Bye-Bye Golf Swing, Hello RFHD

No sooner is the Golf Day behind us than the Rotary Family Health Days are upon us.
     This is a very laudable effort that involves clubs all over the district, all over South and Southern Africa and also very successfully, almost the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
     The RFHD project is the kind of effort that works best because of the tremendous clout Rotary gives through Rotary International.

The official RFHD logo

     It reaches out to communities who don't always have access to basic healthcare, and all that Rotarians really have to do is to assist with the registration of people visiting the sites for medical tests, and to help keep the sites in good order.
     Clubs help to identify sites in their area and make sure there are enough people to keep the site going over the three days that the RFHD takes place, this year being tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
     This is actually quite a responsibility and Johannesburg New Dawn is battling to fill all the slots for this year. It is difficult, if not impossible, for employees to take days off at random during the week, so that the burden falls onto the self-employed and retired members.
     Up until now New Dawn has shared two sites with Johannesburg North East, but have been left with two sites again this year without the help of another club. We should look to either approaching another club to help next year, or limiting ourselves to one site.
     That doesn't help Paul this year, though and he is still looking for help over the three days. Speak to him at the meeting tomorrow morning if you can help, or phone him of you can't get to the meeting. His number is 083 380-4691.

What it was all about! Golfers tackle a green during the Golf Day

Golf Day
Last week we wrote about the record-breaking Golf Day and the final figures prove that it was a huge success.
     We had 44 golfers, who paid R22000 to play. Other income came from sponsorships (R10000), the auction (R6250) and a whopping R23850 from the raffle, most of it in cash about the size of a brick!
     Along with sponsorship of R2289 for the Halfway House meals, the total income was R64289 and total expenses (half of the green fees plus the hamburgers afterwards and the Halfway House meals) came to R17169. That means we made a very impressive R47120. Next year we could try for R100000!
     Thanks again to everybody involved.

Last years' Carnival City Macsteel National Classic Cycle Race

The Macsteel
     Of course no sooner will the Health Days be over than we have to start preparing for the Carnival City Macsteel Cycle Race. The race takes on a new slot in November, where it has traditionally been held in February every year.
     New Dawn has pledges eight marshalls for Sunday, 6 November, serving at two points very close to the beginning of the race, which means that we can go home once all the cyclists have passed.
     We'll be starting a list of names at the meeting tomorrow morning.

Matters Arising
     Can The Donald Be Trumped? Does Hillary Fit the Bill? Answers to these and other questions may or may not become clear during Adv John Myburgh, SC's talk next week (19 October) when he'll be giving the second half of his lecture on the American electoral process.
     We had a great turnout two weeks ago during the first half of the lecture, so let's not disappoint and try for more of the same for the second half.
     As noted, John doesn't like to be interrupted while he's speaking, so this time we'll order breakfast early and try to have it eaten and cleared so that he can talk for the second half of the meeting.

German beer on tap

Schwabing Stuben
     Peter James-Smith of the Rosebank Club is arranging a visit for his club members to the Schwabinger Stuben restaurant in Randburg. It's well worth a visit and you can contact Peter if you wish to go.
     They serve the best eisbein in town and the beer (or wine, if you prefer) flows freely.
     The visit is on Thursday, 27th October and Peter asks that bookings be made with him before Friday, 21 October.

Dave Tuzewski, Jankees Sligcher and Linda Vink (with the broken arm) in the Twickenham garden

Not a Drop To Drink
     From picking up prospective club members in the queue at Woolworths, Jankees, our DGE, has moved to higher things and ended up picking up a most welcome Aussie at the Rotary International Convention in Seoul.
     Dave Tuzewski is a Disaster Aid Response Team Director of the organization Disaster Aid Australia.
     He was set for a visit to Cape Town and Jankees hijacked him to stop over in the northern parts for a few days. They travelled to the Hartbeespoortdam on Monday and spent the evening with the Rotary club there, where Dave addressed the club.
     He specialises in water purification in disaster areas, and by all accounts the dam is one!
     Dave is a member of the Rotary Club of Adelaide Parks.

And Finally ...
     There are quite a few dates to diarise in the above, so please make a note of what's happening where.
     We had our monthly board meeting this morning so the club meeting tomorrow will be a business meeting, with the emphasis on the RFHD, where Paul will be explaining what everyone has to do, when they have to do it and, of course where.
     A Thought for the Week: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865).