Awarding a deserving Lester Connock Bursary recipient, A very successful Music Quiz event and The District 9400 Rotary Anns Annual Conference

 From the Pen of the President....

Inflation is rearing its head and is going to have a major effect on most people. The petrol price will shortly increase to its highest level ever in South Africa and food prices can be expected to increase to record levels. The increase in the cost of living will have a major impact on the finances of most people. In particular, many younger people starting out in their careers and with young children needing education, etc will feel the pressure. This is likely to impact our ability to recruit younger people into Rotary and will therefore be a challenge going forward.

Costa Qually

President

Tailpiece

Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it!

Last Friday...

...the Club substituted its usual monthly social meeting with the prestigious  Lester Connock Award ceremony.

Our guests Professor Shelley Schmollgruber, this year's award winner and bursary recipient, Zamokuhle Mguli and last year's winner Amber Buyl received a warm  Rosebank Rotary welcome. 

Les Short was asked to give a brief history of this award:

The origins of the Nurses Award goes back all the way to 1958 when our third Club President, Dr Hymie Moross, who was also the superintendent of the Tara Psychiatric Hospital, sent a senior nurse overseas to study psychiatric nursing and to bring back expertise to the Tara Hospital.

The project was financed by the Laura Niven Trust. Laura Niven had been a matron in Johannesburg's heyday and she had left money in Trust to improve the knowledge and status of the nursing profession. 

Since then our Club has been instrumental in sending nurses overseas for the purpose of study and observation of practices at the institutions they visited. On their return they would practice and pass on to others what they had learnt. In time the Laura Niven Trust ran out of money and Past President Lester Connock allocated funding for the project from the Lester Connock Trust, which at the beginning was administered in tandem with the Rosebank Club Commemoration Fund.

The Connock Trust was formed with a donation of R100 000 made by Lester and his wife Joan, a considerable amount of money in 1987.

Lester Connock was a dedicated Rotarian, family man and benefactor. It is in his honour that the Nurses Award was renamed.

This year's Lester Connock Award winner is Sister Zamokuhle Mguli, who works in the Milpark Oncology Department as a nurse navigator, she is a 2nd year Masters student, and her dissertation is Developing a Quality Improvement Program based on the Satisfaction Levels of Patients with Breast Cancer who use Nurse led Navigation Care.

She was introduced by Professor Shelley Schmollgruber, senior lecturer intensive and critical care at the University of the Witwatersrand.  Zamokuhle's research is groundbreaking in South Africa, where nurse led oncology patient navigation care is still in its infancy. Zamo described her work with enthusiasm and energy, and her contribution will no doubt be very insightful and beneficial.

Amber Buyl, last year's Lester Connock bursary recipient gave us feedback on the progress of her Master's dissertation: Screening and Experiences of Maternal Mental  Health in an Urban Hospital in Johannesburg.

She has had quite a few challenges due to the Covid pandemic which has set her back in her research, but she is determined to submit her thesis before the end of this year. We wish her God Speed.

 Quiz Fundraiser with a musical twist...

Based on the success our club has had with its previous quiz evenings, the fundraising committee decided to hold a quiz evening with a difference, which would test our musical knowledge hosted by non other than the music guru himself - Sean Brokensha.

The  86 tickets to the event were sold out in no time and some wonderful prizes, such as 5 days stay at a luxury game lodge next to the Kruger, a midweek stay at a country lodge in the Cape, a golfing fourball, travel luggage and many more were pledged for our ever-popular raffle.

Sonja roped in her long suffering husband Steven and son Joshua to man the raffle ticket station and  sales were brisk bringing  an impressive R12 000 into the club coffers over and above the R13 200 (after costs)  raised from Quicket sales.

Judging by the noise levels fun was had by all participants, but the broad consensus is, that for our next quiz fundraising event in October we will revert back to general knowledge.

District 9400 Rotary Anns conference 2022...

On 21 May, coinciding with the arrival of the first cold front of winter, Rosebank Rotary Anns  hosted our conference at the Bryanston Methodist Church.  The intrepid delegates of District 9400 arrived looking glamorous in their warm woollies and fleeces, ready for an exciting morning.  They were not to be disappointed.

