Co-Presidents St. Johns Rotary, Gary Key (Ph: 021 611169), and Graham Fabian (Ph: 021 826292).
Hello fellow Rotarians, first, a huge congratulations to Hugh and all the Club members who participated in the New World Food Bank collection for CAB Glen Innes. Outstanding success with 98 boxes collected, including 7 boxes of grapefruit & lemons, Incredible generosity from the community and great profile for the Club & thank you Colin for flooding social media with updates & photos. Great effort. And of course a huge vote of thanks to Graham and New World for allowing us to use the foyer of your store leading to another very successful collection.
Friday was the funerals of Celia and Mark, so very, very sad. To Alex and his family and Karen and her family we send our deepest condolences, thoughts, and prayers.
Thursday’s meeting was full of energy and laughter with Efeso's address thought provoking. We are looking forward to both Efeso and his driver, Harry joining us for our Quiz night Oct 14th!! It is going to be a Hoot and a lot of Fun!!
We will certainly use our best endeavours to hold Leo to his Pledge!! We also welcomed our AG (Area Governor), Joyti Singh to her first RCSJ meeting. She was still smiling at the end or perhaps just gritting her teeth??
Co-President Graham has so much to answer for for announcing that he had tested positive for rabies - sorry wrong, COVID but is recovering well and should make an appearance next week.
After our meeting on Thursday morning Liz, Kevin, Murray and yours truly joined Churchill Park School, and Trees for Survival, at a planting morning at the John Rymer Place entrance to Te Ara Ki Uta Ki Tai Cycle / Walkway, what a fantastic morning with 25 students, teachers, Council staff and TfS Volunteers. 450 plus Trees planted. If that was not enough, the highlight of the planting was that the Churchill Park Students and Staff dedicated the Plantings to their ex Head Mistress and our very own member Liz Gunn!!! Thoroughly deserved with much love and respect from all.
Sergeant Patrick surprised us all when he introduced our "Beautiful Co-President" Gary. We look forward to seeing what description will be used when he introduces Co-President Graham at the next meeting. Speaking of Graham, he tendered his apologies having tested positive for COVID in Queenstown earlier in the week, where he stayed in isolation for the remainder of the week!
As there were no new club notices other than those mentioned above, Gary invited Angus to introduce our guest speaker.
Guest Speaker - Efeso Collins, Auckland City Mayoral Candidate.
With the elections only 6 weeks away we have been very fortunate to have had three of the candidates come to talk to us and we have 2 more to go.
Efeso's parents immigrated from Samoa in the 1960's and he is a New Zealand born Samoan. who grew up and went to school in Otara. Many folk who he talks to tell him he is crazy to be standing for Mayor and should have stuck with Rugby - a much easier career!
Like the previous 2 candidates, Efeso painted a picture of what he sees Auckland should look like, where we need to be heading and what he will do to fix all the problems. Unfortunately time didn't allow us to hear how he is going to deliver on the deliverables, but he is known for his hard work ethic - something that is needed.
Our thanks to Efeso, and Harry, for taking the time to talk to us and we wish him and his team the best in their endeavours.
THURSDAY AUGUST 18th BREAKFAST MEETING - GUEST SPEAKER - Colin Robinson - Everything you need to know about Club Runner, and more!!
THURSDAY AUGUST 25th BREAKFAST MEETING - GUEST SPEAKER - DG Allan Smith - Allan's talk will be all about Regionalisation and all you need to know. There has already been much written and published about Regionalisation, but now you get the chance to hear about it from the DG, and ask those questions you have been saving up for an opportunity such as this.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1st DINNER MEETING - GUEST SPEAKERS - OUR RECENTLY GRADUATED RYLARIANS: Always a highlight on our speakers calendar . This year we sponsored five participants and all five will be present to share their experiences and how they see their future unfolding as a result of RYLA.
Liz Gunn gets a pleasant surprise “down in the woods”
Some members will recall the words of the Teddy Bears Picnic:
“If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise If you go down in the woods today, you'd better go in disguise……..”
Well, Liz Gunn had no reason to go in disguise, since she is proudly the ex- Principal of Churchill Park School and a Director of St Johns Rotary. Liz had received an invite to come to a planting of some 400 Trees for Survival plants grown by students at the school to be planted down in the Purewa Woods, over on the John Rymer Place side, and just below Selwyn College….another little “treasure” being cleared by ratepayer and community groups.
