Weekly meetings are via Zoom due to the situation with Covid-19
President
David Shackleton
We are still seeking clarity on when we can restart our breakfast meetings, and what that is going to look like, but the good news is it won’t be long. Frankly, while Zoom is a great tool, I miss the spontaneity, warmth and human contact of an actual meeting.
This coming Wednesday our Guest Speaker will be Gillian Jones the incoming 9940 District Governor. Many of you will know Gillian from the Rotary Club of Wellington as she is a very well respected and experienced Rotarian. Gillian will speak to us on her plans for the forthcoming year and take any questions you may have.
The Board has been preparing several initiatives that address the challenges of our new environment. Tony has developed a promotion plan on how we are going to raise funds going forward (thanks to Tim Pankhurst who sent us an excellent suggestion). This plan will be reviewed by the Events team and a strategy developed for the next 12 months.
We are also doing the same with a plan to assist members during the recession. This paper should be completed before the end of the month and will be shared with all. On the financial front our accounts, thanks to Peter, Nick, Mike, and Lindsay are looking in good shape. However, we will need to be prudent going forward and as the old saying goes “cut our cloth to suit our purse”.
These have gone really well with great participation. We came across these couple of links on video meeting etiquette, which generally apply to our meetings.
In addition in a Rotary context it's good to ensure your name (including surname) is correctly showing (right click on your name on your image). Muting your mic and turning off the video when moving around are important too (both prevent distraction)."
Bev's Tip for the week.....
Top of mind for me is how to ‘Share Screen’ .....
It’s useful for parting thoughts, to share correspondence received, a photo or PP slide.
It’s easy ..... first have the photo, page or slide open on your computer, then click ‘Share Screen’ on the bottom toolbar and select the file.
I'm not sure how to do this using another device like an iPad or iPhone, so there ends my limited knowledge!
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This weeks speaker....James Wilcox - Project Director Predator Free Wgtn
It was great hearing from James again and getting an update on Predator Free Wellington’s activities since he spoke to us last a couple of years ago. The focus of his talk was the Miramar Peninsula project, seen as the first step in Wellington becoming the world’s first predator free capital city, where our native biodiversity and communities thrive.
It is seen as a project that will enable a city-wide Zealandia, permanently removing possums, rats, stoats and weasels from the area. The infrastructure (traps, bait stations, community traps etc) number in the thousands. Fix and Fog, producers of excellent peanut butter have donated over 480kg of their product in total.
To progress this ambition, PFW have had to build relationships and in building these relationships they have been able to effect positive social outcomes. Team members go on to private property every week for 6 months – building trust and in so doing, become actively involved in people’s lives.
As an example, James shared a story about Darryl from Strathmore who couldn’t sleep at night because of the noise of the rats in his ceiling, hot-water cupboard – throughout his house. With support from PF he caught 24 rats in two weeks! Darryl has had some pretty big challenges in his life but he has now become an inspiring agent for change in his community. You can see a great video about Darryl on https://www.pfw.org.nz/quarterly-impact-report/. (Scroll through the report to find Darryl).
The success of this project will result from a community going to unreasonable lengths to achieve a shared aspiration. Through these efforts there is now huge growth in bird and other species' numbers, some being seen for the first time in many years. You can follow their project on Facebook.
Reporter
Brenda
Footnote: We look forward to reactivating our Club Predator Free Waterfront project just as soon as we are able to do so. More about that soon.
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Kiriwhakapapa news
Miss Piggy’s diary – Episode 7
It has been a relatively quiet week here in paradise. But before I write any more, an apology is due. I am busy fighting off many legal complaints because I wrote that Julian told me his birthday card had been made by Sue. It appears Sue deceived him, not for the first time, but let us not go there. She had in fact bought the 3D card but implied it was her creation, well that is how Julian tells it. You can believe who you wish.
Anyway, this episode will be a lot shorter than usual. My millions of fans throughout the world keep asking for more, but it appears that the Port Nicholson newsletter is a bit overwhelmed with contributions, so shorter is better. If you want to read the full episode use the link www.chicklies.hen.
Julian and Sue tell me the weeks seem to go very quickly and the last week was no exception, a bit of rain, lots of sun, a few more trees cut down and a few more pieces of jewellery created. I still get the regular visit by the cunning rat who is outsmarting Julian, although that is not difficult as you all know. The rat has continued to avoid all the traps and the poison and still feasts on my food.
Reading is a pastime Sue and Julian enjoy and his collection of books keeps them entertained a lot when they should be working. One book Julian has recently re-read is about how to install wind turbines – weird I know, but he likes that sort of thing. He keeps saying to Sue he wished he had read it properly before building the tower and foundations for the turbine he installed a couple of years ago. He says the turbine would have worked a lot better if he had.
