Welcome to our latest Newsletter. Our thoughts with Ray Tomlinson who spoke at our last meeting and who reported that his father, Joe, was seriously ill. Sadly Joe died in the early hours of 8 August.
Contributions to our bulletin are welcome and if you have anything please send to Richard at nabbo_123@hotmail.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 chrissi@roll.nz
NB: Check out below details of new arrangements on trial for 20 August 2025
Members, please also check the Duties Roster (Meeting Responsibilities) below for your nominated duty for our next meeting on 20 August 2025.
Thank you Anna!
After five years, Anna Geremia-Young is stepping down from her role as Breakfast RSVP co-ordinator and meeting co-ordinator. On behalf of the Board and all our Members, may we thank you for your great efforts to ensure that the cats are herded into the Boulcott Golf Club on time at 7am on Wednesdays!!
Stepping in to the role will be Chrissi Walker (welcome!), who has been filling in for Anna whilst she was on holiday in Italy.
You may have noticed already that instead of requiring an RSVP by email, Chrissi sent out a Calendar invitation where, with just one click, you can Accept or Decline. This apparently worked well in trial, so look out for a repeat shortly.
Also next Wednesday 20 August, payment will be taken from members upon arrival at Boulcotts, rather than at the kitchen/bar counter. This gives us more control of funds, and eliminates Boulcotts taking additional payments from people who don’t RSVP.
Gaylene will be our Greeter next week, so she will ensure that everyone then heads over to Chrissi and Kevin. They will use their RollNZ bank machine (and will then transfer payments to Rotary Hutt City). In future, we’ll use Gaylene’s and Barry’s machines direct. Fingers crossed it all works!
NB: If you want a fancy coffee, however, you will still need to purchase that separately from the kitchen/bar.
Rotabiz members had their first networking/orientation meeting last week and it was a great chance to get to know each other and our businesses a little better, as well as to set out a plan on how we can give referrals, and introduce people to Rotary and show how we can help both business and community. Do keep people in mind when asked about your hobbies and interests – we’re looking for new members of all types – not just those in business.
At our Board meeting Andy Soper advised that the first applications have come through for funding from our Lifting the Lid Trust. It’s exciting to hear that schools are starting to make use of these funds, the majority of which were raised with our Harmony for Hope concert earlier in the year.
We’ve got a small team who will be interviewing candidates for the National Science & Technology Forum in Auckland in January. Each year we send a couple of students to this two-week programme.RYPEN, a Rotary programme for 15-17 year olds is running again out of Taihape in September and are looking for candidate nominations. It’s a fabulous leadership course with outdoor pursuits included – even the NZ Army is involved in training. My kids have been and highly recommend the weekend (26-28 Sept). Let me know if you have a contact in that age group who might be keen.
We’re excited to welcome District Governor Carol Green to our meeting next week, along with 3 IYM attendees (and their mums… prospective members??). I’m sure you’ll make them all feel welcome.
Finally, a reminder that the 5 Hutt Rotary Clubs are running a combined Meet the Mayoral Candidate public meeting at Boulcotts on Thursday 21st Aug from 7pm. This is separate to the panel we’ll have with them as a club at our meeting on 17 Sept. If you know people who are unsure who to vote for in the upcoming elections do please invite them along to Thursday’s meeting.
On 15 August 1945, VJ Day (Victory over Japan) celebrations in Wellington, New Zealand, saw Willis Street packed with people celebrating the end of World War II. News of the Japanese surrender reached New Zealand at 11 am, triggering widespread public jubilation. Photographs from the day show crowds filling Willis Street, including scenes near the intersection with Manners Street.
At this meeting Richard II had the 3-min Who am I? spot, stepping in for Peter Tatcham. Richard gave a brief summary of his travels over the last few months.
Ray Tomlinson from Summit Buidling Wash Technologies majored on his Summit Building Wash Machine, a robot washer. After researching American products, Ray felt that none really cut the mustard and decided to build his own: but in a garage in Epuni!
