District Governor Martin Forsyth-Thompson and DGA Christina
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District Governor Martin February 2013 Forsyth-Thompson and DGA Christina Volumn 8 Dear fellow Rotarians, Anns, Members of Inner Wheel, Rotaractors, Interactors and the Family of Rotary, We have just celebrated Rotary Awareness month and I was very glad to see that many Clubs took advantage of showcasing their Clubs activities in the local media, on their Web sites, Facebook as well as public activities. I have yet to receive any applications for the Presidential Citation Awards; time is running out friends, so please get your Club boards to take action. Only two nominations have been received to date for the Rotarian Spouse/Partner Service awards. I am sure there are lots of deserving partners in our District! My DG’s visits during January were once again fulfilling and wonderfully enlightening. The first visit was to Gauteng West, Region 4 (West Rand) from 10 - 12 January under my Personal Representative PDG Ernie Hendriks and DGAPR Shirley, involved meetings with the Boards of eight Clubs namely: Roodepoort, Roodepoort Central, Monument, Honeydew Merlin, Krugersdorp, Carletonville, Soweto, Westonaria. L to R Pres. Peter and Ann Pres. Dee Swanepoel talking to Ann Pres Chloe of Krugersdorp Meet and Greet: L to R Pres. Lerato of Left:Soweto Lerato Pres. Ntoane Marius President and Ann RC Caroline of Soweto, of Marius Taylor, President RC of Westonaria,Westonaria his wife and Ann DG President Ann CFT Caroline and DGA Christina. The meetings all went well and Clubs are taking seriously the need to do things differently and to encourage new members into our wonderful organisation. It was a special opportunity to meet informally with Club Presidents and their Anns at the Meet and Greet party kindly hosted By DGPR Ernie and DGAPR Shirley’s charming house. It was fulfilling to experience again the warmth, love and fellowship shown to Christina and me accompanied by DGPR Ernie and DGAPR Shirley, and AG Mgezi Mazibuko on our visits. Our visit to two projects with the President of Krugersdorp Rotary Club and Club members was enlightening. Christina and I invite you all to attend the 2013 Discon in Swaziland. It will be held between 3-6 June and the link to register online has been sent. We look forward to seeing you there! DGPR Ernie, DG, and Pres. Marius The news of the Rotary Family Health Days from 9 - 11 May 2013 was once again received with enthusiasm and commitment by all the Clubs, so much so that some of the West Rand Clubs are working together on selected sites. Well done my friends in the West Rand: you are all doing exceptional things in your communities AND committed to growing membership. Keep it up! On the Saturday afternoon a regional seminar was held where AG Grant Daly travelled all the way from Limpopo to present a very useful talk on CSI /PBO and PDG Shirley Downie on PR (below ) in the District and the model for the RFH days in May. In the evening we attended a lovely banquet at the Discovery Bowling Club, where the Master of Ceremonies PP Dave Jankolowitz kept us in fits of laughter. Christina and I received a wonderful gift from the Clubs. Thank you. Our second Regional visit was to Gauteng North Central, Region 2, from 24 - 26 January under DGPR Francis and DGAPR Janet Callard and AGs Peter van Schaardenburgh and David Grant .Club Boards that met with me were: RC or Orange Grove Orange Grove Parktown Excalibur Northcliff Blackheath Randburg Johannesburg New Dawn The President of the Hillbrow Club attended the Saturday evening banquet at Northcliff‘s meeting place, Randpark Golf Club. The projects visited (Queen Alexander Nursing Home (Parktown Excalibur), St.Vincent Master of PP. (Randburg Anns), Northcliff’s amazing David Wheelchair warehouse, and the Ann Harding Jankolowitz Cheshire Home (Blackheath) were all amazing (Krugersdorp) and made me proud to be a Rotarian. at evening banquet - West Once again the fantastic hospitality, food and Rand visit drink supplied by DGAPR Francis & DGAPR Janet at their home for the Meet and Greet on Friday night was a great opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones. Thank you all so much! On Saturday afternoon, Clubs gave amazing power DGAPR Shirley, Pres. Lerato and DGA Christina point presentations on their activities and what makes them tick….great job done. If I wasn’t a Rotarian I would have signed up there and then! PDG Mark Doyle kindly gave a presentation on the background to the Rotary Family Health days and an update on plans for the May events. This was followed by a presentation by PDG Francis as District Membership Chair on Rotary by Numbers was an eye opener, we really need to stop the bleeding of membership and grow membership in our District. The banquet in the evening was fun and well organized and as usual the hospitality and friendship shown to Christina and me was, as always, superb. Thank