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The President's Pen

It was such a pleasure to host last week’s ANZAC themed meeting complete with guest speakers and three videos, all of which I was very relieved, technically flowed well. Thank goodness I have Barista Tony in the background who has not failed to make me a coffee and help soothe my angst as I oversee our Zoom meetings.
 
ANZAC is a poignant time of remembrance and being in lockdown certainly added to the occasion, as did our guest speakers. Huge thanks to all involved with putting this meeting together, especially Michele Mann, our champion of the Great Kiwi ANZAC Breakfast who provided that gorgeous ‘historic’ club video of its beginnings. Lest We Forget.
 
This week we welcome guest speaker Shane Le Brun, Coordinator of Medical Cannabis Awareness New Zealand. Members will have the opportunity to ask Shane questions. More details on Shane are included later in the Bulletin.
 
I am also pleased to advise that Glen Innes Foodbank have been in touch, are prepping to reopen and urgently need stock. Please check further on in the Bulletin for details of how we can assist with this.
 
Warm regards
Robyn
President – Rotary Club of St Johns
022 0200 171
Stories
Meeting in Review - Thursday April 23rd
Well wasn't that a great meeting - well done President Robyn, bouncing from live action, to videos, to guest speakers to open chat time and more!  A total of 38 participating in the special ANZAC Zoom Meeting.  It was also great to see some Zoom first timers; Alan Mayne, Jan Hogg, Isabella Tedcastle, Angus McPhee and Simon Jones.
The Agenda for the Meeting was;
  • Welcome
  • National Anthem
  • Short video showing the origins of our clubs 'Great Kiwi ANZAC Breakfast’
  • Respected member Alan Mayne shared what ANZAC day means to him
  • RYE Student Elise (France) told us about an historic connection her hometown has with Kiwi soldiers
  • The Last Post
  • Club Notices
  • Members chat time 
The Video promoting the Great Kiwi ANZAC Breakfast, the brain child of Michele Mann, was great to see and what was interesting was how so many of our members have changed their look over the past 12 years - some for the better, others maybe not quite as much.  No names of course!!!
 
Alan then took centre stage, sorry centre screen, and shared with us a very personal and heartfelt ANZAC Day story.  Alan was born in Dunedin in 1936 and his father was conscripted into the New Zealand Army in February 1943, and then killed in Southern Italy, (near Bari) on 13 December that same year.  He is buried in the War Graves Cemetery, a truly tranquil and beautiful place, managed by the New Zealand War Graves Commission.  One of the stunning memories Alan has is of visiting the cemetery and the number of graves of so many young men aged 23, 24, 25.  His Dad was 38.  Alan was educated at Waitaki Boys College which was the crux of a very successful life and career.  Waitaki Boys High School is where Alan met Christie Rutherford which led to him being a member of the Rotary Club of St Johns.
 
The photo below is of Alan's Father and his medals including the Memorial Cross which was presented to the family by the Government and people of New Zealand in memory of one who died in the service of his country.  The other photo is of the Hall of Memories at Waitaki Boys High.  
Our next speaker was Elise Dubuche.  Elise is one of seven Rotary Exchange Students currently being hosted by District 9920.  Elise is from France and her home is very close to both Arras and Le Quesnoy, two places in France that have significant ties with New Zealand following WW1.   In Arras, New Zealand soldiers were responsible for digging immense tunnel complex beneath the city streets that housed 24,000 British men and women as they prepared for the Battle of Arras.  This lasted 35 days and although the British experienced many casualties, they won the battle. 
 
Le Quesnoy was occupied by the Germans for the entire war until it was liberated in 1918 by New Zealand soldiers in what was to become the last action by New Zealand troops in the War.  Over the years very strong bonds have been created between Le Quesnoy and New Zealand with many streets and schools bearing the names of New Zealanders and New Zealand towns. For those wishing to know more there are many books telling the stories of  the Battle of Araas, the Tunnels and the Liberation of Le Quesnoy.
 
Thank you Elise for sharing your knowledge of these places and the significance of them to both France and New Zealand.  Also a big thank you to Michele for her part in making the Great Kiwi ANZAC Day Breakfast such an important annual event for St. Johns Rotary, to Alan for sharing his story and to Robyn for pulling it all together in these difficult and challenging times.  
ANZAC DAY Donation to RSA
Message from our President:
I sincerely hope you were all able to mark ANZAC Day in a way that is meaningful to you. I know many of us were able to 'Stand At Dawn' in our homes, on balconies or on driveways as an act of commemoration and listened to the RNZ National broadcast of the special dawn service.
 
At our ANZAC themed Zoom meeting last Thursday, I encouraged our members to make a donation via a charge to your Rotary account in lieu of our usual Great Kiwi ANZAC Breakfast tradition.  These donations will be collated and passed along to the RSA. Sincere thanks to those who have already contributed.  Secretary Alex reports we have collected $500 so far.
 
