If you wish to apologise or register a Leave of Absence Request, please use the links below. Any problems please use contact form and emails will be forwarded. Remember absences need to be submitted before 6 pm on WEDNESDAY to be credited. LOAs require board approval
Visitors: Rose Fallow joined us to brief us on her experience at RYLA.Huru and Erin joined us again. Fi Be joined us for the day.
Welcome–from President …… Stephen welcomed all and introduced our 2 returning visitors, Huru and Erin and guest speaker, Rose Fallow. A special call out to Andy Cameron for joining us.
Notices & Announcements
Guess who’s coming to dinner - Look out for emails for the events 08 and 15 August.
Footprints for our Future – a Regional Rotary initiative, coupled with Cape New Zealand beautiful, and with a series of activities across the region, which happens on the 20th of September. Our involvement will be our planting date in K Valley.
Club key fobs: get yours from the bar or front desk of the Tauranga Club.
Subscription notices have been sent out.
Committee lists: to be sent out by Steve.
Friday Fives was a blast last week. Put it in your calendar to join us for the next one.
Club Assembly - next week. If anyone has any issues they want to raise about the club, the way it's run, or the presidential manner, this is the time to air them. Send Stephen an email if you want a topic issue to be put on.
Bulletin Volunteer - One more bulletin volunteer is necessary.
AI Course - We've got an offer for an AI course for volunteer organisations. It's in November. If anyone wants to attend, it's $25 for a two-hour session. Stephen has the information.
Rotary District Cycling Trophy – Currently held by Whakatane Rotary. One of their members rode 26kms. Stephen has spied the trophy, and it is H-U-G-E.He wants it.The cycling challenge is 28 November. Find your misplaced, ill-fitting Lycra and start preparing for the race. More details to follow.
Guest Speaker – Rotary featured a presentation by Rose Fellow, who shared her experience attending the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) program and thanked the club for sponsoring her participation.
Approximately 30 participants from diverse backgrounds attended the week-long leadership development program. Participants were grouped into teams through creative team-building activities and spent the week learning, collaborating, and challenging themselves.
Sessions covered leadership, behavioural styles, sustainability, biculturalism, conflict resolution, and leadership in public roles. Rose emphasized that effective leadership requires continuous learning, adaptability, and self-awareness.
Activities included high ropes challenges and public speaking exercises designed to push participants beyond their comfort zones. Rose described these experiences as challenging but valuable for personal growth and confidence building.
Participants took part in collaborative challenges, including a MasterChef-style cooking competition that required communication, planning, and teamwork under pressure. These activities allowed participants to apply leadership concepts in real-world situations.
The group volunteered at Waipuna Hospice and carried out environmental restoration work by clearing weeds around planted trees. Rose said these activities embodied Rotary's values of service and community contribution.
Rose adopted several tools and concepts from the program, including:
Maintaining a positive, accountable mindset ("above the line" thinking). Using the SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) framework for constructive feedback. Applying the Johari Window model for self-awareness and personal development. Learning about DISC behavioural profiles to better understand communication styles.
Rose has joined a newly established Rotaract club and plans to join Toastmasters to continue developing her leadership and speaking skills. She described RYLA as a "springboard" for young leaders and strongly recommended it to anyone given the opportunity.
Rose shared an example from her role as a stakeholder engagement manager at New Zealand Avocado. During a busy food show event, she chose to lead by example, stepping in to help her team with hands-on work when demand exceeded expectations. She credited RYLA with reinforcing this leadership mindset.
Rose concluded that RYLA is much more than a leadership course. It invests in future leaders, builds lasting networks, encourages personal growth, and creates positive impacts that extend into participants' workplaces, communities, and families. She expressed gratitude to Rotary for supporting her journey and encouraged continued sponsorship of future participants.
Sergeant at Arms –
As promised during Buddy’s Welcoming and Grace, Buddy invited members to share positive developments from the previous week, inspired by a similar “Good News” segment at another Rotary club.
Highlights Shared
Buddy is involved in the White Ribbon Campaign (men against violence) and announced plans for a fundraising dinner and auction in November and was pleased to have secured former supermodel Kylie Bax as the guest speaker. Club members were encouraged to support the event through attendance or auction donations.
Wayne reported progress on a mobile high-tech triage medical centre project. The system, already used in Australia, is being trialled locally after funding was secured. If successful, additional units may be deployed to serve rural and remote communities.
Dan shared a personal success story about a former high-risk youth they had supported, who is now studying nursing and celebrating her 21st birthday.
Andy Cameron updated everyone with a light-hearted celebration of his 89-year-old mother regaining her driver's licence.
Pat ran a fundraiser for the Justices of the Peace Association, raising $215 through a raffle, with the proceeds donated to a local social supermarket.
Recognition was given to Dan for his work with Project K and for helping a person in need by providing practical support, including a haircut and clothing. [Rotary | Outlook]
Kathy, Neighbourhood Support volunteer, celebrated finding a new secretary for the organisation after several months of recruitment challenges.
Fi Be proudly announced that her son had become engaged to his partner.
Jill reported significant progress on obtaining council consent for two new aged-care buildings, describing it as a major achievement given the difficulties involved.
Wayne won the raffle and passed his winnings to Rose.
Parting Thought from Andrew Knowles:
Oliver Wendell Holmes, U.S. Supreme Court Justice,
“A young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.”
