Welcome Sarita, thanks Arie
District Changeover held at the Showcase at Riccarton Race Course was a very friendly and happy event. About 130 attended from clubs all over the District. It was a rather lengthy affair because as Rotary Conference was early all the prizes given by the District Governor had to be handed out that night which meant that the new District Governor was not finally inducted till ten o’clock and then she still had to speak. Gary compered the evening well and tried to hurry the presentations along.
Our own Liz Courtney received the major award for the evening. This was the District Governor’s award for her lengthy involvement. She has been the co-chair of SPPETS, which is a training organisation for incoming club presidents in the South Pacific.
The award was also given to her for her work with the District Public Image committee which she chairs, a director for Rotary NZ Project Support and for mentoring Ari through his year as District Governor. Also mentioned was her organisation of Rotary 100 year celebrated as a community picnic in the Halswell Quarry. It was an award that was well- deserved.
Nick Courtney also received a Paul Harris Double Sapphire pin. This came because of his work for the Hanmer Springs Forest Camp Trust which has been one of the main organisations that Papanui supports. He had been the conference organiser for Ari and Founder of the Friends of Rotary. It was an award that recognised his amazing efforts.
Many of the Papanui team sat at one large round table which was great fun – there was lots of chance to catch up on family and travel with the people who were close to me. I particularly enjoyed the Hudson’s stories of their recent trip to Canada.
The meal, a buffet, was very good. There was a large ham and a pleasant array of mixed vegetables. This was followed half way through the prize giving by apple strudel and fruit salad. It took considerable time to feed 130-odd people who attended.
Finally the changeover occurred and Sarita McLean, our newly inducted District Governor, had the chance to speak. She laid out what she felt were the priorities for the District. Two of them were to strengthen the communication between the various clubs in the District and to strengthen the commitment of Rotarians to its core values.
She gave every indication that she will be a good and far-sighted District Governor.
Jenny Haworth
Too see photos of the event click on the link here and click "start slideshow."