Currently, this is the only one being used, but three more machines are in the pipeline, which will increase capacity nationally.
The machine is designed to clean buildings faster, more safely and more sustainably than traditional methods, using significantly less water and eliminating the need for chemicals. 85% less water than comparable machines is used in the cleaning process, with no noise or chemicals. It means that the machine can operate at night with no risk of disturbing any guests who might be asleep in a hotel, for example.
The robot has worked on major commmercial properties like Auckland and Wellington Airports and Sky Stadium, and the company is expanding to offer its machines to a wider market. Patents will be extremely important for the international market.
There are clearly major plusses for the robot. It would take 12 man days to typically wash Sky stadium, but the robot takes just 1 day. And it can be controllled from a phone app too! Working in Welly proves to the world that it works in high winds.....
Later, Wayne Wilmshurst from Joinery Productions quizzed us on our knowledge of window, door and worktop measurements!!
Ray Tomlinson cleaning up...
...and all from a garage...
...the robotic building washer in action.
Looking Back 7 August
Rotabiz members met for a networking and orientation 'hour' to strategise and discuss growing membership. Going by the buzz in the room it was well received!
Thanks from IYM for 2025 Residential June-July
From Emily Macnee IYM Funding and Communications Manager
Kia ora Katrina, Gaylene,
On behalf of the entire team at Innovative Young Minds, I want to express our sincere gratitude for sponsoring Caitlin Gribble and Lyanne Metuli Tuluauau to attend our IYM Residential 2025 programme with Pertronic. The students had a wonderful week, filled with engaging activities.
Attached is a thank you note and some photos from the week.
(Caitlin and Lyanne will be attending our meeting on 20 August).
Next Week's Speaker Sarah Parkinson - RYDA Rotary Youth Driver Awareness 20 August
Sarah is the Program Co-Ordinator for RYDA, covering Lower North Island from Wellington to Hawke’s Bay.
RYDA, which stands for Rotary Youth Driver Awareness, is a road safety education rogram primarily targeting 16 to 18 yeasr okld students approaching the time when they start driving independently or become passengers of novice drivers.
The program, delivered by Road Safety Education Limited, focuses on educating students on critical road safety issues like speeding, DUI, fatigue, seatbelts, and distractions. RYDA aims to equip young people with the knowledge and skills to make responsible decisions on the road and reduce the youth road toll.
Welcome to the new Rotary year. It’s certainly been a whirlwind start for me with eight changeovers in one week, including the District one.
I seem to have survived and am ready to get to work with a diary that is filling up fast. I will visit as many clubs as possible if you invite me.
Recently we saw the handing over of the chains from Jocelyn to Carol as the new District Governor. It was a good opportunity for us to get together and there was a great turnout of Rotarians from all around the District, including several past District Governors. PDG Simon Manning came from Queenstown for the occasion which was very special to me.
I talked about my membership goals which are to:
Stabilise the membership and look at how we can increase it.
Welcome new and younger members: invite your spouses to join, invite your children to join.
Invite members from your community and their businesses to join.
Increase our profile in the community. Talk about Rotary and what we do to anyone you meet.
Invite people to come to a meeting or have coffee with them and tell them about Rotary. Make sure you always have collateral with you such as a Rotary card, a flag or whatever so they can get hold of you.
So, it’s onwards and upwards from here. Let’s Unite for Good and have a fun year.
Hutt City’s five Rotary clubs are all about community service, so we are working together to host a ''Meet the Mayoral candidates'' event on Thursday 21 August. It will run from 7-9pm at Boulcott Farm Heritage Golf Club/ Cash bar open for half an hour before and afterwards.
This is your chance to hear from (top left clockwise) Brady Dyer, Karen Morgan, Ken Laban and Prabha Ravi on what they will bring to the leadership of our council and city – and to ask your burning questions. Our aim is to make it a fun and informative event - mark it on your calendars now.
