Havelock North Rotary club member, Grant Spackman was inducted as the new Rotary Governor for District 9930
The Changeover Event formally opened by Mayor Sandra Hazelhurst, welcomed 135 attendees, representing the District’s 53 Clubs from Tauranga to Waipukurau.
It is the first time in their 57-year history that a District Governor has been appointed from the Rotary Club of Havelock North. Grant Spackman succeeds Peter Maxwell of the Morrinsville Club.
Grant Spackman joined the Havelock North Rotary club twelve years ago. He was club president in 2011-12 and a board member and director for the following 9 years. During this time, he served as Foundation and International chair and club secretary.
Post-COVID and with Rotary clubs returning to normal from Zoom meetings, Spackman has begun travelling throughout the District to visit all clubs. Grant Spackman’s role as governor is to provide leadership, support, and motivation to clubs as they carry out their service projects and participate in Rotary programs. The theme from Rotary International for this year and for clubs to support and work with is ‘Rotary opens Opportunities’. Also governing in the 100th year of Rotary Australia and New Zealand, Grant Spackman will work to support ‘Rotary Give Every Child a Future, a Rotary Australasia centenary project to save lives by vaccinating 100,000 children across nine Pacific Island countries against three diseases and to establish sustainable vaccination programs in each country.
The Rotary International Convention in Hawaii, at which Spackman would have been formally inducted, was cancelled because of Covid-19 and District Conventions in Australia and New Zealand were also cancelled.
The Governor-Elect training seminars for the incoming District Governors will now be held as virtual workshops. These had been planned for Sydney in December. There is a possibility that the International Assembly to be held in Orlando, Florida in January for the Governors Elect from 540
Rotary Districts in 190 countries, may now be a Virtual event online.
Grant Spackman was born in Hastings, growing up on an orchard south of the city. For the past 14 years, he has been the Supply Manager for the large horticulture companies Bostock NZ and Profruit Ltd. Married to Wendy, they have 5 children and 6 grandchildren between them. Family time is important as well as the experience of fellowship and friendship that Rotary brings to their lives.”
Message from Grant and Wendy
Wendy and I would like to thank all the members of our Rotary Club for their support for the District 9930 Changeover. With over 30 members and partners from our Club attending, we ensured that everyone went home to all parts of the Central North Island have enjoyed this special occasion. A special thank you to those members and partners who assisted with the organising of the day, including the Changeover committee, marshals and those who prepared the room. Havelock North Rotary has raised the bar for District Changeovers and this augers well for our District Conference next year.
Regards Grant
Awards
There were various awards presented at the District Changeover most notably the Paul Harris Fellowship awarded to Ian and Eleanor Holyoake. An award was presented by Grant to Mary Maxwell (Peter’s wife) for her volunteer work and the club received an award for its bulletin from the outgoing DG Peter Maxwell.