Students plant native trees
Year 5 and 6 students from Epuni School in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, had grown 180 young trees from seedlings for their Trees for Survival planting site alongside a local stream that is gradually being beautified under the Regional Council.
Trees for Survival New Zealand is a charitable trust that was initiated by the District 9920 Rotary Club of Pakuranga as a way of involving children in the growing and planting of native trees on designated land to prevent soil erosion, improve water quality and increase biodiversity.
The planting morning was the culmination of a year’s work. Seeds of native trees are collected from local sources and either germinated at the school or supplied to the school as tiny seedlings. In the case of Epuni School, the Regional Council delivered trays of seedlings in September, necessitating pricking out into individual root trainers, then potting into larger pots in the autumn. This work takes place in a specially designed Plant Growing Unit provided by Rotary.
Epuni School is an underprivileged decile 2 school of 121 students. Eastern Hutt Rotarians have enjoyed working alongside the students and contributing to working bees throughout the year. On planting day, students, staff, parents, Regional Council officers and Rotarians worked very happily together.
New seedlings have just been delivered to the school, so the cycle starts once more, continuing an excellent Rotary project. Next year, more students will learn the thrill of growing plants and the important message of conservation.
For further information on Trees for Survival, please log onto www.tfsnz.org.nz
VIP camp
The Rotary Club of Remuera, NZ, has managed to bring a great deal of happiness and normality to groups of young visually-impaired students for 21 years.
This year, 16 young ‘VIPs’ (as they’re known) attended the weekend organised by the club at YMCA Camp Adair, near Auckland, New Zealand. The Camp offers log cabins, skilled young instructors and a beautiful setting surrounded by native bush.
Twelve Rotarians, helpers from the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind and nine senior student volunteers from King’s College set about cooking, entertaining, befriending and encouraging the VIPs as they undertook enormous challenges on the flying fox, high trapeze, climbing wall and kayaking – no small feat when you can see almost nothing!
A great end to the physical activities was the very popular 40-metre mudslide – what a mess!
Then it was off for a monster meal of Past President Murray Weatherston’s BBQ sausages, followed by buckets of ice cream and fruit salad.
This year’s Saturday evening concert was master-minded by musician, Danny Boeglin, a maestro of many instruments and a specialist at making kids laugh.
The fun-filled weekend was rounded off by a trip to the hot pools at Miranda on the Sunday morning.
– John Beck,
President, Rotary Club of Remuera, NZ
Books for island kids
A simple request for school books on the remote island of Manihiki in the Cook Islands turned into a great Rotary story for the Rotary Club of Invercargill, NZ.
A childhood friend wrote to Peter Ridsdale, a member of the Rotary Club of Invercargill, to inform him of the plight of some great people on the island of Manihiki. Photographer John Daley of Auckland explained that he wanted to help some kids who had plenty of sunshine, coconuts and fish but no books.
Rotary Club of Invercargill 2008-2009 President Howard Anderson was offered $NZ3000 worth of new school journals and books at no cost by an acquaintance who distributes books to schools. Howard also went through boxes of books donated to the Rotary Club of Invercargill for their major annual book sale to find another $500 worth of books.
The books were then bundled up ready to travel from Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island to Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. This trip was taken care of at no cost to the club by local carrier RF Symon & Son.
Shipping from Auckland to Rarotonga was provided at a nominal charge by Reef Shipping which has a policy of donating a considerable amount of sponsorship toward the Pacific Islands each year.
The Rarotonga contact was Mousie Skews, 2008-2009 President of the Rotary Club of Rarotonga, NZ, who is involved in a company called Island Hopper Vacations.
Anthony Turua, the Director of Finance at the Department of Education in Rarotonga, sorted the cost of the boat trip for the books from Rarotonga to Manihiki Island.
Books are vital learning tools. It was a pleasure to help these well deserving young Islanders, and to see how well Rotary and partner organisations worked together to make it happen for this great cause.
