On Tuesday 26 June Makino Rotary had its annual Change Over where I ( President Glenn Coogan ) gave the President’s chain over to our new President Wayne Gordon.
We celebrated my final meeting by recognising two more outstanding people with Paul Harris Fellowship awards. Raewyn Allan has been a member of Makino Rotary from 19 years and has spent 14 of those years as club secretary keeping our records and pointing the past and present presidents in the right direction. Raewyn initially joined Rotary to spend more time with her husband, Mark, one of our past presidents, and Snr Constable John Samuela, while not a rotarian yet.
John’s award was given for his services to our community as our Police Youth Aid officer. During John’s time in Feilding he has helped many young people stay on the right path away from crime and gangs. It was our pleasure to hear from Police Inspector and Manawatu Area Commander (and Johns boss) Inspector Sarah Stewart about Johns career and how highly regarded he is amongst his peers. Shane Casey from the Feilding Youth Board also spoke about Johns involvement in establishing this organisation and the influence he has had with this group.
John was also fortunate to share this evening with his whanau.
Congratulations to both of you and to our club members for making this happen. In a Rotary year where the motto was To Be the Inspiration you are both incredible people and inspire us all.
To my club members. Thank you for having me as your President for the past twelve months. To my wife Tracey. Thank you for your support during my term. It has been an awesome experience. President Glenn Coogan photos