A worthy Lester Connock Recipient, Chrispin shares his Story, and last call-up for the Rob Caskie fundraiser....

 From our President's Pen....

 

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 Never a dull moment around here – home from Cape Town Thursday, award giving on Friday and now preparing for “the sun never sets at Rotary!” and our own exciting Rob Caskie talk on Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday this week and Lent starts on Wednesday!! The sun really does not set!!

 On the 23rd February we will be honouring Paul Harris, and Rotary’s birthday by attending a 24hr around the world meeting highlighting Rotary Youth – RYLA, Rotary Exchange, Interact and Rotaract.

District 9400 has a 3 hour slot and Rosebank will be taking part. Great excitement – hearing from past leadership students, and alumni. Interesting to see and hear from other parts of the world how they run their programs.

As I write this letter I am concerned about something I heard on the radio today – amidst the excitement of the return to school for thousands of school children, many children who are returning have experienced loss in their homes and families. Our teachers are not really equipped to deal with counselling and bereavement – who will be there to help those children deal with this??  What can WE do?

Even if we reach only a few of them – someone or something to hug? Let’s think on it.

Enjoy Caskie!!

Ann Hope-Bailie

President - Rotary Club of Rosebank

Johannesburg

+2782 570 6627 mobile

Last Friday......

The Lester Connock Award

Who remembers the 17th of February last year when we congregated at the Wanderers Golf Club to celebrate our worthy Vocational Award recipients and to present the annual Lester Connock Award to the winning candidate from the Wits Faculty of Nursing Education?

It seems a lifetime ago, doesn't it?

As much as we had hoped that 2021 would bring back some form of normality we are still very far way from being able to celebrate our heroes in a manner befitting their caliber.

Vocational Awards will therefore stand over till later on in the year, but  thank goodness we were in a position to choose a worthy winner for the Lester Connock Bursary, awarded to a student from the Wits Faculty of Nursing Education to assist in their field of research.

Amber Buyl made a compelling application for this bursary. She is a registered nurse and midwife, having studied a Bachelor of Nursing with honours at the University of Witwatersrand with an additional diploma in Perinatal Education. She started her Master's Degree in Nursing Science with an interest in midwifery/ women's health.

President Ann once again invited us to her home so that we could present this certificate to Amber in person. It was a very intimate ceremony with Rotarians David Bradshaw, James Croswell, Sybille Essmann and Chrispin Matthieu-Kyungu looking on.

Viv Herbert from Wits had accompanied Amber to receive her award.

Chrispin shares his Story....

Chrispin Matthieu-Kyungu, one of 9 children and a twin, grew up in the town of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His father, who worked as a driver passed away when Chrispin was in Grade 10, but with the support of his sister he managed to complete his degree in psychology at the University of Lubumbashi. He was an assistant pastor and because of his qualifications he very soon got roped into trauma counselling and assignments of reconciliation. This led him to fall out of favour with the people in power and he eventually had to flee to Zambia, leaving his fiance behind.

He had a sister in South Africa and eventually came to Johannesburg in 2005. His qualifications were not recognized in S.A. which meant he had to re-do his degree at UNISA.

In 2008 his internship placed him at the Jeppe police station where his main focus was dealing with appalling cases of xenophobia, which of course also affected him personally. He lived among a group of 200 refugees that had congregated at the police precinct, but he was allowed to use the police facilities so that he could study for his board exam which he passed in 2009. In the meantime his fiance joined him and he married in 2008.

They then moved to the Eastern Cape where he worked as the only foreigner in a company that subjected him to many acts of xenophobia. He eventually returned to Gauteng and joined a  Congolese  Recruitment and Consulting company.

He now works for Raizcorp, an incubation and business acceleration company who train entrepreneurs on the African continent. They were specifically looking for a French speaking psychologist.

Even when he still lived in the Congo, Chrispin had aspired to become a Rotarian, and he feels that at the Rotary Club of Rosebank he has found his home as he feels welcome and not discriminated against.

His wife Nelly Ngoie is a pre-school teacher, and he has three boys, Jenovic Ngoie, who is 11, Dodie Ngoie, who is 6 and the baby Merdie Ngoie who is 3 years old.