I hope you are all keeping safe and are prepared for level two when it is time.
Alias
Julian Bateson
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A Stoned Cow
The articles by Peter Whittington reminded me about a case I heard about (more than) a few years ago.
Cooks Winery had a property just north of the Te Kauwhata turnoff on the Eastern side of State Highway One on Paddy’s Road. They were well known for their hybrid varieties including Cooks Chasseur which could be bought in 4 and 20 litre “chateau cardboard” containers.
A colleague of mine from Te Kauwhata, Jan Bulder, at one of our staff meetings, told us of an unusual case that he had recently seen. The farmer had called about a cow that was bogged in a swamp with something like milk fever (calcium deficiency after calving). The cow was quite depressed with its head down and blowing bubbles with her nostrils just on the water level. Jan gave the cow a couple of bottles of calcium borogluconate intravenously, with no response. Usually the response is lifting the head, shivering and then getting up onto its feet with a bit of assistance.
So, the farmer got a tractor and tray and pulled the cow out of the swamp, rolled it onto the tray and took it back to a hayshed where it was left for the night. To the farmer’s surprise, and Jan’s, the cow was on its feet the next morning.
A few days later, the farmer learnt that Cooks Winery had discharged some fermentation liqueur into a small stream leading to the swamp. The cow had obviously waded into the swamp attracted by the tasty surprise. So, she had a gut full, and was drunk, not milk fever. Jan was unable to ask how her head was.
L G Chitty
3/5/2020
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Club Duties and Roster:
NB: If you are rostered for duty and cannot make it, then please arrange for someone else to take your place and let Brent know at brent.gerrard@outlook.com or 021 725060 Txts are fine too!
Until further notice the days of the week are now called thisday, thatday, otherday, someday, yesterday, today and nextday!!
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After years of wanting to thoroughly clean my house but lacking the time, this week I discovered that wasn’t the reason!! ……………………
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My Mom always told me I wouldn’t accomplish anything by laying in bed all day, but look at me now! I’m saving the world!!
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Jeff Lee - a profile by Jean Sloan
Few of us have a personal slogan that provides a framework for how we want to live the rest of our lives but Jeff Lee, is adamant, “My faith, my family and the future, that’s what’s important!” he says. “I’m 78, the second oldest member of our club but still, I’m more concerned with making the most of my future, living well and keeping busy.”
As treasurer for his church in Miramar, Jeff can be found in an Anglican place of worship on more occasions than a regular Sunday service, but his week is filled with a great deal more than prayers and gospel. A busy schedule of volunteering is a demonstration of his faith in action. On Mondays he can be found at the Wellington City Mission preparing food parcels . On Tuesdays he will be at the local school reading to the kids and on Wednesdays, he is ironing clothes at the local Op-Shop. Regular attendance at his gym is more of an essential activity keeping him fit and fine in order to give time and talents to his community.
And through it all, there is Rotary. Since 1980 Jeff has been a member of one Rotary Club or another but a member of Port Nicholson since 2001. He has been heavily involved with the Goal Setters Programme and says, “It’s one of the great programmes we have, very much looking forward and contributing to the future.” What he likes best about Rotary is witnessing the personal dedication of others in the club and their commitment to organizations like the Wellington Regional Hospital, Wellington Free Ambulance, the House of Grace and the Malaghan Institute among so many others. “Our members make a difference,” Jeff says. “They work to give back to society.” It’s quite clear that “Service Above Self” is a way of life for men like Jeff.
Obviously loyal to his commitments, Jeff was also a company man. The only commitment he has made, longer than 56 years of wedded bliss to his English sweetheart Betty, has been to Bata Shoes where he has dedicated an entire career to the same corporation. “Betty was with me on every assignment,” Jeff said. She tramped the globe with him from the UK, to East Africa, to India, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Czech Republic, among others.
He and Betty returned to New Zealand in 2001 with every intention of settling into a routine of being retired but, Jeff was elected to the Board of Directors of Bata Shoes In New Zealand and Australiathat same year and served an additional 18 years to cap off a life of service to an organization where he earned a living and lived an interesting life. “I enjoyed all of it,” he says, “but 60 years is more than enough” and so, he is not standing for re-election this year.
What’s next? Well, you can be sure the second stage of retirement is not a time for looking back, not for a man whose motto is “Faith, family and future.” There is so much to do and so many ways to contribute.
While Jeff hails from the UK and has spent over 30 years of his professional life working abroad, he says this country is home. Being a citizen though does not make one kiwi. Jeff’s dream? “By the time I die,” he says. “I hope to be regarded as a New Zealander.”
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