For the club this has always translated into vibrant early-morning meetings and meaningful participation in a range of projects.
 |
| President Carol Stier, myself and DG Jankees Sligcher with the three banners |
Many members do wonderful good works, often without fellow members knowing about it or because of not knowing, giving adequate credit.
Perhaps that is why the latest round of accolades that New Dawn received for donations to the Rotary Foundation were a welcome recognition for doing one of the things clubs are supposed to do, which is to help keep the Rotary Foundation going.
Our small contributions are dwarfed by the TRF reserves of something like $1.2 billion, but never forget that is how the fund started 100 years ago.
We received recognition for three things from Rotary International:
 |
| Carl Chemaly paid us a visit |
1. For giving on average $100 per member for the year 2016 - 2017.
2. For giving the full amount of $100 per member for the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) fund.
3. Most importantly also (ironically the smallest banner of the three!) an accolade for being the No. 1 Club in the District in per capita Annual Fund giving to TRF.
The Rotary year 2016-2017 marked the centenary of the Foundation and clubs were asked to contribute extra to mark the occasion, which we did. Obviously not all clubs did the same!
Other matters under discussion at the meeting were The Link and the Arts on Main fundraiser, the Christmas Dinner (more on that later) and a prospective new member, Carl Chemaly.
Carl is one of the founders of the Save Parkview organisation. He lives in the suburb with his wife and two kids and is very involved in the community. He would be a fantastic asset to the club.
Carl has been a Rotarian in the past but says he left after about two years as he didn't feel the organisation met all his needs. He sounds more than willing to give it another go and would bring valuable insights, but also contacts to the club.
Richard Wear, a friend of Mike MacDonald, and Graham Donet were also welcome visitors.
President Carol Stier reports that she had a very successful visit to the Humanitarian Distribution Centre in Bedfordview with the Outreach Foundation in Hillbrow.
Puseletso Phoofolo, project leader at the foundation, has initiated a library project at their Youth Centre. Carol introduced her to the Humanitarian Centre's treasure trove of books and a large selection was made with the help of Frayne Mathijs.
A reporter of The Star went along and seemed very excited about the Humanitarian Centre, to many still a hidden jewel of Rotary and District 9400.
Their efforts also tie in neatly with The Link and Ian reported at the meeting that the planning for the fundraising event for 23 March 2018 is now almost completed with a very exciting line-up of events.
The event will start at 4pm with activities for children.
Guests will pay R500 each and have the opportunity to buy works of art in a curated art exhibition while listening to jazz and hopefully making full use of the bar while snacks are served. Artists have also agreed to donate a few pieces for auction.
The club is in partnership with Matthew Townsend, who owns Canteen @Arts on Main and David Krut of David Krut Publishers, who represents artists worldwide.
New Dawn will get a cut of all of this for major projects such as The Link Literacy Project.
Ian also announced that Marja van Leeuwen of the Rotary Club of Delft and an ex-member of New Dawn with her husband, Bert Ettekoven, when the were in this country on contract, had let him know that they were donating 400 Euros to The Link.
Megan Maynard, co-ordinator of The Link, has thanked Marja and her club and has let her know that the money will be used for a new community based reading and maths project in Westbury next year.
Our meetings
The last meeting for the year is coming up next week and the speakers will be Janet Saner and Melany Sheldrake of Vuleka.
We've had a full complement of speakers. Two weeks ago Koop Lammertsma, a distinguished visiting professor in Chemistry at the University of Johannesburg, out on a 2-year contract from Holland, spoke about how the demand for rare minerals in the modern world is leading to shortages.
Last week Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, who now works at Defenceweb, but was Business Day's diplomatic correspondent for more than ten years, spoke about the situation in Zimbabwe following the resignation of Robert Mugabe and the economic ramifications for the SADC region.
The last meeting next week will be followed by the Christmas dinner on Friday, 8 December. The next meeting after that will be on 17 January 2017.
There has been some discussion around the nature of the annual Christmas dinner and this will continue at the next board meeting and thereafter by the club, but the arrangements for this year have been made. An official invitation will be going out over the weekend, but basically it will say that the dinner is on 8 December at 6.30 for 7pm, that it'll cost R350 per person with some wine included, and that a number of members are contributing to the food. The venue is Twickenham Guest House, 66 Twickenham Ave., Auckland Park.
Judy Symons is doing vichyssoise soup (cold leek and potato) as a starter, Graham Donet and I will supply and prepare the turkey, Ian Widdop is bringing a perfectly roasted chicken, the Nagys are doing the trimmings with the main course, the Twickenham staff will do salads and Carol Stier will supply the dessert. Yummy!
Most members have already indicated they'll be there and it will help if you reply and pay as soon as you get the invitation.
