Our new Board and Committee for 2024-25 - Outstanding achievements recognised
Congratulations to our President Stewart Brodie
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Our new Board and Committee for 2024-25 - Outstanding achievements recognised
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Members of our Club attended Anzac Day Service
Stuart Knauf wore his medals from his 24 years of service with the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserves, alongside his father’s medals.
“He served in the Second World War in Guadalcanal as an army nurse and he was a conscientious objector, but he served as a non-combatant,” Knauf said.
“He didn’t take any weapons, but he served in the frontlines.”
Stuart was thinking of the people “a lot younger” than himself who went to war and never came home. “I’ve always been thinking about them and the sacrifices they made for us.”
Ken Haines laid a wreath on behalf of the club, and proudly wore his father’s medals.
“Dad fought from Holland right through to Germany and then demobbed after the end of the war and came to New Zealand” “It’s very moving to be here, it always is.”
Speakers at a Glance
Guest Speaker Ellen (Elly) Vogtherr is the 5th generation to be working within the business of Holly Bacon.
It started in 1914, August 4. The same day WW1 broke out. They have always used NZ raised pork for their products. Going back to the early days it was very unusual for a woman to become a butcher, but this trade has been handed down through the generations. In 1937 Ernest Vogtherr opened in Karamu Rd under the name Hastings Bacon Company.
Out and About
Support for HDC Event
The Osmanthus Gardens Lantern Festival in Cornwall Park is an annual event which celebrates Hastings' sister-city relationship with Guilin, in China. Our members collated donations and counted visitors. A beautiful event worth supporting.
A total success for Cranford Hospice fundraising efforts
"With the support of over 200 volunteers, both young and old, the appeal was a resounding success and served as a testament to the kinness and compassion that defines our region'
Our club supported the street collection with four of our Rotarians collecting in Hastings. A total of $33932.40 was raised.
Scooter challenge raised funds for Mental Health and our guys participated!
The Napier to Wellington 50cc Scooter Challenge has been back for its fourth year and some of our members joined this event to support mental health in the Hawke's Bay community.
$179000.00 was raised. Congratulation!
Out and about at the Art Deco Festival
At Rotary one never needs to be alone - just get a group of members together and have fun.
Art Deco Festival Napier has grown into one of the great festivals of the world. But more than that, it's an acknowledgement of the resilience and spirit of the Hawke's Bay Communities who, in the aftermath of the 1931 earthquake, rolled up their sleeves and rebuilt Napier City, creating the magnificent Art Deco Capital that we celebrate today.
Multicultural Association Hawke's Bay
International Cultures Day
Out and about to promote Rotary Stortford Lodge. We set up our gazebo and sold raffle tickets for a load of firewood. A very deserving family from Flaxmere won. Proceeds went back to MCA.
Xmas gifts to the Flaxmere Baptist Church
This year we distributed our gifts through the community organisation Resource.
The unwrapped gifts are put into bright red fabric bags produced by Resource volunteers hence the advice not to waste money / time on wrapping.
The Church maintains a database which shares basic family address detail. This sharing of information ensures that gifts are not sent from multiple community agencies to the one family.
This year 1100 children under 15, and 1200 teenagers 15 and older will receive gifts through the coordinated plan.
Hello and a HUGE thank you to all you wonderful volunteers who helped with Daffodil Day activities!
It was a great success, with over 200 people giving around 720 hours of time to help us on the day, leading up to it and afterwards. It will be some time before we know the final financial results, but I can tell that you that about $36,000 was raised on the street appeal alone.
Other funds still to be totaled include online donations, counter boxes at businesses, preordered daffodils, proceeds from the Daffodil Raceday event tomorrow, the Central Hawke's Bay shop and all the fundraising activities run by schools and businesses across the region. None of these could take place without the help of countless volunteers.
I hope you enjoyed your volunteering and that we can call upon you again in the future. If you have any suggestions for improvement based on your experience, please don't hesitate to let us know. Regards Anne
The Magic of Rotary
Rotary International President-elect Stephanie Urchick announced that the 2024-25 presidential theme is "The Magic of Rotary" and called on members to recognize and amplify the organisation’s power to save lives.
Stephanie Urchick, a member of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA, said she saw the magic of Rotary on display when she was helping install water filters in the Dominican Republic. Two boys were watching as dirty water entered the filter, then ran out clean at the other end.
