At our last meeting there was general acclaim when Bill Duncan was award the Five Avenues of Service award.
In the citation that followed I am sure members were impressed by the breadth and depth of Bills service to both Rotary and the community.
In his acceptance of the award Bill talked about the fact that he had been inspired by others.
He also said "If you are asked to do a job for Rotary, you should do it."
I hope that all members were inspired by that.
I know that not all members are able to contribute in the way that they once were and that some are apprehensive about taking on new roles.That apprehension can be the result of work pressures, of other family plans or of wanting to help but wanting to avoid the public facing nature of some roles.
It is my opinion that all of us as Rotarians have a duty to make it possible for every member to feel they can step up and take a role.
For some it will be in a mentoring capacity, for others it will be picking up part of the load and for all of us it will be by providing positive support and encouragement for those people who do put their hand up when asked.
To quote that well known philosopher, John Lennon, "I get by with a little help from my friends." Or from the less well known "unknown" “I wondered why somebody didn’t do something. Then I realised, I am somebody.”
Fittingly, on Monday night, in the 100th Year of Rotary our club was host to the 100th District Governor – Craig. The evening turned out to be an auspicious one for another reason as well but more about that later.
Craig talked about how Covid 19, while severely disrupting Rotary activities did serve to focus us on one aspect of our core business – the eradication of communicable diseases. Our long term and finely honed experience with polio and other diseases means that Rotary is well placed to offer support in the worldwide vaccination programme and discussions have already begun.
A recent outbreak of polio in Liberia and the recent hard caused by an outbreak of measles in Samoa serves to reinforce that Covid will not be something which is eradicated but rather an endemic problem that will require long term planning and careful management.
Covid has also shown large organisations the danger of litigation and class lawsuits should all health and safety precautions not be taken. If we needed any confirmation of that, a recent class action against Boy Scouts has effectively placed that organisation in a state of bankruptcy. This type of organisational risk was a key reason that R.I. moved so quickly to issue an edict banning all face-to-face meetings until later this year, the irony of which had not escaped Craig.
In question time Craig addressed the issue of district “redistricting”, the term favoured over merging or amalgamation and membership. Whatever the term chosen, District 9910 has until 2025 to get club numbers and membership up to the required levels. Club merging has not proven to be a success, largely in Craigs view, because of the sometimes very different cultures of clubs. Instead, he favoured targeting new members who would be a good fit for a club “by getting out of the office” and directly approaching the target audience. Likewise trying to attract much younger members into a more traditional and established club setting was not seen as something likely to be very successful. Some ideas for our club to ponder.
At Monday night District Governor Craig, Bills wife Lynn and son John were on hand when a noticeably moved Bill Duncan was presented with the Five Avenues of Service Award. This awardis one of the highest recognitions a Rotarian can receive and can only be issued by Rotary International. Bill is the Club’s first recipient of such recognition.
Why Bill? Listening to his list of both achievements and Rotary involvement made that answer very clear.
Financial support of Clubs across the District, GSE leader, WCS Chair, RYLA Chair, arranging RAF mercy flights to the Pacific, established the local Senior Citizens Club, established numerous Trusts including those supporting the visually impaired, local youth, post graduate studies for women in law, medicine and politics. These trusts have disbursed many hundreds of thousands of dollars to the community. In addition Bill is an active church leader, chairs the Saint Andrews Village Residents’ Association and is a hospital chaplain.
Fifty one years a member of Rotary, Bill has served as President, Past President, Bulletin Editor and on the Board of Directors multiple times. He has been Almoner, spent many years on District Committees, had a strong involvement with the Rotary Walkway, Trees for Survival, Top Schools, Dictionaries in Schools and Carnival.
Bill has the reputation for being a quiet, humble gentleman who is acutely aware of the needs and feelings of others. He demonstrates a strong commitment to the ideals of Rotary and the importance of "service above self values. He is an outstanding citizen who has our utmost respect. Sadly, with Covid related international delivery delays and Rotary shut downs in the States, the official crystal award and pin had not arrived and in fact may not get here for several months, so DG Craig, very kindly, had a simple version created here in Auckland, as it was important we celebrate this occasion now.