To those of you on Facebook, it would be great if you can please share the link below to your own pages so we can get traction and hopefully get as many people along as possible to this public meeting.
- Cringeworthy - 90s! at Circa theatre on Sunday 24th August: This has all things 1990s + The Beat Girls singing. We'd love you to join us. Prepurchase your tickets here for Sunday 24th August at 4.00 pm. Cost is $65 per person.
- Join us for a fund raising movie, Downton Abbey Three on Thursday 11th September. More details to follow.
- Quiz night to raise funds for the club and to support Innovative Young Minds (IYM) 16th October
This is a great night with lots of fun to be had, Get a team together and come along and support our club and its projects.
The Reception Desk is normally positioned just inside the entry door to our meeting room. There is quite a lot to do which is why we have two people looking after the desk.
Start early (Suggest be there by 6.50am at the latest)
• retrieve our ''stuff'' from the first cupboard in the rear meeting room
• put the President’s brass bell and gavel at the front
• set out the name tag box on the desk for members to pick up their own tag
• there is a second smaller box for our member partners
• place a small cup on each table for the Quizlet money later in the meeting
• greet members as they arrive and help them find their name tag
• while you write their name tag, ask visitors and guests to add their details to the Guests and Visitors form and give them one of our blue Club pamphlets
• of course, be enthusiastic and give any other help you can!
As the meeting starts
• give the Guests and Visitors form to the President for them to be included in our welcome.
After the meeting
• collect and organize the name tags ready to be put away. Chase up as needed
• collect the Quizlet cups - pass any cash on to Linton Adams or our President to be banked
Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce Not-for-Profit Members
From the link below, you can find HVCC's snapshot of a number of not-for-profit members doing vital work in the community, of which we are one. We already have connections with some, like the Salvation Army, and would be able to reach out to others......
Our club is a member of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, (HVCC) which entitles each of us to access chamber member discounts. Each month, HVCC put together a number of special offers from its members. There are some household names too, like Bunnings, Air New Zealand, 2Degrees, as well as many local businesses of course.
HVCC's Chief Executive Patrick McKibbin therefore has provided us with the following details:
Get Discounts and Offers from the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce network
Being part of a business that is a member of the HVCC gives you access to a range of discounts and offers from their partners locally and around New Zealand.
Chamber App - Your HVCCutt membership also entitles you to get the Chamber App. This includes a range of offers from local and national businesses. If you would like to download the App, please use the QR code on the flyer, complete the short form, and we will send you the download instructions with your unique code.
To access these details, you need the relevant app. and Rotarians can access this by sending an email topatrick@hvchamber.org.nz stating your name and that as a member of Hutt City Rotary you want to sign up for the HVCC app. They will then come back to you with an explanation of the process to be followed.
(Editor: I have signed up with the app, following clear instructions from Patrick).
As we gear up for our forthcoming rotary hustings event for our four prospective mayoral candidates (21 August), I turn to the wisdom and wit of Groucho Marx. Groucho in turn paraphrased an attribution to Sir Ernest Benn, a 20th century British publisher, who was related to political members of the Benn family who have served the Labour party in England.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it and then misapplying the wrong remedies".
So Katrina was saying that she was being called Madam President........
Always try and hit your targets.......
Loose change and Buying the Box
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!
Last Edition, I asked: In which year did the Battle of Britpop take place, what was it about and who did it involve?
The "Battle" took place in 1995, with the release of two singles at the same time by Blur and Oasis, Country House and Roll with It, respectively. Blur won with a number 1, but Oasis didn't mind as their parent album What's the Story Morning Glory sold 22m worldwide compared to Blur's 1.3m with The Great Escape.
A more serious question this week.....by when do Clubs that are registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 have to reregister, under the new Incorporated Societies Act 2022, to maintain their incorporated status?
Don't Look Back in Anger, I heard you say................