Sadly, to this day he and his family are still considered asylum seekers and have still not been awarded permanent residence in this country.

Have you booked your seat....

Mid Year AGM, A sustainable Eco-brick Project and it is not too late to book for an exciting evening with Rob Caskie

 From our President's Pen....

 

All Rosebank Rotarians were encouraged to fill in a survey at the end of 2020 – very similar to that which was distributed by RI. Testing the temperature of the club – and we know something about temperature checks and how important they are from recent months!! 

Very few members returned a completed survey – I was somewhat disheartened at first, and then thought it through and circumstances and current events do have a bearing on how we feel, so the level of complacency that is evident in the club seems quite understandable.

 We are ticking off the boxes of things we are required to do, and we have elected office bearers for the coming Rotary year. Your President Elect Costa Qually and Secretary Mike Honnet will both be the new guys on the block!! With Rtn Richard Maloney receiving the baton from Rtn James Croswell, the changes keep coming!! You know what they say about change!? And we do all need a holiday!

 I love being a Rotarian – how about you? Looking forward to this coming Friday…

 Yours in Rotary.

 

Ann

Last Friday.....

22 members and two soon-to-be members signed into the Club AGM.

President Ann reported back on the Rotary year so far and highlighted the club goals we had set ourselves at the beginning of the Rotary year last July.

In July nobody would have thought that 7 months into the year we would still be very much in the grips of the pandemic and that some of the goals are becoming increasingly difficult to attain. Everyone agreed that given the prevailing challenges it would be better to modify these goals and make them more realistic.

1. 40 members - The aim was to gain 9 new members, but who could have foreseen that 4 members would be called to Higher Service in just a few months. The goal has therefore been revised to a more realistic membership of 36, gaining 5 new members. Chrispin and Lorenzo were inducted in 2020,  Anne Padmore and Charmaine Cleesmann are soon to become our newest inductees, and no doubt we will be able to induct one further member before the year is out.

2. Service project participation - in previous years to set a goal of 30 members would have been easily accomplished, but given the Covid restrictions and that many of our members are of a vulnerable age the goal was revised down to an achievable 20 members.

3.Rotary Action Group - revised from 1 member up to 5 members and so far James, David and Ann have joined Action Groups, and no doubt we should be able to encourage two more members to join.

4. New Member Sponsorship - Sonja Hood has been instrumental at wooing Anne Padmore and Charmaine Cleesmann to join and David Bradshaw was responsible for bringing Chrispin on board.

4. Discon Attendance - has been revised upwards from 10 to 15 attendees. It is the Rotary Africa Centennial International Conference on the 24th and 25th of April and as it will be a virtual conference there really is no excuse not to attend.

 Book here for the Rotary Africa Centennial International Conference

5. Leadership Development Participation - A goal of 5 had been set, and we have already achieved 3, so by the end of the Rotary year we can surely tick that off the list.

6. Rotary Foundation - R10 000 - achieved

7. Polio Plus - R5 000 - achieved

8. 2 major service projects - work in process

9. 4 Social activities - With our weekly inter-club quiz evenings we have exceeded this goal by far!

We have taken Fellowship to another level, reaching as far as Hermanus and Newlands in the Cape, Botswana and Uganda as our international opponents. James Croswell is our secret weapon.

10. 10 pieces of PR on social media. Our Facebook is active and we are planning in combining the website and the weekly Ramble in the near future.

11. 4 media stories about Club projects - Jean has submitted 3 articles to Rotary Africa so far.

12. Interact Club - Highlands North Boys High School  - Marianne Soal has taken on this project

13. Youth Exchange involvement - our exchange student Masego (or Momo) recently returned from Thailand to report back to us in March.

Eco-bricks for the Diepsloot community.....

Mark Franklin had been passionate about the environment and recycling and had encouraged everyone in his circle of influence, be it at his Church or at Rotary, to help make eco-bricks for the Khensani Collection NPC in Diepsloot.

