New Dawn Rotarians in Action

While one team was selling raffle tickets for the Golf Day Barrow of Booze at a new venue at the Greenside Woolworths this past Saturday, another was treating residents and staff of the Woodside Sanctuary to McDonalds in Melville.
     That's Rotarians being people of action during an end-of-year flurry which also includes the Christmastime dinner on Friday 7th November.

Sam Deverneuil, Julian Nagy and Carol Stier sorting the contents of the by now famous Barrow of Booze

     November has sped by and it is hard to believe that the festive season is almost upon us, with two of our traditional end-of-year activities, namely the Golf Day and the annual dinner, taking place in the days ahead.
     We're stretching at the seams to make the R100000 that is the target for the Golf Day, but the R4360 that the team made this past week will definitely fill a few gaps in the budget.  

The New Dawn group with Antonette Grobler of the Salvation Army in the blue shirt are from left Judy Symons, Jankees Sligcher, Jenine Coetzer, Carin Holmes and Paul Kasango     

     A new end-of-year activity was the visit to Melville arranged by Carin Holmes and Paul Kasango for a busload full of residents and staff at Woodside Sanctuary (http://www.woodside.co.za/wp/about-us) in Cottesloe, just behind the SABC buildings.
     This went off exceptionally well, according to JENINE COETZER, who also took the photographs accompanying this report.

Balloons for everyone. The staff at McDonalds, led by Semakaleng Motaung, the guest experience manager, handed out red balloons for everyone

     The New Dawn team of Carin, Paul, Jenine, Judy Symons and Jankees Sligcher took them for a burger at McDonalds in Melville and were met with open arms by the staff there, especially Semakaleng Motaung, the guest experience manager, who brought a red balloon for everyone.
     It was agreed by everyone there that this type of outing should be repeated early in the new year and could be done every second or third month thereafter.
     Well done to everyone involved, the rest of the club applauds you.

Jankees Sligcher with one of the Woodside residents

Carin Holmes cheering one of the residents up

     The Golf Day is just a few short days away and everyone in the club should be making sure they have ticked one or two or all of the following boxes:
     - Have you found players or a four ball?
     - Have you contributed a little something liquid for the Barrows of Booze?
     - Have you sold any raffle tickets, or volunteered to help sell?
     - Have you bought any raffle tickets?
     - Have you found a hole sponsor or suggested potential sponsors?
     - Have you asked businesses in your area to sponsor prizes (they must be in twos)?
     If not, get jumping, Friday is upon us.
     A week after, on Friday 7th December, we're having our annual Christmas dinner, which traditionally marks the end of the Rotary year.
     The tick box there is just as important:
     - Have you accepted the invitation yet, or let me know that you cannot make it
     - Have you paid yet?
     - Have you invited friends and family and potential new members?
     - Have you offered to supply a dish for the dinner? (We'll be talking about that on Wednesday)
     - Have you donated anything for the auction?
     These coming two weeks do much to define the success of the club, so please try your hardest. And of course, a big thanks to everyone who has contributed in any way at all.

Mike MacDonald brought David Marshall of the Rotary Club of Brits-Hartebeespoort along as a guest. David said he's been a member there since 1979 and still goes back for meetings every week even though he has retired to Johannesburg

The World According to Carl
     Carl Chemaly, one of the new members, had the floor last week and told how he had experienced Rotary almost all of his life ever since their family hosted a Rotary exchange student when he was eight years old.
     Carl turned out to be a very witty speaker and could easily become a stand-up comic if he ever decides to quit his day job (sample: I was so dyslexic growing up that I turned up at a TOGA party dressed as a GOAT!)
     He had the members in stitches and we all agreed that it was a wonderful way to start the day.
     Carl is well known for the community work he has done in Parkview and is clearly not the type of guy who likes to sit and do nothing.
     He had previously been a Rotarian at the Johannesburg club, left when he felt it wasn't a good fit, and is happy to be rejoining Rotary.
     "I'm joining Rotary to get more structure in this beautiful land of hope and despair," he said.
     The speaker tomorrow is another new club member, Llewellyn Leonard. He'll be telling us a bit more about himself and his aims as a member of New Dawn.
     A Thought for the Week: The most important shot in golf is the next one. - Ben Hogan (1912-1997)