“One of the boys grabbed my sleeve and said, ‘Show me the magic again,’” she said. “Obviously, the water filter wasn’t magic. We worked hard to transport those filters, install them, and work with community leaders in the area to maintain them. But those boys knew that easy access to clean water would change their lives. Knowing that I played a small part in that certainly changed my life.”
https://www.rotary.org/en/stephanie-urchick-celebrates-magic-rotary
Rotary sends message of hope to Wairoa
Creating hope was the message behind a Rotary initiative that saw the delivery of dehumidifiers and other equipment to help Wairoa flood-impacted people.
The Stortford Lodge Rotary Club of Hastings, in conjunction with the Wairoa Rotary Club, wanted to support Wairoa and felt the dehumidifiers and associated equipment were the best way to help with Wairoa’s post-flood needs.
Stortford Lodge Rotary Club project lead Stuart Knauf said the club applied for funding for the equipment through Rotary International. “Effectively the club owns the equipment which can be leant to Wairoa people for as long as they need it, and in the future, to others as well.
“It has been great to have the Stortford Lodge and Wairoa Rotary clubs working together to help people. “It’s a privilege for us to be able to put our support where it is needed by providing a service to the community and helping the people of Wairoa.
Wairoa Rotary President Fenton Wilson said the loaning of the equipment demonstrates the reach of Rotary, which is an international service organisation. “Thank you to the Stortford Club for your work in sourcing this equipment and supporting the Wairoa community.”
If you need equipment to help dry your home, please apply for support by filling out a Wairoa District Council CSR (Customer Service Request) online via the WDC website:www.wairoadc.govt.nz/contact-us/customer-service-request, or phone the Council on 06 838 7309.
Dictionaries for Schools
Today we visited Twyford School to present 52 Usborne Dictionaries to year 4-6 students. It was a pleasure to give these to the students as they will be useful in their learning and at home. We were impressed by the politeness of the students and their good behaviour. Great to see!
Thank you to all participants at our Appreciation evening who supported our projects throughout the year:
Cyclone Gabrielle - providing generators, diggers and utes.
Quiz Night - sponsors providing auction items to raise money for the community.
Samoa Project - support to send books, tables and chairs to Poutasi Pre-School with the collaboration of Rotary Apia.
Tony from Kelston Orchard Packhouse provided storage facilities for the Samoa project.
Stephen from Bay Ford Hastings facilitated the provision of 20 new Ford vehicles from Ford NZ in response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Pride of Workmanship Awards Celebration
The aim of the awards is to encourage a much-needed pride in personal performance in the work-place, and promote vocational services, providing employers with an opportunity to recognise Employees who display those qualities which are worthy of an award. To encourage favourable employer/employee relationships and a sense of community pride in individual achievement. To provide an opportunity for Rotary to be involved in the community.
This year we celebrated with Streetwise Coffee, Red Cross and Topline Contracting. The awards evening was well received with each participant showing their pride receiving the award. Thank you to Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst for participating for this very important event. Rotary Stortford is equally delighted to see the vast amount of workmanship shown in the community.
International Student Laurenz -his last day in Hawke's Bay.....
We said good-bye to our extraordinary student Laurenz from Munich, Germany. He enjoyed many adventures with his host parents, hunting, biking, golfing, joining the Cambridge conference with other students, visiting parliament, etc. He gave a lot back to us too, showing his maturity and enthusiasm. We will miss him!
Go well Laurenz!
PDG Grant Spackman updated members about the rapidly approaching Regionalisation pilot project, due to commence in July 24.
There will be no changes to clubs but there will be easier access to support where needed. There will be Rotary specialists available to support with membership, ideas etc.The Rotary Foundation will sit outside of the new structure.
The pilot will run for two years and then members will vote to continue as is or pick the parts that work well.The Rotary Foundation will sit outside of the new structure.
We will still continue to have a DG, a district board and some committees but the biggest change will the community groups. There will be four community leaders in D9930 and ADG’s will be phased out. Grant will be our local community leader. The emphasis will be on a Rotary community rather than on individual clubs.
Winning a Trophy at the 9930 Conference in Cambridge
Nine of our members joined the annual conference in May 24.
The theme ' Good News Stories for an Optimistic Future ' explored various ideas about sustainability. Nicola Turner from Mainstream Green showed us how we can reduce waste, Rotary International Representative Johnny Yu talked about six steps of sustainability, Forsyth Barr showed us to invest sensibly. Miriama Kamo (we adored her personality and integrity) presented her ideas about the Zero Waste Movement, Adam Thompson from Restore Native and a group of Rotarians planted 250 trees to offset our Carbon Foot Print (very impressive).
Our incoming District Governor Nick Dangerfield presented us with the new model of regionalisation - governing Rotary in a new way to attract younger generations.
'This is a changing world, we must change with it.'
And the Trophy? Our group had travelled the most to get to the conference and we have new members....