Our Silent Servants and Quiet Achievers

 

When I knew that I wouldn’t be make it to the club meeting on Tuesday I knew also that there were several senior members I could call on to do the job. Bill Day stood in for me, and I thank him for that.

Interestingly he had to call on another old hand in Ian Paterson after the rostered sergeant wasn’t able to make it either.

There are many jobs in the club, some of them bigger and more arduous than others, but all of them are handled by volunteers, and often for long periods of time.

It is invidious in a volunteer organisation to pick out some and to be silent about others, but I do want to mention a few of our longstanding volunteers because there is a point to be made here.

Darryl Ross has been the speaker seeker in the club for all of the eleven years I have been a member. He does the job quietly, without any fuss or fanfare. He takes members’ suggestions seriously and produces a wide range of speakers whose quality contributes to the success of the club. It’s a job that few will seek.

Likewise, the hotel liaison position. Chris Robertson has negotiated on our behalf with the Intercontinental for many years and helped produce some outstanding functions at good prices.

Other quiet performers include Rick Hughes who works steadily away on the waterfront looking after our piano which is a steady passive earner for club funds, and he’s also at Kahurangi School, and was one of the drivers in a region wide Rotary project to raise $100 000 to equip a new ambulance.

Dawn Sanders is a tireless advocate for music, drama, dance and the performing arts generally, arranging players for the Sunday markets, bringing performers like the world class violinist Ben Baker into the club’s ambit and of course, all the Shakespeare stuff involving sending secondary school students to the Globe Theatre in London, and running the annual schools Shakespeare competitions.

There are others; Joy with the Rotary Exchange students and selling the Hospitality books; Gillian with the Rotoract and Interact clubs; Jane Paterson with the Goalsetters awards over many years. And that’s before I even begin on the many who have worked on club committees, projects and on the board over the years.

I don’t seek to make an exhaustive list. Rather to make the point that our silent servants need to be congratulated from time to time, and we all need to remember that the club is about service, as well as friendship, learning and entertainment. And by helping each other we can achieve much and enjoy it too.

 

John Bishop

Club President