Stories

Double Sapphire Paul Harris Fellowship Awards being presented to Colin Monk and Geoff Thompson at the Club's Charter Night Celebrations by President Rob Mouncey.

 

The highlight of the clubs Charter Night celebration was the presentation of Double Sapphire Paul Harris Fellowship Awards to Colin Monk and Geoff Thompson.

 

Ian Fox ably introduced the awards and delivered the citations for each noting in the case of Colin his involvement in the Howick Fun Walk & Run event from its inception 10 years ago then taking over the committee leadership in the last 5 years and Geoff’s involvement with Bookarama from its beginning 23 years ago and leading the committee in the last 4 years. This is in addition to each of them also contributing to the ongoing breadth of Rotary projects and activities. Both Colin and Geoff had retired from their Convenor positions this year.

 

In presenting the Double Sapphire Paul Harris Pins President Rob Mouncey thanked Colin and Geoff for their Convenor roles and the amazing contribution to the club’s overall well being over their many years of service.  

The Club celebrated its Charter Night recently. The birthday celebration marks 63 years of history and the beginning of its 64^th   year. The club’s Charter was presented by District Governor of the day Ernie Thomas from Auckland Club to first President of Howick Rotary Charles Blackwood on the 26^th September 1961. The sponsoring club was Newmarket Rotary.

 

The evening was a great balance of fun and formality enjoyed by members, partners, honorary members and guests.

The Blankets 4 kids 4 Winter appeal organized for the month of May by Howick Rotary wound up last Friday. The hundreds of blankets that were donated were sorted and packed at the War Memorial Information Centre ready for distribution to families in need through Stand Children’s Services, All Saints Anglican and Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Churches. There was also a large number of cot and smaller blankets that will be delivered to Auckland’s Liitlemore Baby Charity next week.

“We are now just over half way through May and unfortunately the flow of blankets being received for the Blankets 4 kids 4 Winter appeal is running significantly slower than in previous years” Rob Mouncey Convenor of the project for Howick Rotary reported at the club meeting.

 

Rob went on to say “on the positive side the public cash donation portal running on the web site and through Facebook has raised $380”.

 

Rob then thanked those members who have made a donation through their club account. “There have been 7 member donors and a total of $425 raised already and with this being matched by the Community Trust the club’s contribution to the appeal will be significant”, Rob said.

 

He concluded “Howick is a generous and caring community so with the combination of the blankets donated and the purchase of blankets with the cash received we are still expecting the project to achieve its goal of helping a substantial number of families keep their kids warm this winter”.

The guest speaker at the club’s dinner meeting was Heather Kentsley, Investment Manager for Southern Cross Partners a local Investment Advisory organization.

 

Heather’s subject was “How to Avoid Investment Scams”. With the growing number and sophistication of scams occurring the subject was very topical. The presentation was very comprehensive and informative and covered the wide range of scams that there are operating these days.

 

In order to stay abreast of what is happening as well as reporting scams she gave club members the very good advice of going to the Financial Markets Authority web site www.fma.govt.nz and referring to the special page on scams.

 

 

 

 

The annual Brian Hanlon Rotary 4 - Way Test speech contest for year 9 and 10 Howick College students was held at the clubs last dinner meeting.

 

4 Finalists Bianca Smith, Casey Fergusson, Chanelle Good and Rylee Barret presented some very topical and thought-provoking speeches to a large audience of their families, College organizing and supporting teachers and Rotary club guests and members.

 

Rylee Barret was the winner on the night and was awarded the Brian Hanlon Memorial trophy for 2023 by Michelle Innes Brian’s daughter. Each of the finalists received gift vouchers supported by Paper Plus.

