Mosgiel Rotary Bulletin 21st May 2018 (May 15, 2018)

Austen Banks

Opinion piece

‘Back to the future’- I remember joining Rotary in 1977 and in those halcyon days we had no cell phones, we were required to sit at a different table each week, 'Rotary' means moving round but some members now have been sitting at the same table with the same members every night. We always stood when speaking and we had our guests stand when being introduced, we cleared the tables and offered to get our table mates a cup of tea and we finished the evening by singing the National Anthem. We apologised to our hostess for our absence at fireside meetings. Oh and I nearly forgot we wore ties and jackets to meetings. Attendance was compulsory and if we could not attend we ‘made up’ at another club and had their secretary fill in an attendance card which we then brought back. I remember on one occasion, at considerable cost and without success, tracking round Melbourne in a cab looking for the local Rotary club.

It strikes me that some of those practices are worth repeating. What do you think?

Let’s start a discussion. Do drop our Editor a note with your thoughts.

Hayes Engineering Visit. 13-5-18

Hayes Engineering Visit + extras

What a worthwhile and enjoyable day, our thanks to Merv. for arranging it for Mosgiel rotary members. The original plan of taking a bus load was abandoned and a smaller group went by car pool, which worked out well. 15 people at a time, was about the perfect sized group for walking through the cramped confines of the workshop and the cosy confines of the cafe.

Thanks to Brian, who supplied these excellent photos, we have a record of our event.

Everyone who came really agreed it was great.

Most of us will have driven through Oturehua and past the Hayes Historic site over the years heading for Queenstown or Wanaka and not taken the time to stop.

Going as a group was a far better idea as we were treated as special guests. The local ladies put on delicious food including a mug of vegetable soup with home baked bread when we arrived then after the tour of the workshop and the historical house we were served a generous range of savouries , sandwichs and cakes with tea or coffee.

About 2.30 pm the cars dispersed to other interests, most heading to Naseby to enjoy a very competitive curling game for a a couple of hours some then visiting Hide and others via Macraes goldmine.

Thanks Mervyn for an enjoyable day you could probably get another group interested next year.

Merv's old school cobber Ken Gillespie showed us round the workshop and after starting up the pelton wheel drive got all the machinery running which he ably demonstrated.

The use of belts, wheels pulleys, and shafts is intriguing to say the least but it all still works perfectly after all these years. Two things E Hayes and Sons were famous for in rural New Zealand were the wire strainers and other fencing tools which most farmers will have, and the deep well windmill pumps which used to be common all over Otago and Southland. These pumps are now being operated by solar power on many farms.