Our upcoming speakers
- always subject to change of course!
21 October 2024
Guest speaker : - Rob Woolley an ANTIQUES ROAD SHOW
Rob outlined how he got into dealing through garage sales. He now operates an on- line Business, Academy Antiques, specialising in collectable fine china.
He outlined some of the pitfalls involved in doing house calls and recommended sellers always ask the dealer for an offer, not to state their price expectations. Numerous items were brought in by club members and Rob dealt with these in an entertaining and humorous way. Items ranged from military swords to miniature china pieces. Oldest item was a Times newspaper dated 1805 with an article on the Battle of Trafalgar. Brown furniture has diminished value compared to 20 years ago due to changing tastes, smaller homes, and room sizes. Rob commented that if you want to sell an item, take it to the auction rooms and don’t turn up to the sale. He uses eBay and Trade Me, plus his own experience, to arrive at value estimates.
14 October 2024
Guest speaker: DEBS TAYLOR-HAYHURST
Rangiora Promotions gave a presentation power point highlighting its new branding and image.
It was developed as a business support to promote Rangiora; it has now moved its direction to include business, community events to promote Rangiora, including young people and the mature community.
It is looking for like minded people to offer support by becoming a member of their board or sponsorship.
7 October 2024
Guest speaker: David McKissock - District Governor 2024-2025
David presented Andrew Smith with a District Certificate of Appreciation relating to insurance services provided to the District. He congratulated Jim Cassels and Helen Richards on their presidencies. He remarked on the very good website and the Rotary signage around Rangiora giving a good community presence.
He gave a brief overview of his background as a diesel mechanic, teacher, sportsman and his opening of a career centre in Invercargill for the whole community which he and his wife ran for 19 years. He is a member of Invercargill Sunrise club which has 51 members with 3 people looking to join.
David described meeting Stephanie Urchick the Rotary Internatinal President and her background. He explained her inspiration behind her theme “The Magic of Rotary” being an occasion when Rotary has shown itself to work wonders Clean Water in the Dominican Republic, Dave supported noting his meeting with a Ukrainian who thanked him for a District 9999 donation of $25000 to a hospital in Kiev and a meeting with a Dr McGlynn who effects miracles with surgery for people in the islands.
He described the RI President’s challenges for the organisation for the year ... to keep focus on woman and girls, mental health, and creating positive peace in the world. He noted that Rotary is the only organisation to sit at the UN table as it has no political affiliation, and is the only organisation to be permitted by the Taliban to carry on the polio vaccinations.
He emphasized his aims for his term, The 4 C’s: Culture of clubs, Collaboration between clubs, Connection with the community and the need for Change Under the new regime we do not have AG’s but have community leaders. Ours is Brett Hodson from Riccarton. We are in a cluster of 8 clubs. His specific goals are: 1. Have fun. 2. Membership increase. 3. Be project visible. 4. Collaborate with other clubs. 5. Adopt a partnership outside Rotary, 6. Promote Youth Development. 7. Increase Foundation giving. 8. Share Rotary Stories. 9. Be inclusive.
He stressed that District is there to assist clubs. “Let the Magic Begin”
30 September 2024
Guest speaker: Grant Edge: Council, conservation, environmental & flood defence projects to counter climate change.
Grant, an Elected Councillor of Environment Canterbury (ECAN) who was previously a landscape architect. Grant and his wife live on a small rural property and grow flowers and produce for the Farmers’ market.
Grant gave a comprehensive presentation, including a short video and explanatory slides, focussed mainly on the braided rivers of Canterbury (Rangiora’s river, the Ashley/ Rakahuri featured prominently) with particular emphasis on conservation measures and flood protection.
Over time the rivers, which are such an important part of the ecological landscape, have seen degradation and pollution which ECAN are endeavouring to rectify. Such things as the constriction of river fairways, the encroachment of willow trees, the close proximity of farming activities to the river be and the reduction of the natural river wildlife by invasive pests all need to be addressed. The proper control of irrigation activity and of gravel extraction are also important aspect of ECAN’s work.
Of particular importance, given the current environment of climate change and extreme weather events, is flood protection. Grant used the 2021 flood event on the Ashburton and Rakaia rivers to illustrate that in extreme circumstances, stop banks will not be sufficient to hold back the river flow and inundation of farmland and/or residential areas can be expected. Continual raising of stop banks to counteract this is not necessarily the answer. Other measure such as widening the river fairway and designating overflow pathways (floodplains) are being considered.
23 September 2024
Guest speaker:: ROSIE OLIVER: North Canterbury Sports and Recreational Trust
Rosie offered a screen shot presentation which included: the history, scope, staffing, objectives and Funding of the North Canterbury Sports and Recreational Trust.