The grand Bookarama sale of books, games, puzzles, LP’s DVD’s and CDs concluded successfully on the last Sunday of the school holidays. Hundreds if not thousands of people visited the 5-day sale at Somerville Intermediate’s gymnasium and made their purchases of donated items. From the purchase of one book of interest, annual reading material or the purchase of items for re-sale through second hand or on-line retailers people came from far and wide to make the sale another big success for Howick Rotary. The money raised from the event supports the wide range of community projects that the club runs throughout the year. From its inception Bookarama has enabled the club to pump over a half a million dollars back into the community.

Clement (Clem) Da Silva the Club’s Rotary International Exchange Student from France was introduced to the club by his Councillor Mathew Cooke. Clem comes from Mauleon near Nantes in Upper Brittany. He has been sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bressuire.

 

He is currently staying with Helen and Garry Donoghue who very kindly stepped in to help while Clem's first host family in Half Moon Bay becomes available. He has started attending Macleans College and is looking forward to joining in club activities.

 

 

 

At the clubs last dinner meeting it celebrated its 61^st birthday. The evening was full of fun and humour with guests, partners and special guest Past District Governor Craig Horrocks present. The social committee had done a great job of giving the room a real festive atmosphere and the evening was full of fun and humour with many “lucky number” prizes being distributed amongst the throng. In addition the big “Have a Go” jackpot raffle was drawn with Ian Fox taking out first prize and Fred Holland winning second prize.

 

The night was also marked by the presentation of RI President Holger Knaack’s long service awards for 2020/21 (somewhat belated due to Covid) to 13 recipients including a crystal globe to Jim Duckworth for over 50 years of service to Rotary.

 

Prior to the start of the cub’s birthday social Craig Horrocks made a presentation to a Club Assembly on Rotary’s Regionalization Pilot project being undertaken in Oceania and the UK. Club members voted in favour of proceeding with the Pilot and President Madeleine will carry that vote forward to the next stage. This will be an exciting time to see how the different approach will help take Rotary into the future..

Each year, across the globe at the end of June, Rotary Clubs elect a new leader, new team and plan for the year ahead. After such a disrupted 2021-2022 year and to maintain continuity the Rotary Club of Howick is moving forward with many of the existing team including re-electing its current President, Madeleine East MNZM for the year to come.  

As the number of changes were few the club decided to refer the normal “Changeover” function to more like “Gliding On”. However, MC on the night Ian Fox assured the audience that the Howick Rotary administration was significantly superior to the “bumbling bureaucrats” that acted in the early 1980’s TV series. 

In reviewing the year President Madeleine outlined some of the many projects we have been able to complete despite Covid including our most recent highly successful 'Blankets 4 Kids 4 Winter' project.

We also welcomed District Governor Steve Chaney and Edith who together gave us a snapshot of the challenges Rotary Clubs have faced during these COVID times. 

A Paul Harris Fellowship Award was presented to Past President Mike Abercrombie and a Paul Harris Sapphire Pin to Past President Rob Mouncey for the considerable work they have done in supporting our club and the community.

 

We all look forward to a less disruptive year ahead as we now plan for our annual Bookarama sale in October.

Glenice Yeoman a member of the club presented a brief “life story” at the last dinner meeting. 

Her life’s journey had not always been plain sailing but a wonderful relationship with her very special dad has shaped her life and who she is today.

Born in Whakatane, her mother had a stroke when Glenice was very young, and as a result was severely disabled. Care facilities were not what they are today so her mother’s care was largely undertaken by Glenice and her dad. Living with a severely disabled person and seeing the challenges that were faced daily strongly influenced Glenice’s decision to build an Air B and B which is set up to accommodate people with even the most severe disabilities.

Glenice trained as an event manager and worked in that field for a number of years but her early dream was to be an architect. While this ambition was not fulfilled, her interest and passion were a huge advantage in developing her home into her business with a beautiful outdoor area complete with pool.

The District Governor’s visit to a Rotary Club is always an opportunity to hear first-hand District goals for the year as well as international focus areas. This year by necessity we had this visit in virtual form. We welcomed DG Steve Chaney, his wide Edith as well as DG Elect Alan Smith and DG nominee Vinod Sareen. A large number of club members ‘zoomed’ in to hear DG Steve’s address with his focus on ‘diversity, equity and inclusion.’ The District Conference to be held next June will have these areas as their primary focus. Click on Slide Show to see Steve's presentation.

Hopefully, with the upcoming change to the ‘traffic light system,’ members will be able to meet together for a pre-Christmas catch up which will truly be a time for celebration.

 

The Fun Walk and Run project the club runs in March each year raises funds for Howick Coastguard and the clubs last dinner meeting was a celebration of this year’s event. Chris Paul Community Liaison Officer for Coastguard formally received the gross proceeds for this year’s event along with a further amount from the Rotary Club of Howick Community Trust totaling $9500. The funds will go toward the operational costs of running this essential lifesaving community service. 

 

The Fun Walk and Run project is a community team effort with a committee involving the original Crawford Medical members of Judy Pascoe and Shirley Curtiss along with representatives from Coastguard and led by members from Howick Rotary. It is well supported by a grant and equipment from the Howick Local Board, principle sponsors Mega Mitre 10 Botany and a range of other prize sponsors. Howick Local Board Chairperson Adele White, Mega Mitre 10 Botany Owner Michael Beale and Business Development Manager Sudesh Prasad along with the organizing team were also guests on the night to round out the team celebration. From 2013 the first year that the Rotary club supported the event the proceeds were $647 with a few hundred participants. It now grown into a significant event on the community calendar with 14 schools and large numbers of families and individuals taking part in a healthy fun day based at Stockade Hill.
 

At our last dinner meeting we were fortunate to hear from the very talented Dr Helen Murray, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Auckland studying the anatomical changes in neurodegenerative diseases using post-mortem brain tissue. Helen made an incredibly complex subject so interesting that she was able to hold members and visitors spell bound!

Dr Murray is captain of the NZ Ice Fernz women’s ice hockey team and as such her research is closely aligned to her personal experience which is helping better understand brain changes after repeated injury from severe knocks in contact sport and how then to improve brain health in sport.

If you would like to join with us to hear other outstanding speakers, and to participate in other club activities please call or email Colin Monk Mob: 0275 771 879 email: monk@xtra.co.nz .

 

It is now 20 years since the Friends of Mangamangaroa was formed and a short power point presentation of the activities of the organization including the part that Howick Rotary played in its formation and ongoing operations was given by Allan Riley, Jim Duckworth and Warwick Kitchen. The power point presentation was accompanied by a quiz on the recognition of native tree samples – not an exercise members found easy!

The Reserve was first formed when a number of individuals and community groups convinced the then Manukau City Council to purchase the land from the Somerville Estate and turn it into a reserve. The first planting took place on the 12th June 1999. Since then, an estimated 4500 – 8000 trees have been planted each year creating an amazing 5.4km walkway for the community.

 

The club can feel justifiably proud of the part that it has played in helping form this wonderful environmental asset.

Bri. Flexman attended the Rotary National Science and Technology Forum in January of 2021. She joined two hundred other nationally selected candidates sponsored by Rotary clubs for an intensive two-week series of activities that spanned a vast range of science and technology subjects. These ranged from molecular biology to astronomy including practical’s involving analyzing her own DNA, testing her performance on Sport Science equipment and dissecting the heart, lungs and trachea of a sheep. 

Apart from providing her with a much wider perspective on what science and technology careers could be in front of her she immensely enjoyed being with liked minded people and has made some life long friends.

 
The club really enjoyed hearing Bri’s feedback as the Forum is one of the many ways that the club helps young people through sponsoring them on leadership and personal development courses.

This week’s meeting was kept short as we had an invitation to join with Howick Club’s ‘Wine Tasting’ group. 

