Rotary Club of Port Nicholson Bulletin

Wednesday 14 April 2021

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Rotary Club of Port Nicholson
Charity Auction Dinner and Quiz
Friday 7 May 2021, 6.30 for 7.00pm InterContinental Hotel Grey St Wellington
Wellington Children’s Hospital and Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
See below for full details  - it's a sell out!
Only four weeks to go......
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President
Mike Selvadurai
 
“Together we make a Difference”
 
Tena koutou katoa
 
 
I was absolutely delighted with the turnout of members at our breakfast meeting on Wednesday– just a shade under 50 including 3 guests – that was a 84% member turnout! it was a very enjoyable morning made even more so by our guest speaker Brad Olsen who spoke with hardly a pause for nearly 20 minutes without notes or presentation material covering a host of issues affecting our economy. It would be fair to say we were all spell bound and in awe with the eloquence of this young man.
 
Welcoming new members has been one of many pleasures I experience and look forward to as president of Port Nicholson, even if they are returning members like Tori and Raymond. All new members bring energy, diversity and enthusiasm. As RI President Holger Knaack reminds us, “We need to stop thinking of new members as people we can mark down as statistics and then forget about. Every new member changes us a little bit. That person brings a new perspective, new experiences. We need to embrace this constant renewal. We will grow stronger as we learn from new members.”
 
Our members are obviously our greatest assets. As we grow Port Nicholson, we grow our service and the impact of our projects and the awareness and understanding of Rotary in our communities. Importantly, growth allows us to increase our capacity to achieve more.
 
What we have learned over the last few years is to embrace our new reality and to welcome new faces and ways to help us contribute to society and to stay in touch with a changing world. I thank everyone of you for engaging and committing yourselves in that effort.
 
Not long before our second major event of the year – Charity Auction on 7 May. Tony and his dedicated committee have done an exceptional job organizing it and procuring the items for auction and balloon prizes to be bought. It will be another fabulous Port Nicholson Rotary event.
 
Changeover is confirmed for Wednesday 7 July. It will be an evening event at the Wellington Club. Details and invitations will be issued in due course but for the time being please mark in your diary.
 
Kia Kaha
Stay Safe
 
Mike
New Members Tori and Raymond welcomed by the club and pictured here with President Mike, Anne Hare and Steve Lawton
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Guest Speaker - Brad Olsen
 
 
 
Our speaker this week was Brad Olsen Senior Economist at Infometrics. Brad needed little introduction as many of us see him very regularly on our screens providing commentary on the impacts to our economy of the issues of the day. In order to keep the report brief, I have focussed on just a few themes he touched upon.
 
Did he see Covid 19 as a threat early last year? On 27 January 2020 Brad did his first interview on Covid and suggested that like SARS it would have limited impact. However, he then mapped 168 WHO reports on SARS 2003/04 against what was known about the corona virus and realised his early assessment was well off the mark.
 
What did we learn about New Zealanders during our pandemic response? We learned that New Zealanders are very resourceful, just getting on with what needed to be done. For Brad it was setting up his home office using his ironing board and adopting Zoom as the new way to engage with clients and the public.
 
Have some sectors fared better than others? Parts of New Zealand that have had a strong international tourism focus are still being hit hard. Conversely domestic tourism is going well but activity patterns are different. Instead of flying to our holiday destinations, we are driving, mostly to the centres that are near to where we live resulting in new best performing tourism regions: Wairarapa; Northland; Coromandel, Whanganui, and Hanmer Springs.
 
The primary sector is doing relatively well with dairy back in top spot for export earnings – overtaking tourism as #1. The world needs to be fed and we can feed them and in response to the pandemic, the industry pivoted to supplying meat wine and seafood directly into people’s homes instead of through traditional channels.
 
What are the new trends resulting from the pandemic? The economic power is shifting to provincial centres, with families choosing to locate where they can find more affordable housing and potentially to achieve a better work-life balance. Similarly, businesses struggling to get staff are looking to relocate to these same centres.
 
Has Covid impacted some communities more than others? In an almost identical pattern to the GFC, the group who have fared comparatively worst are young people with jobs available for this group significantly down. He suggested that while the apprenticeship scheme is welcomed, consideration could be given to supporting education and training for other professions in demand such as nursing and teaching.
 
