President Murray opened the Meeting by welcoming everyone and asking those assembled to spend a moment contemplating how fortunate we are in our situation compared with so many others around, both near and far.
The Fines Session was conducted by Simon on behalf of Des and was centred around knowledge of the Olympic Games. Several members proved that the many hours spent watching had not been in vain.
Jan N introduced the Guest Speaker Mike Sandle , CEO of Taranaki Rugby.
Mike’s life story of how he moved from mustering to rugby management to Manager of the Black Caps to his current position with Taranaki Rugby ,via 24 years in the police force- working as a dog handler for 11 years followed by eight years with the Organised Crime Unit- was a fascinating one and he recounted many anecdotes showing all sides of his experiences on the journey.
Born in Stratford, his working life has taken him not only all around NZ but also to most parts of the world. In his role as Black Caps Manager, which he held for 11 years, he ( and the team) were away from home between 250-300 days a year. Fortunately there was strong support for the families involved with partners and children often accompanying on tour.
He emphasised that in each sphere of work he was involved in, there was a common goal of people working together which held good in the police force and also in sports management.
He misses the travel of the Black Caps job but admits he does enjoy being able to put down more roots at home in Taranaki. And of course he has amazing memories of the last few years, some of which he shared with us.
He never thought that he would end up here but emphasised that in life you really just have to be prepared to take opportunities as they are offered.
Many of us had questions after his talk and gained a lot from his answers. Simon thanked him on
behalf of the Club and we all agreed that we had thoroughly enjoyed hearing him speak and could have listened to him for the rest of the evening. Fortunately for Mike, he had a previously scheduled Zoom meeting to attend!
Myles then followed as 3 minute speaker and continued on the subject of the Olympics, taking us back to the original days in Ancient Greece. Things have certainly changed!
President Murray then called Geoff Harding forward to accept an Honorary Membership of the Club to mark his near 40 years in Rotary, 14 of them in our Club. He has always been a valued and active member, particularly in regard to the Trust and he is still continuing to work with the flats.
President Murray then thanked Gary and Marie Brown for hosting a social evening for the club - it provided a welcome space for friendly and informal discussion.
He then reminded members that there had been a request for help from the MS Society regarding their annual street collection (13/14 September) and asked that anyone who had not yet replied do so.
He is still awaiting more information about the Air Fresheners.
Along with Gaylene and Jan N he had attended a meeting at New Plymouth North and discussed our current plans for our Centenary project.
We are currently conducting due diligence with the Council and this will be the main topic at our next Club business meeting in two weeks time.
We will also be discussing the importance of the Club’s Social Media presence. He reiterated his hope that other Rotary Clubs and similar organisations will join with us in the
Centenary project as we are not just celebrating our Club but Rotary’s presence and
achievements in the area over the past hundred years.
In closing, he again thanked everyone for attending - our own members, fellow Rotarians, friends and family- and hoped that tonight’s meeting was just the first of similar occasions where we can get together and enjoy friendship and fellowship.
Tony Bird closed the meeting with the Parting Thought:
“Excellence is not always about being the best but sometimes about doing your best.”
Next meeting is on 26 August at the usual time. Business meeting format.
