Papanui Rotary Club Chat 21 Dec 2021
 
 
Christmas 2021 at Pap Rotary
 
A good crowd was in attendance at our Christmas theme meeting last Thursday and what a great show Lois and her team had for us.  Lois, well supported by Janice, also did a great job of decorating the room and tables that set a festive atmosphere for the evening.
 
Michael Entertains Us
 
After a special Christmas buffet Michael Rankin, a top performer at the recent Speech Competition we actively support held at Heaton Intermediate, entertained us with two performances.
 
Michael first gave us the privilege of hearing the speech he used at this event which included the fun and games involved in the setting up of his band.  He then followed on by singing one of his band’s songs which received a good round of applause from an appreciative audience.  What a pleasure it was to see young talent in the making and we wished him well for the future.
 
 
This was then followed by the Sergeant session led by Rob who gave us a challenging quiz on historical matters that had many of us stumped despite the concentration shown below by us all as we tried to pick the correct answers
 
 
To conclude his session Rob played us an old favourite song called “Sticky Beak” that we joined in with gusto on the chorus.  Click on the link below for a trip down memory lane!
 
 
The evening came to a close with Santa Arie sharing some yummy goodies with us.
 
And so our meetings for 2021 came to an end and we look forward to getting back together in the New Year.
 
 
Tree of Giving
 
While it was a bit quieter than usual, our Tree of Giving in Northlands Mall still managed to result in a good number of donations that will be passed on to Presbyterian Support, Linwood Avenue Community Trust, Barnados, Birthright NZ and City Mission.
 
 
(Faces Blocked for Confidentiality)
 
Gary received a gratifying email from the Deputy Principal of Waimairi School (below).
 
He met with her a few months ago and applied to the Children in Need Trust to fund some special reading books for dyslexic and reading impaired students.
 
They had the special books at school but not enough sets for some students to have at home to continue their reading there and we were able to fund the extra sets.
 
The letter reads as follows ... 
  
Kia ora Gary
 
Words just don’t seem enough to express the joy for these kids!
 
We were absolutely thrilled that the books we had ordered totally due to the Papanui Rotary Club generous donation for these students.
They were delivered in time for us to give to the children to take home for Christmas, and for them to enjoy and improve over the break. We have also promised them that if they bring them back, and have read them, we will give them the next titles in the series.
 
Thank you so much to you for all your work and thoughts about making this happen, and to the Club as a whole for supporting our most vulnerable learners - we really appreciate it.
 
The kids have made some Thank you cards that I would like to send on to you - are you able to give me an address so that I can put them in the post?
 
Thanks again, - Have a lovely break, and the help and assistance that you have given is so powerful.
 
Ngā mihi nui
Nāhaku noa, nā.
 
Lynley
 
 
Food for Thought