After dinner members moved to the Howick Club’s function Room to enjoy an evening of tasting from Hãhã wines. Some 6 or 7 wines were offered creating considerable ‘well informed’ discussion. The presentation of the wines was accompanied by a background on the company and a description of each of the wines on offer by Auckland Sales Representative Ben Plummer.

 
Interestingly, Ben described Hãhã wines as a “virtual” winery with contracted grape growers, winemakers and bottlers. 

A most enjoyable evening for all. Thanks to the Howick Club wine group for the opportunity to participate.

One of the key objectives of Rotary is to provide support where we can to those in need. We know how Covid increased that need for so many young people and families over the past year. How best could we help within our limited resources? The media made it clear our local Foodbanks were struggling due to unprecedented demand. Members decided we should dig deep and provide financial assistance. With some of the funds raised through our projects such as our annual Bookarama, along with personal donations from members, we were able to provide funding close to $20k between 'Stand Children's Services, All Saints Church and the Salvation Army to assist those in most need in the middle of last year and again prior to Christmas. At last night's meeting we welcomed Pene Frost, Regional Manager of 'Stand Children's Services' and also Becky Fenn and Lole Turner from All Saints Church who in turn expressed their thanks for the generous support the Club had provided.

 

 

Pene Frost                                        Lole Turner                                     Becky Fenn

Regional Manager                            All Saints                                        All Saints

Stand Children Services                  Food Parcel Coordinator                 Christmas Lunch Box Coordinator 

 

Pene told us about how Stand had to go to 'contactless" deliveries under Covid and how Rotary's support had helped buy bulk food and blankets that were then dispensed into family lots. Sadly many of the families are transient with no permanent home as such. Lole informed us that the first donation for Food Parcels was a life line as they had almost run out of funding at the time and she was having sleepless nights worrying about what to do. The additional Food Parcel funding prior to Christmas was used to make a real difference to a significant number of families. Becky told us about the Christmas Lunch Box Appeal and how the members donations had really bought “the Gift of Christmas” to a lot of local families that were recommended by social workers, doctors and other local professionals who had contact with them.  Members were visibly moved by many of the heart-felt stories of the challenges so many families are facing at present. Discussion will continue no doubt as to how we can do more in the future. 

                                               

Howick Rotary President Mike Abercrombie would like to wish the Howick Community, Members, Associates and Friends “A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND TO ALL YOUR FAMILIES AND WE HOPE YOU HAVE A SAFE & ENJOYABLE TIME OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD”.

Howick Rotary and fellow clubs in District 9920 have responded positively to a request from the Rotary Club of Apia to help them in supporting the Ministry of Health and communities in Samoa. The Ministry of Health have specifically sought assistance from Rotary for health centre furnishings and supplies (beds, screens, trolleys, wheelchairs etc.) The Rotary Club is also providing family support for those bereaved families. To date 16 children have died with some thousands under care and observation.

                      

We urgently seek some more help from members, partners, and friends with duties at this show.

 

This week’s speaker was Dr. Byron Kemp of Platinum Chiropractic. Byron spoke to us about the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Despite the fact he started by confessing to being “Australian” we forgave him because he is a long time resident and has taken on the task of treating some of our members.

There has been an ongoing project to convert our club onto Club Runner. This comprehensive software package specifically for Rotary Clubs is now being used by large numbers of clubs in our district and internationally. This coming Tuesday Dave Wylie and Alex Garden will talk to us about the biggest change to running our club in many years. Alex Garden is a Rotarian and is the President of Pohutukawa Coast club. His company NetInsites specialises in the development and support of websites.

Well it has taken some time but we now have Club Runner up and working and this Keyway has been produced using Club Runner and the individual records of all members and friends of Howick Rotary.

 

The software has functions that will, in time, make it easier for us all to administer and manage our terrific club. Most clubs in District 9920 have either implemented, or are in the process of implementing the system. The software is cloud based (i.e. on the internet) and is also used by District and has links to RI as well.