Another busy night at Howick Rotary this week. With the induction of a new member, a number of visitors, two presenters and a donation to a worthy cause.
It was a pleasure to have Mike Stanghan inducted as a member of Howick Rotary this week. Mike was introduced by Colin Monk and Geoff Thompson introduced him to Rotary International.
Mike is the Business Manager and International Director at Howick College our partner college. I am confident that having such a senior manager from the college can only enhance that relationship and provide a point of contact for the Rotary programs that students and teachers (in the case of RYLA) can use to develop their capabilities and experiences. Mike was accompanied by Yvonne and we look forward to their involvement with our club.
Welcome to Rotary Mike Stanghan
We also had some visitors, Tania Smith, our daughter, who was particularly interested in our guest speakers and James Duffy who came along as my guest as a potential member. James is the Managing Director of Signature Press in East Tamaki. David Collins who is chairman of the Howick Local Board also joined us to listen to our presenters.
By now most of you will be aware that the local clubs are partnering in an ambitious project “Pest Free Howick and Pakuranga.” This project will target both animal and plant pests from Music Point to Otara Creek. Already there are a number of initiatives taking place in this area and we plan to help bring them all together and involve more schools (some are already active) and the public.
Our main speaker was Jordan Winiata whose role is Southern Biosecurity Advisor for Auckland City and has joined the committee developing our project. He outlined the initiatives already underway and envisaged by the council as part of “Pest Free Howick and Pakuranga” that are being funded by Auckland City. He is going to make his presentation available for anyone who is interested.
We were then addressed by Ethan McCormick who is a year 11 student from Howick College. Ethan is becoming very familiar with Howick Rotary having participated in the speech awards. He has a keen interest in the environment and has produced research projects that investigated bird life and water quality in Mangemangeroa reserve. He is an active member of the school’s Enviro Group and has been looking into how the college can expand it’s pest control programs. He will play an important role in involving the college in our wider project.
To top off our evening that focused on improving our local environment Pat Abercrombie presented a donation from the club to Friends of Mangemangeroa represented by Allan Riley as part of the installation of a seat presented to be a place of contemplation in the reserve.
I commend this project to everyone as a legacy we can all leave for our children and grandchildren and their children.
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