you for the lovely gift of Royal Doulton wine goblets all our old and new-found Rotary friends! Chatting away Krugersdorp Ann's Xmas tree with Peace Cranes. DG's visit West Rand Visit to Ranburg Refilwe Community Centre Project - children seen with PP Chris Thompson (Randburg) One of the lovely kids and the Community Centre Project Pres. Jannie de Beer: Parktown Excalibur addressing the guests Christina and I were fortunate enough to attend our first District supported New Generations Seminar held at the Protea Fire and Ice Hotel, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg on Saturday morn- ing 2 February. Wow, what a wonderful and up- lifting experience! A very big thank you goes to the Rotary Club of Morningside, PDG Shirley Downie and in particular Rotarian Faith Man- gope for a job well done. We need to do this on an annual basis and budget for it. A special thank you also goes to the Youth Exchange Committee for supporting the funding of the event. Dinner at the RC of Parktown Excalibur Continue to Enjoy Rotary in February and re- member our founder Paul Harris on 23rd ! Happy Birthday Rotary International. ASSISTANT GOVERNORS & Best wishes PETS MEMBERS: 2013/2014 Martin and Christina Please register for your training session - AGs: 16 February 2013 Krugersdorp OTHERS: DATES ARE IN THE DIRECTORY. NOTICES TO FOLLOW District 9400 wishes Rotary International all the best on its 108th anniversary. So much has happened and yet still so much to do! Letaba Rotary club was the sponsor to two exchange students KHUTSO MATLOU was the ROJAC WINNER for 2012 and exchanged to Brazil for six weeks. Khutso enjoyed his stay in Brazil and can now even have a conversation in Portuguese. KATRIEN NEL was a Short Term student and paid a visit to FINLAND for six weeks. The family that was responsible for hosting Katrien made her stay in Finland a very pleasant one and she can even speak some Finish. Her little host sister could not communicate in English so she was forced to learn to communicate with her family. She enjoyed a WHITE CHRISTMAS with great memories. Rotary celebrated their return with Rotary Cupcakes! CLUB OFFICERS — PLEASE NOTE URGENTLY! In order to take up your position as a club leader, you need to attend the RI required training sessions. The dates for your training region are set out below. Notices for registration purposes will be sent out shortly. Please register early! Who should and must attend: The President Elect, treasurer, secretary and Foundation Officer as well as the Membership, Service Projects chairpersons should attend. Should other Rotarians wish to attend they are more than welcome but please remember to register!! Regions 2, 3 & 4 (Central Jhb, Southern & East Gauteng) 16 March (Gauteng venue) Region 8 (Swaziland & Mozambique) together with part of Region7 (Middelburg, Witbank, Ermelo & Secunda clubs) 6 April (Swaziland) Remainder of Region 7 & Region 6 13 April (tba) Region 1, 5 and 9 20 April (Krugersdorp) DISTRICT OFFICERS - ASSISTANT GOVERNORS’ TRAINING IS ON 16 FEBRUARY. REGISTRATION FORMS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SENT TO EVERYONE. PLEASE REGISTER IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO ALREADY. Page 6 District Governor Martin Forsyth-Thompson and DGA Christina DGA NEWS…. From the desk of DGA Christina! Peace Cranes feature prominently at Krugersdorp’s club house. Our first visits of the New Year, took us to the far West Rand with The small Ann Club of Monument supports the Boxing Club of Shirley and Ernie Hendriks, Krugersdorp West, where underprivileged youngsters are taught the where I met with the Ann Clubs art of boxing – certainly a more worthwhile past-time than venting of Krugersdorp, Roodepoort aggression in the streets. While this club of just five members does Central and Monument. not meet regularly, their support of this project is unerring. They are presently keeping the ablutions in clean condition and sourcing towels The Krugersdorp Anns were still from the Humanitarian Centre. They also support the community in proudly displaying their other ways, either through their own projects or with the Rotarians. Christmas tree decorated with Peace Cranes, which also featured prominently as décor on the club walls. Thank you ladies: for a club that resisted you haven’t done badly and that tutorial was clearly inspiring! We visited the Rainbow Home in Randfontein for disabled children suffering from cerebral palsy and other afflictions. It was wonderful to see how Daisy, Jill’s very elegant French poodle who is also a therapy dog, interacted with the children. One little girl, who lives in her own world, visibly brightened up when Daisy arrived. I never fail to be inspired when I see the positive impact . that animals can have on lives. Daisy the therapy dog, an elegant French poodle with a little girl Happy Valentine’s Day to you all - 14 February Volume 8 Page 7 It is better to sweat in the gym …………….