Khensani Collection NPC is a non-profit company who has been operational since 2016, providing assistance to the underprivileged in  the Diepsloot community..

Khensani does extraordinary work with the youngsters in the area, offering

•  teen mentorship
•  after-school lessons in Maths, English and Science
• entrepreneurship programs
•  coaching and career guidance.

In February 2020 Khensani Collection launched an Eco-Brick project  to build an extra classroom as they had 40 students attending lessons in one classroom.

It took in excess of 10 000 Eco-Bricks to build the classroom, and the result is nothing short of miraculous.

Another classroom is planned and although only a drop in the ocean Mark had managed to collect about 50 bottles before he passed away, which Yvonne then passed on to Sybille. Fellow Rotarians and friends had added another 50 bottles to her collection.

She in turn made contact with Diana Musara, President Elect for the Rotary Club of Randburg who is the driving force behind Khensani and the Eco-Brick project. Last Friday afternoon a boot-load of ecobricks were taken to Diana who then took Sybille to Diepsloot to see firsthand what 10 000 Ecobricks can build.

Diana Musara is encouraging the Diepsloot community to assist in filling the eco-bricks with

non-recyclable waste and every eco-brick we can supply will eventually build a further much needed classroom.

This is community service on so many levels and a project we can all contribute to.

Let's collaborate with the Rotary Club of Randburg to add to this mountain of eco-bricks.

Please contact Sybille to collect completed eco-bricks.

We are saving the environment eco-brick by eco-brick.

Don't miss out on Rob Caskie's Tales of Adventure......

A Social Meeting enriched by a short introduction to the White Cane Project, People of Action hand over food donation to Charity begins with Me and a Blast from the Past.....

 From the Pen of our President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

So many jokes, cartoons and, dare I say, ‘rubbish’ fills our inboxes and abounds on Social Media. Every once in a while I sit up and take notice of something worth reading. This is one such piece, worth a read, even if you have seen it before. It made me think.

Martina Navratilova was once asked, “How do you maintain your focus, physique and sharp game even at the age of 43?" 

She gave a humble reply, “The ball doesn’t know how old I am. You need to stop yourself from stopping yourself. Every game in life is actually played on a 6-inch ground – the space between your two ears. We don't live in bungalows, duplexes, or flats. We live in our mind which is an unlimited area. Life is great when things are sorted and uncluttered there. Keeping the mind messy with hatred growing on the table, regrets piling up in the corner, expectations boiling in the kitchen, secrets stuffed under the carpet, and worries littered everywhere ruins this real home.  The key factor to performing well in life and in every arena is the ability to control the quality and quantity of your internal dialogue. Performance is potential minus internal interference. Live in peace, not in pieces”.

  Looking forward to ‘seeing’ you all at the AGM on Friday.

Yours,

 

Ann Hope-Bailie

President - Rotary Club of Rosebank

Last Friday....

The Ambassador to the Holy Sea had been invited by Lorenzo to address us last Friday, but sadly due to lockdown restrictions in Italy he was unable to travel to Palestrina for the meeting. 

Melodene spontaneously took this opportunity to persuade Elizabeth Louw, who is the Head of the College of Orientation and Mobility to address us and tell us a little more about the White Cane Project, which our Club had supported in previous years, and wish to add to the 2021 list of deserving Community Services Projects.

.

Elizabeth Louw, whose background is in education, writes all the manuals and sets all the exams for the the trainees.

It is a 2 year NQF Level 5 course and you then obtain a SETA accredited Diploma in Orientation and Mobility, and as a practitioner you are then able to go into the community and provide visual impaired children and adults with a long cane, visual skills and daily living skills training at no cost.

You learn to teach people how to use the long cane and the skills of daily living, such as cooking, cleaning and identifying money.

One qualified practitioner can train between 40 and 45 persons per year.

White canes have evolved over the years.

They are imported and cost about R450. They do however last several years.

They are an extension of your senses and give a sight-impaired person mobility and a feeling of independence.