Rosie is the Operational Manager for the Trust. Tony Hall is Chair and Mentor for the Trust which was set up in 1983. The aim is to have sport and recreation available to all members of the North Canterbury Community. Jerry Stone, a local vet was a founding member and major activist for the Trust in the early years.
Trust property and interests have grown exponentially over the years. From East Belt, now there are facilities in Oxford, Amberley, Kaikoura with the latest being Mainpower Stadium Rangiora. Local and Country Schools receive Sports training. Other Programs include Blue Brothers and Reactivate North Canterbury. The trust now employs about 70 people.
One $23.50 membership fee gets you in anywhere and the start fee level remains fixed ongoing.
This was a very detailed and well presented talk by Rosie.
16 September 2024
Guest Speaker: Tiffany Wafer from The Southern Cancer Society.
Tiffany presented a screen shot presentation which included: The scope, staffing and funding of the Southern Cancer Society.
Tiffany grew up on the West Coast.and is Community Funding Partner for the Southern Cancer Society. She is married ,with two sons and leads a busy active lifestyle. She outlined the many funding sources operated by the Society. These include Candlelight ceremony, Golf day, Safari race, Daffodil Day, Relay for Life, Coast Undie Run, Pegasus Trans Alpine event etc.
Support Groups include Blue Brothers, Sewing Days, Drivers’ Group, Local Hero Scheme, help at AMP show. Locally, Rangiora has 3 staff and 160 odd volunteers.
1 in 3 persons in NZ will have a cancer diagnosis. Cancer is the largest cause of death in NZ. A large 50 bed accommodation building is now located at 74 Langdons Rd Christchurch to accommodate cancer clients and families from outlying areas.
9 September 2024
Guest speaker: Chris Hurring from the PFPT and his team.
Chris is the Protection Officer for North Canterbury and started by giving us some of the horrendous statistics of sexual and physicalabuse, mainly of women but also of men, which is ingrained in many relationships. Although these were for the whole country he said that North Canterbury was no different from elsewhere. A member of the team, Vicky French who is based in Christchurch, gave us more disturbing statistics of abusive relationships involving children. Many of these youngsters get involved in criminal activities - ram raiding shops - and end up in the Youth Justice system. He told of a grandmother who had attempted to protect her daughter and grandchildren only to be beaten up by the grandfather.
Chris went on to talk of the 1 in 8 children living in poverty and the number is growing. He was joined in the talk by one of his team from Kaiapoi Borough School. They talked about children who came to school hungry and maybe without shoes and for whom Christmas presents were just a dream.
A survey was made and ten schools in the Waimakariri were contacted. They came up with the names of 350 deprived children. Children whose idea of a Christmas present was something useful such as pencils & crayons, toiletries, shoes. Following on from an initiative by Kaiapoi police and the school, useful Christmas presents were gifted from various sources and presented to these children, much to their delight.
2 September 2024
Guest speaker: Simon Green spoke about Rangiora High School Farm Vision Program. The scope and challenges presented to a farm School in a rapidly urbanising environment.
Simon has a long time teaching background mainly in the North Canterbury area. He is a Presiding Member of the Rangiora High School Board; work also includes supporting School Principals in Canterbury and the Chathams.
Challenges facing Rangiora High School farm include the rapid urbanisation of the school vicinity including Belgrove Estate. The farm includes about 50 acres part owned by the Ministry of Education who may be contemplating creating a Primary School on part of the farm. Currently the School is conducting a review of use of land, buildings and infrastructure, and the future of the farm area, plus a diverse scope of agricultural related courses and uses including an Equine Therapy Course for students.
A further issue is the location of an easement effecting the property which would carry services through to Belmont Estate.
12 August 2024
Guest speaker: Dan Gordon, Mayor of Waimakariri
Malcolm Garvan introduced our speaker, noting that he is a club member and past president.
Dan commenced his addressed by saying how much he loved his job and that it was really all about people. Dan acknowledged the contribution Jim Gerard had made in mentoring him along his journey into local government politics.
Dan has been a Waimakariri Councillor for almost 20 years. His role encompasses a wide range of activities, some of them appearing quite unexpectedly, and he prides himself in being as accessible as possible to residents and helping to resolve issues when possible. Dan raised the issue of Three Waters, explaining his stance in opposition to the proposal as ensuring that accumulated infrastructure assets remained in ratepayers’ ownership. Dan is proud of his involvement in the development of the alternative model now being implemented.
Dan discussed the very topical issue of funding council services and the constant pressure to increase rates, and how our council had elected to defer some expenditure in order to keep rate increases at a reasonable level. Dan passed comment on the anonymous social media attacks on himself and his councillors, they are of course completely unfounded and can be hurtful on occasion. He was humbled to be voted the most popular Mayor in the country, and deflected the praise to his council, staff and the local people.
