Welcome to our latest Newsletter. I hope everyone is keeping warm and dry and haven't been effected too much by the recent weather event.
Contributions to our bulletin are welcome and if you have anything please send to me at sue.colville@gmail.com
And if you have any comments on the layout, content and information provided, let us know, because the Newsletter is yours.
Rotary Hutt City breakfast meetings
Meetings are held 7am to 8.30 am on the first and third Wednesday of the month at Boulcott's Farm Heritage Golf Club, Military Road, Lower Hutt.
Breakfast costs $25 per person, payable on arrival. Please RSVP to annagy91@gmail.com
Members, please check the Duties Roster (Management Responsibilities) below for your nominated duty for our next meeting on 7th May2025.
Meeting Responsibilities
Greeter
Carruth, Barry
Reception Desk
Rowell, Bob
Reception Desk
Xie, Brad
Opening thought
Ross, Brian
5 min What is my Business?
Gibbens, Richard
Intro to Speaker
Peterson, Charles
Thanks to Speaker
Longstaff, Carl
Quizlett (6 questions about your industry)
Carruth, Barry
Closing thought
Gough, Bruce
President's Report
Wow and then it was May with winter upon us.
The new school term started this week and that means the “Lifting the lid” programme will commence within the schools from now with trustees from four different Hutt Valley clubs now administering the programme. Andy Soper is our clubs representative. It will be very interesting to get feedback from the trustees as to the effectiveness of the programme after the first quarter. Big thanks to everyone that has helped to make this possible.
I now have only four meetings to preside over before the very talented Katrina Harding takes over as President and ironically will be our speaker next week to provide great insight into travel, how she got into the industry and how she managed to get through Covid when travel was decimated. This promises to be a special presentation from one of our own so please ensure you are present as I am confident you will get many travel tips.
Last Friday I had the pleasure of laying a wreath at the Anzac commemorations at the Civic grounds and was a little surprised to find that our club was the only Hutt Valley club represented. It was a moving service and it is great to see so many of our youth in attendance with many schools laying wreaths. Big thanks to Bob Rowell who produced the wreath which looked impressive.
Also special thanks to Sue Colville for the great job she is doing with the bulletin and Anna and Richard for getting our meetings, speakers and duties sorted every fortnight.
Lifting the Lid Hutt Valley Charitable Trust Report
Andy Soper
As Cameron mentioned, Lifting the Lid has started in Lower Hutt. Thanks to his tremendous hard work and personal generosity, the Harmony for Hope concert was a resounding success. $40,000 is an amazing return, though I know Cameron isn’t in a hurry to do it again! It was a combined project of the Lower Hutt Rotary clubs but our club really stood out. I want to thank you all for your contributions.
The Trust was formed in November 2024 because grants are more accessible for dedicated organisations than general purpose groups like a Rotary club. The four initial trustees are John Anderson (River Valley), Mike Stewart (Hutt Valley), Kevin Harris (Petone) and myself as chairperson. Kevin is liaising with the schools and I’ll process applications as they arrive. Veronika Duthie-Jung is voluntarily managing our book-keeping.
The Trust received seed funding from the clubs (Petone $10,000, Hutt City $10,000, River Valley $4,000 and Hutt Valley $2,000). We also received $24,000 in grants towards the concert costs. Packaging Products generously sponsored the concert to the tune of $15,000 and John Anderson contributed $5,000 that enabled music students from the schools to have free entry. The net result is approximately $64,000 in the bank, but this project is tarting to get real momentum. In the last couple of weeks, Sue Avison has assisted us to obtain another $1,000 from Dare2Discover, and Mike Stewart has persuaded the Vavasour Family Trust to donate $16,000!
Because a big fundraiser may be too much to do every year, the Trustees have decided to be prudent and make the following allocations to schools for the first 12 months (subject to review as we go along):
Hutt Valley High $10,000
Naenae College $10,000
Wainuiomata High $6,000
Taita College $3,000
We’ve talked as a club for some time about our next “big project”, and I think we can say this is it. Thanks again for your generosity and support.
5th Wednesday social time
Linton Adams, Anzac Day
Friendship and Service, it's what we do !
Can you help?
