A New Dawn for the old blog

It's welcome back to the blog, which we will try to post weekly again to enable members to keep up to date with the goings on in the club.
     It's been a busy year and at this week's meeting we'll take a bit of a breather to strategise about the upcoming Golf Day (Friday, 13th November) and the Christmas Dinner (Friday, 5th December).
     Two other important upcoming dates are 4th November, when Oliver Quambusch from Hotel Hope will address the club on their future plans, and ways in which New Dawn can help; and the DGs visit to New Dawn and Morningside on 25th November, which is normally attended by the board.
     For those who haven't done so yet, please
     a) Diarise the dates for the Golf Day and Christmas Dinner; and
     b) Make a list of everything you can do to contribute to these two important fundraisers.
     Last year we made over R50 000 for the Golf Day and R32 000 from the Christmas dinner. This year we are the only charity beneficiary from the Golf Day, so could easily raise more money than last year, but only if we:
     a) Get enough four balls;
     b) Sell enough raffle tickets; and
     c) Fill the Barrow of Booze with good quality bottles
     Let's all dig deep!

                                                    Sam Varney
Last week's meeting was a great success. First off, we had five visitors, quite an unusual sight these days.
     They were Debbie Nagy, whom we hope will become a member one day; Greta Schuler, our erstwhile Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar; Rudi Vink, sister to John and daughter of Linda and Mike; Brian Skosana, club champion for the RHFD effort, and Steve Margo, our DGR.
     There was also a larger than usual club contingent, and they mostly came to hear Samantha Varney speak.
     Sam is a director of Dlala Nje  (Just Play), a charitable organisation that helps keep the hundreds of kids at Hillbrow's Ponte City occupied while their parents are out earning a living.
     Sam and the two founders of Dlala Nje, Mike Luptak, previously a strategy consultant and Nickolaus Bauer, an ex-journalist, also organise tours to Hillbrow and a Taste of Yeoville tour which several of the New Dawn members have expressed an interest in.
     Read more about what these enterprising people are doing at www.dlalanje.org. They can be contacted at 011 402 2373. The Taste of Yeoville tour costs R350, lasts about two hours, and takes in different eateries in Yeoville's Rockey Street after a brief walk to see the sun set over Yeoville.
And finally a thought for the week: We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop