South Wairarapa Rotary

South Wairarapa Rotary continues to be heavily involved in the community, not necessarily at the fore, but working tirelessly in the background fundraising or distributing the proceeds from those fundraising activities.

Already this year the members were involved in another successful duo of Martinborough Fairs, the weather as always did threaten and caused one of the two fairs to be closed a little earlier than normal. However stall holders and shoppers had a great time and the South Wairarapa Community will benefit from the proceeds in the long term.

With the recent tragedy in Nepal it has been decided to provide funding towards recognisable projects associated with the re-building of much needed resources in Nepal. At a recent meeting it was agreed that $10,000 will be put forward, these proceeds come from the fund-raising efforts of the club in running the Fair(s), putting on the Charity Fun Ride in November, providing man-power at the Tauherenikau Races and other occasions.

Earlier this year we had Billy Graham from the Naenae Boxing Academy speak to us at a meeting held at Lacewood on the Tuhitarata Estate. Billy delighted the club, along with a number of locals, with stories of his upbringing and his attitude that “if you don’t ask, you won’t know”.

More recently the club met with the Martinborough Lions and Clive Paton was the guest speaker giving us an update on Project Crimson which is focused on the rejuvenation of Pohutukawa and Rata. At the conclusion of his presentation President Griff Page presented Clive with a Paul Harris Fellow, the highest award in Rotary used to reward individuals for their contributions to their community.

The club was represented at the recent Anzac Day parades around the region, laying wreaths at the ceremonies which all saw record numbers of attendees. Members also joined other groups from the area in a planting day at the Wairio Wetlands, an on-going project involving a number of public groups.
The club meets regularly in the South Wairarapa Working Men’s Club in Greytown on Wednesday evenings and welcomes guests at any time. If you are interested in the activities of South Wairarapa Rotary have a look at their web page (www.swrotary.org.nz) or find us on Facebook.