Havelock North is a suburb of Hastings, in the Hawkes District of the North Island. It is located 2 km south east of the city of Hastings. It is surrounded by numerous orchards and vineyards and industry is based around fruit and wine production. Havelock North has 13,000 residents, a large majority of whom commute to the nearby cities of Hastings and Napier for work.
Havelock North was most recently in the national and international news in 2016. Between the 12-29th of August 2016 the town experienced New Zealand’s largest recorded outbreak of waterborne disease. Campylobacter entered the towns water supply after run off from a nearby farm entered the Brookvale boreholes following heavy rain. Of the towns 13,000 residents, 5500 fell ill, 45 were hospitalised and sadly 4 died.
As regards Rotary Club of Havelock North, it was charted in May 1963 and is part of District 9930. The club meets each Monday at 5.30pm for a 6.00pm start at the Havelock North Communal Centre, Te Mata Road, Havelock North. The current president is John Pollard and there are thirty seven (37) members.
The club has a very informative website as well as a Facebook page. The Club’s main fundraiser is Country2Coast- involving every club member. This is a fun run and walk that can attract over 1000 participants each year.
The club supports the global work of the Rotary Foundation- including hands-on building work at a hospital in a remote part of Vanuatu as well as continued support of Rotary’s eradication of Polio. Locally the club encourages children’s fitness by supporting Bike On NZ with the formation of school cycle tracts and bikes for cycling. Rotary Club members regularly assemble the bikes- an activity they really enjoy. Each year the club also supports five (5) local schools with the presentation of dictionaries. The Club has been doing this for six (6) years and finds it a very rewarding experience.
The Club also produce a regular club bulletin which can be viewed on their website. The club has an interesting range of speakers and activities. At a recent meeting the club was to host a speaker talking about the repatriation of deceased soldiers. Future events planned include a visit to the Rotary Club of Ahuriri (in Napier) on March 11th, and a vocational visit to the Havelock North Volunteer Fire Brigade Station on March 25th.