RIP Jennifer Jones was in town, Guest Speaker and Traveller Extraordinaire takes us to Galapagos, RC Rosebank pulls out all the stops for a successful Sew-A-Thon, Rotary Exchange Student Emma's exploits and Sybille plants trees in Stanford....

 From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

You all will have heard and seen that our sewing/knitting day on Saturday was a huge success – from a Fellowship point of view it was GREAT and from a productive view it was also GREAT. We will need to have another day to label and sort what we have and finish off the many things that were started. Planning for the 20^th May, so there is time to still knit and make things!!

Thank you for the generosity of your time and money – to everyone!

 

Our thoughts go out to Hugh and his wife – they had a nasty incident in their home. We hope that with family support and time, the memory and shock will fade.

We are looking forward to hearing about the gorillas – Tutty has just been on a successful trip.

The regular news from Emma is exciting – how will she ever be able to settle back at school here??!!

Mazeltov to Debi Lieberthal on her engagement; many happy years with Mervyn. We love happy stories like this!

 

We have some important dates to remember:

May 5^th  - Club Assembly – a ‘must’ attend Friday meeting!!

May 12^th – 14^th – Blanket Drive – need your help.

May 20^th – Winter wardrobe sewing/knitting.

June 3^rd – Careers Day – will need your help

June 9^th – Bring-a-friend to Rotary!!

 

A very busy time ahead and opportunity to fulfill those goals we have not met for the year.

Thank you all – we are People of Action after all!!

 

Ann

 

President Ann, AG Jean and PE Costa get to meet  RIP Jennifer Jones....

President Ann's feelings:

" RI Pres Jennifer Jones is just amazing - she is a warm, friendly, REAL person. She has been all over the globe, is doing a 26 hour a day job, is supported by a loving husband - it is all about how fantastic Rotary is as an organization, all about the amazing work being done by peace workers, health workers and the like and all about the impact on her ( and our) lives and the great story we should be telling, and shouting out so people hear it!! She does not talk about HER achievements, but Rotary's. I loved her!!"

AG Jean's thoughts:

"Gosh. She spoke so eloquently but my main take away from her talk was how her experiences in Rotary have changed her and made her a better person and that we should see each other as people who want to make a difference and not see gender, race, etc."

PE Costa says:

She also indicated what a positive impact Rotary had on polio, malaria and other infectious diseases in poor countries as well as the positive and heart warming impact that individuals and clubs can make in needy communities.

Last Friday....

..... we vicariously experienced a tour of the Galápagos Islands through the well travelled and knowledgeable Eric Dabbs. The Galápagos Islands are a dot on the world map that hold huge appeal and it was a bucket list tick for Eric! 

The island was discovered by chance in 1535 by Fray Tomas de Berlanga the Bishop of Panama en route to Peru. The giant tortoises were seen which inspired the name for the Island. Galapago in Spanish literally means tortoise. The island had no inhabitants due to no fresh water supplies. The whalers in the late 1700s fed their ships tortoises. Sadly there are not many left. 

Did you know? The tortoises could survive a whole year without food and water. Interesting fact. 

The islands first inhabitants after 1832 were convicts. It began as a penal settlement. Charles Darwin spent 5 weeks on the island late 1835 collecting geographical samples, mostly rock. The significance of the finches in evolution followed 2 decades later. 

Other interesting birds are the Blue Beaked and Blue Footed Boobies. They have excellent diving skills with an impressive wingspan of around 5 feet. Eric shared his photographs of himself with the sea lions that look like giant slugs! They looked very chilled and made themselves very comfortable on the human's benches!!

The deciding factor to add the Galápagos Islands to my Bucket List was Eric’s account of a member of his tour group experiencing vertigo looking into the crystal clear waters with visibility of 150 meters. A diver's dream come true not to mention the waters full of hammerhead sharks and plenty other sea life. I didn’t think the planet had a magical place like that left to experience. Could it be because the island has about 33 000 inhabitants on 3% of the land 97% is National Park. I’ll leave you to decide.

Thank you Eric for sharing your wonderful trip with us.

Thank you to Brigid Booth for penning this contribution.

RC Rosebank - Truly People of Action....

One of the charities we whole-heartedly endorse and support is Stephan Ferreira's Charity Begins With Me. Every Saturday come rain or shine he feeds up to 1500 children. This is not a hand-out; in return for a plate of food he expects the children to bring a bag of recyclables. He also runs a toy, books and stationary swap-shop where the children are allowed to choose an item in exchange for recyclable items. It's a win-win situation for everyone. 

When we picked up on one of his Facebook posts where he asked his followers to support him make sure that the 1500 vulnerable and needy youngsters on his weekly feeding program have a warm item of clothing this winter our club immediately jumped into action.

A Sew-a-Thon was planned.

The support for this initiative from all sides was overwhelming and the day was undoubtedly a resounding success. Every member threw his or her weight behind this project, and those that could not be there in person donated funds towards fabric, wool and sewing paraphernalia.

Liz Short, a long-standing Rotary Ann puts it this way:

"The Anns joined with the Rotarians and friends of Rotary for a wonderful fellowship/work party on Saturday 15th April.  Sitting in the shade on Jean's driveway there was a hive of activity from every side:  groups of knitters under the gazebo, cutters, sewers and braaiers all working together.  We had such fun and it was so heart-warming to be part of the club, with nine Anns participating.  This is what it's all about and we hope to be part of many more such activities.  Thanks to Jean for letting us use her house, to Ann for her motivation and organisation and to all the noble men Rotarians who assisted not only with the braai and producing delicious boerrie rolls but also with the cutting out of the material.  We didn't know you had such hidden talents."

Who would have thought how adept the men could be at wielding a pair of scissors.

Not to speak of the antics some of the members got up to.

Lyn Collocott's comments:

"What a beautiful autumn sunshiny day.  As I wandered around  I thought how today encompassed the reason why many of us became Rotarians.  Fellowship, fun and the opportunity to serve..

Thank you to all who were involved in so many different ways. 

Paul Harris would be proud."

The WhatsApp chat group was abuzz with comments:

A table full of completed items and many more to follow.

Emma's weekly Check-In...

Emma went walking with alpacas with her host family in a nearby Sorbian town called Schleife.

She is really starting to get excited as the exchange students of two Rotary districts leave for their European tour on the 18th of April. Hopefully her Rotary blazer will fill up with lots more pins.

Emma's host family took her and South African Bestie Leah and family who were visiting Germany to a soccer game and great fun was had by all.

No sooner had they returned to Weißwasser they were on the road again for their annual Easter break. They spent the week at the Baltic Sea in Poland. It was very quiet and tranquil and the family literally walked miles every day, and Emma sported her "Sasko White Flour" look on the beach.

And what did Sybille getting up to....

... further afield Sybille was part of a tree planting ceremony at the Queen Victoria playground in Stanford organized by the Rotary Club of Stanford. A few years ago two benches had been constructed donated by the club and hopefully in years to come these Yellowood trees will cast welcome shade over them.

Club President Anne Ranger had enthusiastic assistance from some young helpers.

Next Friday....

...Please join us for our monthly business meeting.