Stories

YOUTH POWER. Paarl is buzzing with new energy as a dynamic group of young change-makers launches the Rotaract Club of Paarl, a youth-led service club affiliated with the well-established Rotary Club of Paarl. At the helm is Michelle Jacobs (centre), a Grade 12 learner from Labori High School, whose vision and leadership have ignited a fresh movement of community-driven action. Jacobs serves as the founding president, supported by fellow board members Byron Klinker (right), secretary, and Taz-Lynn Samuels (Treasurer), both equally passionate about service above self and local development. To join or collaborate with the club, contact rotaractpaarl@gmail.com or follow them on Instagram@paarlrotaract. (More youth pics below.)

 

Almost 2000 cyclists entered for the Rhodes Quality Winelands Cycle Race, presented annually by the Rotary Club of Paarl in preparation for the Cape Town Cycle Tour.            Pic: PicSieb

The Artists 4 Artists Auction is back and bigger than ever. This year, we’re bringing you a stunning art exhibition and online auction – all in support of young creative talent in the Winelands region.

The highlight of the year to date, besides the successful Winelands Cycle Race, was the Kaufie Kaufman seniors concert held in the Paarl town hall. Local musicians and artists donated their services and performed to a packed house, with the audience loving every minute. With members of the Bootscooters line-dancing group (rear) are (front from left) André Terblanché (co-ordinator), Pieter Galvin, Laurinda Hofmeyr, Chrisli Hamman, Brenda Wynne, Hardus Hamman, Patrick Martin, Dr Lodé Fourie, Deonechia Kilowan, Sydwell Beziek, Peter Vanne and behind him Leon Coetzee and Dave Rawlings. Other performers included comedian John Koopman and the Frank Pietersen adult choir.

There have been many highlights in the year to date, including our participation in the Act4Impact campaign to promote Rotary at the Waterfront in Cape Town.

 

AS we are approaching Christmas we can barely believe that 2024 is almost over. The highlight of this second quarter was of course our Wine Auction organised to perfection by our experienced team.

The Rotary year kicked off with blankets galore being handed out to organisations which support the needy. Here club president Rudy Dupont hands over blankets to Helga Williams-Harris of the Butterfly House children’s centre in Paarl. But that is not all...

Paarl Rotarians enjoyed walking down memory lane during their visit to Soetmelksvlei (formerly Donkerhoek), a farm adjoining Babylonstoren which has been developed as an agricultural museum.

The Rotary Club of Paarl has made a big difference in the local community by contributing to a variety of worthy causes, reported outgoing president Marita van der Sluys at the induction of our new president, Rudy Dupont. A number of awards were also presented (see pic below).

The Rotary Club of Paarl recently celebrated the life of a staunch Rotarian, Dave Moss, who passed away after an operation.

Two short-term Rotary exchange students will be travelling overseas during the December school holiday.

 

On World Sight Day, Paarl Rotary launched a project to reduce cataract blindness. In South Africa, 250 000 older people suffer from this affliction in which the lens of the eye hardens and obscures sight. The deterioration is exacerbated by our harsh sunlight. Here Belgian volunteers Dr Ferdinand Dewilde and Dr Dorothy Scheers share the joy of one of their patients after her successful operation.

The annual Winelands charity auction, brainchild of Paarl Rotary, was a great success and reached a record turnover of R600 000 this year. The auction is held in Paarl, in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Franschhoek Valley/Drakenstein and the Rotary Club of Riebeek Valley, to raise funds for charity.

 

WATER. The Mbekweni Eco Club launched their Wet Wednesdays programme, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Paarl, in cooperation with Drakenstein Municipality, to educate learners on the importance of water conservation and management.

COMFORT. This winter Paarl Rotary has handed out hundreds of blankets to organisations which assist the needy.

 

Paarl Rotary president Deon Erasmus (left) handed over the chain of office to his successor, Marita van der Sluys, at the club's induction dinner.