60% of all sight-impaired persons are over the age of 40 and have lost their vision later in life due to glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy, which are the main contributors to blindness

In normal years the Guide Dog Association under which the College for Orientation and Mobility falls would have been able to raise R100 000 in donations, but in 2020 their fundraising initiatives were also sorely affected by the pandemic, and thus they only managed to augment their coffers with a mere R28 000.

Community Service in Action....

After last Friday meeting President Ann, Sybille and Sonja met Stephan Ferreira of Charity Begins with Me at the Norwood Spar to assist him with the collection of food items that he had requested on his wish list for the distribution to the community of various informal settlements in the Durban Deep area near Krugersdorp. 

What made this particularly special is that this was not a mere act of goodwill, but a economic transaction. Stephan has created a recycling swap shop in the community and the residents will receive food items in exchange for recyclable material such as plastic and tins, which in turn is then passed on to the waste collectors who will be able to sell it to the various waste management companies.

It is Stephan's  aim is to instill dignity to these communities so that they learn  not to only rely on hand-outs, but that they have to do something in return for the food they receive.

Who remembers this?

This Friday.....

Please heed our President's call and make every effort to attend the AGM on Friday.

Zoom makes it possible!

A Business Meeting, District 9400 Mid-term Assembly and The Ann's 100 Club fundraising initiative....

From the Pen of our President... 

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 After dealing with Club business on Friday some of us spent a very fulfilling and exciting couple of hours on Saturday morning listening in on the District mid-year assembly.

Rotary is such a satisfying organisation to be involved with – whenever I do anything Rotary related I feel so proud to be a Rotarian. Spend some time with other clubs and the District 9400 representatives and you feel like that times 100!!

After hearing all the stories about what other clubs are doing and planning and involved in I was absolutely inspired – WHAT AN AMAZING ORGANISATION ROTARY IS!!!

 Feeling very proud of Rosebank, the members and just being part of it all – you should join some of the calls and try it!!

Yours in Rotary,

Ann

 

Last Friday....

...was a business meeting with report backs from various Chairs:

 Treasurer - John Symons:

• Club Subscriptions - most members have elected to pay their annual  dues in full, only six members have chosen to pay their subscription monthly and are being urged to do so by debit order.
• All RI, District and Rotary Africa Magazine dues have been paid across in full.
• Last year it was suggested that as we were not meeting at Wanderers where attendees would have paid R50 lunch money, to instead donate that saving to the Club. Only a few members have heeded that call.

Membership  -  David Bradshaw :

• 2 new members who have been attending many of our Zoom meetings are to be inducted soon - Anne Padmore and Charmaine Cleesman, 
• Sonja Hood's son Gareth, who returned to China late last year to continue his teaching contract, is very keen to join as an e-member. With the 6 hour time difference our Friday meetings would suit him perfectly. 
• There are a few potential members that David is working on, so hopefully we will attain our membership goal for this year.

 International  -  James Croswell:  

• The Container Project for the Palliative Care Unit at Baragwanath is as good as completed; only the electricity still needs to be connected.
• An official hand-over will be communicated, Covid restrictions dependent.

Youth  -  Jean Bernardo: 

• Due to the delay in schools reopening not much is happening on that front.
• Marianne has been in touch with Mimi from Highlands North School.
• Masego (or Momo), our exchange student recently returned from Thailand and is struggling to adjust to being back in S.A. She will be addressing us in March and will also give us a demonstration of the Thai cooking skills she acquired.
• President Ann delivered 5 Certificates to scholars of various schools in Johannesburg.

• Given the Covid restrictions the Youth Leadership course will more than likely again be conducted online.
• Thought has to be given how best to conduct the Annual Careers Day given the ongoing Covid challenges.

 Publicity and PR  -  Jean

• 3 articles showcasing our Club have been published in the Rotary Africa magazine.
• We are weighing up whether we should consolidate the Club website and the weekly Ramble.