There was a lively Q&A following Brad’s talk. His ability to make his topic interesting and accessible was impressive.
 
 
 
Brenda Lazelle
Reporter
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Stuart Young
 
Former member Stuart Young's obituary featured in the DomPost this week. Read it here
The club has been approached by William Leipnik from Feilding Rotary about a great opportunity to celebrate our Rotary Centennial Year.
 
This opportunity comes from the Matamata Rotary Club who have designed and produced a very smart number plate surround with the aim of commemorating the NZ centenary 1921 - 2021.
 
The cost of each set/pair is $15.00 GST incl.
 
If you are keen to purchase a set of the surrounds, please contact either:
 
or
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Speakers
Apr 28, 2021 7:00 AM
May 12, 2021 7:00 AM
Jun 16, 2021 7:00 AM
Super Conductors in Space TBC
View entire list
Upcoming Events
Rotary Meeting 28 April 2021
Wellington Club
Apr 28, 2021
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
 
No morning meeting at Wellington Club
May 05, 2021
 
Annual Charity Auction & Dinner, InterContinental
May 07, 2021
6:30 PM – 10:30 PM
 
Rotary Meeting 12 May 2021
Wellington Club
May 12, 2021
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
 
Rotary Meeting 19 May 2021
Wellington Club
May 19, 2021
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
 
Social Get Together - One Red Dog
One Red Dog
May 20, 2021
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
 
Rotary Meeting 26 May 2021
Wellington Club
May 26, 2021
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
 
Rotary Meeting 2 June 2021
Wellington Club
Jun 02, 2021
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
 
Rotary Meeting 9 June 2021
Wellington Club
Jun 09, 2021
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
 
Flashback Friday at Waitoa Victoria Street
Waitoa
Jun 11, 2021
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
 
View entire list
Club Duties & Roster:         
NB: If you are rostered for duty and cannot make it, then please arrange for someone else to take your place and let Brent know at brent.gerrard@outlook.com or 021 725060 Txts are fine too!
 
Duties
14 April
 
Desk: Joy Durrant
Greeter: Kamini Hermon
Opening Thought:
Brenda Lazelle
Buy the Box:
Heather Lucas
Introduction:
David Barnes
Thanking:
John Bishop
Parting Thought:
TGillian Robertson
Reporter: Brent Gerrard
 
4 week
Roster below
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Tree Planting
13 June 1pm 
Let’s help our planet
 
The Rotary Club of Port Nicholson have teamed up with The Friends of Tawas Bush Reserves to plant trees at the Tawa Bush Reserve.
 
Our goal is to build on what we have done in previous years and continue planting native trees in Tawa.  This is helping to regenerate our native Bush to provide habitat and food for the increasing numbers of native birds, to make lovely walking areas for us all, and to help slow down global warming.  Interact and Rotaract members are also welcome to join us!  We had a huge turnout from Rotaract last year and together we planted our
500 trees in record time!
 
If you would like to take part, please contact
Lisa King (lisa.king@treasury.govt.nz), who is a member of The Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves, and coordinating our Club’s participation.
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Flashback Friday. Lunch at Boneface Craft brewery at Brewtown Upper Hutt was well attended and enjoyed!
Funnies!
 
Sergeant Major; “Private, didn’t see you at camouflage training this morning.”
Private; “thank you Sir!”
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I bought some shoes from a drug dealer today.
I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day.
 
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Rotary Predator Free Waterfront Trapping Schedule
 
Kia ora Trappers
Please find the updated trappers schedule to take us through to July 2021. Many thanks to all for helping out.  In need give me a call  Rick  022 071 0064.
         
 
         
 
20-Mar
 
Jeff Lee
 
MarcRands
 
3-Apr
 
Steve Lawton
 
James Moran
17-Apr
 
Brent Gerrard
 
Eden Skipper
1-May
 
Bev Wells
 
Peter Whittington
15-May
 
David Shackleton
 
Rick Hughes
29-May
 
Paula McKnight
 
Dennis Small
12-Jun
 
Jenny Flannigan
 
Howard Tong
26-Jun
 
Ross Buxton
 
David Marment
                   
Please note: As always swap if your allocated date doesn’t suit and arrange which day and time that suits you both. Text Fraser Ebbett (WCC) 021 765 694 when you arrive and leave the site.
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