Our Changeover night began with a very impressive performance from the THS KapaHaka group. Their's was a very interesting programme which involved both music and action performed beautifully. Clearly this has involved a lot of work and practice and it was a wonderful way to acknowledge our Maori culture and see and hear it alive and well in our community. Thank you THS Kapahaka group.

Janine Dunlop who is on the Tramping Club Committee announced to the club that the Tramping Club (OYAT and Milton Rotary Tramping Club) was granting $70,000 to the Otago Youth Adventure Trust and $70,000 to The Rotary Club of Milton. This is a fantastic result for our club and Janine went on to thank all the people who gave time and energy in leading and organising the trips. The person who took over most of the role of Peter Vollweiler has been Jocelyn Gilling who has done an amazing job for us as the "Administrator". We are in this strong position thanks to the work that Jocelyn does, but sadly she is unwell and having to relinquish this role. Our thoughts go out to Jocelyn, David and the family as they cope with this bad news.

I know that we were all delighted to witness the PHF award to Glenis. Since coming to Milton and taking the reigns as Principal of THS Glenis has made a huge contribution to the School, the community and the club. Friend and President Elect Jackie Muir spoke about Glenis. She seems to have an enormous reserve of energy and we are all delighted that she has been acknowledged in this way. Congratulations Glenis.

President (now Past President) hands over the Chain of Office to new President Jackie Muir. Jackie thanked John for his great work during the the past year and announced to the club that there will be a strong Family Focus for the club this year. Jackie was accompanied by her daughter Alice and her grandchild too...great stuff! Jackie reminded the club that our new District Governor is Tania Lowery from Balclutha and that the Conference next year will be held in Balclutha in April 2020. The Milton Club will be quite involved in this. I know we will have a very interesting year with Jackie at the helm.

President John began by saying his report was only a one liner!! It did seem that John was very happy to be handing over the reigns to Jackie.

John began by remembering and acknowledging the work of three wonderful members of the club who had passed away during the year. Bruce Stewart, Peter Vollweiler and John Caldwell. They were all remembered for being such active and positive members of our club and we will miss them. John then thanked a number of our Rotarians who had been involved in a wide range of projects. Bronwyn who organised the Health night with an emphasis on Bowel Cancer. Tiff and John Morrissey who had organised a number of working bees from Tautuku to Berwick and beyond. Peter Mallon who does such a great job organising the Daffodil Day collections. Steve McLay who organised the marshalls for the 2018 Targa Rally in October and Jackie who catered for, and organised our Auction night at the High School which was our Christmas function.

We have given out grants of $34,000, mostly to young people in the town. Outward Bound and the Spirit of Adventure and the Rotary Scholarship which was awarded to Rebecca Hutton. The club is in great heart and we all thank you John for guiding the club through a very good year.

Murray Patterson is the Chair of the Clutha Gold Trails Trust and he was accompanied by Gillian Whitaker, who is the Secretary of the Trust.

Murray began by acknowledging the support of our club with the feasibility study of the Lawrence to Waihola section. Rod Pierce from Roxburgh was instrumental in getting the Roxburgh to Lawrence and the Alex to Roxburgh sections of the trail going and he had noted in 2006 that perhaps the trail could follow the old railway line to Milton/Waihola but that was not to be. Eion Mills was employed to plan and consult landowners with a view to a new Lawrence to Waihola section. The announcement recently from Shane Jones of a grant from the PGF of $6.5M means this trail will be a reality. Murray said there was still some fine tuning of the route but he expected construction to start this spring with completion in about two years. Central Otago District Council and the Clutha District Council have been very supportive and the wonderful work already underway by Calder Stewart has helped enormously in making this a reality. Club member David Vollweiler has also been an important member of the new Trail committee. With this news, the Clutha Gold Trail will be looking to market and promote it more in the future. The trail will be Grade 2 with lots of historical aspects, two tunnels and a really special section through the Manuka Gorge. There will be about 1km of board walk at the southern approach to Waihola. There will be lots of further opportunities for people in the Milton area, particularly for food and accommodation services. Murray finished up by saying that a "Great Ride" is only as good as the services around it. There will be then over 1000km of trails south of the Waitaki and the popularity of E bikes adds another dimension to this exciting venture.

Phil Atkinson from Balclutha was standing in for Tania Lowery and he congratulated the club for it's achievements in the past year. Phil highlighted that 9980 is joining the  move to eradicate Polio and this will be  a strong focus. We are nearly there. Phil also talked about their plan to have the Conference in Balclutha which will place demands on accommodation and services for the area, but with help it will all happen, and be memorable! Thank you Phil.