Sailor Malan Part II and the Golf Day Finalised

This week will see Part II of John Myburgh, SC's talk on the South African fighter pilot Sailor Malan where he will concentrate on the post-war years and Malan's anti-apartheid activities.
     Last week we heard about Malan the sailor during his early working years and of course of the grueling years as a Spitfire ace, one of the most decorated - and revered - of this rare breed of men who took on the might of the German Air Force at the Battle of Britain, and crushed it, thereby establishing air supremacy.

Researcher extraordinaire ... John Myburgh, SC, talking about
Sailor Malan

     Malan was a leader of men who abhored unfairness and injustice of any kind, which stood him in good stead after the Second World War, but we'll hear more about that on Wednesday.
      We had an almost record turnout of members and visitors and it was particularly pleasing to see a number of ex-members of New Dawn there.

Russ and Andrew Smith were amongst the ten guests last week. Russ is an ex-New Dawner

     Amongst them was Sue Peiser, who accompanied Myburgh to the talk; Russ Smith, who was a member back in the days when we still met at the UJ School for Tourism and Hospitality, who came with husband Andrew, and Lyn Collocott, who is the incoming president of the Rosebank club, and who has been AG for our club this past year.

It was good to have Judy Symons back after her overseas travels. Here she and Paul Kasango listen to the talk

     Tutty Faber was also there from the Rosebank club. Other guests were Debbie Nagy, Henk van Buuren, Rudi Vink and of course Myburgh himself.
     As a personal aside I'd like to thank Lyn for her help during this past year, making sure we have been kept on our toes, especially as far as district responsibilities go.

Frayne Mathijs listens attentively

     It would be great to have a similar turnout this week, as it creates the right kind of atmosphere in which to reflect upon a remarkable and adventurous life, so ignore the cold and be there.
     The Parkview Golf Club will be serving a buffet breakfast as they did last week and we'll try to keep the last half an hour free of interruptions for the speaker.

Julian Nagy tries to convince Judy Sligcher that he's already paid his brag money, but she was having
none of it!

     Please note that because it is a buffet, the breakfast costs a bit more than usual. Parkview charged us R110 a head, whilst we charged only R85 and made up the shortfall out of club funds, so be there and be prepared to give generously!

Debbie de Vries brought her husband, Henk van Buuren along for the talk. Henk is already a familiar presence at the club and many of our functions

  Blanket Drive
     Congratulations to the blanket drive people who braved the pavements of Parkview last week and collected enough for another 25 blankets.
     Sam Donet and Frayne were joined at the last minute by Debbie and Henk, for which they deserve high praise. It's a difficult job pounding the pavements for donations, but they jumped right in and had great success.
     A very, very big thank you to all of you.

Induction, Golf Day and Christmas
     Tear up all your old calendars to avoid confusion about the three big upcoming dates. These are the final and official dates:
     Carol Stier's induction: Friday, 7th July at Twickenham Guest House. Details to follow.
     Golf Day: Friday, 10th November at the Parkview Golf Club. This is the main fundraiser for the year, so start speaking to golfers and arranging sponsorships and prizes. Contributions to the Barrows of Booze will be welcome.
     Christmas Dinner: Friday, 8th December, venue to be decided. This will be the last meetings of the year.
     One more date: Next Wednesday (31st May) we'll skip the breakfast meeting and have a social evening at the Nagy home in Craighall Park where home-cooked curries will be served. The address is 9 Roxburgh Ave, Craighall Park and the time is 6.30 for 7pm. There will be no official invitation, so please make a note of this and remember to bring something to drink.

Tom Wheeler

RIP Tom Wheeler
     Tom Wheeler was one of the best kind of Rotarians, always willing to lend a hand and always prepared to contribute with his expertise in the field of foreign affairs.
     He was a fascinating man to talk to and will be missed dearly. Our thoughts go out to his family.
     The Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn would like to join in the glowing tributes to this fine man, who died last week. He was a fascinating speaker who put his vast knowledge of foreign affairs to good use. He spoke to New Dawn not long after relinquishing the post of ambassador to Turkey, which crowned a long career with both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Institute for International Affairs.
     His family have posted the following notice on Facebook:

The Wheeler family would like to express our sincere gratitude for the enormous outpouring of heartfelt messages and support that we have receive in this time of grief.

     Tom touched so many lives, and we are extremely grateful to have had him in ours. He will be dearly missed by many.

     There will be a memorial service on Thursday 25 May 14h00 at St. Columba’s Presbyterian Church, 45 Lurgan Road, Parkview.

     In lieu of flowers, we would love for donations to be made to the Rotary Foundation in Tom’s honour. Please put “For Tom” in the payment reference line and “Peace Fellowship” as the designation of contribution.

Bank transfer:

HSBC Bank PLC – Johannesburg Branch

2 Exchange Square, 85 Maude Street, Sandown, Sandton 2196, South Africa (necessary for overseas payments)

Beneficiary Name: Rotary Foundation

Account Number: 121007504001. Or: 21007504001 (If alternative 11-digit code must be used)

Branch Code: 587000

SWIFT (BIC) Code: HSBCZAJJ

Currency: South African Rand (ZAR)

Payment Reference:

Donor Name: For Tom 

Designation of contribution: Peace Fellowship

     A Thought for the Week: We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  - Winston Churchill (1874-1965)