Commenced last Friday with a social session Fork and Talk, Finger Food and drinks etc.
Tahuna Kapa Haka Group.
This group performed as part of the conference opening held on Friday night at the Forsyth Barr Stadium.
During the weekend we heard from several absolutely inspirational speakers at the Dunedin Town Hall venue:
Cam Calkoen – Born with Cerebral Palsy and now has the aspiration of making life as awesome as it can be through the pursuit of excellence.
Professor Nicola Atwool – child poverty and abuse and the Governments change of focus and future initiatives in this area.
Kevin Bigger – the winner of the 2003 Trans-Atlantic Rowing Race and then he undertook the first unsupported man haul to the South Pole by a New Zealander.
Martin Sneddon – sharing his internationally acclaimed success story in business, spots, event management on and off the field especially the Rugby World Cup.
Robbie Francis – Robbie lives with having only one leg and after, having witnessed first hand the shocking conditions that many with a disability are forced to work in (Mexico), she and her friends co-founded the Lucy Foundation. People with disabilities in Mexico are now producing coffee for distribution in New Zealand.
Dr Lance O’Sullivan – From a young troublesome and rebellious boy at school he explained how with assistance from his Whanau (also from Rotary), he turned his life around and developed into a passionate advocate for Maori health and is currently developing innovative ways to ensure that appropriate and quality health care reaches the right people in the right place and at the right time. This includes using technology via Smartphones.
In addition to these there were various presentations on many Rotary Projects etc.
Rotary Youth Exchange – Rotary Leadership Award – Rotaract – Shelter Box – Invercargill House.
As the weekend was coming to an end we were entertained by the three finalists of the Secondary School Speech Contest with topic based on the 4 Way Test. The winner was from Central Otago (from Dunstan High School sponsored bythe Alexandra club.).
When it came to handing out the ‘Gongs’ we became the joint winners with the Timaru Club for the Best Website in District 9980. Congratulations to Keith and Heather for their joint input.
An old trophy has been resurrected and is now named The District Governor’s Cup called 'The Cliff Broad Trophy'.
THE CLIFF BROAD TROPHY
This will be competed for on a basis decided each year by the District Governor. This year District Governor Bruce decided upon Polio Plus Contributions. Thanks to the extremely generous contribution bequeathed by Cliff to the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus, and of course our own Club and individual Rotarian contributions, Queenstown Rotary was awarded the cup for 2017/18.