 Foundation  - Les Short

• Rosebank has fulfilled all obligations to Foundation
• The club received a District Grant of R9 500 with which sewing machines were purchased and with which a group of ladies are sewing masks for the Diepsloot community

Community Services   -  Sybille Essmann

• Although the annual Norwood Spar "Festive Cheer" food drive only took place over two weekends we nonetheless managed to collect R27 600 worth of food items, which were distributed by means of vouchers to Puthatidjaba in Alexandra, The Frida Hartley Foundation, the Candlelight Club and Charity begins with Me. A big thank you goes to Pam Donaldson for her very generous donation of R5 000.
• Sybille is in communication with JoJo Tanks to hopefully receive a donation of a 5000 liter water  tank to harness rain water for the vegetable garden that residents of the informal settlement at Durban Deep mines have planted through the dedicated work of Stefan Ferreira from Charity begins with Me,
• Ongoing support of the "White Cane" Project
• Potential project - the AquaBox - as described on page 26 of the November edition of the Rotary Africa magazine.

Fund Raising - Sonja Hood

• So far about 30 tickets have been sold for the Rob Caskie talk on the 17th of February and Sonja urges that every club member invite at least one friend or family member to this event.

• Sonja will shortly be submitting an application to My School, my Village, my Planet to motivate that Rotary Club of Rosebank become a designated beneficiary.

• Please diarize our annual Quiz fundraiser in October. Surely by then we will be able to hold this ever popular event.

The District 9400 Mid-Year Assembly

263 Rotarians from the far reaches of District 9400 had registered to attend the mid-year Assembly held last Saturday the 23rd of January, and at any given time at least 168 people were online 

The gracious DG Annemarie and the  vivacious DG Elect Stella Anyangwe and a handful of attendees.

I don't want to steal DG Annemarie's thunder, because no doubt she will report back to us in her monthly newsletter.

In support of the Rotary Anns 100 Club.......

Anns 100 Club

The  Anns 100 Club has been running for some five years now.  It brings in money to support our projects.  This year, because of Covid 19 it is an ideal way to raise funds requiring, as it does, no social contact.

This is your opportunity to join the 100 Club for 2021.  Lyn Collocott was our latest winner of the big draw – this year it could be you.

The prizes work as follows:  Every month (for 11 months) there is a monthly draw with a prize of  R300 and one of R150.  At the end of 11 months there is a big draw with a prize of R3000, one of R1500 and one of R500.

Here’s how to buy yourself 11 monthly chances and one for the big draw.

Do an EFT to the Rotary Club of Rosebank Anns for the once=off amount of R300

For the beneficiary reference put in your name and surname and 100 club. 

GOOD LUCK!

THE ODDS ARE GOOD AS ONLY 100 TICKETS ARE SOLD

Banking details:

FNB  -   Bryanston

Branch code   -   250017

Account  number  -  50374602884

P.S. To find out who the other winners for January were please click on the Rosebank Rotary Ann's dedicated page at the top.

Establishment of the Southern African Foundation of Rotary Clubs, The Ann's in Action, and the first Quiz Challenge against Hermanus....

 From the Pen of our President...

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 I do hope you are all well and keeping a low profile?!

 Rotary life is taking off after the break and we have a flurry of meetings coming up. Please make a plan to be part of a Committee, attend the monthly meeting and be part of the projects we run.

 On Saturday morning you can relax at home and log in to the District Mid-year assembly – hear what other clubs are doing and how things are being handled across the district.

 Look out for ways to get involved, look for new ideas to introduce to the club.

 Keep in touch and hope to see you online!

 Yours,

 Ann

Last Friday....

PDG Greg Stathacopoulos (apologies for misspelling his name in last week's Ramble) was invited to give the Club some insights into District and Global Grants and  the formation of The Foundation of Southern  African  Rotary Clubs (https://fsarc.co.za/).

To understand the mechanics of the application and granting of District and Global Grants is by no means simple, and I am therefore taking the liberty to simplify Greg's presentation. 

Let's start at the very beginning:

1) Club Dues:

Every Rotarian pays an annual amount to their designated Club which covers

* Running cost

* District Dues

* RI Dues

* Rotary Africa Magazine

2) Funds raised from the public may not be used for running costs but will be used to fund Club projects.

