A Blanket a Day Keeps the Winter Away

It's been an eventful week with preparations for the Induction dinner in full swing and the not-so-small task of handing out 245 blankets (5 were for demo purposes).

    What's more, there are potentially more blankets on the way. A man by the name of Conrad Bronn contacted New Dawn with a view to donating money for blankets to the Rosebank Shelter, amongst other projects.
     He has subsequently collected R14 000 for blankets and we're waiting for official confirmation of this so that 200 more people can be a lot warmer during the cold months.
     The blankets we collected for are made by Sesli Textiles in Robertville, just off Main Reef Road. Their factory shop is well worth a visit, by the way.

The Avanza groans ... this is how you pack 16 bales of
high quality blankets into two cars and a trailer!

Lee Ndlovu of Auckland Park Accommodation supervises
the packing of the blankets, helped by Nono of Sesli Textiles

     We take sleeping warmly very much for granted, but believe me, there are many who don't. There was much excitement at Woodside and at the 5Cees when their blankets were delivered.

Winter warmers! Matron Uschi Wellmann was at hand to greet Linda and I when we delivered the blankets. Linda is next to Heidi McCleod and myself next to Trevor Rodrigues from Woodside Sanctuary

Pastor Mike and the gang ... The kids were very excited to get their blankets, thanks to the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn and our benefactors. Below is a thank you note from the 5Cees

     The visit to the Christ Church Christian Care Centre was also an opportunity to see the results of the paint job at the building. It is very colorful and looking spic n span. Brightly colored flowerpots complement the brightly colored walls, as can be seen in the photographs below. It is well worth going to have a look!

Dates to Remember: 1 July: Induction; 15 July: Cheese Gourmet and a new one:
Wednesday, 17th August the new District Governor will be visiting the club. He will have breakfast with us, followed by a meeting with the board. We'll then be visiting one of our projects.
A Thought for the Week: To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. - Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013)

Monkey business at Discon 2016

There was a bit of monkey business at Discon this year, but also a lot of serious discussions over the three days at Misty Hills in Muldersdrift, at what was widely regarded as one of the best district conferences to date.
     The bar has been set high for our upcoming Discon at a surprise venue (and believe me, it's going to be a very pleasant surprise) to follow the one next year in Polokwane, where Grant Daly will be handing the reins over to Jankees Sligcher.
     The Polokwane Discon will be held from 22 to 25 June 2017 at Bolivia Lodge. Discon is normally held closer to the June 16 public holiday, but has been shifted a bit to make allowance for the RI convention, which takes place from 10 - 14 June in Atlanta, rather than the usual earlier date at the end of May/beginning of June.
     So start saving now!
   

Monkey business at Discon 2016. The New Dawners attracted
 a lot of attention, but unfortunately no prizes!

The chief monkey leads his troop ...

There was lots of serious business as well. Jankees Sligcher, now
District Governor Elect, addressing Discon.

     A few impressions from the plenary sessions: At last year's Discon there were a whole array of motivational speakers, at least five of them. Each one in his or her own right was inspirational, but because there were so many, no message really stood out.
     This year concentrated more on specific projects by clubs, most of whom had qualified for RI grants.  It's interesting to hear what other clubs achieve, often with as few members as ours and as little resources to start with.
     Former First Lady Graca Machel was the keynote speaker and was an instant hit. She listed many of the projects her Graca Machel Trust has undertaken.
     As with all the other speakers, she was given 15 - 20 minutes to state her case, which meant the sessions went particularly smoothly.

Gracious Graca ... Former First Lady Grace Machel

     She spoke eloquently and passionately about work being done with mentally stunted children, saying that 43% of black kids in the country are stunted in some way, largely due to malnutrition; about women in agri-business; about enterprise development and a new challenge, creating a network of women in the media
     A highlight as in many past years was the session with Rotary Exchange Students. Two of the dozen or so arrived in South Africa at the beginning of the year unable to speak a word of English. When they had to introduce themselves, it became clear that living in the platteland quickly cures that! Pierre from France, a strapping lad, played rugby for the first team at his school and his conversation and that of a German boy, Nils, was peppered with "Ja", "awesome" and "cool".

     Johannesburg New Dawn did well this year, receiving a Presidential citation in the bronze class from the RI president for fulfilling all but two of the set goals for clubs worldwide. Two clubs got the award in the silver class and eight in the gold class for meeting all the criteria. There's something to strive for in the next Rotary year!
     We also received a merit award from DG David Grant, both certain signs that the club is operating on all cylinders. Long may it stay that way.

Outgoing DG David Grant and DGA Margie Grant went
to the theme evening as the Flintstones, cheered on by
 Paul and Carol

     The report back from district wasn't all good news. District membership is now just over 1 400 in 79 clubs, down from almost 1 500 members in 85 clubs.
     Worldwide Rotary International has a membership of 1 239 000 in about 33 000 clubs, where the respective numbers a few years ago was 1 500 000 members and 35 000 clubs.
     A challenge was laid down for clubs to grow membership by 25% this year, which in New Dawn terms means 5.25 new members over and above Judy Symons. The call is also for 100% retention of existing members.
     There was also a call for more people to undergo the Rotary Leadership Institute training and better attendance at PETS.
     These are all achievable goals, although the increased membership might be a bit of a problem. Another goal is for 100% sign-up for My Rotary. This is such an easy and obvious thing to do, it's hard to believe only four or five members of the club have already done so.
     Go to the RI website, and REGISTER. The website will tell you everything that you want and need to know about Rotary, as well as offering useful tools to be a better Rotarian. It was one of the two goals we didn't achieve for the presidential awards.

