We say farewell to James Byrne RIP, Rotary Exchange Student Emma's first few days and see who the Club 100 December and January winners were.....

 From the Pen of the President.....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

It was a reflective meeting on Friday – sad to learn details about someone when they have already passed.

I found this poem really got me thinking, because EVERY life is a life well lived when you really get down and think about it, besides, who are we to judge??

 

A life well lived is a precious gift, Of hope and strength and grace,

from someone who has made our world a brighter, better place.

 

It’s filled with moments, sweet and sad, with smiles and sometimes tears,

With friendships formed and good times shared, and laughter through the years.

 

A life well lived is a legacy, of joy and pride and pleasure,

A living, lasting memory our grateful heart’s will treasure.

 

The message I wanted to convey during the first part of the meeting:

1. As a Club we should be looking at succession planning
2. New Members should be taking up roles and learning the ropes
3. Training is becoming something our Club is measured on – all members are required to do some Rotary training.

That’s me for this week!!

Have a goodie and let’s get some projects going.

Ann

 

 

Last Friday...

....we celebrated the life of James Byrne, who was called to Higher Service on the 4th of January of this year. He had not been well for a while but our almoner David Bradshaw had spoken to him the day before he passed away and we trust that he knew that his Rotary family had kept him in their prayers.

After the general club matters had been concluded Roger Wedlake, who knew James the longest,was called upon to begin the memorial proceedings. In his hand he held a little stick, explaining that according to Jewish lore when Sitting Shiva  after the passing of a loved one, a Talking Stick was passed around as a communication tool used to foster an atmosphere of active listening and respect. Only the bearer of the Talking Stick has the right to speak and those present must listen quietly to what is being said. The Talking Stick is then passed on to other speakers in turn.

Roger met James in 1969 in Shannon, Ireland shortly after they had both finished university. They were both scientists working for De Beers, manufacturing synthetic diamonds.

In Roger's words: James was an interesting character. He was very intelligent and held very strong points of view. His memory was exceptional. Roger remarked that if he were to have to phone a friend on the popular TV show Who wants to be a Millionaire, James would be his man. For all his cleverness he however lacked common sense and never managed to monetize his intelligence. Although he was a scientist he tried his hand at being a financial advisor but that did not end well.

James loved the Great Outdoors and in his younger years headed up a camping club in South Africa.  He also found the time to do charitable work and was an active Round Table member before becoming a founding member of the Rotary Club of Parktown Excalibur where he met fellow members Pierre Rossouw, Jan Jalloh, Peter James-Smith and Costa Qually, who were present on Friday to honour James' memory. 

In his final years James' eyesight deteriorated quite badly which meant that he was no longer able to drive, but Roger would pick him up for the Friday meetings and the members of the Rotary Club of Rosebank represented his last friends.

Roger  passed on the Talking Stick to James Croswell, who commented on James' broad Irish accent which he never lost, even after many years in South Africa.

Then it was one of James' brothers turn to avail himself of the Talking Stick. He spoke on behalf the Byrne family who had flown across the Pond from Ireland to be part of his farewell and to attend to James' final affairs. In his family he had been lovingly referred to as JJ.  It was very evident how grateful his blood family was to his Rotary family for their friendship. They had made a collective decision that all James' remaining worldly possessions would go to Charity.

Peter James-Smith regaled us with his memories of spending many happy weekends with James and his wife Mary at a various game farms - a friend for life.

Costa jokingly added that Mary had her good-natured husband under her thumb, and that he always had a tall tale to tell, provided that you understood his accent.

James' caregiver was the person that would have been with him in his final days and when the Talking Stick was given to her she added what a kindhearted and gentle soul he had been and how saddened she is by his passing.

The proceedings closed with Roger's invitation to retire to the Wanderer's bar, with the quip that you cannot drink all day if you don't start in the morning.

Rotary Exchange Student Emma's first few days.....

It goes without saying that Michelle is in touch with her daughter via WhatsApp on a constant basis, and the Ramble editor has tasked her to forward all the photos and report backs to her so that we can share Emma's journey with her Rotary family.

Emma has settled in well at 
her school and her classmates
raised funds for a school hoodie

A visit to the picturesque town of Görlitz, which is 55 km away 
from Weißwasser, on the Polish border.

From there Emma hopped across into Poland itself. It had snowed recently and there was still sufficient snow left for her to build her first snowman, however small. She then indulged in a hot chocolate and some delicious German torte.

An observation when going to a proper German restaurant was that everything gets doused with cheese.

Next week, next episode....

This Friday....

... we are excited for Josephine Sitambe from the Earthly Earthly Touch Foundation who is passionate about  EcoBricks to address our club.  It promises to be an enlightening presentation.

Earthly Touch Foundation

Earthly Touch Foundation (ETF) is a Non-Profit organisation whose main focus is to contribute to the reduction of global warming through collection of plastic waste and repurposing it into eco-bricks which are then used for construction, making of furniture, and in agriculture. The organisation was registered in 2020 operating out of Gauteng with the main focus in training and education of communities on the impact of plastic pollution and how they can participate in saving their own environment from the impact of plastic pollution. ETF is BBBEE level 1 with its activities aimed at benefiting previously disadvantaged communities through training, skills development and job creation jobs within their own environment.