– Howard Anderson
Past President,Rotary Club of Invercargill, NZ
RYDA champion named
Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) District Leaders representing 12 Rotary Districts assembled at the BOC head office in North Ryde, NSW, for the annual two day meeting in mid September.
A key component of the meeting is the annual Rotary Districts of Australia Committee dinner giving participants a much needed break from the meeting routine and a chance to meet RYDA Board members and key supporters. This dinner was the backdrop to launch the RYDA-BOC Champions Award for the most outstanding RYDA Champion for 2009.
The inaugural award was presented to Tony LeBreton from the Penrith program by Paul Stathers, Head of Safety, Quality, Environment and Health, BOC South Pacific and Melissa Hayes, General Manager Communications, BOC South Pacific.
Tony is an incredibly committed Rotarian who has worked tirelessly to coordinate and grow the program in Penrith, NSW, since it began in 2006. Shortly after retiring from a busy career in marketing, Tony answered the call for volunteers from District 9690 to establish RYDA in Penrith.
Since then, Tony and the other members of the Penrith team have seen over 15,000 students attend at their venue.
Tony not only attends most program days, but is also responsible for contacting all schools in Western Sydney, confirming bookings and arranging presenters.
Congratulations Tony on this well deserved recognition of your hard work and dedication to the RYDA program.
Qld Road safety award
The Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Program (RYDA) received a major honour at the 2009 Queensland Road Safety Awards, recently presented at a Parliament House ceremony in Brisbane.
RYDA received the community award from the Queensland Minister for Transport, the Hon. Rachel Nolan.
The awards are a joint initiative of Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety (CARRS-Q) and the RACQ, which recognises the work and efforts of individuals and groups who have designed projects or programs to improve road safety. The awards are supported by Queensland Transport and the Queensland Police Service.
CARRS-Q director Professor Barry Watson said the road safety awards, now in their 10th year, recognised efforts to save lives on Queensland roads.
“The awards have consistently generated a high calibre of entries and this year has been no exception.”
RACQ’s general manager for external relations, Gary Fites, said “A great deal of positive progress has been made in road safety in recent years but despite this, much more obviously needs to be done if road trauma is not to remain one of our major public health issues.
“Community attitudes are a vital factor in determining whether or not the road toll is reduced over the long term. It is encouraging to see such a genuine commitment to road safety and community ownership of this important cause.”
The award is an excellent public recognition from the state government and road safety authorities on the quality and value of the RYDA program.
Super duper scones
Super-duper scones have turned into a money spinner for the Rotary Club of Salamanca, Tas.
As part of their fundraising activities, the club caters for morning and afternoon teas and light lunches with inexpensive sandwiches, scones, cakes and biscuits at each of the City of Hobart Floral Art Shows.
The shows are presented by various local horticultural societies in conjunction with the Hobart City Council with displays including the Dahlia and Gladiolus, Chrysanthemum, Daffodil and Camellia, Orchid, Rhododendron, and the Rose and Iris shows.
To complement the magnificent floral displays the various horticultural societies conduct raffles, stalls selling plants and cut flowers and provide information on plant growing.
Liz Colman, a Home Economics teacher at Collegiate School, demonstrated to club members how to make scones. A big thank you to Liz for giving up her time to tutor the novice scone makers.
The autumn Floral Arts Shows will run from March 12 to May 2, 2010. For more information visit www.hobartcity.com.au
Cakes and puddings
Here we are in December, so Christmas cakes and puddings are on the menu and it’s not too late to get your order in.
The Rotary Club of Collingwood, Vic, has been selling their now famous Traditional Plum Pudding, Traditional Whisky Cake and Traditional Shortbread Biscuits for 31 years.
The club has developed a sharply honed distribution network throughout Australia, with clubs in South Australia, Queensland, NSW, the ACT, and, of course, Victoria, over the years so there are local agents just waiting to supply Rotarians as Districts, clubs or individuals.
Go to www.rotarycakesandpuddings.com.au for all the details.
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