media using the hashtags #EndPolio and #VaccinesWork.
Download Rotary’s World Immunization Week Toolkit to get graphics and sample social media posts.
Donate to Rotary’s PolioPlus Fund. Your contribution will be tripled, thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Lockdown Discussion: Just be careful because people are going crazy from being in lockdown!
Actually I've just been talking about this with the microwave and toaster while drinking coffee and we all agreed that things are getting bad. I didn't mention anything to the washing machine as she puts a different spin on everything. Certainly not to the fridge as he is acting cold and distant. In the end the iron straightened me out as she said everything will be fine, no situation is too pressing. The vacuum was very unsympathetic... told me to just suck it up, but the fan was more optimistic and hoped it would all soon blow over! The toilet looked a bit flushed when I asked its opinion and didn’t say anything but the door knob told me to get a grip. The front door said I was unhinged and the curtains told me to ........yes, you guessed it .....pull myself together.
Three Lockdown Shorties:
To go to the grocery store they said a mask and gloves were enough. They lied – everybody else had clothes on.
Snow White is down to six dwarfs. Sneezy has been placed in quarantine.
It was a quiet Monday morning in September 2053, when John awoke with a need to go to the bathroom. To John, this wasn’t just any ordinary day. This was the day he would open the last package of toilet paper his parents bought in the year 2020.
Have a wonderful week with many *smiles*, and stay home until you are let loose!
We meet Thursday for breakfast at 7 am for 7.15 am start,
except for the first Thursday of the month,
when we meet in the evening at 6 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 to contact:
Donald Bowie donald.bowie.dbc@gmail.com
Next Meeting:
Via "Zoom" at 8 am
Thursday 23 April.
Check emails for invite link.
The Club Bulletin will continue to be published on a Monday evening each week and will update the meeting schedule as required.
BE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN OUR VIBRANT CLUB
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
...And the Winners shall receive;...none other than an iconic "Choccy Fish" - Not sure if they will have to share the one fish, or they will each receive their own? Be sure to attend our first face to face meeting to find out!!
To the St Johns members, and all those others worldwide who have congratulated me on the DGN nomination, I am truly humbled. Sue and I are still surprised how others within the world of Rotary, both in NZ and as far away as France, have sent notes to us. It certainly has highlighted what a strong organisation Rotary is. 
