From the Pen of the President.....
Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,
Thank you to those who were able to join our year end function on Saturday evening - a wonderful, intimate, fun evening. We were able to present Marilyn, our special guest, with money for a Madiba Buggy - money raised at our skittles evening.
The year is drawing to a close, one meeting left, an important informative account of our association with Boikanyo.
I was lucky enough to be part of the ribbon cutting of the new Rotary centre at JCCI on Friday. We are lucky to have it close by. It has a great view of the city skyline and promises to be a good venue for both District, Club and private functions.
It is a hectic time of the year so please take care.
Ann
Last Friday.....
... the Gremlins were at work and sadly our Zoom attendees had a less than satisfactory meeting as they reported that the noise levels were such that they were unable to follow much of the proceedings, which is a pity, as we had the great pleasure of inducting a further member into the club as well as member Michelle von Benecke's sharing her life journey with us.
Brigid Booth has been diligently attending meetings for the past month or so and was excited to finally be inducted into the Rotary Club of Rosebank, where it is her fervent wish to make a difference.
For 20 years she has been carrying this little card with her and it clearly made a profound impact on her life. No doubt Rotary will be the vehicle to channel her energies.
Both Brigid's sons Nicholas and Jonathan attended the induction and are they are visibly proud of their dynamo mom.
It was then Michelle von Benecke's turn to allow us a sneak-peak of her life journey.
Born and bred in Pretoria, she studied at Stellenbosch and lived in London on a gap year, but she adamantly maintains that she would not want to live anywhere else in the world but vibrant Johannesburg.
Because of her talent as a budding artist her parents sent her to the Pro Arte School in Pretoria, but sadly she lost both of them in a tragic car accident when she was 15, after which she then lived with her aunt in Bedfordview.
She studied mechanical engineering as the only girl at Stellenbosch University where she also headed up the student council.
After her initial studies she headed for the bright lights of London for a gap year and then did industrial engineering followed by a MBA.
She loved her first challenging job at SAB, where she worked in a male dominated field and although she is not a beer drinker per se she did achieve a diploma in beer and wine tasting.
Her career then catapulted her into the world of banking, starting off with Capital One, which was bought out by Nedbank, she did a stint at Standard Bank where she set up the credit card analytics department, consulted for various banks and even worked for a manganese mine in Hotazell.
She is now back with Nedbank in a very specialized IT department that deals with global payments and is considered a specialist in everything Forex.
Michelle is divorced and her two daughters and two dogs balance her life.
Michelle and her daughters are clearly very creative and many of their joint past times involve painting, baking and attending weekly concerts of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
And despite Michelle's exhausting agenda she also finds time to teach maths after hours and volunteer her time to the St. Columba's Presbyterian Church Outreach.
AG Jean presents a Youth Committee School Award...
Last Monday the Youth Chair of our Club AG Jean Bernardo attended the annual awards ceremony at the Esperanza Primary School in Newlands where a young Grade 7 scholar Nontabeko Dube received a Rotary school award for outstanding scholarship, sportsmanship, fellowship and leadership.
Jean was blown away by the dedication of the teachers and the enthusiasm of all the young learners who walked away with multiple awards. It is a testament that there is a future worth striving for in this country.
Jingles All the Way....
.... After the whirlwind year that was 2022 everyone needed some hearty Christmas Cheer which gracious hosts Ann and John Hope Bailie offered us in spades.
Ann had promised that if Tutty attended the party she would take a plunge into her pool. That did not quite happen, but she did dip her toe...
It was fellowship at it's best with great food and lots of laughs. All guests received a beautiful plant - a Blood Leaf - generously gifted by Charlotte and James Croswell.
And thankfully the weather gods looked upon a kindly and gave a wonderfully warm and mellow evening.
This Friday....
...Our last meeting for 2022.
Costa Qually will take us on a tour to the Midlands where he was part of an Outreach which supplied 29 severely handicapped cerebral palsy children with the gift of mobility.
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