A Case of: Thank you, Marshall; Goodbye, Marshall?

The Macsteel and Fast One Cycle Races have been a part of the New Dawn landscape from the very beginning from when the club founder, Don Lindsay, made them a part of our fundraising efforts.
     They've been a steady source of income during the past eight or so years and the money has been put to good use.

The Macsteel team at 4.45 am on Sunday: Myself, Abi Barrel, Adriaen Slicher's partner, Adriaen, Linda, Judy Sligcher with Judy Symons in front of her, Amina Frense, DG Jankees Sligcher, president Carol Stier and Paul Kasango in front. With the drama to follow it's no wonder DGA Judy looks like she's praying!

     Two observations though: the amount of money has barely changed over the years due mainly to smaller fields of cyclists and the nature of the task of marshalling has changed dramatically. It has become more dangerous.
     This was proved on Sunday with an accident that was preventable but quite literally almost took out Adriaen Sligcher and his partner, Abi Barrel and Paul Kasango.

The overturned truck and car in which three people were seriously injured in a head-on collision

     Our stretch of road along North Boundary Road, that runs from the Carnival City Casino, crosses the N3 and goes on to Alberton, is a dual carriageway. The idea was that motorists would use one carriageway (the eastbound one) and the cyclists the westbound lanes.
     The problem was that nobody told the motorists and there was nobody, in the form of traffic police, to tell them in the early stages of the race. The Metro police only arrived after 7am, while the various races had started at 5.45.

Marshalls meet Metro police ... Myself, Carol, Linda, Amina and Judy were lucky enough to have an enthusiastic and competent team of young traffic officers at our point, even if they did pitch up late

     The accident happened when a truck and car collided head-on because neither was sure where they should have been driving. The speed limit along the stretch of road is 100 km/h, and many motorists were trying to beat that despite it being clearly dangerous.
     Once the traffic police arrived, the traffic was diverted onto the correct lanes for the long first stretch of the race ... for less than an hour. For the final stages cars and cyclists once again shared the same lanes and the fact that nobody else was hurt, is a miracle.
     At our point both president Carol Stier and Judy Symons had several narrow escapes.
     My personal feeling is that New Dawn has outgrown the marshalling duties at cycle races. We should inform the organisers of the Fast One race in Henley that we won't be back in January next year. We should then wait for payment from the Macsteel race and then inform the Rotary Club of Germiston officially that we won't be back in October next year.
     This is something we could discuss at the meeting tomorrow.

From pedals to wine boxes

President Carol Stier with Michael Fridjhon, founder and a director of Winex

     All is not doom and gloom, however.
     Those that were able to participate, agree that working at Winex was far greater fun than marshalling at 5am on a Sunday.
     The income should be almost the same as for the two cycle races combined, so it would make sense to swop them. Perhaps we should wait until final payment before confirming our attendance next year.

     I found all the bending over to get bottles out of boxes heavy going because of a sore back (amongst other age-related afflictions) and was suitably embarrassed to have had Frayne doing much of the heavy lifting, as she and I were a team serving one station with 6 wineries!

A big thank you to Frayne, Judy and Debbie de Vries for all the hard work at Winex

     Judy Symons had it worse, as she had to serve a whole station mostly on her own the first day.
     President Carol and president-elect Linda were a team at one of the biggest stations and put the rest of us to shame in all aspects.
     Linda says in general the women fared far better at Winex than the guys! That may be a hint to the able bodied for next year.

Carol with Carl Chemaly, an ex-Rotarian from the Johannesburg club who seems interested in rejoining, but to our club this time

Megan Maynard from The Link was also a visitor to Winex

     Winex has a couple of spin-off benefits; one is that we're able to buy wine at reasonable prices from the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora after the show when wineries donate leftover wines to them. This year about 1000 bottles were donated.
     The other was the opportunity for networking with like-minded people amongst the winemakers, the public and the other Rotarians that were helping.

Linda with Adriaen and Abi before things got rough on Sunday

Three ex-members schmooze ... Graham Donet helped on two nights and met Peter and Jean James-Smith

     The most important was that although it was hard work, it was interesting and fun. It is the biggest wine show in South Africa by far and claimed to be the biggest in the southern hemisphere so that almost all of the most prominent wineries are represented.
   

Carin and Joan on the exhibition floor

Sam and Rob Deverceuil with mom Joan

Sitting pretty ... Graham Donet and I take a break

The news in a nutshell
     The meeting last week with Barnard Beukman, editor of Beeld as the speaker, went off very well and we had quite a few visitors to bolster our numbers.
     Barnard spoke about producing news in a changing environment and the role of the media in the current political climate.

