Guest Speaker Richard Wadley enthralls us with tales of the Waterberg, we meet Charles Mphephu from the Alexandra Community Corp, Interclub Fellowship and Blanket Update....

 From the Pen of the President...

The District conference takes place from Thursday this week until Sunday morning.  It will be a great opportunity to meet new friends and have fellowship with those we know.  There is no doubt that participating in Rotary events, projects and meetings makes Rotary more meaningful and enjoyable and provides a sense of self-worth.  I encourage all our members to participate in our activities to the extent they can reasonably manage.  You can make a difference and serve to change lives!

Costa Qually

President

Tailpiece

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too. (Voltaire)

Last Friday....

....was a hybrid meeting at Wanderers and via Zoom, and it is encouraging to see that slowly but surely members are starting to return to the in-person meetings. We will however continue offering the hybrid option to ensure that members like Lorenzo, living outside Rome, Juanette in Germany and those working a full time job are able to partake in club activities. It also broadens the scope of being able to invite guest speakers who otherwise would not have been able to address us.

We were finally able to welcome Charles Mphephu to our meeting. Charles, a very proud Paul Harris Fellow, heads up the Alexandra Rotary Community Corp and in last week's Ramble we were reminded to bring along much needed items on their wishes/needs list. Besides two computer hard drives there were reams of A4 paper, clothes and also a big supply of much need sanitary pads.

A very humble Charles expressed his gratitude to all. 

A few months ago David Bradshaw had ventured into the Waterberg for a few days where he had the good fortune of meeting retired geologist and author Richard Wadley who is an expert on the area. He generously gave of his precious time to share his love of the history, fauna and flora of this diverse eco-system with David.

Richard kindly agreed to make the long trek to the Joburg Metropolis to address our Friday meeting in person. As part of Rosebank tradition our names went into a draw, and the prize was a jar of homemade lemon relish made from Sybille's rich and ample lemon harvest, which Richard was lucky enough to win.

Richard's knowledge of the Waterberg is encyclopaedic and an hour was certainly not enough time to do this most interesting topic its due justice. 

He touched on the various migrations that had headed into the area from the south as well as the north, but it was evident that throughout prehistoric and more recent times the Waterberg was always very sparsely inhabited. 

We were regaled with tales of fascinating characters who had resided in and around the Waterberg and who had added to the colourful tapestry of Waterberg lore. All this and so much more can be found in Richard Wadley's book The Waterberg Echoes, a 832 page tome published in 2019.

The book is beautifully illustrated with innumerable photos, drawings and maps which are testament to Richard's great love and respect for this small piece of paradise he calls home.

Kyalami/Rosebank/Centurion Fellowship....

Last Thursday the three Rotary clubs of Kyalami, Rosebank and Centurion once again got together at the Swiss Club in Vorna Valley for an evening of laughter and good-natured rivalry, where we were randomly divided into two teams with the aim of knocking over a sequential number of skittles lined up at the end of a very narrow bowling alley. Not as easy as it looked and a lot of hilarity ensued.

Our two PE's  (President Elects - for those that don't do acronyms)  Ann Hope-Bailie and Jan Jalloh from the Rotary Club of Kyalami. May our great fellowship continue.

Thank you to President Pierre Rossouw for making these events happen.

Quick Blanket Update....

As the temperatures drop it is imperative that the much needed blankets are distributed as quickly as possible.

Thomas Thornsson from the fledgling Rotary club of Dainfern distributes blankets to the Thabo Mbeki community, destined to be given to bed-ridden elders.

The mountain of blankets on the left were distributed to people who lost their homes in shack fires in Diepsloot. They were collected and donated by members of the International Women's Club.

This Friday.....

....There will be no club activity as a fair amount of members will be heading to Bela Bela for the annual Discon.

See you all again for the monthly business meeting on the 24th of June , which shall be a hybrid meeting at Wanderers and via Zoom.