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John Fothergill and his team even arranged the weather! Napier was the place to be for lots of different reasons, mainly because it was the conference but also to catch up with old friends, to learn from and be inspired by the speakers, to buy lots of wine and appreciate the great restaurants, and pay obeisance to the art deco buildings. The reports in club bulletins that I’ve read of the conference (and I’ve read lots!) were unanimous in the praise of the whole event.
It started on the Friday with a golf tournament. Even the DG got involved – evidence attached!
The players were lucky that Fothers ( as John F is known to his friends) wasn’t playing so the tournament was won by …
Other conference participants talk a guided walk around downtown Napier, rebuilt in two years after the earthquake in 1931. (That’s right, two years, look upon that Christchurch and weep!) For history buffs the conference centre was close to the splendidly refurbished Napier Museum.
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Then there was the formal opening of the conference, Avalon Waterways and Heartland’s (both sponsors) presentations and a cocktail party. Regular conference attendees were able to catch up with friends that they hadn’t seen since Fiji or district changeover. So it was noisy! Then on to dinner. Napier really does have a number of very good restaurants!
On the Saturday the conference proper started. A group of youngsters from a local school really welcomed us! They were great – have a look.
There were excellent presentations that you would have already read about in your club bulletins Mike Williams spoke about his work in prisons, making the point that one of the reasons for our high prison population was that many of the prisoners were recidivists thus if we can reduce that the prison population will come down dramatically.
The foreign exchange students did a presentation. They key message was that they are benefitting so much from the programme that we should extend it! They were a colourful lot, as you can see.
Social activities were a major feature.
Hawkes Bay is a main part of New Zealand’s orchard and especially vineyard. The latter particularly attracted attention. The conference was opened by Peter Buck of Te Mata fame one of the Bay’s movers and shakers. There was a bicycle tour of vineyards and many private visits. I’m certain your humble correspondent was not the only attendee who returned to Auckland with a full boot and an empty wallet.
Then there was the Saturday Night Function (the main reason why some attend), an opportunity to dress up and let your hair down. The theme was ‘Art Deco’ giving everybody scope to drag out (or hire, or create) glad, colourful rags. As they say – you should have been there. Club bulletins have been unanimous in their praise of the conference. Its only major fault was being so far away.
Awards: DG Ingrid handed out awards for contributions to Rotary. Ainie Kwok’s huge contribution to Rotaract in our district was recognised by awarding of the Bert Dreaver Trophy. In addition Ainie was also awarded the Dr Catherine Hamelin Award. The Colty Cup which recognises the club with the highest attendance at the conference bearing in mind their size and distance from the conference’s venue went to Papatoetoe Central club. Auckland South’s major projects achieved the Project excellence Shield and the huge Rangitoto Trophy went to Ellerslie Sunrise. Absentees Howick won the Changemaker Trophy and E Club Francophone retained the Twinning Trophy.
There are further awards for club’s performance during the year and these will be handed out at district change over next month.
PS There is a district Publicity in Action trophy. But it seems to have gone walkabout. If it is gracing your mantelpiece (or that of one of your past presidents) can we have it back?
The 2020 conference is in Auckland on the University campus and if it’s as good as Napier it should be a sell-out. See you there, Nick Hamilton YHC