Rotary Club of Palmerston North (1924) ROTARY MATTERS!

Rotary Club of Palmerston North (1924)
ROTARY MATTERS!
President David Petre, Secretary Steve Paterson, Treasurer Brian McMeikan
President Elect Morva Croxson, Past President Lyn Gregg
Monday 13 October 2014
Speaker:
Annika Karvo – Our Finnish Family
Member
Topic:
Shedding Light on Finland
Introduction: Lyn Gregg
Thanks:
President David
Reception:
Peter Askey
Grace:
Kevin O’Donnell
3 Minutes:
Ron Dobson
Cashier:
Stu Schwartz
Attendance: Olga Barrett
Sergeant:
Roger Clausen
Corporals:
Kevin Smith / Martin Townend
Parting Thought: Johan Bonnevie
Editor:
Alan Rowlett
Monday 20 October 2014
Speaker:
Topic:
Dr. Rudyard Yap
Mid Central Infectious
Consultant
Introduction: Morva Croxson
Thanks:
Bipan Bansal
Reception:
Garry Goodman
Grace:
Steve Parsons
Annika’s Host Lesley Boulton
3 Minutes:
Darlene Woodhead
Cashier:
Ron Eglinton
Attendance: Rob Woodhouse
Sergeant:
John Freebairn
Corporals:
Melba Scott and Bill Bendall
Parting Thought: Philip Boulton
Editor:
Chris Michalski
Diseases
From our meeting on Monday 6 October
Attendance: 32 + 2 guests
Apologies: Nil
Make ups: Nil
Sergeant’s Session: $111.70
______________________________________________
Former President Martin Townend:
• Martin welcomed guests Phyllis Schwartz and Mike
Nicolaidi
• Stu noted that he and Phyllis have been together for
42 years in August
• We have an application for membership from Sue
Forde, proposed by Morva Croxson. If anyone has
any concerns at all regarding this please contact
President David ASAP.
Apologies to Olga Barrett 358-8798 or recorded on our website…
Club # 18626 www.pnrotary.co.nz
Upcoming Events:
• 20 October – Musica Viva
• Sat 1 Nov – Sixtus Lodge Working Bee. Does
anyone have access to a wood splitter? If you can
attend, please contact Johan on 358-6366. Morning
tea and lunch supplied!
• Sun 2 Nov – Cross Hills -- with 2 bus loads of
Massey foreign students and families – A great day to
enjoy nature and meet interesting people from around
the world
• 5 – 7 December -- Rotary Institute 2014 + District
9940 Conference. President David invited members
to join him and Morva at the Conference. The
Conference boasts a high calibre of speakers, like
former Governor-General, Anand Satyanand.
• Lyn updated us on Youth Plus activities. The Icon
Speaker series was a success and has now finished for
2014. The full Jack Tame interview is now on
YouTube. Liam now has lots of photos and video
from our annual Youth Music Festival and these will
be posted on the Youth Plus Facebook page.
Guest Speaker – Mike Nicolaidi – The Featherston
Chronicles: The Japanese Prisoner of War Story.
Mike has a background in film, journalism and film
archive.
Mike explained the background of events in his life that
culminated in him writing a book about the shooting of
48 Japanese POWs that occurred in the Featherston POW
camp during WWII.
Attitudes to Japanese were very different after the war
with a lot of people wanting to forget or ignore atrocities
that occurred on both sides. Mike told of VJ Day in 1945
at Ongaonga where dummies of Hitler and Emperor Tojo
were torched to the delight of everyone.
In 1971 Mike was a journalist and went to Japan to report
on articles for the NZ Post. Some strong anti-Japanese
sentiment prompted Mike to think he should acknowledge
the Featherston Story in some way. This started in
ghosting a memoir for a former Featherston Guard, and
culminated in 8 years of research to complete the book.
Parting Thought: Don Bird: “As a well-spent day brings
happy sleep, so a well-spent life brings happy death” –
Leonardo da Vinci
Useful web links…
District # 9940 www.rotary9940.org.nz
DG’s Blog: www.9940.rotarysouthpacific.org