Stories Xmas Function 2020 Xmas Function 2020 a Hit!     A great time was had by all at the Rosebank Estate Winery Restaurant on a lovely balmy evening.   In addition to good food, beverages and company, we were also privileged to hear Amanda Atlas, our guest entertainer, present a range of songs that demonstrated her amazing talent as a professional singer.     President Janice then outlined the names three recipients of Certificates of Appreciation in recognition of their contributions as follows:   Cynthia Tizzard for the tireless work she does on our raffle prizes and baskets.   Heather Mitchell for the work she does with Ronald McDonald House and the support she provides to Keith in his Rotary activities.   Cynthia & Heather receiving their Certificates   Glen Tregurtha for the support he provides to Deryn across a wide range of fund raising activities plus his help in setting up our new accounting system.   We also had a visit from “Santa” who was in fine form assisting with the handing out of a small gift to us followed by Evan who reminded us ten times when the New Year fun golf game is being held which your Club Chat editor has already forgotten :-) before we bade each other farewell for another year.     Trailer Raffle Winners Trailer Raffle 2020 Winners   Julie, Subrata & Helen congratulated by President Janice   We were delighted to meet and congratulate the three winners of our annual Trailer Raffle outside The Papanui Club last Saturday.     1st prize went to Julie Forsyth from Swannanoa, with 2nd and 3rd prizes going to Subrata Saha and Helen Kent who were both from Christchurch.     Can Collection Day Can Collection Day     Despite the short turn-around time frame we were very pleased, as was the City Mission, with the variety of thoughtful food items and other related products that our neighbourhoods donated to help out those in need over the coming holiday period.   Many thanks to the organisers and especially Ron for kindly offering up his garage as the collection and pick-up point.       A Special Gift A Special Gift     We recently purchased a significant number of grocery vouchers in different denominations to give out to families who are struggling at present.   Liz created the above envelope for the vouchers to be placed in prior to delivery.    Lois and Liz received some lovely feedback from a number of schools they have visited so far and are hoping to be able to take a photo of these being given out to the teachers for distribution during some of their next visits.     Snippets   Last Coffee Morning   Our last coffee morning of the year will take place this Friday 18th December from 10.00 am at Reality Bites, Sawyers Arms Road.  Come and join us, we would love to see you there.   Tony     The President’s Blurb   We enjoyed last Thursday's end of year function. The venue was wonderful, the food was great and there was lots of laughter and fellowship. Amanda Atlas was amazing and entertained us beautifully. Many thanks to the partners and spouses for joining us on the night.    The club presented some certificates of appreciation to a number of family members of Rotarians who are always doing a lot of work behind the scenes. Cynthia Tizzard received one for the work she does making sure our raffle prize table and baskets are looking good.   Heather Mitchell received one for all the work she does supporting Ronald McDonald House and supporting Keith in his Rotary work. In addition to the shifts at the trailer raffle desk they did together Heather did additional shifts while Rotary was meeting and even had Keith's trailer cleaned up and ready to go if the new trailer ordered didn't arrive in time.   Glen Tregurtha received a certificate as he is always supporting Deryn in the work she does for the club. He is continually setting up spreadsheets for rosters doing design work and producing posters for the trailer and the trailer raffle desk. This wonderful work going on in the background by these lovely folk makes Rotary run very smoothly.   A big thank you to all three of you.    In addition to our club's end of year function Liz and Nick, Arie and myself attended the end of year BBQ of the Rolleston club. They are a great bunch of younger Rotarians doing wonderful work in their community.   A highlight of the evening was being able to catch up with Keagan McLean, the district Rotary Youth Exchange student who arrived home a couple of months early after spending time in Brazil, much of it in lock down. He had to quarantine in Auckland on the way home but he was looking well and has quite a story to tell.    Our district (9970) merges with Otago/Southland (9980) to form a new district 9999 as from 1 July 2022. Nick is the last District Governor of our district as we know it and Jan Boustead, our former district trainer is the first District Governor of district 9999.   There is a lot of work involved in merging two districts with different policies and procedures, different banking set ups and reserves built up over the years that everybody is concerned about etc. Nick and Arie are on the transition management team (TMT) overseeing this.   There are 8 focus teams made up from Rotarians across the South Island that will be busy over the holiday period meeting by zoom and exchanging emails as they think how about how a new district will look.   Liz is co-chair of the Public Image group, Mandi is a co-chair of a New Generation group and Johny, who is now a member of Rolleston Rotary, is a member of the Young Persons group.   Nick is also committed to a programme of sessions training incoming District Governors over the holidays. Sadly he doesn't get to travel to Orlando for the training but is receiving it via zoom sessions.    South Pacific President Elect training always happened in the first weekend of March at Waipuna Conference Centre in Auckland. Waipuna is not available next year because it is still a quarantine hotel. The training has therefore been shifted to Christchurch and will be held at St Margarets College 5-7 March 2021.   Liz is heavily involved in the organisation and management of this conference and Deb Gimblett has also been drawn into organising things. Our club will be looked to to help and has been asked to do significant catering over the weekend as a fundraiser. This will involve incoming presidents of Rotary clubs from all over New Zealand. At this stage our Pacific Island neighbours will not be joining us.    In addition to that there is lot on in 2021. I will speak to that more at our first event of the year which is "Bring Your Takeaways" to Deb Gimblett's house at 340 Marine Parade, New Brighton on Thursday the 14th of January at 6.00 pm.        Thank you for all your work during the year. Please enjoy your Christmas break with your families and stay safe.    Janice     Thought for the Week   “Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.”

Upcoming Events you are welcome to attend   Coffee Club morning Reality Bites Cafe Dec 18, 2020   Rotary Coffee Club meets Reality Bites Cafe Dec 18, 2020 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM   New Year Barbecue Deb Gimblett's residence Jan 14, 2021 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM   Coffee Club morning Reality Bites Cafe Jan 15, 2021   Rotary at Papanui Club -Braintree Trust The Papanui Feb 04, 2021 5:55 PM – 7:30 PM   View entire list Meeting Responsibilities Duty Roster 14th January- Deb Gimblett's "Bring Your Takeaways"   Reception   Speakers Host   Vote of Thanks   Visitors Host   Sergeant   Meeting Setup   Banner Setup & Room Tidyup   Duty Roster 21st January   Reception McNee, Ken   Speakers Host Stringer, John   Vote of Thanks Wright, Max   Visitors Host Tizzard, Tony   Sergeant Thomson, Rob   Meeting Setup McMurtrie, Denis   Banner Setup & Room Tidyup Sedgley, Ron   Duty Roster 28th January   Reception McFadden, Grant   Speakers Host Van Beek, Verdi   Vote of Thanks Smart, Kate   Visitors Host Shields, Gordon   Sergeant Geerlofs, Arie   Meeting Setup McMurtrie, Denis   Banner Setup & Room Tidyup Sedgley, Ron