Afternoon everyone. Great to see the All Blacks have a great win yesterday against Namibia, and what about the Warriors... fantastic win. Needless to say, I have one very happy sports mad husband at the moment. Also very heartening to see that the All Blacks sent a signed jersey to the Namibian player who was seriously injured in their game.
On Tuesday, President Jane shared with us a few facts about Namibia in that they have participated in 6 Rugby world cups since 1999. More importantly there are 7 Rotary Clubs in Namibia. One of their main organized events is the Paratus Namibian Cycle Classic which they run and proceeds of which go towards the funding of a local orphanage. Great work Rotary Namibia.
Lots of things coming up for us to help with over the next few months, so keep an eye on the newsletter and help out where you can. Could be a good opportunity to bring along a friend who may be interested in what Rotary does. 😊
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Stew Wadey had a great bunch of helpers to fill buckets and bag the seed potatoes for the upcoming Spud in a Bucket. Great work team and don't forget that after the weigh in, in March, all potatoes grown are donated to the food bank so lets get into the spirit and give it a go and encourage others to do so also. See Stew's comments below. Good on you Stew.
My thanks to John, Richard, Owen, Kevin, Robert, Ray.
A spudtacula effort to prepare 150 Spud in a Bucket, Wednesday Morning.,
I believe they all declined to play the tuber section for Matamata Brass !!!! I don't know where that comment sprouted from !!!!
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Graeme Guilford reported that he was privileged to be witness to the release of 6 male Kakapo on Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. Around 100 people gathered to welcome the second batch of translocated kākāpō before they were released into the 3400ha protected forest habitat.
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Our Speaker this week was Linda Roil from Kids In Need Waikato. Linda had previously worked at Pohlen Hospital in the Maternity wing for 6 years. She and her husband started fostering children some years ago and soon realized that there was very little help for those undertaking this challenging work, so started this wonderful charity.
Linda gave us a great insight into the roll of Kids in Need Waikato, in helping uplifted children. These children are often uplifted from situations involving drugs and or domestic violence and then left with caregivers with nothing but the clothes they are wearing. The roll of Kids in Need is to support both the uplifted child and the care giver. Although the caregiver is given a small allowance, this often doesn't happen for the first two weeks, so Kids in Need aim to give a pack to go with every child which would include a new backpack, pyjamas, underwear, toothpaste and toothbrush and perhaps a small toy,
Linda shared many sad and sobering stories of situations of children being uplifted, including new born babies and the lack of support given through the government and it's agencies. With the introduction of Oranga Tamariki and it's involvement with placing uplifted children within the family network, this has created more problems as they are often putting the children back into dangerous situations, albeit a different one, and with other family members who also cannot cope so this puts a greater strain on the family nucleus. These children are often placed with grandparents who may already be in their 70's and 80's and no longer have the energy or financial capacity to now look after children.
Linda is currently working with 15 Matamata families, involving 39 children and throughout the Waikato, over 425 families and 1500 children.
Kids in Need do not receive any government funding and operate purely on grants they apply for, and donations.
We commend Linda for the outstanding work that she and her helpers are doing and wish them well for the future.
President Jane Belton presents Linda Roil with the many donated items given by Matamata Rotary members, including a big box of hand knitted hats and singlets/tops donated by Matamata Inner Wheel members.
Thank you all.
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Owen Westlake investigated the mystery Rotarian from the below clues.
1/ Once worked leading horses.
2/ Showed Jersey Cows at shows.
3/Swam the Bridge to Bridge event in Tauranga.
Owen made a great effort in trying to figure this one out and ultimately came up with David Wheadon. Unfortunately he was wrong, so had to pay a fine and then the real Mystery Rotarian was asked to stand up. Everyone waited with baited breath as Peter Vossen slowly stood up. Peter informed us that,
1) As a youngster and being friends with the O'Sullivan family, he used to get the opportunity to lead some of their racehorses.
2) He also helped friends and also showed Jersey Cows himself.
3) Quite a few years ago he did swim the Bridge to Bridge event in Tauranga. He did admit that when he turned up for the event he did notice that most were wearing wetsuits, while he proudly sported his budgie smugglers. His claim to fame was that Moss Burmester was also in the event.
Owen nominated Stew Wadey to try and guess this weeks mystery Rotarian with the following clues:
1/ I’ve been on stage with Rob Guest and Billy T James.
2/ I played representative indoor cricket for Waikato/BOP.
3/ I broke my finger playing my first game of basketball but still scored a 3 pointer.
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