Welcome Amina, the Woodside Meeting and the Cycle Race.

Last week Amina Frense was inducted as our latest member.  We must be the most literate Club in Johannesburg with one practising journalist and three former journalists as members.   It is interesting that the former journalists have a preference for the classification "Journalism"!  Calvin Meter appears in the collage with his newly grown beard.  An improvement?  Our meeting was held at the SA Chefs Association Skills Kitchen as the University is not functioning yet.  President Graham Donet said that they had made a bid for our custom.  If the breakfast is anything to go by and it wasn't just a smooze.............???????

President Graham also announced that we had been able to assist the CCCCC's with having their stove repaired thanks to the generosity of Anvil and that we had supplied them with a boiling table that was much needed.  The next step will be to sort out the loos following our successful fund-raising dinner.

This week's meeting and breakfast is at Woodside Sanctuary and Hugh Rix is our host.  This will enable us all to see what we are trying to achieve with the Solar Heating Project and what Woodside is all about.






Woodside is further up Canary St above the UJ Boom into Bunting Rd.  The entrance is round the back, left into Dorbie St.





Don Lindsay sent everyone an email about the Henley Cycle Race.  Don't forget to let him know if you can be a  marshal.  The Club will make considerable money out of this and it is not a once off so please contact him asap.  I've reproduced  his email below:

As discussed at the meeting on Wednesday and previous meetings, we are going to assist with marshalling cycle races as a fund-raising project.  There are two on the calendar and we are now finalising arrangements for the first.

This is the Fast One cycle race and it is held in the Midvaal area south of Johannesburg on Sunday 30th January.  We have committed to 12 marshals and I now need the names of those who can assist.  We have to be on site at 05:30am and it will take about 40mins to get there.  You will be finished by about 10am.

To make this occasion more of a club event, we have been invited to a bring & Braai by the RC of Meyerton Henley on Klip on the banks of the Klip River.  Henley is really lovely and Gary & Heather Watson’s home is no exception.  So, please can you also diarise this as a club social outing.

In response to this email, please let me know if you are available to marshal at the race.  We’ll do the lunch numbers later.

Regards,
Don Lindsay082 817 1971


Power of Attorney

Chinese ballet star Li Cunxin made international headlines in 1981 when he was forcibly detained inside the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, USA, after informing officials there of his intent to remain in the United States.

Charles Foster (right) with Kyle McLachlan
who portrayed him in the film.

Li had first come to Houston as a member of the Beijing Academy of Dance for a three-month cultural exchange with the Houston Ballet Academy. His skill earned him an extended stay, and Li passionately desired to continue in his art with the Houston Ballet.

Li’s attorney, Charles Foster, refused to abandon his client to the custody of consular officials, concerned that they would force the artist to leave the country against his will. During 21 hours of tense negotiations that followed, Foster obtained a federal court order restraining Chinese officials from taking further action. He also phoned senior U.S. government authorities, alerting them to the legal consequences of forcibly repatriating Li to China.

In the end, Foster’s persistence prevailed and Li was allowed to stay in the United States. He went on to become a principal dancer and star of the Houston Ballet.

The standoff at the consulate is a key scene in the movieMao’s Last Dancer, released by Samuel Goldwyn Films and ATO Pictures in August. Directed by Bruce Beresford and based on Li’s autobiography, the film stars Chi Cao as Li and Kyle MacLachlan as Foster.

“If it wasn’t for Charles’s knowledge of the applicable law, his quick thinking, and his dedication to me as his client, I am not sure how it might have turned out,” says Li, who now lives with his family in Australia.

“Li is a remarkably talented and courageous person who deserves all the recognition and accolades his book and the film are receiving,” says Foster, a member of the Rotary Club of Houston and a former Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar.

The case helped spark a tradition at FosterQuan LLP of providing pro bono immigration legal work for the Houston Ballet and other local arts organizations. Foster is a founding partner of the law firm.

“What most audiences don’t think about is that major performing arts organizations, such as the Houston Ballet, have an ongoing need to navigate complex immigration laws in order to legally bring the best talent from around the world to perform here,” he says. “The process is time consuming and involves multiple federal agencies, so it requires experienced legal counsel.”

A recognized expert on U.S. immigration law, Foster also served as a senior policy adviser to both George W. Bush and Barack Obama during their presidential campaigns.

Foster studied law as a 1964-65 Rotary Scholar at Universidad de Concepción, Chile, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi, Texas.

“The Rotary scholarship experience was a huge influence on me,” he says. “I was [later] hired as an international lawyer, because I was deemed to be sufficiently bilingual to do international legal work in both English and Spanish.”

In addition, Foster says he “spoke to just about every Rotary club in Chile” and large numbers of clubs in Texas. After starting his own law firm, he became a Rotarian.

“It was a very natural thing to do, having been so involved with Rotary,” he says.