From the Pen of the President....
Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,
We have lots of work to do in the club over the next few weeks and I am really hoping that every member takes part. Have you started knitting, sewing, or scrounging for donations? Please do not leave it to the last minute or our actual day of sewing and sorting on April 15th.
On the 31st March please remember to bring along your laptop – if you have got your data updated on My Rotary and Clubrunner, you will be able to assist a fellow member with getting their profile created and their data updated. If you use your phone for more than something to call someone with, then you can also be shown how to get Clubrunner on your phone – your Club and District address book!!
We have the Blanket Drive coming up and would like you to sell some to friends and family as well as put your name down on the roster!!
Have a great week – shortened by our holiday!!
Ann
Last Friday...
....being the third Friday of the month, was the club's Business meeting.
We were able extend a warm Rosebank Rotary welcome to two guests: Stavros Kitsopoulos and Stacey Kemertgoglou.
Stavros had been invited by Lyn Collocott. He is the owner of the Parkhurst Postnet and he had overheard Lyn chatting about Rotary with one of the patrons, and mentioned that he had been a member and Past President of the Rotary Club in Bloemfontein-Raadzaal.
Stacey is married to a Greek, but does not speak it. She is an attorney and had read about Rotary in the local Dainfern rag, and contacted David, who invited her to a meeting.
A brief report back from the various committee chairs:
Finance Chair John Symons told us that we are a club in good standing with RI as all our annual dues and contributions to Foundation and Polio Plus have been remitted.
He banked R5 041 raised at the last Skittles evening.
Fundraising queen Sonja Hood is planning a Bingo evening, and would be grateful if anyone could suggest a good "Bingo master".
She has also approached the Linden Bowling Club for a potential bowling event fundraiser.
A lot of things are happening behind the scenes in the Youth portfolio; Jean Bernardo let us know that Marianne Soal has taken responsibility for the Highlands North High School Interact Club and she is planning for Winnie from Upcycle to chat to the boys about ways to fund their own projects as well as getting Josephine from Earthly Touch to teach them how to make a "proper" EcoBrick and the tell them about the benefits of disposing responsibly of non-recyclable plastics.
They will also be encouraged to volunteer their time for the Sew-a-Thon on the 15th of April.
The annual careers day date has provisionally been set for Saturday 9th of June, and the committee in conjunction with Holy Family College that hosts the event have a few ideas of making this an even better experience.
All being well the Senior Youth Leadership Course will be held the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of October.
Membership Chair and Almoner (and quiz convener) David Bradshaw is quietly and tirelessly plugging away at encouraging potential members to join. His hard work is paying off.
Friday 26th of May has provisionally been earmarked as a "Bring-a-Buddy" meeting.
The Community Services committee can confirm that the Sew-a-Thon will take place on Saturday the 15th of April and Jean Bernardo has generously offered to host it at her home.
Melodene, Lyn and President Ann "modelled" items that can be made on the day.
At the social meeting next Friday a list will be circulated where every member needs to pledge either expertise, time, material, wool etc for this project.
Charity Begins With Me and Stephan Ferreira have an ambitious goal to make sure that 1500 children from the Durban Deep informal settlements don't get cold this winter.
The District Rotary Anns Conference....
11 Rosebank Rotary Anns recently attended a very enjoyable District
Anns’ Conference, organised by Germiston Anns’ Club. The venue at The School of
Achievement in Elspark was convivial and the décor, catering by students and
general organisation was excellent.
The event was attended by DG Koekie Makunyane-Quashie and
her husband, PDG Kobla Quashie, as well as DGA Christina Forsyth-Thompson and
several PDGAs. The speaker was Sheri de Wet, founder of “Palesa Pads”, an
innovation which gave much food for thought in terms of projects and helping
disadvantaged young girls.
Some Anns Clubs may have folded but the enthusiasm and energy
of the many Anns Clubs and the Inner Wheel club attending was inspiring and
heartening.
What did Exchange Student Emma get up to last week?
Two and a half hours drive west of Weißwasser lies the city of Leipzig. It is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony with 624 689 inhabitants.
Emma and a group of fellow exchange students were planning to plant trees in and around the city that weekend, but the weather was abysmal, so the young'uns bonded over table tennis and explored the city instead.
They visited the monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal), commemorating the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The monument was completed in 1913 for the 100 year commemoration and cost six million Gold Mark but was mostly paid by generous donations. It looks very similar to the Voortrekker Monument.
Emma met up with two Rotary friends from Mexico and Brazil in Dresden and together they visited the Royal Palace. It is known for the different architectural styles employed, from Baroque to Neo-Renaissance. The original building dates back all the way to the 1200's.
Back in Weißwasser Emma's family is starting to prepare for Easter. They took her to see some beautifully painted Easter eggs as inspiration before they start with their own creations.
Finally the sun peaked out again and to celebrate Emma spoilt herself with a pair of genuine Birkenstocks.
Next Friday....
....President Ann as well as PE Costa and AG Jean will be embarking on another Madiba Buggy outreach, this time to rural Phutaditjaba, Vrede and Harrismith in the Freestate.
It is their most ambitious outreach to date where they plan to give 38 profoundly disabled children the gift of mobility.
Most of the fittings will be done in the local hospitals with the assistance of the resident occupational therapists, but a few home visits have also been scheduled.
They also plan to also distribute e'pap which has been generously donated, blankets and 2500 Easter eggs.
With our tech team not being available to handle the hybrid meeting option it has been decided that next Friday's meeting will only have the in person option.
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