A good year’s planning went into the production of the conference.  Jane Symons very graciously and enthusiastically offered to steer the planning.  A committee was formed and these five ladies met from time to time to monitor progress.  When we started having physical meetings at our usual venue (with the easing of COVID restrictions), each month, Jane would report on progress.  As the day drew near, more Anns and some Rotarians made their various contributions to the preparations.

Finally the appointed day arrived.  There were delighted exclamations as ladies recognised and reconnected with one another after a two-year break with no conference.  There was coffee and tea, muffins and sausage rolls before it was time to kick off the conference.  We were honoured to have D G Stella Anyangwe attending and DGA Marilyn Rautenbach opening the conference. 

 

The formal part of the conference included welcomes by Jane, our convenor and President Patricia Kuhlmann who formally listed the Rotary Ann officials.  They then stood up so all could identify them.  This was followed by the Rotary Ann prayer and objects, and the Inner Wheel prayer and objects.  A roll call was next, in line with Rotary practice. Then a very touching slide presentation with beautiful music was played while the Anns stood and respected and remembered Anns who had died in the past two years.  There followed a formal short address by DG Stella, who promoted polio eradication and encouraged Rotary to carry on fund-raising for this vital last step in the process of polio eradication, pointing out that the last two countries Pakistan and Afghanistan, that still have polio cases occurring, needed support to achieve the target of no more cases.

There was then a comfort break and Marilyn presented some trophies and some new awards to Anns from various clubs who had made particularly meaningful contributions to the work of the Rotary Anns.

 

Past President Shirley Eustace then introduced the speaker for the day Professor Lucille Blumberg who is an expert on viruses and vaccination.  Her talk was focussed on the miracle of vaccination and was tremendously informative and delivered with a light touch.  There were lots of questions afterwards showing that there had been many thoughts stimulated by her talk.

The formal part of the conference being over, the conference was officially closed.  More awards were presented by which time the buffet lunch was laid out for the delegates’ sustenance.

 

 This was a time for chatting and enjoying pleasant fellowship.  Gradually the Anns began to drift away and the clearing up was quickly completed. 

It had been a lovely morning, with some serious moments when we considered the inevitable arrival of new diseases such as Monkey Pox.  There had been a lot of reacquainting with Anns from other clubs and the Rosebank Anns could feel proud of putting on a fine and inspiring Anns conference.

This Friday....

... Please join the Zoom meeting where we welcome guest speaker Dr Andrew Oberholzer, CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation who will enlighten us about Prostate Cancer Awareness.

The monthly business meeting, Rotary Leadership Institute, the return quiz challenge Rosebank v. Kerala (India) and The Club 100 winner for May....

 From the Pen of the President...

I have been having particular problems with trying to get refunds of the balance of rates paid in advance on properties sold from my wife's estate. I have finally been told that a refund has been made by Buffalo City after more than 2 years of sending numerous emails, copies of documentation, etc. For the City of Johannesburg, I am in the process of escalating the matter to the Ombudsman. What a pity that many of our municipal and government officials do not apply the Rotary 4 way test - life would be so much less frustrating if this were done!

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body.

Last Friday....

.....being the third Friday of the month was the Club business meeting. 

President Costa demonstrated that he was more than capable of dealing with the technical side of running a hybrid meeting. 

It was refreshing to see members like Marianne Soal, Hugh Rix, Lenore Terblanche and Roger Wedlake make an appearance in person at Wanderers, and good to welcome back Richard Tonkin and Juanette McCrindle on Zoom.

Welcome also to our guest Michelle von Benecke, who is considering becoming a Rotary member.

  Committee chairs Pam Donaldson (Attendance), Richard Moloney (International), Youth (Jean Bernardo), Ann Hope-Bailie (Public Relations) were not present at the meeting to do their report backs, but on the Youth front President Costa was able to update us that he had inducted a new Interact President at the Highlands North Boys High School on Wednesday the 18th of May.

He was delighted that about 40 high school pupils were in attendance at the ceremony.

