On Course for a Record Breaking Golf Day

In sport it is said that records are made to be broken and so it must also be in charity, because we left a whole wheelbarrow full of records in the dust on Friday.
     Starting off with said wheelbarrow: there were two where in the old days there used to be only one.

Having fun in the sun were the happy couples Amina Frense and Ronnie Kasrils and Aminas' sister Gigi with Hans-Reza Kerschbaumer, a Cape Town Based osteopath

     The booze to fill the barrow? At least twice as much as in previous years. I counted eight or more cases of six bottles each plus whisky, Russian Vodka, beer, fortified wine, Amarula and even some mampoer!
     Winners of said booze and barrows? Two instead of one! Let's hope they know how to use all that good stuff responsibly.

Not one but two ... there were two Barrows of Booze up for grabs at the Golf Day of Many
 new Records, thanks mainly to club stalwarts like Linda (sales and more sales) and
Paul, as always one of the unsung heroes of the club

     The total income looks to be well over R60000, up from just under R40000 last year.
     That means the "profit" - the direct amount with which charities will benefit - could be well in excess of R40000, depending on the size of the bill from the Parkview Golf Club for green fees (a discounted R250 per player, for which we are extremely grateful) and meals.
     That compares rather well with the R23230 from last year.

Winners all ... Linda is flanked by the two Barrow of Booze winners, Mark Barberini (green wheelbarrow) and Matthew Emanual, club member Judy Symons' son (blue wheelbarrow). Mark was so chuffed to have won that he raced over from Parktown North to come and fetch his prize.

     Our tireless ace Rafflemeister, Linda, almost single handedly sold R23750 worth of raffle tickets compared with R14930 in 2015. Thanks also to all the members who helped her in Parkview and at the golf club. Take a bow Sam, Judy, Judy, Jankees, Carol and the ever willing and able Frayne. You've set the bar very high for next year!
     On the day Linda and the team sold R9100 worth of tickets. Last year tickets sold on the day totaled R8580. Another record bites the dust.

Jankees Sligcher used the opportunity of a Rotary Zone meeting to showcase our Golf Day to other Rotarians. With him in front of the Pas Reform banners are PP Paul Kasango and (in the red shirt) Hutchson Mthinga from Malawi, who played in the Golf Day.

     Last year we had two hole sponsorships worth R4000 and this year there were five for an income of R10000. We like keeping it in the family, because two of the sponsorships were from Jankees (Pas Reform) and Judy Sligcher (Judy's Swim School), one from Auckland Park Accommodation (Linda and Mike Vink), one from BBM Law, the firm where Rudi Vink works and the last one from Adv. Michael van der Nest, SC, Linda's brother.

Alan Bellamy (right) and Richard Steward were the winners of the Golf Day championship. Congratulating them are Greg Smith and Paul Kasango. Allan is Joan Donets' brother. Talk about keeping it in the family!
 

     To round off, there was an auction that raised an extra  R6250. The first item was a case of red wine, Secret Cellars Big Five 2013 from Buitenverwachting, one of the premier cellars in the Constantia Valley in Cape Town.
     Secret Cellars is the house label of Ultra Liquors and the case raised R1500, thanks to the generosity of Nic Stier.
     The second item to be auctioned was a framed memento of the 2012 Ryder Cup with the signed cap of Martin Kaymer, who hit the winning putt for the European team, as the centerpiece. Now that the European team has ceded the Ryder Cup to the USA, it will no doubt become even more valuable. It was donated by Rian Swart,who in turn had bought it at another charity auction. It was sold for R4750 to Matthew Emanuel.

Friends all ... District Governor Grant Daly (middle), District Governor Elect Jankees Sligcher and New Dawn President Mike Vink pretending they're the new front row forwards of the Springboks!

     The money was not the only measure of the success of the day.
     Because of the Foundation seminar in Johannesburg on the same day, we were lucky to be able to host some district and other Southern African Rotary dignitaries.

Debbie De Vries Van Buuren (right), an attorney, and Carien Vosloo, joined the golfing field and are considering joining Rotary along with Debbie's husband, Hennie. We're waiting with bated breath!

     The day was also a showcase for the Johannesburg New Dawn club and we invited some prospective new members along to see for themselves that although the charity work has a serious side, it can also be fun.

Graham Donet took time off his busy job to
 conduct the auction, something he has
also done with great success in the past

As always Paul Kasango was at hand all the time
to help where he could, and was a truly masterful
master of ceremonies

          Thank you again to everybody who helped make the Golf Day such a success. The biggest thanks must go to Greg Smith. Without his golfing expertise and enthusiasm none of it would be possible.

Judy Sligchers' Deviled Eggs went down a treat

     Special thanks must also go to Judy Sligcher for the divine Deviled Eggs. Also to the Parkview Golf Club for making the arrangements so easy.
     As a club we've built up a list of contacts for the Golf Day as regards players and sponsors, and built up an expectation around the Barrows of Booze that we can build on for the years to come. Let's start planning for next year!

Speaker
     The speaker last week was Adv John Myburgh, SC, who spoke on the Americn election process in light of the upcoming Presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
     John chooses a theme each year, thoroughly researches his topic and then addresses groups of people wherever the opportunity arises.

John Myburgh and friends ... From left are Chris Williams, John Vink, John M, Rudi Vink and Samantha Donet

     This strikes one as a very noble use of spare time and the club did not disappoint, as 17 of our 23 members were present at the talk. This must also be some kind of record!
     Because of all the effort he puts into researching his topic, John asked if he could come and give the second half of his speech at the meeting on Wednesday, 19 October.
     He unearthed some fascinating facts, such as that the second term limit was a convention after George Washington declined to serve a third term, up until Franklin D Roosevelt died a few months into his fourth term towards the end of the Second World War. After his death the American Constitution was changed to set a limit of two terms.
    John  also told that there were only two Democratic presidents between the late 1800s and World War II. One was obviously FDR and the other Woodrow Wilson.

Dave Bradshaw from Morningside, an old friend of Johannesburg New Dawn, was one of the many visitors who came to hear John Myburgh speak. With him is Julia Nagy, who's job in Pretoria has been wound down, so we should be seeing a bit more of him in future.

Paul Kasango took the opportunity to greet another old friend and past president of the club, Peter James-Smith. Peter is the current president of the Rosebank club

Debbie Nagy and Jean Bernardo have a chat. Jean was the previous Assistant Governor for the club 

     I spoke to Chris Williams, an America friend, afterwards and said the speech must've been a bit like Politics 101 to him, but he said he had been fascinated throughout and had learnt quite a lot. This is high praise indeed, as Chris is a political scientist and knows a bit more about the topic than, well, just about everyone else!
     Two members we haven't seen for a while, Julian Nagy and John Vink, joined the meeting along with a whole slew of visitors. We're looking forward to seeing more of them in the future, and most of you for the rest of the talk on 19 October!

This week
     There is no speaker for this week and Jankees has indicated that he wants to use the meeting to discuss membership and issues around the Health Days. Paul will have a roster for members to fill in for duty at the two sites on 12-14 October. Please volunteer to help.

Our Thoughts for the Week go to Carol Stier and her family:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

- Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004)