A few items will be auctioned towards the end of the evening, but of course nobody is under any obligation to bid.
Our members
There are two December birthdays: Judy Symons has hers the day after the Christmas party, on Saturday 9 December. Joan Donet has her birthday two days before Christmas, on 23 December. Joan is also officially retiring from Eskom in December.
Congratulations to Ronnie Kasrils and Amina Frense for becoming grandparents and to Frances and Mike MacDonald at the birth of their first granddaughter. And we'll be thinking of Frayne Mathijs, who will be at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Parktown for an operation.
And finally ... this is the last blog for the year until we meet again in January. A Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year to you all.
A Thought for the Week: Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. - Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
 |
| Richard Wear came all the way from Pretoria for breakfast with Mike MacDonald |
Carl is one of the founders of the Save Parkview organisation. He lives in the suburb with his wife and two kids and is very involved in the community. He would be a fantastic asset to the club.
Carl has been a Rotarian in the past but says he left after about two years as he didn't feel the organisation met all his needs. He sounds more than willing to give it another go and would bring valuable insights, but also contacts to the club.
Richard Wear, a friend of Mike MacDonald, and Graham Donet were also welcome visitors.
 |
| Puseletso Phoofolo, project leader at the Outreach Foundation in Hillbrow, going through books at the Humanitarian Distribution Centre |
Puseletso Phoofolo, project leader at the foundation, has initiated a library project at their Youth Centre. Carol introduced her to the Humanitarian Centre's treasure trove of books and a large selection was made with the help of Frayne Mathijs.
A reporter of The Star went along and seemed very excited about the Humanitarian Centre, to many still a hidden jewel of Rotary and District 9400.
Their efforts also tie in neatly with The Link and Ian reported at the meeting that the planning for the fundraising event for 23 March 2018 is now almost completed with a very exciting line-up of events.
 |
| Canteen @ Maboneng, where the arts event will be held |
Guests will pay R500 each and have the opportunity to buy works of art in a curated art exhibition while listening to jazz and hopefully making full use of the bar while snacks are served. Artists have also agreed to donate a few pieces for auction.
The club is in partnership with Matthew Townsend, who owns Canteen @Arts on Main and David Krut of David Krut Publishers, who represents artists worldwide.
New Dawn will get a cut of all of this for major projects such as The Link Literacy Project.
Ian also announced that Marja van Leeuwen of the Rotary Club of Delft and an ex-member of New Dawn with her husband, Bert Ettekoven, when the were in this country on contract, had let him know that they were donating 400 Euros to The Link.
Megan Maynard, co-ordinator of The Link, has thanked Marja and her club and has let her know that the money will be used for a new community based reading and maths project in Westbury next year.
Our meetings
The last meeting for the year is coming up next week and the speakers will be Janet Saner and Melany Sheldrake of Vuleka.
We've had a full complement of speakers. Two weeks ago Koop Lammertsma, a distinguished visiting professor in Chemistry at the University of Johannesburg, out on a 2-year contract from Holland, spoke about how the demand for rare minerals in the modern world is leading to shortages.
 |
| Professor Koop Lammertsma explains while Andrew Smith, a guest, listens intently |
 |
| Jonathan Katzenellenbogen at the meeting |
There has been some discussion around the nature of the annual Christmas dinner and this will continue at the next board meeting and thereafter by the club, but the arrangements for this year have been made. An official invitation will be going out over the weekend, but basically it will say that the dinner is on 8 December at 6.30 for 7pm, that it'll cost R350 per person with some wine included, and that a number of members are contributing to the food. The venue is Twickenham Guest House, 66 Twickenham Ave., Auckland Park.
Judy Symons is doing vichyssoise soup (cold leek and potato) as a starter, Graham Donet and I will supply and prepare the turkey, Ian Widdop is bringing a perfectly roasted chicken, the Nagys are doing the trimmings with the main course, the Twickenham staff will do salads and Carol Stier will supply the dessert. Yummy!
Most members have already indicated they'll be there and it will help if you reply and pay as soon as you get the invitation.
A few items will be auctioned towards the end of the evening, but of course nobody is under any obligation to bid.
Our members
There are two December birthdays: Judy Symons has hers the day after the Christmas party, on Saturday 9 December. Joan Donet has her birthday two days before Christmas, on 23 December. Joan is also officially retiring from Eskom in December.
Congratulations to Ronnie Kasrils and Amina Frense for becoming grandparents and to Frances and Mike MacDonald at the birth of their first granddaughter. And we'll be thinking of Frayne Mathijs, who will be at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Parktown for an operation.
And finally ... this is the last blog for the year until we meet again in January. A Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year to you all.
A Thought for the Week: Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. - Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.