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President's Message
Grant Rees
Like you we have been surprised by the early snowfall. No more gardening at the moment so a guiltfree inside day.
The ticket sales for Christopher Luxon are progressing but we still have some way to go before we break even. Talk to friends and neighbours and encourage them to come along and be informed.
Neil has been busy organising his coming year and I’m sure you will enjoy his year. It is fair to say that he is more organised than I am, but that is not a particularly high bar!
We had an enjoyable visit to Morningstar Reserve to see the progress that the KAPOW group has made. It was great to see the amount of activity on the reserve in the short time we were there. I think this has been a good project and a worthwhile collaboration with the KAPOW group.
We are having another working bee at Happiness house coming up soon, for a winter tidy up and also to fill up their vege plots with compost, courtesy of Michael Sly who was another of our off-site speakers.
It was a great presentation from Jun Farcon who reiterated the good work that the Rotary Foundation does. We will soon be sending our clubs Foundation contribution through and if anyone wants to make a personal contribution now is the time to do it.
Next weeks speaker is from Sarah Bloxham, St Johns. Given the average age of most members, Ithink we all need to pay attention to what this lady has to say!!!
Phillipines Distric Governer Virgilio Farcon Junior (Jun)presented to our Club, a story of his journey of 38 years with Rotary.
His mantra was very much "All for the love of rotary". For that love he has raised millions of dollars for the Rotary Foundation and its different funds. Last year alone over $5,000,000 was raised
Jun started his journey with Rotary at high school within Interactors and then when in college he joined the Rotaractor club in 1976, and then moved onto Rotary, becoming its youngest President for the Rotary Club of Marakina 10 years later. Roles since have included District Governer and others and today he is the Rotary Endowment and Major Gifts Advisor.
Then in true Jun style he challenged us to give of ourselves, donate more and be aware of how much we have compared to those that have so very little.
We thanked Jun and his wife Zenaida, who is an amazing woman in her right, as the International President of Inner Wheel.
Jun, Zenaida and family; Two sons, daughter and Jun's father Virgilio Farcon Snr. All the family are CPR Lawyers.
The off site meeting was a visit to the Morning Star Reserve to look at all the landscaping and planting that has been done by the KAPOW group. Rotary has been working in collaboration with KAPOW with several working bees, as well as providing some funding. One of the seven areas of focus for Rotary is looking after the environment.
A light pizza and beer was then enjoyed at the Canyon Brewery.
A seasoned runner might take water and protein bars on a long training run, but girls and women in Afghanistan consider other equipment more essential: knuckle dusters or pepper spray, so that when anybody comes close, they can demonstrate they have something to defend themselves. It’s one of the startling details in a 2019 documentary about female runners in the deeply conservative nation. The film is the culmination of years of work by Martin Parnell, a Rotarian from suburban Calgary, Alberta, and an avid runner. Learn more about the documentary and listen to our podcast.
This week's stories
Korean Rotarians provide relief in Turkey
Following the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Rotary members in District 3620 felt an urgent need to help their Rotary colleagues in heavily damaged areas. The district sent a team in early March to assess the damage and determine the best way they could help. Duck-JU Lee, a member of the Rotary Club of Cheonan Dream, was saddened by the devastation he witnessed. In a blog post for Rotary Voices, Lee discusses the collaboration between the two districts and encourages other districts to join the relief effort. Give to the Disaster Response Fund to support efforts like these.
When pirates attack, family gets help from Rotary network
Cory, her husband Chris, and two friends were docked in Panama’s Pearl Islands when they were attacked by pirates. The pirates ransacked their boat and took almost everything. Cory’s father, a member of the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA, immediately began calling Rotary contacts when he learned of the traumatic attack. His call set off a chain reaction of help, involving Rotary International support staff and members from zones, districts, and clubs in the region. Read more.
Celebrate Rotary's Youth Service Month
Every year, over 350,000 young leaders participate in Rotary’s youth programs across Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), and Rotary Youth Exchange. Rotary’s Youth Service Month is an opportunity to promote our young leaders’ local and global impacts and the Rotary and Rotaract clubs that make these programs possible. Learn more.
Visit us at One Rotary Center
Plan your next visit to One Rotary Center in Evanston, Illinois, USA, and learn how we create lasting change. If you can’t make it in person, take our virtual tour.
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We must have apologies in by 5pm on Sundays. If no apology is received by then, members will be invoiced for the meal as Holiday Inn will invoice us for it. We will be strictly enforcing this.
You can put in an extended apology and just inform us when you WILL attend a meeting.
If you have already put in an extended apology or LOA, can you please email queenstownrotary@gmail.com to update and confirm this is still required.
PP Lee-Ann is looking after the programme, duties, meetings and attendance. If you have any suggestions/ideas for the programme please let her know. If you have a duty and can’t attend, please make sure you find a replacement.
The 3 Minute Talk - to make sure we run to time, please keep to between 3-5 minutes, unless pre-arranged with the President.
Apologies - Must be received to queenstownrotary@gmail.com5 pm the Sunday before the meeting. Please be aware that you will be invoiced for your meal if no apology is received. If you are unsure if you can make it each week, you can put in a permanent apology and let us know when you do come. It is easier to inform the restaurant of an extra meal than the Club having to pay for meals not claimed.