Barnard Beukman and Amina Frense at the meeting

       Under the headline Media discusses its electronic future the caption to the photograph, for those who battle with Afrikaans, reads: The development of electronic media and its role in the present political climate was the subject of a meeting on Wednesday of the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn. Left is Barnard Beukman, editor of Beeld and guest speaker with Amina Frense, chairman of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism and a member of the club.
     The photograph and caption were used prominently on Page 4 of Beeld last Thursday morning.

President Lyn Colllocott and AG Dave Bradshaw at the meeting

     Amongst the visitors were Lyn Collocott, president of Rosebank Rotary and Dave Bradshaw, also of Rosebank Rotary and our Assistant Governor for the year. Lyn was our previous AG.

Visitors Andrew Smith and Greta Schuler

     Other visitors were the Smith family, Andrew, Russ and daughter Cathy. Russ is a past member of the club.
     Greta Schuler, John's wife, was also there with John, paying a rare visit to his club!

Rudi Vink, flanked by daughter Cathy and mom Russ Smith, also came to hear the talk

Richard Wear and Mike MacDonald

     Mike MacDonald brought a friend, the recently retired Richard Wear, along to the meeting. We're relying on Mike to rope him in as a member of the club.

And finally ...
     Don't forget the Golf Day on Friday, 10th November at the Parkview Golf Club.
     Although the shiny new wheelbarrow that Judy Symons bought is filling up nicely, a few extra bottles would be most welcome, so bring them along tomorrow.
     A Thought for the Week: If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. - Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Ronnie and Jacob; You Read About it Here First!

In Ian Widdop's absence last week Julian Nagy, with a bit of help from president Carol Stier, spoke about the Arts on Main fundraising project. Ian couldn't make the meeting at the last minute because of business commitments, but has promised to do a full formal presentation.
     David Krut, an international art agent (he represents William Kentridge amongst others) is one of the main players in the ongoing discussions. He's overseas at the moment and Ian will probably wait until his return before his presentation.

Julian Nagy addressing the club meeting

     Julian is spearheading the search for new avenues of fundraising for the club; more specifically a major fundraiser that can raise serious money for New Dawn to be able to extend our efforts of helping where it is needed most.
     Ian has agreed to champion the project.

Carol Stier presiding over the rowdy meeting

     The idea is to hold an arts evening at Arts on Main in the Maboneng precinct, somewhere around March. In exchange for buying a ticket attendees will get a meal, something to drink, a jazz band, an art exhibition and the chance to bid on selected artworks being auctioned.
     Matthew Townsend of The Canteen at Arts on Main is also part of the pilot team and will provide the food for the evening. Matthew is playing in our Golf Day on 10 November.

Lucille Blumberg, Debbie de Vries and Judy Symons at the meeting last week

     Arts on Main will provide the venue.
     Do people in general buy art? Would New Dawn and the others involved be able to sell enough tickets to enough people who would put their hands in their pockets to buy enough for the club to earn a reasonable amount in commission. And of course there's the added question whether people would be prepared to go to Maboneng in the evenings.
     Although still in the planning stage, Ian has already had a number of meetings with those involved and sounds happy with the progress being made.

Steve du Plessis and I in deep discussion about planning the registration process for Discon 2018

     There's a lot of planning still to be done for Discon 2018 in the Kruger National Park and every time we start thinking there's still plenty of time, we realise that Jankees Sligcher is well into his year as District Governor, so much so that he has almost completed his club visits.
     As so often Steve du Plessis, the District IT officer, is in the middle of things. Linda and I will be doing the registration again, as with the recent Zone 20A Institute meeting and club members can prepare to be called on to help things run smoothly. One of the main tasks will be to welcome Rotarians to the Paul Kruger Gate at the park.

Speakers
     The speaker on Wednesday is an old friend and colleague, Barnard Beukman, who has been editor of Beeld for the past almost two years.
     Barnard left journalism to start his own consulting firm about five years ago but when things started going a bit awry at what is now South Africa's premier daily newspaper dealing with general news, he got a call to return to journalism. A stalwart of many a newsroom and newspaper boardroom, he didn't hesitate.

