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President's Update
I had the privilege of attending Wakatipu High School senior prizing and presenting the Rotary Scholarship. The Dux and the recipient of our scholarship was Elise Edmunds. Elise made a very caring and passionate address and is a very remarkable and talented young woman. In fact, all those young people receiving awards were impressive and you got the strong impression that the future of NZ is in very capable hands.
I must make a strong plea for members to be more active in attending Rotary meetings and events. Our last meeting was attended by 15 people, and only 8 turned out for our Polio Fundraiser in conjunction with Inner Wheel. This is poor, especially as we had many people supporting weekly meetings continuing rather than one less meeting per month. Well done to David, Gabrielle and Nell for making the Polio Quiz night a success raising $900.00. Also, thanks to Brian MacPherson for his auction skills and Cora Huitt for her effort in "Painting Pinkies'.
I need to commend Tim and Fiona for their fine effort in staging a very successful Duck Race.
Our Club will be hosting 16 students from Finland, Switzerland, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Denmark and Belgium.
We are planning a BBQ at our Rotary Picnic Area on the Tucker Beach Track. Or you can BYO Picnic/Takeaway.
PART 1 of the evening – 4.15pm-5.15pm
We will be showcasing our Tucker Beach track and historic bridge projects.
If you want to join in, meet us at the far end of the Tucker Beach Track to walk with the students the length of the track, back toward the Shotover bridge.
SHUTTLE: Park at the Rotary picnic area by 4pm and we will run a shuttle to the start point.
PART 2 of the evening - BYO, Drinks will start from 5pm onwards
Bring your own meat to put on the BBQ. Eating from about 5.30pm onward.
The weather forecast looks ok. Bring something warm to wear, a blanket and/or chairs to sit on. The gazebo will be up to block the wind if necessary.
The students will be bringing along a gift item from their home country that will be auctioned off and they will share briefly where they are from.
They are accompanied by 2 Rotary chaperones, Jennifer and Raoul Neads who are retired doctors and now live on Great Barrier Island. Both have a long affiliation with the International Exchange Student programme.
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.
Tuesday saw the polio fundraiser Head in the Clouds fun quiz night.
Five teams were fielded two with Inner Wheel participants, with Nell Hunter as the quizmaster and David and Gabrielle scorers and event co-ordinators. Cora Huitt ran a paint the pinkie spot and helped with registering the teams, raising $100.
Brian Macpherson the auctioneer ran a bottle auction during the much needed quiz break, raising $600. Thankyou both to the donors and buyers.
The winning team was the Hubbard Brain Trust, Diana, Dick, Lauren with Viviene and Bryce Hunt(An Inner Wheel runaway) and runner up was the Team Mojolija with Monica and Joan, Lisa, Brian and Jan.
Net amount for the event was $900, to contribute to fighting polio.
A small group gathered for a club meeting on Tuesday October 31. Colin gave us insight of Sir Tim Wallace and the beginnings of the deer industry, of which Colin and Jean were personally involved with for much of their farming life. An industry they found very rewarding.
Brian MacPherson on usual form provided a fun bottle auction (part one of two, part two on Quiz night) and of note was Valma Rees’ preserved apricots, which sold for a record price. I am sure they were worth it and enjoyed on the breakfast cereal the next morning.
Finally, we had Joan, in her role as the D9999 Rotary Foundation Chair, provide an overview of Rotary Foundation and reminded us of the system to utilise district grants and the international grants.
Read on for further updates on what Foundation has been up to over recent times.
This editor attended the first day of two training days in Dunedin, for President training. Prior to attending, the President Elects (PE's) we all used the MyRotary site to complete some President training modules. If interested follow the link: MyRotary
Varied topics were covered to assist the year ahead for the new President Elects including leadership and coaching, conflict resolution and regionalisation. We had an informative session from Joan on the Rotary Foundation ensuring this unique part of rotary was understood. Joan also generously repeated this session at the recent Club night.
There has been a huge amount of work done for this regionalisation project. I commend all the enthusiasm of the district group in this endeavour.
I personally always find in these type of leadership courses, something to bring back and implement and this course has been no different. For me it is all about the planning for the year ahead, so your experience at Rotary with me as President, will be fulfilling both socially and within our community.
Ron Mcluckie, an inspirational presenter on leading and team building.
Joan up front with a great and informative session.
Our dear colleague Barry Bemrose died this morning in Ranui Home and Hospital Alexandra.
DUTIES ROSTER
14 Nov
21 Nov
28 Nov
5 Dec
Setup 5.20 pm Meet & Greet
BBQ
Lee-Ann Murray
Lee-Ann Murray
N/A
Cashier
BBQ
David Tait
Gabrielle Schou
N/A
Introduce Speaker & Parting Thought
BBQ
Ron Mackersy
Colin Macnicol
N/A
Sergeant
BBQ
Lisa Pond
Ashley Adams
N/A
Toast to Rotary Project OR
3 min Talk
BBQ
Tim Wilshire
Keith McIntosh
N/A
Thank Speaker
BBQ
Tony Robins
David Carter
N/A
AN IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR MEETINGS
Please place your meal orders in by 5pm on Sundays, or register your apology.
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.
MENU
MEALS
PRICE
Togarashi Fries
$10
Fish & Chips
$28
Pan Fried chicken & Egg wrap with Fries
$25
Creamy Pesto Penne - with chicken
$27
Creamy Pesto Penne - NO chicken
$22
Thai Beef Salad
$18
Caesar - with chicken
$25
Caesar
$20
Chicken & Bacon Pizza
$28
Margherita Pizza
$22
Ham & Cheese Toastie & Fries
$17
MEMBERS LIST
If you need an updated copy of the current membership with contact details, please email queenstownrotary@gmail.com to request one be emailed to you.
BANK ACCOUNT
The Club bank account with the ANZ - 01-0867-0722903-00 - always put your name and what it’s for as the reference.
FOR THE BUSINESSES
Join Leanne Stoutley, Site Safe Industry Engagement Lead, to learn about 'Zero Harm', an App designed to help you manage health and safety onsite, at the office, or on the farm. Leanne will introduce you to the easy-to-use App and run you through some recent and upcoming updates to 'Zero Harm' that can save you time when managing health and safety for your business.
This is also a great opportunity to provide feedback on how you manage your business’ health and safety and connect with other 'Zero Harm' customers in the region.
Thursday 16 November
10:00am – 11:30am
Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park
28 Red Oaks Drive, Queenstown
How exciting! 
Tuesday saw the 