Like many of you here tonight, I have lived over a quarter of a century as a Rotarian. During those years there have been numerous occasions when I have felt great pride, witnessing and celebrating the contribution our people make to the community. Tonight is one of those occasions. It has been my great pleasure, pride and indeed privilege to have spent the past four months involved with information gathering and research to celebrate such contribution.
Before we go any further, I would like to acknowledged the help I have had from DG Craig, Vick Soar, District Secretary, Angela Stavogiannopoulos, RI’s PR Officer for the Sth Pacific, along with Bill Boyd and President Alison for their trust and support. The award that will be presented tonight is not from our Club, it is not even from our District, but from RI and to the very best of our combined knowledge and research, it has never before been presented to a member of the Pakuranga Club.
About 500 local primary school children were treated to the Top Schools experience after a Covid-enforced cancellation last year. Did they love it? Oh, YES!
Basic organisation of school entries and infrastructure was handled by a team from Elm Park School headed by Alicia Howard and the Principal Trish Plowright (an Auxiliary Rotarian). Our participation as a club, orchestrated by Peter Woodcock, involved delivery of the gear (trucks organised by Malcolm aided by Noel Holyoake and a loading team of 7), setting up and directing the games on the day (a team of about 12), providing the medals (Malcolm and Lesley McLagan), officially opening the games (President Alison) and negotiating with Tip Top to deliver popsicles on the day (Ken Worsley).
The day saw our team load the truck at 7.00 a.m., get the games set up from about 8.00 to 9.45 then look after the pupils in their teams of 10 over 16 rounds. Very tiring under the brilliant sun but a lovely breeze made it bearable. So too did the wonderful support of an Interact team of about 20 students from Pakuranga College – given the day off by a benevolent principal. The games finished at 1.15 p.m. with the distribution of medals and popsicles to the exhausted but excited participants. Elm Park students then did the tidy-up, taking the gear to the school hall for use the following week.
Feedback from participating schools has been very complimentary, sincere thanks being expressed on behalf of the kids who, on the day, showed their enjoyment and appreciation by participating so enthusiastically in even the most demanding games.
All in all, a great day - but there is a question mark over whether we can continue to provide the organisation of the event given the difficulty in supplying the ‘manpower this year. Watch this space!
With a Covid delayed start to planning and on-going uncertainty about having to deal with a possible Covid lockdown there were certain stresses in the lead up to what proved to be a highly successful day. Great weather, large crowds and a good turnout from Rotarians and Interactors saw the six hours fly by.
As with all such events there were aspects of the day that need fine tuning. If numbers continue to grow, then additional attractions will be required. The unavailability of the scout group that normally provides the kayaks meant that we were not able to offer any water-based activities and thought is already being given as to how we can make sure that future carnivals incorporate more on the water.
Of course, more people and more activities will require more Rotarians on the day and a willing team of members to plan the day. My thanks to all those who were actively involved in the planning and lead up to the carnival, to those who walked many kilometers delivering fliers and to those who assisted on the day
The continued support of Wayne Barnes and the Pakuranga Sailing club, the hugely subsidised provision of the generators by Aggreko, the free use of both the BBQ and the cold store truck from On-Site Caterers, waste control by Farm Cove Intermediate, this year’s involvement by the Auckland Tamal Association, the ongoing involvement of Inner Wheel and the financial support of the Community Board all need to be acknowledged and thanked.
Photos of you aged between 0 and 5 years old are still required for an upcoming fun competition.
Registering for the 50th Gala Celebration.
Ian handed out Easter eggs to help remind us to go home and register for the Gala night. Invitations have gone out.
Rotarians were also asked to contact and encourage past members to join the celebration.
Golf Tournament. Alan Davies outlined the state of play with the planning and asked members to think about possible sponsors and communicate the names of any to him or Dennis.
This fund raising event has the potential to be a long term and very valuable addition to our fund-raising efforts and hence our ability to do great work in the community.
The process of fabricating the full scale “prototypes” is underway. The stainless steel that is part of the art work came from Germany and supply lines for that were disrupted by Covid.
As a large but mobile art work the prototypes are required to meet the building consent application but because they are full size will become part of the finished work. After the prototypes are complete we will then develop full design documentation for a building consent application.
Currently one of Dion's works, [Te Haa, the breath] commissioned by Te Tuhi in 2020 is on display at the gallery.
It is a stunning piece and well worth visiting [entry free] when next passing the Te Tuhi Gallery opposite the Plaza.