Barnard Beukman, editor, in the Beeld newsroom

     He is an old school journalist who still believes in cultivating sources based on trust in the spheres in which you operate, quite refreshing in a world where social media often becomes the main source of news stories.
     Barnard, who started up in journalism in the late 80s, also worked in newspaper management before returning to head the editorial team at Beeld.
     He will be speaking on the role of newspapers in a charged political environment.
     In another coup for the club Stephen McGown, who was held hostage in Mali for almost 6 years, has agreed to join us for breakfast on Wednesday, 15 November, where he will answer questions about his years in captivity and what it is like to be back home again.

Stephen McGoen and his wife, Catherine

     Stephen, whose mother tragically died before his release, was on the news programme Carte Blanche last night talking about his ordeals at the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists.
     The almost six years were an ordeal also for his wife, Catherine, the daughter of Sue Peiser, an ex-member of New Dawn. The two were returning to South Africa to start a family when Stephen  decided to fulfil a dream of riding through Africa by motorcycle and was captured.
     Also on Carte Blanche last night was Ronnie Kasrils, better known as Mr Amina Frense to New Dawn members!
     Ronnie, who served as a cabinet minister in a number of portfolios (Defence, Water Affairs, Minerals and Energy and Intelligence amongst them) has been a busy man, writing a book that is being launched almost as we speak.

Ronnie Kasrils and Amina Frense took time off from their busy schedule to wish Archbishop Desmond Tutu, here with his wife, Leah, a happy birthday earlier this month

     It promises to raise quite a few eyebrows in the ANC of Jacob Zuma and the South Africa of today. Titled A Simple Man; Kasrils and the Zuma Enigma (Jacana Media), it chronicles the contact between the two during the struggle years and during Kasrils' time as minister of intelligence.
     And yes, we're doing everything, with his help, to get Ronnie to speak to the club about his unique insight into the man who has caused so much of a furore in the past decade and more. Be sure that signed copies of the book will be available for auction at the annual Christmas Dinner (8 December. Diarise it!)

Golf Day Contributions
     Don't forget to attend the meeting on Wednesday, it promises to be one of the better ones.
     And if you haven't done so yet, don't forget to bring a bottle or two (or two dozen!) of booze for the Barrow of Booze for the Golf Day on 10 November.
     A Thought for the Week: If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. - Desmond Tutu (1931 -)

A Healthy Look at the RFHD

The health days at the new site in Albert Street in downtown Johannesburg, have come and gone (much to the relief, no doubt, of Steve du Plessis and Paul Kasango) and Paul briefed the meeting last week on the immediate impressions.
     Paul reported that, according to the registration records, 317 people were screened in total over the three days, of whom 147 were male and 170 female.

Paul Kasango (right) with a helper from the aid group Gift of the Givers, who brought food parcels 

      Carol Stier, our president, disputed the figures, saying that not everybody had followed the same registration process and many had gone for tests before registering officially, or not registering at all.
     The figures are more or less in line with the number of people who came for tests at the previous two sites in Soweto. The Albert Street venue was chosen because the local health department thought it would be more effective in servicing people who don't normally have access to health services and testing and screening.

Frayne Mathijs explaining procedure to a visitor to the site

     These figures were achieved despite a late start on the first day and rain on the Friday. Despite this Paul, who was and is the club champion of the RFHD effort, as well as the others that helped, seemed in favour of retaining the site in future.
     The RFHD is a showcase event for Rotary and an opportunity for clubs to work together outside of the District structures. Over the years it seems to have taken on a life of its own and the club is very lucky to have a champion at ground level like Paul and in District Governor Jankees Sligcher, who is a tireless promotor of the RFHD.

DG Jankees Sligcher and president Carol Stier at Albert Street

     That's not to mention Steve, who is the head of the Gauteng province's arrangements.
     DG Jankees has proposed that the health days be held more regularly during the year and that the clubs use the opportunity to build a more solid relationship with the staff at the clinics
     Paul says one of the chief difficulties is working with department of health officials from all three tiers of government (municipal, provincial and national) who don't always communicate with one another.

President Carol Stier and Debbie de Vries take down particulars of the visitors coming to register

     Everybody agreed that the food parcels that Gift of the Givers brought provided a highlight of the three days. Many of the parcels were taken to the most desperate of the slum dwellers on the fringes of the CBD, providing much needed nutrition where it mattered most.
     It was a busy weekend for Paul, as he spent the Saturday at the Rotary Foundation seminar at Van Gaalen's Cheese Farm near the Hartbeespoort Dam in the Magaliesberg.
     Paul says he came away from the seminar with fresh insights into global and district grants and our District Governor Representative, Christopher Thompson, who also attended the meeting, agreed that the process of applying for TRF grants has been much simplified.

