") but the induction of four new members at the meeting last week reminded us again of the Rotary Charge to new members and what it means to Rotarians.
The inductions were a joyous occasion, followed by the annual Bridge Drive, where much fun (and some serious bridge playing) was had by all.
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| Past president Carol Stier inducting Helene Bramwell. |
First up for the inductions was Helene Bramwell, owner of The Mask in Parkview, which she has been running for 40 years. Helene has been working on her Donate-a-loo project with much success in recent years and is hoping to be able to strengthen those efforts through a link with Rotary.
"I'll do my very best for this club," she said in her thank you comments after being inducted by pp Carol Stier and President Linda Vink.
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| PDG Jankees Sligcher welcomes Abi into the club, while PDGA Judy congratulates son Adriaen |
Adriaen Sligcher and Abigail Barrell have also now joined the ranks of New Dawn after a short stay at the Sandton club last year.
Abi has been a teacher for the past ten or so years and now lectures at the University of Johannesburg while preparing for the birth of their first child this month.
Adriaen works with his father selling and maintaining poultry hatcheries all over Africa as local agents for a Dutch firm.
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| Dave Marshall with President Linda Vink, Ian Widdop, who inducted him and pp Carol Stier |
Dave Marshall joins the club from the Rotary Club of Brits-Hartbeespoort, where he was for forty years. Dave says he has been president four times at the club and is the holder of no less than four Paul Harris Sapphires.
"I love giving back. I love Rotary," he said.
Dave has been heavily involved in numerous large projects at Brits-Hartbeespoort and brings a wealth of experience to New Dawn.
He also plays a mean hand of bridge, as I can testify.
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| Hannes Dressler, who is interested in joining |
The meeting was also notable because Hannes Dressler intimated that he was very keen to join.
Hannes is chief financial officer for Southern Africa for SAP and is still a member of the Rotary Club of Moscow, where he previously worked. This of course would be a very valuable contact for New Dawn for new Global Grants, which are already under discussion.
We handed over a stipend at the meeting to Alfred Kalunga from the DRC, now a member of the Rotaract club, who has official UN refugee status. Alfred has started attending a course at Meriting, whose spokesperson spoke to the club previously.
Meriting offers four courses a year in amongst other things entrepreneurship and business administration to help people onto their feet in start-up businesses.
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| Ian Widdop handing over the cash to Alfred Kalunga |
Alfred will use the R2000 a month for travel and food expenses.
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| Tucking in ... bridge players ended off the day with a sumptous lunch provided by New Dawn members |
I know all about Dave Marshall's deft hand at bridge as I played against him at the Orchards bridge club on Thursday and got roundly beaten!
Ours was the only table of men playing, but the club again filled almost 20 tables of a mixture of competition and social players.
Much fun was had by all and the raffle and auction were both a success.
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| Joan Donet and Judy Symons at the registration desk for the Bridge Drive |
Joan Donet reports that we made almost R35000 (earmarked for The Link Trust). This is about the same amount that we made last year, no mean feat in these trying economical times.
Joan reports that she took almost R15000 in cash on the day, mostly for the raffle and from players. Three items were auctioned for about R3500.
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| Julian Nagy was master of ceremonies on the day and ran a tight ship |
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Auctioneer Graham Donet with one of the auction items,
a case of Krone sparkling wine |
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| May all your finesses go right ... hands like these make bridge a fascinating game |
Fundraising is a difficult process which requires effort from every club member and at the moment the R150000 or so we manage to raise every year from the Golf Day, the Christmas Dinner and the Bridge Drive, is not enough to cover all project expenses, especially if we want to tackle new projects.
Ian Widdop told the meeting last week of his intention to approach the club to apply for a second Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation. His suggestion is to work through Meriting, where he is also involved in a personal capacity, to offer courses for 25 - 50 people a year to be trained in a new module of entrepreneurship and then help the graduates to set themselves up in their own businesses, using the experience quite a few of the members have in doing just that.
This would require a short written proposal and mini-budget from Ian and any other members wishing to propose projects, that we can ideally discuss at the final club assembly of the present Rotary year.
A date for this will be set soon.
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| PDG Jankees Sligcher with Brenda McCallum at his birthday celebrations |
Other dates to diarise: Mike Cadman is the speaker this week on the subject of poaching. Next week, on
27th March, the meeting moves to Tashas in Mandela Square in Sandton. Ian Widdop says there's a Gautrain that leaves from Rosebank at 06.34 in the morning and arrives in Sandton at 6.38, from where it's a quick stroll to Mandela Square.
In between there's the annual Christ Church Christian Care Centre annual Supporters Supper at the home on Louis Botha Ave in Berea (the exact address is 15 Mitchell Str., Berea) on
Monday, 25th March. About half a dozen members have already said they're going. If you want to join us for an evening of great curry and seeing what the home does for the underprivileged, please let me know.
And finally...: Many happy returns to PDG Jankees Sligcher, who turned a sprightly 69 on Sunday with a party on his stoep, which I had the privilege of attending along with the Nagys, Widdops and others.
A Thought for the Week: When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.
- Lin Yutang (1895 - 1976)
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