Please remember to email Secretary Alex if you wish to donate (and advise him of the amount).  Here is a quick link to click for his email:  RSA Donation for ANZAC Day
Glen Innes Food Bank Needs Stock-Up
During the lockdown we have been in contact with Patsy Sim, Manager of CAB Glen Innes and GI Foodbank. Sadly, due to the lockdown restrictions the Foodbank has not been allowed to function as normal, but Patsy reports they have been managing to provide some essentials to key clients such as the Marae and GI Family Centre.  Patsy is very hopeful the Foodbank can reopen once we move to Level 2, so this will potentially be Monday 11 May.
 
In the meantime, Patsy reports that the Foodbank is almost empty and they are in urgent need of a stock-up while they wait for funding applications to come through.  The Rotary Club of St Johns has a great track record with our Foodbank Appeal, and as soon as we have official clearance to do so, we hope to do a weekend Appeal in collaboration with our major sponsor, New World Stonefields.
 
While we wait to reach a level that enables us to do this, if at all possible, members are invited to give immediate help by purchasing extra items when you do you own grocery shop.  These grocery items can then be dropped off at the home of Alex Gatt (34 College Road, St Johns).  Alex has a secure front entry where non-contact drop-off is reasonably effortless.  Once Alex has a good amount of items, we will arrange drop-off to the Foodbank.
 
Foodbank would appreciate these items please:  Tinned goods (Spaghetti, Baked Beans, Fish, Corn, Fruit); Spreads (Peanut Butter, Jam, Vegemite, Marmite); Powdered Milk; Bars of Soap; washing machine soap powder; toilet paper (but don't buy out the shop).
 
Foodbank do not need: nut bars, flour, bread, rice (these items are already donated by bulk suppliers) or anything perishable.
 
To assist with the immediate top-up today RCSJ Board agreed
to donate $500 and have asked New World Stonefields
to utilise this donation to put together an appropriate delivery to GI Foodbank.
 
Club Activities & Other Important Dates to Diary
Club activity and regular Thursday meetings are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 Virus and the associated lockdown.  However "Zoom Meetings" are held each week until further notice.  Details of future meetings follow.  (Watch out for your "Zoom" invite via email, from President Robyn, which she will send out on Wednesday evenings.  We look forward to having all members join in!  
 
THURSDAY APRIL 30th, we will hold our sixth "Zoom Meeting" at 8.00 am: 
Guest Speaker will be SHANE Le BRUN, Coordinator Medical Cannibas Awareness.  Shane comes from a military background, and originally took a conservative view of drug use.  However, this all changed when his wife of only 3 months had a fall and injured her lower back, her intractable pain lead them naively down the path of Opioids, resulting in discovering first hand the naivety around prescribing Oxycodone at the time. After 5 years of chronic pain, and in desperation, they tried Cannabis, and much to Shane's surprise, it worked better for his wife than many prescription drugs in treating her acute flare up of pain.

From that point on Shane has made it his mission to advocate for improved access to Medical Cannabis, and to that end started a Registered Charity 3 years ago with an initial aim of coaching patients and prescribers through the onerous pathway for legal access.  

 
MONDAY MAY 4th:
Annual Debate with Auckland East.  This year Auckland East will host the event at their regular meeting time on Monday Evening May 4th at 7.00 pm.  Quite possibly this could be your first Zoom Debate!!
 
The moot is; 
HAS DONALD TRUMP DONE A GOOD JOB OF LEADING THE USA IN COVID-19
 
We should hear which position our team will be taking later this week.  Watch this space for more details and Zoom invitation - in the meantime please diary date & time.
 
THURSDAY MAY 7th:
Guest Speaker - our very own Alex Gatt - "My Travels".
 
FRIDAY JUNE 26th CHANGEOVER:
This event is one of the most important dates in the Rotary Calendar.  Please diary now and we will hope that crowd restrictions will be lifted allowing this event to be celebrated.  Please note that the regular Thursday meeting on June 25th will be cancelled.
Çhangeover Date to Diary
Remuera Golf Club & Winstone's Update
Remuera Golf Club is delighted to advise that on Tuesday 28 April they will open with limited golf and Driving Range usage.  While there is limited golf allowed, the course will still be open to local residents to walk, from 4pm each day.
 
In addition, Winstone's is launching an online café from Wednesday 29 April with a full range of click and Collect Takeaway Options including the full Winstone's daily Menu, Pizzas, Heat n Eat Frozen Meals and the major – Coffee to Go.  The link for this is https://remueragolfclubinc.mobi2go.com/ where you can sign up and order for pick up. All payments are made online unless a member has a House Account, where they can select “pay on Pickup” with the charge being made to their account.
 
When the appropriate Covid-19 Level is reached, RGC are very much looking forward to welcoming Rotary Club of St Johns back for meetings (with lots of crispy bacon!)
Brigadier Alfred Gatt
Now here is another good story for ANZAC Day which you will find interesting. 
 
