Induction Photo's, a trip to Bloemfontein, Jerry Bernardo and Princess Ann

Induction Dinner
All the photo's I have received so far are on a 'Jean Bernardo's Induction Page' so just click on the link.

Don't forget to Book
I have booked 20 places for the 1st August at 19,30.  Come back to me as soon as possible as it is filling up and I want to see if I can increase the numbers if necesary.  peter@pjsfood.co.za

Last Week
Unfortunately I wasn't at last week's meeting as I was away in the wilds of Bloemfontein for the Inner Wheel District Conference.  It does give me the excuse to be a bit self-indulgent!

Some of the 'partners' listening to Fred's stories.

The Conference is always enjoyable as we partners are entertained whilst the women are conferencing.  We just have to appear for the meet and greet and the Induction of the new District Chairman...that's what she is called.  I imagine she is not a District Governor because that might cause a revolution amongst the ungovernable.
We were taken to Judge Fred Beckley's farm outside Bleomfontein to see his collection of classic cars, mainly Jaguars, and to be entertained.  I knew Fred well when he was on the board of PACOFS and I was with the SABC in Bloemfontein.  It was a great pleasure seeing him as well as many of our old friends in the Free State, many of whom are Rotarians or members of Inner Wheel.  It also means that we see people we see once a year from places as far away as Port Elizabeth and Botswana, relationships that go back a long way.
To get back to the cars.  I think there must have been about 40 in all and Fred regaled us with stories of how he had acquired them, who their owners were and a bit about the cars themselves...how Christine Keeler had ridden in the E-type but he didn't say who.......
There were some other cars from a Mini Cooper that he uses frequently to a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, an Austin Princess and an MG.  He had a Jaguar XJS that is about 40 years old but only has 370km on the clock but he doesn't drive it anywhere because of the importance of low mileage.

Dr Lynn Goedhals of Bloemfontein, new District Chairman, inducted by Jane Malinsky of Bedfordview

Next it was back to lunch and the Induction.  The Toast to Rotary International was proposed by Past District Chairman Ann Roberts from Pretoria and I proposed the toast to International Inner Wheel and then off to see friends, another night and back to Johannesburg on the Sunday.

This Week

Jerry & Jean Bernardo at the Induction Dinner

Jerry Bernardo is next in the series  of long-term members talking about themselves, how and why they became Rotarians etc.  These talks are always highly entertaining so we look forward to it.

Rotary members received a regal thank you from Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, for their work in fighting polio. 

Speaking to an enthusiastic and welcoming crowd on 24 June at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Princess Royal addressed attendees of the 2018 Rotary International Convention.  

Since 1970, The Princess Royal has served as president of Save the Children UK, an international nongovernmental organization that focuses on health, education, protection, and disaster relief for children. 

Save the Children began pilot programs of its own to combat polio in Africa in the early 1980s. It discovered the difficulties of delivering the vaccine where it was most needed, she said.

Enter Rotary. With its “astonishing global reach,” as The Princess Royal called it, its extensive understanding of cultures and languages, and its members’ “endearing habit of leaving (their) egos at the door,” the organization ingeniously overcame obstacles that baffled others. In doing so, Rotary, along with its partners, has brought polio nearly to full global eradication. 

For this, The Princess Royal said, she was grateful.

Her Royal Highness noted that, because of the logistical difficulty of getting 1.2 million Rotarians together in one place, she thought it best to take advantage of the organization’s annual convention to say, “Thank you for all the good work you do.”

The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the lieutenant governor of Ontario and the Crown’s representative in that Canadian province, introduced The Princess Royal as someone who “personifies the Rotarian model of Service Above Self. Her whole life has been dedicated to shining a light on people and organizations who go above and beyond.”

In addition to her work with Save the Children, Dowdeswell said, The Princess Royal serves as president or patron of more than 300 volunteer, nonprofit, and military organizations. She is chancellor at several universities, as well as a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and, in recognition of her charity work in Scotland, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.

The Princess Royal is the second child and the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. Dowdeswell noted that she is a proud wife, mother, and grandmother.

With the end of polio in sight, The Princess Royal wondered if Rotary had set its sights on another monumental global challenge. 

She advised Rotary members not to worry if it hasn’t. Given Rotary’s achievements and the respect it has earned at the highest levels of government around the world, she said, “You will not be short of suggestions of what to do next.”