She’d probably assumed that the school had invited her because she had introduced Dennis Millard, the boss of TfS, to the school, while still in charge. And there’s where the “big Surprise” came in.
Teachers, pupils, the new principal, and a few very useful dads and volunteers plus a handful of St Johns Rotarians had, in a couple of hours, waded through treacherous mud, on sloping ground to “nail the task” – half the trees and shrubs donated by TfS had been tended and coaxed into mature plantings by pupils over a year– to put them into an area marked for reclamation and beautification. Dennis Millard congratulated the group and said the next 400 would be ready next year for planting-out, and announced a new TfS custom.
This will be to name a planting after a significant person in the opinion of each school.
Churchill Park School chose Liz Gunn.
PS. Liz was unaware that she and husband Graham could be liable for all weeding going forward! [Apirana Mark 2????]
As covered in Gary's "Presidents Pen" column above, another very successful collection for the GI Food Bank was undertaken last Saturday. Considering the current high inflation rate and the impact on so many in the community, this didn't detract from the generosity of New World shoppers. Once again Colin was very active recording the activity at New World. You can view one of his many Face Book Posts by clicking on he following link; https://youtu.be/16hItOrXUns
Once again many thanks to all club members involved and, of course, a huge thanks to Graham and New World.
The clock's ticking and we are now only 8 weeks away from our Quiz Night.
This is one of our few major fund raising events of the year, and as we have missed the last two years, it is essential that we make this one a winner!!
Full details are clear on the attached flyer - just click on "Read More" to see this.
All that you need to do right now is;
Book your table of 10 and invite your best mates to join you at your potential winning table.
Donate Silent Auction items - these can be any item that is capable of triggering the audience to identifying the item as something that they must have, and will have them digging deep into their pockets, bidding high, thinking that they are getting a great deal, while helping us raise funds for our array of Youth Programmes.
Are you looking for another opportunity of doing good in the Community - well you have another chance to do so this week.
Murray is looking for volunteers to assist with packing on Wednesday 17th August 9.00am to 1.00pm.
This is one of those projects that sits under the radar, but it is happening every month on the 3rd Wednesday, and in months where there are 5 Wednesdays we are also needed to do an extra day.
Murray and his merry men and women have contributed significantly in volunteering hours, and if you would like to join the packing chain gang, please contact Murray asap.
Sergeant Patrick is back in town and he bullied his way into our pockets, purses and wallet on the way to collecting $101.10 for the Sunshine Fund.
The Fund balance is is now sitting at $4,923. Be aware that next week the Sergeant will be out to break through the $5,000 balance. If any member would like to nominate a needy cause to receive a donation from the Sunshine Fund, don't forget to send your proposal to Sergeant Patrick, along with a brief justification supporting the request.
Co-Presidents St. Johns Rotary, Gary Key (Ph: 021 611169), and Graham Fabian (Ph: 021 826292).
Sergeant Patrick surprised us all when he introduced our "Beautiful Co-President" Gary. We look forward to seeing what description will be used when he introduces Co-President Graham at the next meeting. Speaking of Graham, he tendered his apologies having tested positive for COVID in Queenstown earlier in the week, where he stayed in isolation for the remainder of the week!
Guest Speaker - Efeso Collins, Auckland City Mayoral Candidate. 
THURSDAY AUGUST 25th BREAKFAST MEETING - GUEST SPEAKER - DG Allan Smith - Allan's talk will be all about Regionalisation and all you need to know. There has already been much written and published about Regionalisation, but now you get the chance to hear about it from the DG, and ask those questions you have been saving up for an opportunity such as this.
Liz Gunn gets a pleasant surprise “down in the woods”
As covered in Gary's "Presidents Pen" column above, another very successful collection for the GI Food Bank was undertaken last Saturday. Considering the current high inflation rate and the impact on so many in the community, this didn't detract from the generosity of New World shoppers. Once again Colin was very active recording the activity at New World. You can view one of his many Face Book Posts by clicking on he following link; 
The clock's ticking and we are now only 8 weeks away from our Quiz Night. 
Sergeant Patrick is back in town and he bullied his way into our pockets, purses and wallet on the way to collecting $101.10 for the Sunshine Fund.
