It was another successful Duck Race for 2024. The winner of the Corporate Race this year was Gantley's Tavern. Second place was awarded to Five Mile Pharmacy and third place to Todd and Walker.
We can honestly say we had the most creative ducks this year. Hence why we had two best dressed ducks. The Grinch and the Abacus Findex Duck.
We also had two of the Primary Schools in Queenstown join our new school category this year. Arrowtown Primary and Kawarau Primary School. Students took part in a colouring competition and
the winners of the competition had the opportunity to decorate a rubber duck. We had some fantastic entries. The winner of the race was Kawarau Primary School. They also placed second in
the race with Arrowtown Primary placing third. The best dressed duck was awarded to Kawarau Primary School. Congratulations to both schools.
Thank you to everyone who participated this year. All the profits raised will be donated to the Coastguard Queenstown and the Otago Southland Helicopter Trust.
See you all next year.
Zone 8 Conference 2024 – Dream, Dare, Deliver
1st to 3rd November 2024 in Queenstown, New Zealand
Rydges/QT Queenstown – 38-54 Lake Esplanade, 2 minute walk from Queenstown CBD
Times:
Friday: 1st November
- Business session 2pm to 4pm
- Official Opening at 5pm, followed by 7pm Class dinners around Queenstown restaurants.
Saturday: 2nd November
- Institute Time: 9am to 4pm
Sunday: 3rd November
- Institute Time: 9.30am to 1pm
Staying There
We are leaving the accommodation to everyone to book themselves.
We would recommend booking accommodation early, as Queenstown is very busy & places are already selling out. A good idea is to use the likes of Booking.com & book with a 100% refundable room rate, so if your plans change, you won’t be out of pocket, but at least a bed organised.
Getting There
Air NZ are also offering a great discount to those travelling from anywhere in Australia to Queenstown during this period. More info to follow on this shortly.
For flights home, as conference finishes at 1pm Sunday, & airport is approximately 30 minutes away, recommendation is booking flights 2.30pm domestically & 3.30-4pm for International.
The Rotaract Club of Central Lakes was formally chartered on 14 March 2024.
12 of the 17 signed up members were inducted and their executive officers were sworn in to office.
Their foundation Directors are:
President - Jess Pauling (Queenstown)
Secretary - Roselle O’Brien (Queenstown)
Treasurer - Adam Stobo-Wright (Cromwell)
Held at the Holiday Inn in Frankton Road, the event was well supported by Rotarians from the supporting Clubs - Queenstown, Wanaka, Alexandra and Cromwell. District 9999 representatives also attended, notably District Governor-Elect Dave McKissock of Invercargill.
The Directors are now working on their calendar and will be contacting Clubs to arrange a meeting visit. They will offer to help with club projects and fundraisers as well as establishing their direction and projects of their own.
The Central Lakes Rotaract Club completed their 1st project last Sunday 26 May - delivering firewood to those in need in our community.
The wood was provided by Mana Tahuna. The amazing Michael Sly https://www.wilding.co/, and extra hands from the Kiwi Kit Community Trust, made this is a real collaboration of service.
Over 50 cubic meters was delivered to 11 households.
The next project is a working bee at Happiness House this coming weekend.
Speaking at our 21 May meeting were the Wakatipu High School (WHS) ‘Hillary Challenge’ Team that competed in the annual multi-school event, held in the Tongariro National Park on the central plateau last October. 12 school teams competed, the winners being the experienced Motueka High School team.
The challenge, held over 5 days, involved teams of 8 in outdoor challenges that utilised teamwork and leadership whilst having fun.
The ‘Hillary Challenges’ involved individual team challenges (puzzles and problem solving), water activities, a 30km expedition tramp over 2 days, and a multi-sport race that comprised kayaking (8km), bike (28km), a run (10km) and a final 5km bike and run to the finish line.
To fundraise, the WHS team made and sold 4250 cheese rolls (with sponsored materials), held a Bingo Night, and carried out tree planting at Lake Hayes. Queenstown Rotary, Queenstown Lions and Tanoshi restaurant contributed.
The team expressed their thanks to Queenstown Rotary for our sponsorship.
Bus Needed |
Cora and Angeli empowering community ladies with knowledge about taking care of their abdominals, pelvic floor, back/pelvic, breathing and posture/body machanics | Drs Giselle & Cora |
On Saturday the 13th of April, the Rotary Club of Queenstown celebrated their 80th anniversary with a dinner at the Country Club, Lake Hayes.
Guests included members from the Inner Wheel Club of Queenstown, partners of members, and Philip Chandler (Scoop).
Presented at the 80th celebration were three Paul Harris Fellowship awards. The recipients on the evening were Ross and Rosanna Beal and Philip Chandler (Scoop) from the Mountain Scene.