Their new President is Neo Segooa, and he is flanked to his right (our left) by past presidents Philani and Ari. Teacher Mojuta Motlhamme, on Neo's left (our right) will be taking over the responsibility as liaison officer from Mimi van Deventer who will be going into retirement at the end of this month.

We wish Neo a successful year as President.

Our Treasurer John Symons was able to give us the final Blanket Drive figures which amounted to a very impressive R46 000. Sonja Hood was instrumental at getting a donation of R10 000 from E-Toll and through Tutty we received a R5 000 donation from KES and a further R3 000 from King Edward Preparatory School. Our presence at the Nicol Highway Pick 'n Pay brought in about R26 000.

David Bradshaw has compiled the list of how the blankets will be distributed amongst the various charitable organisations that stand to benefit.

Our head of fundraising Sonja Hood informed us that we have 88 confirmed bookings for the Quiz evening taking place at the Parkview Golf Club this Wednesday the 25th of May, and with all the wonderful prizes up for grabs it promises to be an occasion of spectacular proportion.

Rotary Leadership Institute...

Last weekend Sybille attended two full days of very valuable training offered by the District 9400's ROTARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (RLI)  - Part 1 and Part 2 - and which was generously hosted by the Rotary Club of Meyerton/Henley-on-Klip and facilitated by fire-cracker trainer Wendy Damons. Wendy is a member and PP of the Rotary Club of Ermelo.  She was ably assisted by Fiona Brokensha (a member and PP from Meyerton) and Rita Millan (a member and PP from Kyalami). Most of the attendees hailed from the Vaal area but there were quite a few of us that had made the trek from other parts of Gauteng. There were many members new to Rotary, but every one of us was eager to learn more about this amazing organization. Wendy's opening statement was that Rotary is a Service Organisation and not a Charity and all topics covered in these two days touched on the nuts and bolts of the impact we as Rotarians can and will have on the community. It was two days well spent, and Sybille would recommend that when the next training opportunity is availed, JUST DO IT! THE ROTARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (RLI) provides quality education on Rotary Knowledge and Leadership Skills to Rotarians, Anns and Rotaract members. These educational opportunities aim to teach skills that will benefit the members in their lives and in their volunteer service.  RLI is a recommended program of Rotary International, and is open to all Rotarians, Anns and Rotaracts.    The Certificate courses consist of Parts 1,2 and 3 and the Graduate courses  of Parts A, B and C.  These courses include the following topics: Rotary Basics Leadership Service, Foundation & Public Image Membership & Volunteers Diversity Effective Public Speaking                                                                                                                      PART 1 •             My Leadership in Rotary •             My Rotary World •             Ethics and Vocation Service •             Foundation I: Our Foundation •             Engaging Members •             Creating Service Projects    PART 2 •             Rotary Opportunities •             Effective Leadership Strategies •             Attracting Members •             Club Communication •             Team Building •             Foundation II: Targeted Service   PART 3 •             Strategic Planning •             Foundation III: International Service   •             Public Image & Public Relations •             Building A Stronger Club •             Making a Difference   RLI GRADUATE course content includes:       GRADUATE PART A •             Motivating Volunteers •             Membership Issues   GRADUATE PART B •             Diversity: The key to saving Rotary?   GRADUATE PART C •             Effective Public Speaking, hosted in conjunction with Toastmasters  International Virtual Quiz Kerala India v. Rosebank.... Last Wednesday saw a rematch between various clubs from Kochin, Kerala in India and the Rosebank Rotary quiz team. After some initial loadshedding issues we managed to get the challenge going and Quiz master Baburaj's questions were interesting and challenging and certainly put us to the test. Sadly, although the likes of James Croswell and Debi Lieberthal put up some commendable scores, we were still well and truly trounced. However, we all agreed that it was a fun evening of fellowship and laughter. This Friday.... ... please join us at Wanderers (or on Zoom) when we will present  Zamokuhle Mguli, who is a Oncology Nurse Navigator and currently studying for a Master's degree, with the prestigious Lester Connock Award for Postgraduate Nurses.

Nonagenarian Bernard Neuhaus shares "His Story" and an invitation to join the weekly Quiz Challenge which goes international...

 From the Pen of the President....