Humanitarian Centre
     Last Saturday Frayne, Amina Frense and I had a busy time at the Humanitarian Centre, overseeing a school who were collecting books for two new school libraries in KwaZulu Natal.
     They had been there for a few days before Saturday and by the time they left at about midday, had collected more than 8000 books. Each of the sites will get a brand new library made out of two joined containers.

The team of Interactors who helped collect the books, flanked by Amina and I in front of the Humanitarian Centre. From left they are Sameer Alli, Aadilah Alli, Justine Pillay and president Kashmiri Rajbally of the Interact Club Crawford La Lucia. From the Interact Club Reddan House were Katelyn Schenck, Isla Just, Akshay Makahn and Daniel Klopper

Peter Rittles of Crawford La Lucia, who is
 overseeing the new libraries

Dates to Diarise
     Right everybody, out with the diaries and let's start taking notes; there is a very busy time ahead for the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn.
     First up is the meeting on Wednesday, where Ian Widdop and Julian Nagy will be speaking on the proposed Arts on Main fundraising project. There promises to be a few surprises in the pipeline.
     For the following Wednesday, 26 October, the speaker will be Barnard Beukman, editor of Beeld. We bumped into him recently and Linda snagged him to come and speak about the media in a changing political landscape. He also promised to give us a prediction on what could happen in the ANC in December.
     The next fundraising event is Winex on Wednesday 25, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 October. It's being held at the Sandton Convention Centre and starts in the afternoon and runs into the evenings.
     The volunteers so far for the Wednesday are Frayne Mathijs, president Carol Stier, Judy Symons and Linda and I.
     On the Thursday Joan and Graham Donet, Julian Nagy and Linda and I will be there.
     The Donets, Sam and Rob Verceuil and Linda and I will do duty on the Friday.
     It'll be a busy weekend, as the Macsteel Cycle Race is being held on Sunday, 29 October.  The usual suspects will be there: Carol, Judy Symons, Frayne, Paul Kasango and Linda and myself have committed, but we need two more marshals. All volunteers gladly welcome!
     In preparation for the Golf Day on 10 November there will be two sessions of raffle ticket sales, on Friday 3 November at the Parkview Golf Club (from about 5pm to 7pm) and on Sunday 5 November at the Parkview Spar from 10am to midday.
     We're still in dire need of players, hole sponsors, prizes or prize sponsors and raffle prizes if we're going to be able to make R50 000 out of the golf day.
     Also, please remember to bring a few bottles of booze for the barrel of booze to the next few meetings.
     A Thought for the Week: In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. - Mark Twain (1835-1910)

A Very Busy Rotary Year

There won't be many opportunities to start off a blog like this with an iconic photograph of Tour de France cyclists pedalling through bright yellow sunflower fields, but our speaker of two weeks ago. Kim Ludbrook, provided just that.
     Kim, a photojournalist based in Johannesburg but working for an agency in Europe, gave us some fascinating insights into coverage of the Tour de France, the most famous of all cycle races.

The Tour de France peloton in France

     Before he had the opportunity to cover the race himself a few years ago (he's subsequently done two more), he swore he would never take a photograph in the sunflower fields. Too much of a cliche, he thought. He of course ended up doing just that because it is such an iconic image and the Tour is as much about tourism as it is about cycling.

Ian Widdop pretending to be a cyclist while Kim Ludbrook tucks into his breakfast

     Towns, he said, pay up to 500 000 Euros for the honour of hosting a stage closing of the race, that lasts three weeks during the European summer.
     Kim was followed as speaker by Ian MacDonald, the better looking of the MacDonald brothers, although every inch as tall as his Rotarian brother, Mike.

Paul Kasango and president Carol Stier flanked by the tall MacDonald brothers Ian (left, the good-looking one) and Mike!

    Thanks, Mike, for bringing Ian to the club. He spoke openly and movingly about his involvement with the Tabatha Ministries, an orphanage in the Pietermaritzburg area in KwaZulu-Natal, and the challenges they face.
     Ian has lived in the USA for the past 25 years but retains his involvement in charitable work in South Africa. He approaches his work from an obviously very strong Christian perspective and there is no lack of commitment.

