New Dawn Shines at Discon 2017

Only a handful of clubs, one of which was the host club, Pietersburg 101, had as many or more delegates at Discon 2017 as the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn. We were 10 in total: Jankees and Judy Sligcher, Steve du Plessis and Jenine Coetzer, Mike and Linda Vink, Carol Stier, Frayne Mathijs, Amina Frense and Paul Kasango. Paul brought wife Susan with and she attended the whole conference with the rest of us.
     Do we sniff another Rotarian in the making?

The New Dawn team bright and early for the first session last Friday. From left it's Amina, myself, Linda, Carol, Paul and Susan. Amina is talking to Frayne, Jenine took the photo, Steve was operating the IT equipment, and Jankees and Judy were seated with the dignitaries

     It was a great Discon, although with a total of 254 people a bit smaller than usual. Of the present 80 clubs in the district, 52 had delegates there. New Dawn featured more than once during the two-and-a-half days.
     The greatest focus was, of course, on Jankees being inducted as District Governor after serving first a year as DG Nominee and then DG Elect this past year.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man... and his wife! Jankees and Judy
 shortly after his induction as District Governor

     The time has finally come! After years of preparation there is suddenly no place to hide from the Rotary spotlight. Jankees has thrown himself into the project of becoming DG with his normal gusto and enthusiasm, as has Judy and there can be little doubt that it is going to be a highly successful year. Or that it is going to be a busy one!

The New Dawn contingent (from left Steve and Carol and to the right of Jankees it is Jenine, Amina and Frayne) wish Jankees and Judy the best of years at the Gala Dinner on Saturday night. 

     There were a number of other highlights from a New Dawn perspective, amongst them that we were one of a group of clubs that qualified for a District Merit Award (Silver class). Only one club, Benoni Aurora, qualified in the Gold class.
     The significance of the merit awards as well as the RI Presidential citations in a month or two, are that they are a sign that a club is being well run and doing all the things it is meant to do. This takes teamwork, so the whole of New Dawn can take a bow.

I went on stage to accept the District award on behalf of the club. On the right is Peter James-Smith, an ex-president of New Dawn

 

The certificate

         Both Jankees and Steve were rewarded for their Rotarian efforts. Steve not only completed the four tough courses of the Rotary Leadership Institute, he has also been asked to continue as a lecturer. Much was made at Discon of the work of the RLI and we want to see many more members doing the courses in the coming Rotary year.

Steve and the other RLI graduates with their awards

Jankees was honoured as a Bequest Society member by outgoing
 DG Grant Daly and RIPPR Jackson Hsieh of Taipei, Taiwan, who
attended Discon with his wife, Juliet

            A highlight on the social scene was the theme party on Friday night where your fellow club members dressed up as Chinese and generally made fools of themselves, except of course for Jankees, who is a master of the dance floor!

Jankees strutting his stuff on the dance floor

An unlikely bunch of Chinese, except maybe for Jenine doing a good impersonation in the front row

Three little maids from school are we/ filled to the brim with girlish glee ... Gilbert and Sullivan must have had these three in mind when composing The Mikado.

Jenine and Steve in Oriental guise. It's hard to see why we didn't win any prizes!

      There was other news aplenty, and Linda's decision that she'll stand for president after Carol's year, went down very well. This is a great boon for the club, as we can start thinking about a successor to her in good time and help one of the other club members prepare for the role.
     It is seen as another sign of a well-run club that there is a constant feed of new club leaders rather than recycling the old leaders. New Dawn is blessed with a group of natural leaders, so come on guys (and girls).

Linda and Carol. Linda announced she is willing to be considered for the club presidency for 2018/2019

Paul with the New Dawn display

       New Dawn was one of the very few clubs that had a display in the foyer of the convention hall and quite a few people stopped by to page through our printed blogs on the table. Every single blog since the club started, is there.
     On the second day we realised that someone was so intrigued by the blogs that four volumes had gone missing!
     Luckily three of these were retrieved off tables at the conference, but the fourth will have to be reprinted.
     I could write all night about the Discon, the speakers, the wealth of information about matters Rotary and the work we do, but there is a better way ... decide now to attend next year, when the conference will be held at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park. It'll be a blast!

Blankets
     I managed to get hold of the first consignment of blankets just before Discon and we delivered them to the 5Cees in Berea, who in turn were going to hand some out in surrounding townships and amongst street kids and the homeless.

With some of the staff and kids and a pile of blankets donated mainly by people visiting the Parkview Spar

       We transported 142 blankets, no mean feat, but the good news is that Coenraad Bronn has already paid over enough for another 255 blankets, with another 30 to come, and an extra three from club members. That means a grand total of 430 blankets to keep the needy warm this winter. Well done, club!
     A Thought for the Week: Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle. - Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948).