From the Pen of the President....
1st
July 2022
Good evening
everyone – thank you for being here to share this occasion and the first day of
the Rotary year. I am honoured to be able to start the 68th year of
this Club as President.
IMAGINE
ROTARY – our theme.
Imagine all
the opportunities out there for us to be of service? Imagine Rotary getting
bigger!
Imagine
Rosebank starting another Interact Club? Or a Community Corp with the community
of Charity Begins with Me. Imagine partnering with other Clubs and doing greater
things!!
We are a
hybrid club and will continue to be one – it takes some adjusting but we are
able to be much more diverse if we really get it right. You know what they say
about change.
While the
emphasis is, as always, on attaining new members, I would like to honour those
members who have been Rotarians for over 45 years. Not their age – age is just
a number!!
Tutty Faber
– 47 years
David
Bradshaw – 46 years
Howard
Johnston and Ken Stonestreet – 45 years
Rosebank has
many members with a wealth of experience – I am here to learn from them all.
With COVID
all but behind us, we can take off again and fly. And post COVID the need is
almost greater than ever before.
Plans for
the coming year are already in the pipeline – Careers Day, Youth Leadership
course, Spruit Clean up, Rotary Exchange and Quiz fundraiser, online quizzes
and skittles evenings. We will persevere with the cervical cancer initiative
and continue to have fun as we go.
The goals I
have saved on Club Central need discussion and agreement.
Polio Plus,
Rotary Foundation, increase in members, joint projects, training and Action
Groups.
The board
for the year 2022/2023 is as follows:
Costa Qually
- Foundation Chair and Executive Secretary
Mike Honnet
– Secretary
John Symons
– holder of the purse strings and keeper of gold!
David
Bradshaw – membership, Almoner, Speaker Programme
Sybille
Essmann – Public Relations and Community Service Chair
Lenore
Terreblanche – International Committee Chair
Jean
Bernardo – Youth Chair,
Lyn
Collocott – Environment Chair “Madam Black Jack”
Sonja Hood –
Fund Raiser and Social Fairy
Pam
Donaldson – Club Services
Anne Padmore
- Master Sergeant
Les Short –
man with the knowledge and the stick/ or spoon
Thank you –
Jean and Sybille for your help. Thank you Josh and Ketya.
Thank you De
La Salle for the venue!!
A club is
only as good as its members – we have GREAT members so let’s be GREAT.
Last Friday...
Who remembers the presidential induction of 2020, when Jean Bernardo handed over the baton to Ann Hope-Bailie? It was during hard lockdown with the strictest of curfews, and only Jean, Ann and Paul Harris recipient Jennette Horner congregated at Ann's house for the ceremony. The rest of us witnessed it on Zoom. Last year 2021 we lived in hope that we could induct Costa Qually as president at a live ceremony. Sadly it was not to be as we were swept into the third Covid wave, and had to cancel in the last minute.
Once again Ann hosted less than a handful of people at her home where she placed the presidential chain around Costa Qually's neck.
How grateful we all are that last Friday we could have a fitting presidential Induction with all the pomp and ceremony this auspicious occasion deserves.
The loadshedding gods looked favourably on our festivities and although we were prepared for all eventualities the lights remained on.
We were honoured to greet PDG Jankees Schligcher and his lovely wife PP Judy from New Dawn, PP Grace van Zyl from Rotary Club of Johannesburg and her husband, PP Val Thompson from Rotary Club of Sandton as well as old friends of our club Peter and Jean James-Smith.
It was wonderful that two of our exchange students were able to join us. Tsjamo Nyato was accompanied by his very proud mom Johanna and aunt. Tsjamo will be going to France next year.
Emma von Benecke has been accepted on the Rotary Exchange Student program and will be going to Germany, and when she was interviewed her mother Michelle expressed an interest in joining Rotary, and it was fitting that incoming President Ann's first duty of office was to induct Michelle as our newest member.
PP and Assistant Governor (AG) for our club Jean Bernardo was our Master of Ceremonies for the evening and regaled us with some choice jokes and stories and made sure that protocol was observed.
She introduced the various members to toast our land - Howard Johnston, Rotary International - PGD Ken Stonestreet and to our Rotary Club of Rosebank - David Bradshaw. PP Costa paid a moving tribute to Jerry Bernardo, who passed away in August 2021 and PP Lyn Collocott was asked to say grace and only one person could recite the Four Way Test with the fervour it deserved and that was PP Melodene Stonestreet.
As part of outgoing President Costa's report he presented Ken and Melodene Stonestreet, Jean Bernardo, Ann Hope Bailie, David Bradshaw, Sybille Essmann and himself with 100% Attendance badges.
Furthermore, John Symons received a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition for his invaluable and ongoing contribution as treasurer and Board member of the club, and David Bradshaw was awarded the Jack Boswell's President's Trophy for the many duties and activities he has performed for the benefit of the club. Both well deserving recipients.
It did not come as a surprise to any of the members, but Sonja Hood was taken completely unawares when she was named a Paul Harris Fellow in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given to the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world. Well done Sonja!!
And the highlight of the evening of course was when outgoing President Costa inducted our new President for the Rotary year 2022/2023 Ann Hope-Bailie and awarded her with the Chain of Office, which she will no doubt wear with pride.
The food was delicious, beverages, generously donated by Ann and Sonja, were plentiful, the fellowship was palpable and a good time was had by everyone!
This Friday...
We welcome Helen Langridge of the International Women's Club of Johannesburg,
an organization which offers the hand of friendship, networking, socializing and support to newcomers and expats living in Gauteng South Africa.
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