District Governor's Update, November 2016

 
Greetings,
 
Another month has zoomed past since my last report and with a third of this Rotary year already behind us, it’s great to see the progress of many clubs in their drive to achieve goals set for the year.  During the last month, we’ve traveled to many parts of the District and have given presentations to a further 20 clubs.  We enter November with only 8 clubs left to present to.  These clubs will be visited at a leisurely pace over the first 3 weeks of the month.
 
We continue to be very impressed and congratulate Rotarians for the many good initiatives of your clubs and the various ways you are doing good in both your communities and further afield.  A collection of a few memorable occasions from the last month are:
 
 
  • Waipukurau – this club is actively involved in a drive to make the town a destination for off-road cycle enthusiasts.  Cycleways are being formed along the banks of the Tukituki River and these will be extended and linked to both sides of the river with a swing bridge.  The bridge will cost over $200,000 and Rotary is very involved in this project.  I congratulate the club on inducting two new members (Catie Avery & Jane Clouston) while we were there.
 
 
 
 
 
  • Te Aroha, Morrinsville and Paeroa clubs held a combined meeting.  Along with Thames club, they are contributing to setting up outdoor interactive facilities at Goldfields, a special needs school that serves the Hauraki Plains catchment.  A great evening which extracted $832 from the Rotarians through raffles and auctions.
 
 
 
 
  • Whakatane Sunrise – a new club with a lot of buzz.  A fun club that is attracting members.  I’ve assisted in the induction of 5 new members to this club during 2 visits.  The latest induction was truly an A, B & C exercise – 3 new members whose Christian names just happen to be Ajay, Brad and Chris.  The photo shows the new members (in the middle) with their introducers Mayor Tony Bonne and Eric Kearse.  
 
 
 
 
We are now into one of the most important months in the Rotary calendar – The Rotary Foundation month.  This month commenced on a high when I had the honour of presenting a Rotary Foundation Major Donor appreciation acknowledgement to a Rotarian.  Our District does not have many Major Donors.  This acknowledgement recognises those who have contributed USD10,000 or more to The Rotary Foundation. 
 
While mentioning acknowledgements from The Rotary Foundation, we have just received banners and certificates for clubs in our District who led the way in contributions to the Foundation during the last Rotary year.  The banners cover:
 
  • Top Three Highest Per Capita Annual Giving Banner – will be presented to Gisborne (US$554), Huntly (US$208) & Waikato Sunrise (US$184)
  •  
  • 100% Foundation Giving Club – will be presented to Mt Maunganui
The certificates cover clubs that contributed US$1,500 or more to Rotary’s Challenge to End Polio Now during the 2015/16 year.  Certificates will go to 7 clubs – Frankton, Hamilton Central, Lake Taupo, Tauranga Sunrise, Thames, Waikato Sunrise & Whakatane.
 
Congratulations to all those clubs.
 
The five clubs in the Rotorua Area combined forces to produce an excellent 12-page tabloid which formed part of the Rotorua Daily Post issued on Tuesday 27 September.  This was a great exercise in getting the name out in the community, creating awareness and publicising the many good things Rotary does.  It was also a good example of what the collective power of several Rotary clubs in one city can achieve.  Spare copies of this tabloid are available and can be obtained from one of the Rotorua clubs.  Congratulations and many thanks to those who worked on compiling this tabloid. Here’s the link to the web version: http://issuu.com/apn_mediaservices/docs/rotary?mode=wondow
 
Have a fun month and looking forward to sharing some more news in a month’s time.
 
Regards       
 
Keith Owens
Governor 2016/17
Rotary District 9930