Brigadier Gatt is Alex's Uncle, (his Father's brother).  This article was printed in the Malta Times in 2016.  When Alex was in Malta last May, he had lunch with his 96 year old uncle who is as sharp as a tack!
 
Click on the link below for more.
 
 
Club Environment Challenge for April
ERKs Donations Needed
Dove Hospice Update
Dove Hospice supports people with life-threatening illnesses, and their families and carers.
The Dove Model of Care supports and empowers people in the community to navigate holistically through the process of living with and dying from life threatening illness and its consequences.
Dove supports patients from life-threatening diagnosis through to either A RETURN TO WELLNESS (where the patient can expect recovery) or to MINDFUL WELLNESS (where the patient has a terminal diagnosis).   
 
As a Rotary club over the years we have supported Dove Hospice in many ways, and they are always appreciative of this support and the partnership that we have with them.  This partnership extends to our members sitting on their Board and continuing the work in the community. As a business model Dove has been extremely successful in building a series of retail stores that provide income for their services that they provide.  However, now that business model with Retail stores has had to close down during Covid 19 and so revenue has stopped.
 
I was speaking with Janine Ewan, CEO – Clinical Services this last week to see how they were going, and her response was:
 
We are so grateful for the support of our community and long-term supporters like St Johns Rotary and its’ members, at this unprecedented time and in the situation, we find ourselves.
As you and your members will be aware our income has ceased during this Covid level 4 alert when our shop operations have had to be closed. They generated our income. With Simon Jones leadership, we are looking very creatively at other ways to generate income now and for the future.
However, I’d like to let you and your members know that the Clinical team are continuing to provide a level of remote support in the community to about 250 current service- users and our 3 bed 24hr care unit is operating as normal. The feedback during this time has been so encouraging – the connections we are making even remotely have been very much appreciated by patients and families.
 
I will look forward to coming to your breakfast meeting and giving you an update on what is happening at Dove later in the year.  Stay safe and in appreciation, Janine”
 
I know that our members are very supportive of Dove and recently one privately donated a sum of money to assist their journey in hard times. It is always important of being mindful as to how our community are coping and Dove supports many families that are vulnerable.
 
Kindest regards,
Allan
Club Services Director
Past President – Rotary St Johns – 2018/2019
021 959 397
Killing Covid19 with kindness - Tea Towel Offer
Send some lockdown kindness to someone who could really do with it, and grab yourself a practical memento of that time you spent a whole month at home sweet home. 

All profits from the sale of these tea towels will go to support NZ's City Missions in their tireless work to provide meals, food parcels, accommodation and other essential services to some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable people.
 
 
Link kindly supplied by HM Mary Ann Davison
News from Sir Edmund Hillary Retirement Village
Our member Michelle Forman is the Village Coordinator at Sir Edmund Hillary Retirement Village and has been a very busy lady with the Village preparing for isolation well before most of us went into lockdown, continuing her great work ensuring all Village residents in lockdown are happy and safe and always with a kind word and her sunny smile.  Michelle sent in these photos from the Village: a Wall of Kindness featuring lovely feedback and comments made during lockdown; and a Window where residents can write messages of thankfulness.  
 
 
 
The Rotary Four Way Test
Read more...
Time for a Smile!
The phone rings and the lady of the house answers, "Hello".
 
"Mrs. Ward, please." "Speaking." "Mrs. Ward, this is Doctor Jones at the Medical Testing Laboratory.  When your doctor sent your husband's biopsy to the lab yesterday, a Biopsy from another Mr. Ward arrived as well, and we are now Uncertain which one is your husband's.  Frankly the results are Either bad or terrible" "What do you mean?" Mrs. Ward asks nervously. 
 
"Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's, and The other one tested positive for AIDS.  We can't tell which your Husband's is." 
 
"That's dreadful! Can't you do the test again?" questioned Mrs. Ward.  "Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive Tests one time."  "Well, what am I supposed to do now?"
 
"The people at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off Somewhere in the middle of town.  If he finds his way home, don't Sleep with him."
 
 
 
Have a wonderful week with many *smiles*, and stay home until you are let loose! 
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Next Meeting:
Via "Zoom" at 8 am
Thursday 30th 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.
Speakers
Apr 30, 2020
Medicinal Marijuana and its benefits
May 04, 2020
May 07, 2020
My Trip and adventures
May 07, 2020
Snapchat
View entire list

Club Contacts

PresidentRobyn Ingram 022 0200 171 
Secretary, Treasurer, Apologies:  Alex Gatt 021 571 722
President ElectHugh Scott-Russell
Sergeant:  Miles Cain 027 446 9225
Club Services Director:  Allan Smith 021 959 397 
Bulletin EditorPete Walsh 021 747 858
Membership DirectorsDonald Bowie
Our Meetings
 
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
Small Acts - Big Impact!