Honorary Rotarian Geoff Mathews was a Charter Member of Rotary Sunrise, and the club’s Charter Secretary.
Over the years Geoff championed many causes, and had a profound impact on the shape and direction of Rotary Sunrise – from the club’s public relations strategy which was his pet project almost from the start, to club members’ wellbeing, community service events, fellowship events, etc. Geoff was also a strong proponent of the involvement of women as members of our club, and often highlighted the benefits of Rotary Sunrise’s diverse culture.
Being Rotary Sunrise’s Public Relations guru, Geoff ensured that Rotary Sunrise was regularly in the news, highlighting whatever projects the club’s committees were working on, including in the months after Ivan – highlighting the joint efforts of Rotary in rebuilding our communities. Geoff often cajoled the owners of those news outlets to provide that coverage gratis, as a part of their contribution to society – not a difficult accomplishment as those news outlet owners had become dear friends with Geoff.
Geoff also got involved with many health promotions through his friendship with Dr. Sook Yin, including the promotion of the use of aspirin as a preventative measure against heart attacks – this eventually evolved into the distribution of Aspirin pod necklaces to the elderly, a joint project with the four Cayman Rotary club’s.
Who can forget our many "cheap and cheerful" fellowship events, usually held at someone’s home, often Geoff’s home (with the threat of turning into a pool party!). The Austin Powers fellowship is one of the most memorable, our wine tasting nights epic, and Geoff even stepped out of his comfort zone to support an Indian curry night (he was not a fan of spicy foods!).
Geoff was kindhearted, supportive, inquisitive, generous, challenging, happy, and loved a good laugh. We were all saddened when his health took a downturn over the last several years to where he was no longer able to attend our weekly meetings. We were heartbroken for his wife, our Past President Christine, when we learnt of his passing.
May his lovely soul forever rest in peace.
New members for Rotary Sunrise
Four new members were inducted last week to the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise.
The inductions were done at the first meeting of the club under its new president, Patricia Steward.
Joining the club are Takeyce Palmer, Marlon Bodden, Bruce Smith and Kurt Walton.
“Rotary success comes from connecting our membership to the local community. By growing our family, we can continue to do projects that impact community needs in the Cayman Islands and internationally,” President Steward, said.
Rotary International Convention
We are proud to have had our President, Matthew Seales, speak at the Convention on the importance of fostering the transition from Rotaract to Rotary, as a way of opening dialogue "about how we as Rotarians and Rotaractors can do better, be better, and create meaningful relationships amongst each other".
CIIP - Battle of the Books
Congratulations to the champions of the 2019 CIIP Lera Parchment Battle of the Books Competition!
'The Books and the Sword' from First Baptist Christian School (Division 1) and 'The Book Minions' from CIS (Division 2).
Earth Day Clean Up
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Rotary Sunrise joined the Chamber of Commerce for their Earth Day Clean Up as part of their campaign efforts to keep the Cayman Islands litter free, on Saturday, April 13th 2019.
And The Winners Are...
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Rotary Sunrise's annual Car Raffle Draw was held on Saturday, April 6th at A.L. Thompson's at 4:00pm. Visit our website Car Raffle Page to find out who our lucky winners were.
Rotary Schoolhouse - A Royal Opening
The Rotary Schoolhouse was officially opened on March 26th by Prince Charles, in true Royal fashion. The Schoolhouse is a joint project with Rotary Sunrise, the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman and Rotary Central Cayman Islands.
Another Successful Flea Market
Rotary Sunrise's Foundation Committee was able to pull off another successful $5 & $10 Flea Market on March 23rd. The event took place at the Lions Centre and was able to raise over US$2,244 which will be donated to The Rotary Foundation's PolioPlus programme.
Blue Iguana Facility Project
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Rotary Sunrise and the Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman were on hand to assist the Staff of the National Trust's Blue Iguana Recover Programme in their efforts to clean up and perform restorations to the facility in time for the Royal visit.
Rotary Sunrise's Newest Members
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Congratulations to the 4 newest members of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise, who were inducted at our weekly meeting on Wed, February 6th.
LIFE donates books to East End students
Santa made a special surprise visit to East End Primary School this week to present each of the school’s 92 students with two books for Christmas.
Annual Car Raffle is back!
The Rotary Sunrise Annual Car Raffle has returned. Tickets went on sale December 19th, and will resume on January 19th at A.L. Thompson's.
Work begins on education center for Botanic Park Children’s Garden
The Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park has started construction of the Rotary Education Centre on the site of its newest attraction, the Children’s Garden.
The educational facility is the result of a combined effort of all the Rotary Clubs in the Cayman Islands.
Rotary Sunrise - Club of the Month Winner for November 2018!
Rotary Sunrise is proud to receive the District 7020 Club of The Month award for November - Rotary Foundation/Public Image.
Christmas is about Community
Rotary Sunrise was pleased to sponsor another annual Windsor Park Community Christmas Party. It was held Saturday December 8th at the Community Park and playground in the afternoon.