The induction of our new president, Pierre Botha, was an event full of good cheer. Here outgoing president Rudy Dupont (left) hands over the chain of office to Pierre.
From April onward, the Rotary year gets really busy with planning for the new year starting 1 July. The induction signals the transition from a year of progressive change to a year with a rocksolid plan of action with Pierre Botha at the helm. The event was celebrated with a formal dinner and the handing out of awards. Honoured this year were the whole of the cycling committee, as well as Darron Moore (Paul Harris award) and Adri Reynders. More pics below.
April is conference month and so we went to Worcester with four members of our club for the district conference and the induction of the new DG. We heard really good speakers, an outstanding report from the outgoing DG and the new DG, and we may expect girl power in the next Rotary year with Pam Rawbone at the helm. There were also excellent presentations by the representatives of Rotary International. A conference is also about enjoying the social events, making new friends, and creating lasting memories like the meet and greet, the cocktail party and the gala dinner.
Meanwhile, the wine auction committee members have planted their seeds for the following edition and have started the collection of wine. Wine auctions are very popular at the moment and it promises to be a tough but rewarding job with a good outcome on 12 October.
The last month of this Rotary year was dominated by the Rotary International convention in Calgary (Canada) with a total of 16 000 participants coming together from more than 120 countries. There were general sessions with highlights of the past Rotary year and of course the induction of the new World President. The last speech of the outgoing World President was impressive. Also in the sessions speakers of world class delivered motivating messages.
The House of Friendship is really the hub of the convention. Rotary International was present with a staff of 100 people. They gave 10 to 15 seminars on Rotary matters a day, and one could go and talk to all specialists in their field. There were also the booths of the different fellowships in Rotary and also the Rotary Action Groups who also organised seminars during the convention.
Peace and the environment were in my opinion the hot topics. Next year the convention will take place in Taipei (Taiwan).
Our art exhibition, Art 4 Artists, had its opening event in the Old Tannery in Wellington on April 12th. The online auction did not deliver the expected success, nevertheless the team had everything well organised with about 100 artists on display at an enjoyable cocktail party.
A not lesser point of action was the start of a Rotaract club in creation. As soon as we have members, we will officially launch this satellite. As leader we have Michelle Jacobs, a young woman trained in Interact, which shows the importance of those clubs. Together they can assure us of a load of new motivated members in the future.
At the induction were (from left) Jimmy Ferendinos, David Rawbone, Pam Rawbone (district governor) and Pierre Botha (incoming club president).
The Botha family: Hanco, Chantel, Pierre and Chanré.