Rotary  Whakatane's  guest speakers were club member and birthday boy Craig and his partner Bridget (“the Palmers”) who gave us an update and tag-team presentation on the Rotary Predator Trap Project. 
 
The project came about when the inspirational idea to try and get hold of stoat traps from a local supplier aligned with the Menz Shed group looking for something to do.  Stoats are the number one predator of Kiwi chicks.  It took about a year to put things together, but the project is going very well now.  

 

The traps are built by Menz Shed using local suppliers for the materials and are delivered to your door.  The funds raised go to support local youth environmental initiatives and environmental education.  

Rototuna Rotary is planning an Annual Fun Cycle Ride from Ngaruawahia to the Hamilton Gardens.

 

The project has secured Sarah Ulmer as a mentor.

 

Rototuna Club is keen to have Fairfield involvement in this project as a joint fundraising project. It is important that we avail ourselves of this opportunity as it is critical that we develop new fundraising opportunities for our club. To this end several of our members have volunteered to attend the Rototuna Rotary Club meeting on Tuesday 21st August as this meeting is to be devoted to preliminary planning for this fundraising event. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Havelock North assisted other volunteers to help clear the undergrowth from the kiwi runs at the Wild Solutions Wildlife Habitat at Westshore.

 

This was in response to a request for help from Tamsin Ward-Smith of the Kiwis for Kiwi Project. 

Guest Speaker – David Hall talked about the Odeon Theatre complex.

 

Raey Wheeler passed away 3 years ago and even though she was 85 had not made any provision for someone to take over running the theatre.

 

The trustees asked David to take over for 3 months and he is still thee 3½ yrs later.

 

The Kerridges who originally started the theatre lived in Gisborne. Raey started off working for them and worked in the four theatres. 

 

 

World Class (60 students) of 2017

 

Peter T stood and introduced Karen Ngatai who spoke to us on township revitalisation.  Peter expressed his appreciation for the current works conducted by RDC. 
 
Karen's first association with Rotary started when she served meals at Cobb & Co. 
 
There are two revitalisations going on - RDC and taskforce.  

 

The taskforce initiatives started with Karen's five years getting permission from agencies including NZ Rail in readiness for the rhododendrons. 

 

The Lines Company paid for three years of mowing around the rhodos.  NZTA has picked up part of this sponsorship.

 

 A volunteer mows the rest. 
 

Hello, I am a 19-year-old second year nursing student from Hamilton.

 

I am going to Nepal for three weeks in January 2019 to volunteer in both a hospital and a children's home in Pokhara. This will be an amazing opportunity for me to help those in need and make a difference in the lives of impoverished children.

 

I am caring, empathetic, hardworking and can't wait to do what I can to help the people in Nepal while also experiencing a new culture and a less privileged way of living.

 

Do you offer any scholarships, sponsoring, or funding for volunteer work like this?

Kind regards, Crystal Singleton crs1599@gmail.com 

Hanlie introduced Natasha Brown, who is a specialist fire investigator who commenced her career as a volunteer fireman at BayView. 
 
Natasha listed many facts which affect all homes in NZ: 
 
1. Most fires occur when people are sleeping – therefore a final “fire-safe” check before going to bed is recommended.

2. People with “low-mobility” crutches or wheelchairs need an unobstructed exit path in the event of having to move outside to safety. 3. Many homes leave keys on the inside of the exit door so there is no fumbling in the dark for keys if a quick exit is called for.  

4. Modern homes and furnishings are made from products which are more flammable and give off more poisonous smoke than ever before – Two to Three minutes is all it takes to lose your home and family to fire.