This is a nice short little video that shows us what Rotary Foundation does in the six areas of focus. Worth a watch.
What an amazing day!!!
After staying up late last night to watch the women’s final at the Aussie Open, I was a bit loathe to get out of bed this morning - and it was early as we promised to be in Tauranga to help Tauranga Te Papa with the Airshow. TTP with assistance from other clubs were looking after parking and the trade exhibitors. Before we left, a quick check of the Lotto tickets - and what do you know - a small win. Nice way to start the day.
Little did I know it was going to get even better! We had a very enjoyable day checking in with our row of exhibitors to make sure all was good for them, and watching some amazing displays of flying talent in all sorts of planes. I am not a big plane fan but I really enjoyed watching it all and it was a great atmosphere - and fine weather! Stop at the Rotary caravan selling raffle tickets - prizes were flights in a plane or a jet - so thought we should make a donation. So when my phone rang later in the afternoon and the voice on the other end said ‘you wont believe this but you won the flight in a jet’ I was surprised to say the least.
So - at the end of the day, I got to gear up - parachute and helmet - buckle in (tightly) and go for a fly in a Strikemaster jet which were used by the RNZAF as jet trainers in the 1970’s until they were retired in the early 90s. The jet I flew in was a MK88 Strikemaster jet (NZ6370)
Apparently Auckland businessman Brett Nicholls bought the jet from Australia in 2010 and had it restored to flying condition – I can only imagine how much that cost. The aircraft had been flying for about 16 years in Australia but when it arrived in New Zealand and was reassembled, the Rolls Royce Viper 535 engine was found to be in a poor condition. Repairs were expected to cost about $1 million so a brand new engine was brought from England and fitted into the aircraft at Ardmore. Keeping the aircraft in the air is not cheap - maintenance could cost $30,000 a year and fuel $2,000 - $2,500 an hour, depending on how it was flown.
I was in the very good hands of pilot Dave Brown who was a jet flight trainer in the RNZAF and spent years flying commercially with Cathay Pacific took me up. I have to say it is very cosy in the cockpit and with the sun coming in through the clear cover it gets very warm. Dave let me fly for five minutes or so - for a big machine it is awfully sensitive with what seems like only a few millimetres of movement with the joystick making quite a difference in where we were heading! Things got warmer still in the cockpit when Dave asked if I would like to do a loop - apparently ’everyone should see the world upside down at least once in their life’, It seem a shame not to…..we climbed to 6000 feet to get enough space to execute this end over end maneuver out over the water off Mt Maunganui beach ……… how amazing was that!!!!!!!!! Just ask any of the Rotarians waiting for me when I got back about the size of the smile on my (slightly greenish-gray) face!!! Tauranga Te Papa Rotary - outstanding project - you guys ROCK!
Peace, however it is defined, is a realistic goal for Rotary, says RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka. “It is something that we can find and that we can achieve, every day and in many simple ways.” See this video of him presenting the 2012-13 theme to DGEs in San Diego
365 polio free days in India - no new cases for a whole year!!! Watch this video of RI President kalyan make this momentous announcement!!
Once again, I have let way too much time go by between blogs, but I just have to mention the Gisborne International Music Competition. Past DGs raved about how good this was - and they were right. We arrived in Gisborne in time to catch the second half of the concert under the leaves, and then to the final which saw the three finalists performing for 30 minutes each. I am not an orchestral music fan, but you didn’t need to be to appreciate both the talent and the hard work that goes into performing the way these three young men did. Simply outstanding - I am not sure if it is appropriate to say that these guys ‘rock’ but they do!! Geoff took some short little video clips so I will give you a wee glimpse once we get those off the camera.
Raising Awareness of Child Abuse
Two “buddies” visited Waikato Sunrise Rotary this morning - Friday 18th November which is World Child Abuse Day. The buddies were there with Sharyn Bell and DG Raewyn Kirkman as part of Buddy Day organised by Child Matters http://www.childmatters.org.nz/ . 180 buddies are out and about in the community for the day having been adopted by carers – concerned people in the community who want to help raise awareness of child abuse in our community. In the week leading up to Buddy Day, they were in schools and child care centres being named, dressed and writing stories. The 180 buddies represent 10% of the 1800 substantiated child abuse cases in the Waikato last year. We need to realise that as adults, we all have a part to play in keeping children safe and that we need to speak up for children if we suspect that they are in an abusive situation.
Cooper is spending the day with me at work at LIFE Unlimited, along with Charli who is in the LIFE Unlimited store visiting shoppers. After meeting everyone at breakfast this morning, we visited Rotarian Jim and his colleagues at Frankton Law, and then we went to see Rotarian Geoff and the team at Curnow Tizard. After that we headed off to the polling booth in London Street to vote. (As an aside, did you know that anyone can vote from now until voting day on the 26th November – so avoid the crowds and vote early!) Buddy Day is a great way of getting conversations happening about child abuse which as Anthea Simcock, CEO of Child Matters says is “hidden right in front of us”!
Later today, all the buddies will attend a commemorative event in Garden Place – apparently it is going to be a fun event!
Too busy having fun
Despite my best intentions to blog regularly, I am just too busy enjoying my role as DG to find the time. So here is what I have been up too in the last few weeks.