Funds are raised by various fund raising efforts such as the annual Arts Festival, quiz evenings etc

Examples of Club projects would be:

* The annual senior youth leadership course, which is a three day weekend away with +/- 65 participants

* The College of Orientation and Mobility - White Cane Project, which is a division of the Guide Dog Association

* The Palliative Care Counselling Unit for patients at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital

3) District Grants:

Monies that District has available to fund District Grants come from RI and clubs apply for these grants. Assume that this year District will be receiving $23 000 from RI which becomes available on the 1st of July 2021. 

This amount is generated from funds that we as District, from all clubs, have sent across to RI (as our donations) which was then invested for 3 years, and comes back to District as a percentage of the returns achieved. 

An example of a District project was the refurbishment of the container for the Palliative Care Unit at Baragwanath.  This entailed:

* Completion of a Grant Application with a detailed budget as to the costs

* A Memorandum of Understanding

* A District Grants Report Form on completion of the project.

This was a huge project and funding came from various sources.

4) Global Grants: 

* Unless the project costs $30 000 or more you would not apply for a Global Grant.

*The project must be within the six (soon to be 7) areas of focus.

* We would approach an international club, who would donate $15 000 or more (that is what Greg mentioned as the possible participation of 18 German Districts who are willing to support projects in Africa)

* RI would then match that  donation Dollar for Dollar

* Funds that we have raised at Club level are not matched.

5) The Establishment of the Foundation of the Southern African Rotary Clubs (FSARC)

Most companies in South Africa and also beyond its borders  (Zimbabwe and Zambia) donate towards Corporate Social Investment (CSI), but in return they would need a Section 18A Certificate for this donation to be tax-deductible. This Section 18A Certificate can only be issued by a Public Benefit Organization (PBO) or a Non Profit Company (NPC).

The FSARC has therefore been registered as a PBO and NPC  and donations received from corporate entities can be issued the requisite Section 18A Certificate  and the funds can now legitimately be made available for approved club projects. 

 Quiz Challenges are back....

Our first quiz challenge of the year was against the Rotary Club of Hermanus. As the hosts they had to nominate the quiz master, and boy oh boy Quizmaster Mark certainly did not make it easy.

questions like:

What does a Blue Moon signify?  (Answer: When there are two full moons in the space of a month)

What wood is a cricket bat made of? (Answer: Willow)

What do Agrophobics fear? (Answer: pain)

What country has the Birr as its national currency? (Answer: Ethiopia)

What is the capital of Uzbekistan? (Answer: Tashkent)

What is a gudgon pin? (Answer: I have not got a clue!!!)

....stumped many a participant, and Team Rosebank was convinced that Hermanus had thumped us good and proper, but no!! We scraped through with a narrow win of 20.66 points against their 20.50.

So we are happy to announce that we have retained the Corona Cup.

Please join us for entertaining fellowship. Tomorrow we take on Benoni and Sonja Hood is our capable Quizmaster.

This Friday....

A business meeting.

A Social meeting to kick off the year and a few dates to save...

 From the Pen of our President Ann....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

 May 2021 bring to each one of you HEALTH, HAPPINESS, LOVE and LAUGHTER – never forget to laugh!!

I had a call with DG Annemarie today and she is happy with our progress for the Rotary year so far – we are in line for a citation – YAY!! Thank you to you all!

We have some great speakers lined up and some important meetings to attend in the next few weeks.

Please do make an effort to attend and remember my house is open to anyone who does not want to be alone… you may come here to attend the weekly meeting or the District events.

Do not give up – we may have to meet predominantly on Zoom for the time being but, this too will pass!

I am a phone call away, my kettle is always on the boil and you are welcome!

Look forward to seeing you all in person or on line.

 

 Ann Hope-Bailie

Last Friday, a Social Meeting...

President Ann offered to host the meeting at her home for those members who wished for some face-to-face fellowship and sarmies; Lenore, Lyn and Sybille showed up but the others joined via Zoom.

Due to our Club's relationship with the Highlands North Boys Interact Club President Ann's ears pricked up when she read this open letter by old-boy Ben Horowitz published in the Daily Maverick last week. He aims to raise a substantial R350 000 from his fellow old-boys for his Alma Mater  and would this not be a wonderful opportunity for these young Rotary Interactors to get involved in "spending" the funds.

