Eight members  attended  the meeting ( apologies from Gary and Des, LOA Simon and Myles) and we were delighted to be joined by Taylor Fulton from Alberta , Canada who opened the meeting by telling us some of her experiences through Rotary.

She has been involved with Rotary since taking part in the Exchange scheme at the age of 16. Her destination was Brazil and she remembers fondly her experiences there and the family she stayed with. Later at university she was active in Rotoract and she found her  Rotary connections were what helped her find her feet and feel at home in her new environment after struggling to fit in initially.

She and her partner are currently working in NZ on a two year visa. They have been here for five months and intend staying in New Plymouth before moving to the South Island next year. They both work in hospitality which  have made  their career for several years. She plans to keep in touch with our Club during  her stay and is keen to help us with any volunteering required.

Moving to the business part of the meeting, Murray reported that the Soirée proved to be very successful with very  positive reports fed back from our guests. He proposed, seconded by David that we make Bryan Vickery an Honorary Member. Passed unanimously.

Murray gave details of next year’s Board - he will remain as President, likewise  Des and Jan N as Treasurer and Secretary respectively. Gaylene will join the Board with special responsibility for Membership. Jan D will remain a Board Member.

Gaylene gave a Raffle update. To date around 170 books have been sold, with some $3k paid in total. She is confident we are on course to sell all tickets, providing we keep up our efforts.

The Project meeting  at Summerset Mountain View attended  by Murray, Sally, David , Josh and Phil Hinton proved very successful with an extremely positive response.Three plaques were sold with additional sales in the pipeline.

David reported briefly on the trials and tribulations that are still appearing but as ever he was confident everything will shortly be resolved satisfactorily.

Murray is going to look into the Rotabiz potential.

Sally asked if anyone could help with transportation of the Rotary Dictionaries pickup from  Whanganui.

Murray thanked Ian at the conclusion of his last meeting with us for all the help and fellowship he has given since joining our Club, wishing him well and asking him to keep in touch. Ian said he would and was happy to to be called on to help with any volunteering in future.

Parting thought came from Sally :

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end

The Meeting closed at 7.15pm.