A Busy Business Meeting

Two unexpected guests brought some excitement to the first business meeting of the year, following the board meeting on Tuesday morning.
     Brennan Rimer is a passionate Rotarian who comes from a family of Rotarians in Florida, America.
     Adelaide Mphahlele is from the University of Johannesburg and has an academic interest in Rotary, although hopefully we can turn that into a more active interest.
     Graham Donet was also there as a visitor, a regular sighting these days after his retirement. More of that a bit later.

Brennan Rimer in typical modern pose, with cellphone in hand, with Ian Widdop

     Brennan was paying a visit from the Rotary Club of Boca Raton in Florida, USA. He told us that he is a regular visitor to South Africa, visiting at least six to seven times a year. In his professional life he is a founding partner of Journeys Unforgettable (www.journeysunforgettable.com) which describes itself as a "personal concierge service for customised, luxury African adventures".
     It was great to have an American with a typical American can-do approach in our midst. No surprises then that although he was born in the USA, his parents are actually South Africans who left the country in 1977. His mother attended Parkview Girls' High!
     Brennan and his father, Steve, founded their company. His father is also a founder member of the Boca Raton Sunrise club (in 1985).

Brennan Rimer hails from Florida in the USA, but has strong roots in South Africa

     Brennan told us that there are similarities between his club and Johannesburg New Dawn, which is why he chose us as a club to visit.
     Like New Dawn they meet for breakfast, but on a Thursday morning and at 7.30am and also have children's education as a main focus. Their club motto is: Service starts with breakfast.
     Boca Raton Sunrise has about 50 members. Brennan is secretary-elect this year.
     They were the first club is their district to raise $1 million (R12 million) in funds. Initially there were numerous fundraisers and projects, but the club started focusing on only a handful of these, which led to success.

A previous Teacher of the Year awards creepy at Brennan's club

    The main fundraiser is an annual Teacher of the Year banquet where teachers from each of the 22 school districts in Boca Raton are honoured for their contributions. With this function the club raises about $100 000 (R1.2 million) a year.

Adelaide Mphahlele nat the meeting

     The other unexpected but very welcome guest at the meeting was Adelaide Mphahlele of the University of Johannesburg, who has embarked on a doctoral theses on communications within organisations such as Rotary.
     This research has huge implications for Rotary and we wish her well. Adelaide was brought to the club by Steve du Plessis, who is trying to establish a Rotaract club on or aligned to the university, based on research that would be useful to Rotary, the club and District 9400, a project being undertaken with the Rotary Club off Johannesburg.
     We look forward to seeing both of these visitors again soon.

Graham and Joan Donet, both past presidents of New Dawn

     The third visitor was Graham Donet, as mentioned.
     There is a club assembly coming up and the board has received representations about the fees and the possibilities of easing the burden, especially for those on pension.
     Instead of a blanket reduction (after all, most of us will be on pension at some stage, leaving the few to carry the burden) the board has decided to investigate a reduction on application, which will be granted subject to compliance with a set of criteria which will be up for discussion and decision at the assembly. Julian Nagy has agreed to work on the criteria and you're welcome to contact him with proposals.
     Keep in mind, though, that our club dues have to cover District dues, subscription to Rotary Africa, RI dues and other costs.
     Please diarise the date: The meeting on 21 February will be held as a club assembly where this and other matters will be discussed.

Greta Schuler speaking at Rosebank Rotary

     We've been honoured by fairly regular visits from a number of members at the Rosebank club, such as our AG, Dave Bradshaw, previous AG's Lyn Collocott and Jean Bernado and their sergeant, Tatty Faber so when Rosebank invited Greta Schuler (aka Mrs John Vink!) to speak at the club last Friday, Jankees, Linda and I joined them for lunch at the Wanderers club.
     Greta told them about her research into and work with migrant sex workers in Johannesburg and has agreed to talk to New Dawn along similar lines in the near future.

Lyn Collocott, president of the Rotary Club of Rosebank

     Also during the meeting Ian Widdop reported back on a setback with the Global Grant application. Apparently the feeling was that The Link Literacy Project was their project and not enough of a Rotary project. It's back to the drawing board for Ian, who feels that with a bit of tweaking of the proposal with the help of District Foundation chair Greg Strathocopolous and PDG Francis Callard, he'll be able to submit again.
     Wearing my treasurer hat, I could assure Ian and the club that we would be able to fund the full R100000 needed to allow The Link to start up at a new school this year notwithstanding. The fundraising efforts from mainly Carol's induction in July, the Golf Day and the Christmas dinner came to R75000 and our kitty is now about R200000 strong.

DG Jankees Sligcher addressing the club while Judy Symons listens

     DG Jankees Sligcher was also at the meeting and addressed the club about the growing need for Rotary to become more professional at club level and promote joint ventures with other clubs. Jankees has entered the second half of his year, having completed his visits to 79 clubs in the first six months.
     His Discon at the Skukuza Conference Centre in the Kruger National Park in June promises to be a highlight of the year.
     Jankees announced that the Rotary International President-elect, Barry Rassin of the Bahamas, will be visiting Southern Africa during the coming weeks. Knowing Jankees, he's sure to make certain that the RIPE fully understands the needs of Rotary clubs in Africa, often so different from those in other parts of the world.
     Jankees also said that he'll be looking for a donation from each of the clubs in the district to help relieve the water situation in the Western Cape. He'll be revealing details in due course.
     New Dawn is again pulling its weight at District. Jankees will be taking over as Membership chair for the next Rotary year and president Carol Stier is joining Steve du Plessis on the District Public Relations board.
     A Date to Diarise: Don't forget the Bridge Drive on 15 March.
     All in all it was a busy business meeting!
     A Thought for the Week: A full belly to the labourer is, in my opinion, the foundation of public morals and the only source of real public peace. - William Cobbett (1763-1835)