Ben Horowitz's open letter to the Highlands North Boys Matric Class of 1981

Ann has received about 1400 children's picture books in Afrikaans and German and was hoping that one of us would have a suggestion as to how best to distribute them to a worthy cause and possibly generate some funds for our Club coffers.

Our First Fundraiser for the Year.....

Please share this invitation with as many of your family, friends and colleagues as possible so that we can make sure that this event will be as successful as our previous Rob Caskie fundraiser.

To secure your Zoom attendance you may EFT payment to the following bank account:

Nedbank

Account Holder: Rosebank Rotary Club

Account Number: 1145 9991 23

Branch Code: 198-765

Reference: Your Surname - Caskie

This Friday....

Greg Strathacopoulos, Chair of the E-Club of Southern Africa will address the Club and give us some insights into the Establishment of the Southern African Foundation.

Quiz Evenings .....

And last but not least, do join us for our ever popular Zoom quiz evenings. Get hold of David Bradshaw on 083 461 6830 and he will include you on our Quiz WhatsApp group so that you are kept in the loop of upcoming challenges.

Jingling and Mingling at President Ann's, Trolleys full of Generosity at the Norwood Spar and a Certificate of Appreciation presented in the Year of the Nurse...

 Our President Ann rambling along......

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

Thank you to those who were able to join us on Friday evening – we were lucky enough to have 2 Past District Governors, 2 Past District Governor Anns, and 2 Assistant Governors with us!! What a lovely evening – and no rain!! Makes one realise what we have been missing for the past 8 or 9 months.

 We need to decide how and where we will be holding future meetings – I will be discussing this at Wanderers on Friday but in the short term one or two face to face meetings a month could be held at my house. We will also have scouts at the so called hybrid meetings to see how they go!

 Friday 11th will be our last official meeting of the year. Please do try and join from wherever you are – I know some of you are away already.

 I omitted to have an AGM before year end, so we will be having one in early 2021 – just a heads up, and I am probably in trouble!!

 School awards are being given out during the next week and our 2 Rotary Family Health Day certificates have been presented.

 Winding down has started – take it slowly.

 Ann

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....

Due to Covid restrictions the enthusiasm demonstrated for a formal Christmas Lunch this year was at best luke warm, but we all perked up when we received President Ann's generous invitation.

We were blessed with a balmy evening, and armed with platters and our favourite tipple we descended on the Hope-Bailie household, and was it not a sight for sore eyes to at long last see our Rotary friends in the flesh and not on a Zoom screen.

Ann welcomed us all with a few  heartfelt words, duty sergeant PDG Ken Stonestreet led us in Grace and PP Costa proposed a toast to Rotary, after which the party began in earnest.

 

The food was excellent, the company sublime and as a going home present Charlotte Croswell gifted us each a Spekboom plant.

Trolleys full of Generosity....

Thank you to all of you who volunteered your time to ask patrons of the Norwood Spar to put a food item in their shopping basket, the proceeds of which will hopefully go a long way to provide some Festive Cheer to our chosen charities.

The generosity was overwhelming and over the last 2 weekends we managed to fill numerous trolleys. 

Phuthaditjhaba in Alexandra, Frieda Hartley, The Candlelight Club and Charity begins with Me will all benefit from this drive.

In Celebration of the Year of the Nurse.....

In lieu of the annual Family Health Days which could not take place this year it was decided that instead we would pay homage to our selfless nurses in this the Year of the Nurse.

The Rotary Club of Rosebank thought it was fitting that we should present these Certificates of Appreciation to the two institutions that we have had very close ties with over many years.

Today President Ann accompanied by Melodene Stonestreet and Sybille Essmann paid a visit to the Department of Nursing Education to present Professor Shelley Schmollgruber and her staff with their Certificate of Appreciation.

And  that, as they say in the Classics, is that! This will be the last publication of the Ramble for the year of 2020. I think everyone will agree that it was a tumultuous year, but we survived it more or less in tact and we can only hope and pray that 2021 heralds new beginnings.