The New Dawn team and friends ... PP Steve du Plessis is with Linda and on the far right is Stella Anyangwe, incoming president of Pretoria West, in her Rotary outfit. Jenine was behind the camera and the Sligchers were with the VIPs

Carol and Jenine at one of the lunches

Jenine cozies up to RIPPR Josh Chimhanda, attending as the Rotary
 International President's Personal Representative

We even got to play with Lego

Carol designed this perfectly balanced
thingy, proving that she has missed her
calling as an engineer

Tripping the light fantastic ... Jankees and Judy show some of the moves that keep them going!

     This year the club was better represented than at any previous Discon, with nine members attending some or all of the sessions and functions.
     Jankees and Judy led the way, with Paul Kasango, Frayne Mathijs, myself and Linda, Carol Stier, Jenine Coetzer and Carin Holmes making up the numbers.
     Some dates to remember: 26 June, joint board meeting; 1 July, the presidential induction; 15 July, Cheese Gourmet dinner; 23 July, proposed date for the first club assembly for the year.
     Thought for the week: Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? - Lillian Hellman, playwright (1905-1984)

Food, Glorious Food!

The end of the Rotary year is rapidly approaching, and I have finally managed to send out invitations to my induction on 1 July.
     I have to thank Steve du Plessis for putting the invitation together, proof if any is needed that Rotarians are reliable, even after they leave your club.
     Another example is that of Graham Donet, who has agreed to be MC for the induction evening, even though he's left Rotary altogether because for the pressures of work.
     Graham, as most of you know, is an excellent MC and is bound to help the party along.
     It just shows, you can take some people out of New Dawn, but you can't take New Dawn out of them!

     Once all the protocol is observed, there's another party on the horizon, our joint social evening with Rosebank Rotary at the Cheese Gourmet in Linden.
     This promises to be another great party. The invitations will be going out after the induction, as we don't want anybody to get confused between the two!
     The idea is for a joint social evening with Rosebank and Brian and Jo Dick of the Cheese Gourmet have put together a wonderful offering.

Jo and Brian Dick, proud owners of the Cheese Gourmet and the Cheese Cafe next door in Linden

     The evening will start off with a cheese and port and wine tasting (three ports, two wines, five cheeses), the cheese obviously from the shop and the port and wine supplied by Axe Hill in Calitzdorp along the famous Route 62 in the Klein Karoo.
     Axe Hill regularly wins awards for their wines and were recently named 2016 Cape Port Producer for their 2013 Cape Vintage.
     The wines will be presented by Mike Neebe, a partner and the winemaker at Axe Hill, who will be offering his wares for sale after the tasting for those who wish to buy.
     The tasting will be followed by a main course of "cheats" cassoulet with Peter James Smith's excellent Toulouse sausages.
     Cassoulet is a traditional stew from Southwestern France with duck confit, Toulouse sausages and sometimes lamb or chicken instead of duck, cooked with haricot beans and topped with a crust of breadcrumbs, real winter fare.
     Dessert will be an Eton mess.
     The cost for the evening, wine included, is R250 a head.
     Please diarize the date: Friday, 15th July, 6.30 for 7pm. The shop and restaurant are in 7th Street, Linden, corner 3rd Avenue.

Lucille explains the dangers of rabies

           The meeting last week was very informative when Lucille first spoke about the rabies outbreak in Muldersdrift (beware those attending Discon next week) and then about the Hluvukani project in Bushbuckridge she's been championing since having to go there regularly on NICD business.
     Wheelchairs donated via New Dawn have made a huge difference in the lives of many residents, as has other help to the community through book donations from the Humanitarian centre and the recent handover of solar lanterns to school kids to help those without electricity to study for exams.

Jankees spoke about his first RI Convention

     She was followed by President Jankees Sligcher, who told about the wonder of attending an RI convention along with something like 48 000 fellow Rotarians.
     As we know, Jankees will be District Governor for the year 2018/2019. He and Judy have therefore already registered for the next RI conference, to be held in Atlanta in the USA.
     It seems food plays quite a role in our lives, what with the Cheese Gourmet, Lucille telling us about the best slap chips with chili sauce in the world and the ginseng sweets with a matching pair of chopsticks that Jankees and Judy gave to everyone at the breakfast.
     To get back to the induction evening: please respond to Carol Stier about whether you can make it that evening or not, and please bring a bottle of wine or two (or even a whole case!) to help the evening along.
     A Thought for the Week: Laugh, and the world laughs with you;/ Weep, and you weep alone./ For this brave old earth must borrow its mirth,/ But has trouble enough of its own. - Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet (1850-1919)