The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal is being held from May 5th to the 10th. If you can help in any way, please have a chat to Linton Adams.
The annual Te Omanga Hospice Street Appeal is being held on Friday 16 May, Saturday 17 May, and Sunday 18 May
Te Omanga Hospice are looking for volunteers to help with their annual street appeal. Last year, thanks to the volunteers and generous members of the local community, over $38,000 was raised! These funds helped those in the Hutt Valley community in need of palliative care, plus support for their families. The amount raised contributed to the $6.5 million the Hospice needs to raise annually to keep the service free for those who need it.
This year a new system called 'Sign Up' will make it easier to select from a choice of areas, days, sites and times. Select a shift and you will receive a confirmation email, that can be edited if needed.
To sign up for the Street Appeal please visit the Te Omanga website where you can sign up for a shift.
If you have any trouble with the system, please just call 04 8865210 or email events@teomanga.org.nz.
The modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster was born when a sighting made local news on on May 2, 1933. The newspaper Inverness Courier relates an account of a local couple who claim to have seen “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.” The story of the “monster” (a moniker chosen by the Courier editor) became a media phenomenon, with London newspapers sending correspondents to Scotland and a circus offering a 20,000 pound sterling reward for capture of the beast. To date, 'Nessie' has managed to elude capture.
David Beckham was born on this day in 1975 and I'm sure he will be celebrating this 50th birthday in style.
He was the first British football player to win league titles in four different countries. He was also known to wear a new pair of football boots for each game he played, with an estimated cost of $300 per pair.
He is also known to be incredibly meticulous, tidying up his house every night, including trimming candle wicks.
As a child, he was reportedly given Guinness and raw eggs to help him build strength.
Our two guest speakers last meeting, week shared on two relevant topics. Karl Chitham from the Council is working on the Boulcott Memorial, aiming to update the information on the current site to include 'both sides of the story' and to recognise the names of the Māori losses in the battle at Boulcott Farm, not just the English.
Toby Stokes, Principal at South Wellington Intermediate School and huge supporter and school recipient of Lifting the Lid charity funds and support gave us an insight into how his students have benefitted in the last couple of years the charity has been running in Wellington. Inspiring, and encouraging as we get it underway in Lower Hutt. (Photo of Toby Stokes on the right).
The main speaker on the 7th May will be our very own President-Elect, Katrina Harding with the topic of - Travel - Why not?
Katrina started her travel broker business during the GFC, survived two years of world shutdown during the pandemic and has managed to build a successful business doing what she loves.
Tough Guy & Girl Challenge - 24 May: Volunteers please!
Andy Soper writes:
We have been asked again to provide marshals for the Tough Guy & Gal Challenge in Wainuiomata on Saturday, 24 May. Andy Soper is coordinating this.
We need 24 volunteers, to make sure nobody veers away from the course. Your help will raise $2,300 towards our community and youth projects.
The weather can be challenging but there is great camaraderie and it’s such fun to watch competitors struggling through muddy ponds etc 😊
Registration will be through Clubrunner, but for now please just save the date – 24 May – and talk to anyone you know who might like to help. It’s a good opportunity for young people to get involved in a Rotary project.
Another community group has asked for help earlier in the week - Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd from 8.45am - 1.00pm and Friday 23rd 7.45am – 2.00pm.
We will also receive a per head contribution for anyone who can make it on those days.
Wednesday 25th June is our changeover dinner evening. A chance to celebrate outgoing President Cameron and welcome in your new president, me!
It'll be upstairs at the Speights Ale House, Jackson Street, Petone. $60 buffet dinner with fun and entertainment provided. Would love to see you there - pencil in the date NOW!.
Remember to bring some loose change along to the meeting so you can contribute if you answer a Quizlett question incorrectly :), or wish to "Buy The Box".
If you should have any interesting stories about fellow Rotarians then please pass them onto Craig so he can share them at the meeting. Email: craig@packprod.co.nz
Payment is also now available by Eftpos onsite - no excuses!
Answer to the last edition's quiz question:
Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's most famous work is his Ninth Symphony, which he composed while living in the United States and is commonly known by what nickname ?
Answer: From the New World
This weeks question (continuing with a musical theme)
Paul McCartneycredits which artist with teaching him everything he knows?
