Tonight was another annual occasion to celebrate the past 12 months and to welcome in Eastern Hutt's new President for 2021-22, Anne Abbott. It was a yet again a little unusual, as Wellington was still under Level Two Covid restrictions but it still didn't spoil a memorable evening those who attended.
Our outgoing President, Jan Palmer, spoke of the past 12 months and thanked all those who had helped helped her through this. Having being diagnosed with bowel cancer in November 2019, which was a major personal challenge, she decided to continue with her upcoming Presidency for the 2020-21 Rotary year. The decision to carry out the Presidency with her Board to achieve the year's objectives, was due to her outstanding leadership skills.
Jan spoke about the year that was HERE, and then presented several well-deserving awards.
Firstly, Mike Fackney became our newest Paul Harris Fellow for his Club and Community Service since he became a member in 2009. You can read about Mike's background HERE.
Following this two further presentations were awarded, firstly to the Committee Cup for the committee who attained the highest tangible achievement during the year. This was our Environment & Amenities Committee and Past President Richard Perry accepted this on behalf of his team. See full detail HERE.
The other was new Innovation Cup, that was donated by our Immediate Past President Robert Sinclair last year and is to be awarded annually at Club Changeover after review of the last year’s activities. The Innovation Cup is awarded to the committee who introduced a new initiative to the club’s fundraising events during the year.
This year it also went to the Environment & Amenities Committee for the very successful wine tasting evening, under the stewardship of Richard Perry, Sue Darling, and Wim Julicher. This event raised around $5,000 towards the whanau rooms at the soon to be opened Wellington Children’s Hospital. See full details HERE.
The evening was concluded by guest speakers, Talitha & Martin Lowis, who came from South Africa in 2014. They spoke about life there prior to their arrival, what it was like starting again in NZ, why they chose NZ and what the challenges were.