The frequency and extent of electricity blackouts is recurring far too often. It is difficult to understand why so many generating units break down on a regular basis despite the increased emphasis on maintenance by Eskom for the past few years. Apart from the annoyance and inconvenience experienced by individuals at home, the economy is being adversely impacted and job creation hampered. Let us hope that there will be a significant improvement in this situation going forward.

Costa Qually

President

Tailpiece

What is the hardest part about buying a new boomerang? ….. Throwing the old one away!

[courtesy of Jean from Australia)

Last Friday....

... we were assigned the Cigar Bar on the ground floor of the  Wanderers Club for our weekly meeting, which turned out to be a much cosier and intimate venue for our small group of physical attendees.  

David Bradshaw, our program coordinator, had been in talks with longstanding and oldest club member Bernard Neuhaus for a while, for him to attend a physical meeting and tell us "his Story".

His friend and fellow Rotarian from Orange Grove days Tutty Faber did the introductions.

As Ramble editor Sybille was taking careful notes, and when Bernard was asked whether he was 90 or 91 years old, he quipped that he was indeed 91 years young, and that he still actively works in his practice as  a chartered accountant every day. He considers himself a workaholic.

Bernard was born in Berlin, Germany in 1931. His father was a Judge of the Court, but because of his Jewish faith he was disbarred and as a family they made the painful decision to leave their homeland for an unknown future in South Africa. Their first home was in Schweizer Reneke, and as it was  predominantly a farming community Bernard learnt to speak Afrikaans before learning to speak English. German of course remained his mother-tongue and even to this day his accent is still very distinct. 

Bernard matriculated from co-ed  Athlone High School in Johannesburg in 1948, and he had wanted to become a veterinarian, but in those days it was difficult for a young Jewish English speaking lad to be accepted into Onderstepoort, so instead he became a Chartered Accountant, specializing in taxation.

He met his wife Lily in 1963 and he speaks with pride of his three beautiful children, Linda, a physio who has two boys, Joel, a property administrator with one son living in Sydney and Hazel, a commercial film producer who is unmarried with two horses and two cats.

Bernard himself is a great lover of animals and has in the past donated two guide dogs to the Johannesburg Society for the Blind.

In 1984 Bernard joined the Rotary Club of Bramley, where he served as President on two occasions and was awarded a Paul Harris. His club was eventually incorporated into the Rotary Club of Orange Grove where he earned a further Paul Harris with Sapphire, and in 1998 joined forces with the Rotary Club of Rosebank.

In 1960 Bernard became a Freemason and was instrumental in establishing the Grand Lodge of Mauritius in 2005. He has been awarded the Order of Service to Masonry, which is the highest honour a Grand Master can confer on any member of the Craft, and is an acknowledgement of exceptional services to the Craft.

Bernard is fine example of a philanthropist is indeed an inspiration and a Mensch.

This Wednesday...

You will remember that a few months back we had a highly entertaining virtual quiz challenge against a number of Rotary Clubs from the coastal province of Kerala in India. They proved to be formidable opponents and this week they will be the quizmasters testing our knowledge once again.

An email from President Bibu George, who extends the invitation beyond our Club. We will gladly send you the Zoom link.

Dear President Bradshaw  (David did let them know that he is a PP)

 

Apologies for the long gap in communications. We were a bit busy with our Governor's official visit to our club which concluded on Friday.

 

Hope we are still "a go" for the quiz on 18th this month? The quizmaster will be our club member Rtn Baburaj. We are inviting a few clubs from our district to participate. 

 

Please invite clubs from your district and abroad too. 

 

Let me also tell you how much we appreciate this opportunity to partner with you in this great fellowship. What you are doing here is really commendable. Our DG spoke about twinning program and we would be very happy to consider this with your club. Please do discuss it in your board and let me know if it is possible. 

 

Thank you 

Dr Bibu George 

President 

RC Cochin Smartcity. 

District 3201 

 

This Friday....

... please join us for our monthly Business meeting. If you are unable to attend in person, the Zoom login details remain the same as every week.

A glimpse of Lorenzo's home in Italy and a very successful Blanket Drive 2022....

 From the Pen of the President...