The weekend just gone - after visiting a member of our club and dear friend who is slowly succumbing to cancer L it was off to Tauranga for two Rotary events. First stop - Rotarian Sally from Tauranga Sunrise offered me a bed for the night, so I arrived in time for a wine and an hour solving the problems of the world. Then off to their clubs fundraiser - “Kitchen Hell’. What a fabulous night! Suffice to say there were 14 ‘chefs’ out in the home economics room and 140 hungry and critical people waiting to sample their cooking, although as we moved from table to table to table for entree, main and dessert, we had no idea who the chef was that had prepared the dish. After listening to wonderful speakers from the beneficiary charities - ShelterBox and the Cambodia Trust (I had a tear or two in my eye listening to her) we got to share our comments face to face with the chefs. Well done Tauranga Sunrise. The next morning after a leisurely breakfast with Sally it was off the the Otumoetai Rotary Club’s charity golf tournament in aid of Child Cancer. Well done Clyde and the team - I dont know how you arranged the perfect weather or how you rigged it for me to win the ladies division. I went home with a ham for Christmas so very happy.
During the week, on Wednesday night, we headed down to Turangi to share an evening with the “T” clubs - Turangi, Taumarunui, Taupo, Taupo Moana and Taupo Expresso. Guest speaker for the evening was our Ambassadorial Scholar Caresse Buchan in her final appearance before heading back to Texas. She has been a fabulous addition to our district over the last 12 months or so. Turangi has jsut started meeting in a new venue - and I suspect that it would be one of the best around. Turangi Lodge on its own is a good reason to do a club visit to Turangi!!
On Thursday, along with Mike from Shelterbox, I watched media arts students from Wintec ‘pitch’ their ideas for a campaign to promote Young ShelterBox in NZ - I would happily paid for some of the concepts they came up with!!
So thats me since we finished the Assistant Gov and President Elect training. Next week we are off to Brisbane for GETS - Governor Elect Training - or in our case Governor training - and Rotary Institute which is a gathering of past DGs enabling them to update themselves withe the latest and greatest in Rotary. Looking forward to catching up with old friends!!
President Elect Training
Two great days of training this weekend - Saturday in Taupo for Assistant Guv training - thank you Suncourt for the excellent venue and for looking after us so well! A mix of returning and newbie AGs in Roger’s team for next year - the clubs will be in capable hands. District Trainer Libby and I really enjoyed our day with you guys (gender neutral).
Over to Napier Saturday night for President Elect Training (PETS) for the Hawkes Bay, Poverty Bay and Taupo/Turangi/Taumuranui clubs on the Sunday. Seventeen or so keen-as-mustard PEs now half trained (South Pacific PETS still to come in March) and I have to say that they were a good attentive bunch. Thanks Trevor for your wonderful catering once again - you always feed us so well when we use the Taradale Town Hall for training.
Libby and I decided to have a day of rest and recreation - AKA retail therapy here in the beautiful sunny Hawkes Bay and while Libby was very controlled (she has a trip to India coming up as the Group Study Exchange team leader) I did make a reasonable contribution to the local economy.
Thank you Napier Rotary for having us for lunch today, and we look forward to our visit to Ahuriri Rotary tonight
Your chance to tell RDU what you think about the mag!
YOUR VIEWS ARE VALUED
You have helped shape the success of the Rotary Down Under magazine as it is today with your valued feedback and suggestions for improvement. Now you can make a direct contribution to the future of the magazine by taking part in a survey that will take a short amount of your time, and by way of thanks you will get a chance to win a $2,000 grocery voucher. Your responses will be valued and will be used solely by Rotary Down Under for improving the magazine. The survey is on-line at
https://www.research.net/s/RotaryDownUnder2011ReadershipSurvey
until 7 November.
More information about the survey can be viewed at http://rdusurvey.rotarysouthpacific.org.
Official club visits finished…
Geoff and I finished our official club visits, with the final visit being to our own club Waikato Sunrise. I think it is often harder speaking to a group of people you know well than to a group you don’t, but they were a very good and kind audience!! It is hard to get a good crowd - it took to the last visit for someones cell phone to ring. And not just one persons phone - two people!! Thank you Harvey for kind introduction, and Keith for the wonderful words of thank you. And to the members of Waikato Sunrise for the standing ovation - thank you!
This is the video that was shown at the New Orleans convention during Bill Gates’ speech. We have never stopped at 99% and we will not stop until polio is eradicated.
We are hitting the airwaves!!
The Multi District PR team has had another great success – they have been working with Newstalk ZB with regards to promoting Rotary on radio, and it is all go. Starting on this Monday 17th at 6.58 am, the first ads will be aired on the ZB and Classic Hits network, and at other times during the day – repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Over the three days, the Rotary ads will be aired some 68 time - each 30 seconds in length – with some of the ads on Radio Sport and other stations. Better still, 21 of these are at no charge. A second group of ads will be on air on Monday Nov 7 through to Wednesday Nov 9.
So – be ready for the response. People may ask you about Rotary – so remember – Rotary is a worldwide network of passionate people contributing to relevant social causes changing lives in communities. We are not a dinner club, or a social club – we are a service organisation committed to changing lives – our own included. Word of mouth sells, so lets get our 2000 or so mouths working and talk about Rotary!!!!
Go Te Puke - you guys rock even more now!!
As we have been visiting clubs, we have promised to come back for a special occasion for clubs later on. What a great special occasion for Te Puke when they inducted three - yes three - new members into their club last week. Geoff and I went over to help out - welcome to Lee Hillier, Giles Day and Allan Ross