A Paul Harris Fellow Award is a recognition of humanitarian and educational programs that make a difference in the local community and abroad.
Ross and Rosanna Beal received a Paul Harris Fellow award for their humanitarian dedication and commitment to their Ugandan projects (Fountain of Peace and the Connor Beal Memorial Education Scholarship).
Philip Chandler (Scoop) from the Mountain Sceene received a Paul Harris Fellow award for his contribution to the Queenstown community.
The evening was enjoyed by all and Nel did a fantastic job as MC. A big thank you to all of the members who spent time decorating the venue prior to the event. It looked fantastic!
A quick reminder that the 80th Anniversary Celebration RSVP is due by the 5th of April.
Our Guest Speaker on 20 February was our own Ross Beal.
We are aware of Ross and Rosanna’s commitment to the ‘Fountain of Peace’ organisation and its work in developing and supporting a home village in Uganda, for orphaned children, as well as a school for their residents plus the local community.
As the earlier residents grow older, the question of what they will do, post their schooling, began to occupy their minds. Ross and Rosanna have now turned their heads to the future education needs of the children in the care of Fountain of Peace, Uganda.
They are now focusing on a scholarship program that will ensure that the children, when aged 18-21, along with 5 other students that they are currently supporting, will be resourced so that they are able to aspire to and reach their educational goals be they tertiary or vocational. They will then have careers able to add value to Uganda’s economic development. The scholarship to each child will include course fees, resources and accommodation up to a value of NZ$3,000.
Ross and Rosanna have established the ‘Connor Beal Memorial Education Scholarship’ in memory of their late grandson, Connor, who succumbed to a rare form of blood cancer in 2011 at age 11. This scholarship will be the vehicle for providing this educational support.
“The educational scholarship will be Connor’s contribution to the lives of young Ugandan’s, providing an opportunity for them while giving purpose and meaning to a life taken from us so young”.
Ross also confirmed that he has concluded his role as a Trustee on the ‘Fountain of Peace Childrens Foundation NZ Board’ following a 11-year tenure.
This year's event was a quacking triumph, and the real winners were the wonderful folks at Kiwi Harvest. Thanks to the generous supporters, we managed to raise an astonishing $8,000 for this fantastic charity. That's food on the table for countless Kiwis in need, and this event has a significant role in making that happen.
Now, let's talk about the ducks and their extraordinary achievements. The top honours in the Corporate Duck Race went to Queenstown Ice Arena, who managed to waddle their way to victory on a very interesting designed duck. Their prize is as cool as ice – a splendid stay at Hotel St Moritz along with a delectable dinner! Ice-tacular, right?
Novotel secured the second spot, and they're quacking with joy! Well done, team!
Designa Tiles showed their tiles-to-talent skills, earning themselves a well-deserved third place. Bravo!
And who could forget the dazzling fashionistas of the duck world? The award for the Best Dressed Duck went to Findex! Their duck's sense of style has won them a fantastic Millbrook Golf Voucher prize. Honourable mentions go to Pak N Save, whose runner-up duck was dressed to impress, and Future Hospitality Group, whose winged wonder, Earl, soared into third place. Fashion-forward ducks, indeed!
In total, we had 40 ducks in the race, all competing for glory and the greater good.
We have immense gratitude to all our sponsors and prize providers. Their unwavering support and generosity made the Queenstown Rotary Duck Race a truly quackers event.
The countdown is now on until the next duck race! The plan is to run it around the same time next year.
Let's keep the quacking spirit alive!
Note: The hard work was done for many months behind the scenes by Tim and Fiona Wilshire.
Photos of the day below...
 | We sponsored Georgia Boulton to Blue Light Life Skills in May. Here is her thank you to Rotary. |
Dear Rotary
First of all I just want to say a huge thank you for my scholarship for the Bluelight Camp that I attended a few weeks ago.
The camp went really well, I really enjoyed everything about it. It was a great trip and a very eye opening experience. This was a great experience for me with what I would like to do when I get older with the Navy. I got experience from all aspects of the forces.
At the end of the camp we had a graduation. We had 28 at the start and for graduation we left with 28. This is very rare for the camp to leave with all the people that started at the beginning.
In the graduation I got my certificate of graduating the course but I also got an excellence award for my syndicate, which meant I was the most improved best listener etc for my group.
Thank you
Georgia Boulton
From the Editor:
On reading the Mountain Scene, I came across the article below. This is but one of the projects in which the Rotary Club of Queenstown has contributed in the past to our District. Lets be inspired to be people of action for our District now. NB I have overwritten the article so the words can be easily read.
.png){kind=small}