 

A Rotarian from Mauritius who is currently working at Paarl Hospital, Dr Aartee Reebye (centre), recently visited the Rotary Club of Paarl. With her are Deon Erasmus, president of Paarl Rotary, and David Anderson, president of the Rotary Club of Franschhoek & Drakenstein Valley.

Two short-term exchange students, Isabella Groenewald and Corli Rossouw of Paarl Girls’ High, see here with Rotarian Hester Visagie holding a Hungarian club banner, were hugely excited when they heard they had both been approved for an exchange with two host families in Budapest, Hungary.

A group of Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Paarl visited Merweville and Prince Albert to distribute educational toys to five schools in the area.

 

 

Deon Erasmus has been inducted as club president. He is pictured here with his wife Rosario  (right) and outgoing president Hester Visagie.

Five high school students from Paarl attended the Rotary Youth Leader Awards camp outside Franschhoek during the recent school holiday.

 

About 1300 cyclists turned out for the annual Winelands cye race organised by the Rotary Club of Paarl. The race started at Huguenot Primary in Wellington in ideal conditions but hot weather was forecast for later that day.

 

 

Rotarians don't only work, they enjoy time relaxing together. Here they take a break at a local restaurant.

Rotarians have had a busy quarter, which included a number of sessions packing educational toys into the Eduboxes we are providing to schools, educares and other clients. 

Paarl Rotary sponsored school stationery Christmas gifts for our Path to Prosperity educare centre on Just Trees farm in Nieuwedrift. The club has been involved in the upgrading of the centre through a global grant for the past three years.

 

 

Although Paarl Rotarians have been unable to meet face to face since June, the club has been active behind the scenes, including at Kerith Retreat, where a vegetable garden is being developed, says president Hester Visagie.

Sanitise, masks, alcohol bans, beach bans? "The world has certainly changed and sometimes it seems that we need to just crawl back under the duvet and wait for it to pass," says president Bryan Anderson.

ANXIOUS? Since the first lockdown, Paarl Rotary Club has hosted a variety of interesting guest speakers during Zoom meetings, including clinical psychologiest Johannes Schickerling.

Rotary committee members are currently hard at work planning the Winelands Cycle Race, which will be held at Huguenot Primary in Wellington on 31 January.

Paarl Rotary has extensively funded a number of feeding schemes since the start of the Covid pandemic.

ZOOM. This is the view that Rotarians have had to get used to during club meetings. Zoom meetings have been the "new normal" during the Covid pandemic as meetings face to face were suspended for six months.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have lost their jobs. Paarl Rotary has assisted in the great need which resulted, and has donated funding to a variety of feeding schemes for food purchases. Here youngsters line up for lunch at the NorSA skills centre in Egoli, Wellington.

 

 

During the pandemic, Paarl Rotary has given a helping hand to a number of local charities who provide food and assistance to needy people during lockdown. To date more than R130 000 has been spent on assisting a host of organizations with funding of food supplies and personal protective equipment. 

 

 

 

Work on renovating the Kerith Retreat for psychiatric patients is currently in progress. This includes tiling the floor and refurbishing the kitchen as well as erecting roof coverings outside the bathrooms. Paarl Rotary is overseeing the project, which is funded by the Rupert Education Trust. For pics of more projects, click on "Read More".

 

 

 

 

Paarl Rotary's oldest active member, Dave Overturf, received honorary membership of the club on his 90th birthday, just weeks before his passing. This American-born former fighter pilot has had a remarkable career.

 

 

 

Throughout India and around the world, Rotary clubs are celebrating a major milestone: India has gone three years without a new case of polio. The last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal on 13 January 2011. To mark this historic triumph, Rotary clubs illuminated landmarks and iconic structures throughout the country with four simple but powerful words, "India is polio free."

 

The three-year achievement sets the stage for polio-free certification of the entire Southeast Asia region by the World Health Organization. The Indian government also plans to convene a polio summit in February to commemorate this victory in the global effort to eradicate polio.