The blanket drive held over last weekend was possible only because several Rotarians, some spouses, Anns and a relative were willing to give up some of their time to take part in a shift.  A huge THANK YOU to those who did – your assistance is greatly appreciated.  Several needy people will benefit by having a level of warmth this coming winter that they would otherwise not have had.  This was a practical demonstration of what Desmond Tutu had in mind when he said “Do your little bit of good where you are.  It’s these little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?

Last Friday....

... Lorenzo took us on a virtual scenic tour of his beautiful home situated  to the south of Rome and for a layman he did a jolly good job of presenting a most entertaining video. It felt as though we were right there  with him experiencing the essence of his surroundings.

Although Lorenzo was present at the Zoom meeting he took part horizontally, as he had unfortunately done his back in and was prescribed bedrest.

For our members that missed the meeting or for those of us who would like to watch it again please click into the link and enjoy.

Lorenzo's Palestrina

We also welcomed a special guest to the meeting - Adrupio Scovia, who is a RotarActer  from Uganda, District 9213. Adrupio is attending the University of the Witwatersrand as a Masters student. Hopefully she will be able to join us again.

Blankets, blankets and more blankets....

Friday, Saturday and Sunday saw Rosebank Rotary volunteers at the William Nicol Pick and Pay appealing to the generosity of its patrons to donate towards the annual Rotary District Blanket Drive.

The spirit of giving was overwhelming and this will translate into many desperate souls being able to ward off a cold winter which is imminent.

 

Many worthy charities  and organizations will benefit, amongst others:

• The Boikanyo Deon Herson Foundation
• Phutadijhaba (Alex)
• Assmblies of God (Alex)
• Boeregemeenskap Transvaal
• Lesedi (Lanseria)
• Gracepoint (who support Cosmos City, Clay Oven communities and others)
• Kaya Manzi (Crossings Church) 
• Charity Begins With Me

This Friday...

...will be a hybrid meeting at Wanderers and via Zoom, and we are all looking forward to seeing Bernard Neuhaus at Wanderers who will share "His Story" with us. No doubt in 91 years on this Earth he has many a tale to tell.

Rotary Fellowship at its best and fledgling satellite Rotary Club of Dainfern hosts a Blanket Drive....

 From the Pen of the President....

 

It is often only after someone has gone that we appreciate that person.  Similarly, we sometimes realise the advantages of a situation only in hindsight.  Perhaps we need to take time every now and then to recognise and appreciate the relationships and advantages we are experiencing in the present.  Doing so may well make us more relaxed and thankful for the blessings we have.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have. (Thomas Edison)

Friends, Fellowship and Fine Weather.....

Usually the last Friday of every month is reserved for a social meeting where we can kick back, shoot the breeze and interact with fellow members. In its stead it was decided that this month we would  replace the meeting with a Bring and Braai, which  PP Jean Bernardo's generously offered to host at her  home.

It was never going to be easy to settle on a date that would suit everyone, particularly with the numerous public holidays in April, but consensus was reached for Saturday the 30th of April.

We were blessed with glorious autumn weather which allowed us to sit in the shade of the beautiful old trees in Jean's garden.

It was lovely that some of our Anns joined us and that we could welcome a visitor, Michelle von Benecke, who is considering becoming a Rotary member.

Delicious food, joyous company and  lots of laughter were the hallmarks of a successful fellowship afternoon.

The Annual District Blanket Drive kicked off at Dainfern....

David Bradshaw is very hard at work trying to establish a satellite Rotary Club in the sprawling gated community of Dainfern. 

Club activities are still in their infancy, but they enthusiastically agreed to hold a blanket drive at the Dainfern Clubhouse this past Sunday 1st of May.

Although the uptake was slow with only about 30 blankets "sold", hopefully the posters and blanket table created awareness of a Rotary presence. 

Liz Purvis, a Friend of Rotary always available to volunteer her time to help out where she can.

Dainfern residents and potential Rotary member Thomas and his wife Sarah welcoming potential blanket donors with their wide smiles.

This Friday...

..... please join e-member Lorenzo Locatelli- Rossi as he gives us a virtual tour of his home town Palestrina, not far from Rome in Italy. No doubt it will be very entertaining.