Local heroes ... it was great to see DG Jankees Sligcher at a couple of recent meetings in between his visits to the 79 clubs in the district. Here he is with Paul Kasango

Busy, busy, busy
     This has been a particularly busy Rotary time and there I was thinking that things would slow down once I handed over the presidency to Carol!
     Involvement with the Zone 20A Institute and latterly with the upcoming District Conference for Jankees has been a steep learning curve for Linda and I.
     We're not the only ones learning the ropes: Carol has also been very involved with the Institute meetings over and above her work as president of the club and was in charge of arranging media coverage apart from all her help at the registration desk.

The Discon 2018 committee met at the Skukuza Conference Centre in the Kruger National Park last weekend. From left are Peter Oudhof (chairman), Jankees and Judy Sligcher and Janet and Frances Callard, with Louis Greeff, Linda and I and Ann Roberts standing at the back

     Jankees and Judy have of course been on the road, sometimes seemingly endlessly I'm sure, visiting all the clubs in the district.
     This is one of the main tasks of a DG every year and is compulsory to anyone who wants to take on the job.
     It ensures continuity in the movement and at the same time gives clubs and their officers an opportunity to showcase the work they're doing on a larger stage.
     Visiting 79 clubs as far away as Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland and all places uo north in South Africa is no easy task, however.
     Within New Dawn there has also been a lot going on. Most notably, Ian Widdop has been working on a global grant for The Link, which has now been approved by District and is only awaiting final approval from Rotary International in Evanston, Illinois in the USA.
     Read that again: DG Jankees has already signed off on the application, if you didn't hear the news last week. It shows what can be done with a lot of passion and application.

Lucille Blumberg and Judy Sligcher listen to Kim Ludbrook

     Julian Nagy led the efforts to set up a forum to discuss fundraising for the club, something which is long overdue if we're ever to get out of the rut of being primarily a social club with lesser impact.
     Julian and Ian are both also involved (as is Carol) with a proposed arts/foodie evening in Maboneng next year, a fundraising project that is slowly coming together and is already sounding very promising.
     In the wings Steve du Plessis has headed up the Gauteng arm of the Rotary Family Health Days as well as having his finger in many, many pies at district level because of his IT involvement.
     Not forgetting, of course, that he is also setting up an off-road cycle tour for next year which should also become a major fundraiser for the club.
     In terms of club duties Debbie Smith volunteered to become secretary for this year and is slowly learning the ropes. It is good to know that there are people who are used to getting things done, who are prepared to make sacrifices in terms of time and effort to keep the New Dawn sun rising every morning!

     In the meantime Paul Kasango just keeps on going like a Duracell bunny, doing good wherever he has even half an opportunity.
     The club salutes each and every one of you.
     There is lots for everyone to do in the short time leading up to the Christmas break. Please diarise the following dates:
     Discon 2018: Bookings for preferential accommodation closes on 31 October, after which the rooms will be released to the general public, and will no doubt be sold out very shortly afterwards.
New Dawn owes it to DG Jankees to be there in numbers, so please book. If you're not staying in Skukuza, you most likely will not be able to attend.
     The Discon is from 15-17 June 2018. Registration for the Discon will open in the new year.
     RFHD: The health days are upon us and start tomorrow and continue on Wednesday and Thursday. We're at 81 Albert Street in downtown Johannesburg this year. If you're available, please volunteer to Paul or Carol. Participation in the health days is important to the club in terms of participation in non-district efforts involving other clubs.
     Please remember to take photographs and forward them to me.

If you can remember these labels, you could probably have had more of the wine at the time!  Some old bottles of Alto Rouge and KWV Roodeberg at Winex 2016

     Winex: The club has decided to try helping out at Winex this year, although the rewards don't seem to be that large. Winex is from Wednesday, 25 October to Friday 26 October and we've pledged five people to help out per day. If you can be there, please let Linda know.
     Macsteel: This cycle race is on Sunday, 29 October and we've committed 8 marshals on the strength of commitments by club members. Let Carol now if you'll be there.
     Golf Day: Apart from a nice donation of bottles from Jenine and Steve and some from my cellar, we've received no booze for the barrows yet and things are looking a bit desperate. Please bring anything spare you may have around the house. Although money from players and sponsorships has started coming in, we still need as may players as we can muster, as well as prizes for the players. Time is running out, as the Golf Day is on Friday, 10 November.
     Christmas dinner: This will be on 8 December. Details to follow.
     The money we raise from these events will have to see us through until a bigger project or two can get off the ground, so please everybody help where you can.
     Birthdays: There are no club birthdays in October or November.
     Remember: There is no meeting this week because of the Health Days.
     A Thought for the Week: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fail. Think of it, always. - Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948).