Dan outlined his involvement in several local government groups and his wish to promote the interests of our community, our region, and the South Island in general in a national forum. The Waimakariri district has many attractions and is growing quickly, but the council are against unbridled development and, on occasion, takes a stand to rein it in.
29 July 2024
Guest speaker: Alanna Chapman.
Alanna presented a fascinating account of how she and her husband created the wine brand Freeset, a business offering alternative employment to women in prostitution. Deciding to visit one of the women we had met, we took a shortcut through an alleyway. Standing to one side were a group of teenage girls who looked distinctly different. Asking why, we were told they had been trafficked from Nepal and sold into prostitution. In that moment, the penny dropped. We had passed modern day slaves. The injustice of it hit us hard. No one should be sold for someone else’s profit. Most people think we left slavery in the previous century, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. There are more people in slavery today than ever before. Twenty one million is the conservative estimate – the Global Slavery Index suggests 40.3 million. Either way – 21 or 40.3 million – is far too many!
It was an issue we thought demanded our attention. But knowing how to respond was the difficult part. Pete is the vineyard manager for his family vineyard, Terrace Edge. Wine and slavery aren’t a natural fit. That was until we had a ‘what if” moment. Lots of people drink wine. What if we created a wine, where 100% of the profits go towards helping end slavery?
We decided to call the wine ‘27seconds’ after a Unicef statistic. They estimate 1.2 million children are sold into slavery every year. When you break that statistic down it works out to be one every 27 seconds. Our goal is simple. Make good wine and sell lots of it, then give our profits to organizations working in this area.
We can’t and won’t solve modern day slavery, but with you, we can play a part in helping. Peter worked as manager for his parents vineyard in North Canterbury: Terrace Edge Vineyard. With their support the enterprise was established and through social media and huge online support they gained entry for their wines (currently Reisling, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, and Pinot Gris) into stockist across the country, including New World. So far $210,000 has been donated to Hagar International.
Alanna and Peter have three young sons, and their enterprise is no longer dependent on Terrace Edge Vineyard, but gathers grapes from many local sources.
22 July 2024
Guest speaker: Grant Davey from the Ashley–Rakahuri River Care Group
ARRG is now 25 years old; the major threat which they have not got on top of is Norway Rats. They turned up around 2018 and there is still no reason or cause for their introduction.
The area ARRG look after is from SHI to the Okuku Junction. ARRG have 19 volunteer trappers (including Peter Whitehead). who have 270 traps in place. 304 cameras have been put in various positions over the last four years.
The AARG are trying to protect six species of birds - the endangered one is the Black Fronted Tern. These birds and others nest on islands, however with the lack of water and the Norway Rats ability to swim, all these nests can be and are being attacked. Feral cats are also a problem and trapping for these is unsuccessful. January 2024 has been the dryest month since 1972.
The ARRG took 2000 photos of the traps: no rats were caught. Recently they introduced Evie a Welsh springer spaniel, Evie has been trained to locate the rats and either kill them herself or rely on her handler. As she is getting more training she is improving. In 2022/2023 she was responsible for the death of 80 rats. The ARRG are now trying to smoke rats out.
One thing the ARRG has learnt is that they have more success with specific projects that target rats rather than relying on static line traps. Recently the ARRG introduced pindone bait stations and this killed between 5,000 & 10,000 mice but no Norway rats.
Grant showed photos of animal carcasses ( sheep and cows ) that had been dumped by the river. These attract rats in their droves. Who in their right mind would do this?
Going forward the ARRG need to raise money to employ a professional.
Once again, the speech Grant gave was very sobering and impactful. We have a fantastic resource on our doorstep which people take for granted. What can we as a club do?
The photos Grant provided were exquisite.
15 July 2024
Guest speaker: Sgt Don Munro, Rangiora Police, spoke on "The range of Police work in the Waimak District"
Don has served 26 years in the Police. His parents emigrated from UK and he was brought up in Rangiora. He now lives with his family on Oxford Rd with a collection of Classic cars and dogs. Policing policy has changed.
You now need a good sense of humour. While crime levels have generally decreased in Waimak there have been shifts in negative behaviour, fuelled to some extent by social media and a sense of entitlement especially in younger people. Waimak is a very safe area compared to other areas. A good percentage of crime comes in via the motorway systems from Christchurch.
Police are encouraging:
Help out and look after neighbours.
Find ways to connect to the community.
Neighbourhood Support Groups.
Create an Emergency kit for disasters. Prepare an emergency supply box.
Don’t leave stuff in vehicles.
Ring Police if something looks wrong. The Rural Crime App is available to report crime or odd behaviour.
Good Parenting is very important!
No earlier guest talks are on line. Email the Secretary to access previous speaker notes