Hello fellow Rotarians
I hope everyone is well, a lot has happened since our last bulletin.
The combined Rotary beach cleanup was a big success with close to 1T of rubbish being collected which was less than I expected, so hopefully visitors to Oreti beach are taking more pride in their environment.
It was disappointing however to see the amount of rubbish dropped on the side of the road from Fosbender Park to the beach entrance which Dave McKissock and I walked along and cleaned up.
The BBQ after at Fosbender Park was very nice and thanks Paul, from South Club, for organising for us all.
Thank you to our club members and family members who came along to help with the cleanup, it was very much appreciated and many hands made lite work on a sunny day.
Our guest speaker at the last meeting was Brendan Gray from Engage South and he spoke about the pivotal role they play in promoting and supporting the engineering businesses in Southland, and the important part engineering plays to help keep our local businesses operational, not only Tiwai but other industries including - farming, fishing, forestry, building and local export industries. Southlands combined exports make up approximately 8.1% of New Zealand's tradeable exports, and we are a significant regional contributor to NZs GDP.
Brendon also spoke about the challenges facing the engineering industry including attracting and retaining young people into the engineering field in Southland.
Thankyou Brendan for sharing lunch with us and your very informative presentation and keep up the good work 🙂.
On Sunday we held our social club’s bike ride from Riverton along the beach to the main entrance on Oreti beach. After enjoying a nice lunch at "Jacob’s River Bakehouse" we set off in perfect weather conditions along the beach, with our ride finishing at the "Cabbage tree restaurant" for a refreshment or two.
We all had a great time and thank you to Ross, Karen and Alice for organising the adventure and for Rangi and Anu for assisting with the shuttle service between points.
Our club’s recent contribution to the "Ronald McDonald House Charities" has been sincerely accepted and appreciated, and I wish to thank all the members that contributed, as this will make an immediate difference to the courageous families that walk through their doors.
Thank you and enjoy the rest of the week and weekend ahead.
Michael
1st April meeting duties
Reception and raffle - Ross Wensley
Grace - Craig Smith
Introduce and thank the speaker - Karen Witham
Parting thought - Chami Abeysinghe
Reminders
27th March - Conyers Street working bee - contact Helen Cook Ph 0273108587
1st April - Formal Lunch meeting - Kelvin Hotel
4th April - Social club First Friday Drinks at "Craftys bar and grill"
9th April - Lincoln collage billets - contact Helen McCurdy
15th April - Formal Lunch meeting - Kelvin Hotel
21st April - Social Clubs Easter Monday day at the races from 12pm