Rotary is about the actions that take place to make the lives of many that little bit, or a lot, better. This Blog tells just some of those stories made possible by the dedication and goodwill of the men and women who are members of Rotary clubs throughout the region. Rotary - check it out! 0800 4 ROTARY
Jaye
Howey - AG Hutt 2 (kneeling in front of Phil)
Phil
Collett - Petone
Des
Darby - Eastern Hutt
Paul
Newsom - Past AG Hutt 1 (kneeling between Des and Barry)
Barry
Girvan - Hutt Valley
The
redevelopment of a central area of Lower Hutt, NZ adjacent to the Town Hall and
HuttCityi-SITE Visitor Centre,
meant the previous Rotary information sign was removed by contractors and
condemned to the scrap heap.
While
wondering ‘where has our sign gone’, the presidents of the Hutt clubs saw the
opportunity to replace the Rotary sign.
Following
some close collaboration between the clubs, and several meetings with the
council and signage company, a new sign has been proudly installed.
The
eye-catching modern sign, carrying the message ‘Join Leaders, Exchange Ideas,
Take Action’, portrays Rotary in a vibrant way unlike the tired, wooden and
rusty Rotary wheel signs that welcome visitors to many towns.
The
cost of the new sign was shared between the local council and the participating
Rotary clubs.
The Rotary Club of Botany East Tamaki in Auckland recently put on another display at the Botany Town Centre and had a wonderful day – meeting and greeting everyone.
Who wouldn't want to join Rotary after a chat with this enthusiastic crew!
The stall was set up by 9am complete with 2 pull up banners & our tear drop flag, plus we made use of the lawn outside Botany Mall and put out 2 more tear drop flags there as well.
Members were highly visible in Rotary fluro vests and there were plenty of brochures handed out in addition to the public being able to browse display boards showcasing past projects and have a read of Rotary information from display material such as copies of Rotary Down Under magazine and more.
An outcome of the display was that the club meeting following had 3 prospective new members at our plus a contact through www.rotarysouthpacific.org with another prospective member keen to come to our next meeting, after being handed one of our brochures. The club has a robust membership plan to ensure all prospective members are well looked after.
A South African Rotarian and his wife who visited the stand and are staying with their daughter in Flat Bush also want to come to visit before he goes back to Sth Africa. He comes to visit twice a year for about three months, so we could also have a regular visiting Rotarian as well.
It was a very rewarding day and the result has been well above expectations and these days have proven so successful that the club will be doing this publicity day about 3 – 4 times a year in Botany Mall, as these are well worth the effort.
The Peace Dance held at Mission
Bay early afternoon on Sat 23 February (Rotary Day and World Peace Day) was an
outstanding publicity event for Rotary and heaps of fun for all. This video
shows some of the 100+ Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors, friends and fans
involved.
The day was bright and sunny and
Mission Bay was chock-full of people enjoying a summer day at the seaside so it
takes little imagination to understand their surprise when suddenly a large
group start a dance! Fantastic! Similar Flashmob events were also held in 4 Pacific Island nation locations.
One group from the Rotary Club of Alfriston described the
event this way:
It was a dark & stormy night. No! It was a bright & sunny day, when we found
themselves picnicking at Mission Bay.
We had found a shady table & spread out the lunchtime
fare. At that point we noticed some furtive activity.
Some sort of gathering of people, slightly older than the
“bright young things” that usually inhabit the beach, were seen loitering with
intent.
They seemed to have the fountain surrounded, & their motives
were unclear. Some bore strange circular insignias upon their clothing.
The sound of the Nation Anthem emanating from a huge
speaker seemed to be a signal, & a level of alertness went through the
group. Suddenly some moved in unison & started to wave their arms around.
This seemed a strange ritual dance, with the fountain as it’s focus.
A banner was unfurled & all was revealed.
It was Rock ‘N’ Rotary: Ends Polio Builds Peace.
The word was out. This was not a mid-summer Druid ritual,
but sober Rotarians risking their dignity to promote polio eradication &
world peace.
Once the inhibitions were loosened then they did it all
again, as an ensemble, for the waiting paparazzi.
"District 9920" is a Rotary Interantional administrative area that includes half of Auckland from Queen Street in Auckland's CBD to the Bombay Hills to the south and American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kirimati, Samoa, Tonga
Do you have a mobile phone? Have you ever used your phone camera? Are you like me ... have played around with it and taken a few pictures but then not known what to do with them? I was caught short the other day at a Rotary event without my camera and took a really great picture that I really wanted to use, so was forced to take the time to find out how to email it to myself where I could download and put it to good use.
This monumental learning curve took me 3 minutes! Why was I so worried about learning this technology I have always with me!
And I was able to add text - a few words to remind me of a couple of points so when I went to write something to go with the picture I had some facts. The other thing that worried me was the picture would be too small in quality / size but need not have worred as it was 1.2MB so the camera setting was OK ... you might need to see if yours needs adjusting to maximum (always do maximum).
OK, you might have to get your email set up on the phone but surely a friend or the local phone retailer can help. The point is, there is no excuse for your club's project not to have good publicity and especially some good, close-up action pictures.
Still, no matter how much mobile phone technology has advanced over recent years, do not be fooled ... even a low-end camera will do a better job especially in low light situations (where a mobile camera is at its worst) so camera first, mobile phone is way better than no picture!
District Governor Margaret Reeve, Peter Fletcher, Keith Walker and Peter’s dog in front of the ‘mobile billboard’.
Public Relations Director for District 9970 in New Zealand, Keith Walker, was recently offered an innovative way to promote Rotary by turning a truck into a mobile billboard.
Peter Fletcher, fellow Rotarian and currently an Assistant Governor for 9970, owns a transport company and was due to replace the side curtains on one of his trucks.
Peter decided that instead of the curtains being blank as normal he would offer the space to promote Rotary which Keith welcomed with both arms.
Indeed given the lack of infrastructure in Christchurch after the February earthquake, there are few places available to display billboards, so Peter’s offer was a god send!
The message displayed on both sides runs parallel with the international message promoting Rotary membership, being “Want to Play a Part?”
Given the 7 – 8 year shelf life of the curtains, the NZ$5,000 price tag to produce, sign write and fit the curtains is very cost effective.
Peter’s truck was displayed at the recent training day for District 9970 and gained wide spread approval.
“The truck is already being noticed around Christchurch and will hopefully play its part in drawing future members into our clubs” says Keith.
