Ian Lawrence - Member since 1984
A mere glance at Ian Lawrence’s CV reveals a diverse list of community involvement, from establishing The Festival of the Arts Trust, to being a Trustee of the Wellington Provincial Girl Guides, and Board Member of the Wellington Regional Orchestra.
“I’ve always tried to involve myself in the community,” he said. “Way back as a boy in Sydney I was very active in the Boy Scouts.”
Ian regarded the opportunity to join Rotary as another stepping stone to the sort of voluntary activities he enjoyed. “I’ve been a member of Rotary since 1984. The first couple of years as an honorary member, then as a member in my own right,” he said.
“There are several things that makes RCW special,” said Ian. “Firstly, it’s the oldest club in New Zealand and as such, it has a long tradition in the community.”
Ian believes that the club is much more egalitarian now than in earlier years. “In the formative and ongoing years it had representation from a number of leaders in the community. It still prides itself to some extent as having reasonably significant people amongst its membership,” he said.
According to Ian, the quality of the club’s membership has kept it in good stead when it came to fundraising events in the community. “There is a confidence that the Rotary Club will do a good job and has the right motivations behind it,” he said.
Ian grew up in Sydney and began studying at Sydney University before moving to New Zealand with his parents. He continued his studies at Victoria University, graduating with an LLM.
Now, New Zealand and Wellington is very much home. Ian has practiced law for over 50 years and faced a career choice that ultimately led to his work at the City Council.
“In the early years I started out doing a lot of court work as a lawyer, and I quite enjoyed the cut and thrust of jury trials and legal argument. When I got involved in local body politics back in 1971, I had to make a choice because it’s difficult being available for both court proceedings and a mountain of City Council meetings.”
Ian made the decision to focus on the local body activities, which he thoroughly enjoyed. “If I’ve got a regret, it was that I didn’t pursue a career in the courts -because I liked that as well,” he said.
Ian was elected Mayor of Wellington in 1983 and spent 15 years on the City Council including his term as Deputy Mayor. “I valued and enjoyed those roles, and the contribution I was able to make at the time,” he said.
Ian was able to balance his public and private life successfully, raising children whom possessed a healthy community awareness. “I tried as much as possible to keep my family life separate because we had five children. So I had to be careful to some extent that they didn’t get too much embroiled in it,” said Ian.
When Ian was elected Mayor, he was invited to become an honorary member of Rotary. Since then he hasn’t looked back. “One of the highlights of being a member was when I was invited to take on the club presidency some 10 or so years ago,” he said. Ian said he felt it was a new and different sort of challenge - one that he would value.
“It’s one thing to stand for election in various things and to win or to lose, but in the Rotary selection process for Presidency, you are in effect nominated by a group of your peers,” he said. “In doing so they show their confidence in you, and for me it was a big thing that they saw me as a person who could make a positive contribution to the club.”
As a club that encourages business relationships, Ian felt that his membership had led to members seeking his legal advice over the years. “To that extent it’s been good,” said Ian, “but what I’ve valued more is the friendships that I have developed.”
“On a personal level it’s been a very positive influence. You meet a very wide range of people of different backgrounds and interests,” he said.
Ian believes Rotary does well when it takes on significant functions, not just to fundraise, but to give publicity and support to a cause. “One of the things we did in my term as President was to run a sort of Oscars award where we had Weta Workshop and Sir Richard Taylor involved.”
“We had a décor that was ‘ocsaresque’ and ‘wetaworkshopery’, and we raised something like $45,000 for charity,” he said. “For me, it was the sort of function we were able to put together because of the talent in the club and because of the contacts the club has forged throughout the community,” said Ian.
Ian believes that the Wellington club has a reputation for innovation rather than being a cheque writer. “It’s much more fun and stimulating to do the functions and make them work than simply writing a cheque,” he said.
He envisions the club’s centennial celebrations in 2021, as an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the city in some way. “Nine years isn’t that far away in the scheme of things and I would like to see the club have a project and make a contribution to the city of some significance to mark that milestone,” he said.
“I think nationally, Rotary is one organization that has maintained its position over the years. Many community organizations and service clubs have waned - some had good years and bad years. Rotary in New Zealand has generally maintained its position and I hope that will continue,” he said.
Ian believes that education is vital for young people in this day and age. “Today, if you haven’t got a skill, training or learning in something, you tend to struggle. Although money isn’t everything, it certainly helps to have a basic education from which you can carve out a career that you’ll enjoy,” he said.
“Looking after one’s physical and mental wellbeing is also critical,” said Ian. You might be the brightest young man or woman on earth, but if you are not in good health, that mitigates against what you might be able to achieve and what enjoyment you get out of life,” said Ian.
Ian reveals that there are a few more things on his bucket list. “I have travelled a fair amount but I haven’t been everywhere by any means,” he said. Ian took a bus trip around Europe in his younger years, but would like to visit Spain, Portugal and Turkey - places he feels are a little more exotic. “I would like to do a bit more travelling, enjoy life and see friends. That I think, is a modest but pretty real ambition,” he said.
Researched and written by Lauretta Ah Sam, Communications Intern Dec 2011 - Feb 2012
Beverley Wakem - Member since November 1989
Across the glossy surface of the Ombudsman’s boardroom table, Beverly Wakem adjusts the tiny microphone on her lapel with all the confidence of a seasoned broadcaster. “You get out of Rotary what you put into it,” she said.
“If you put as much into the club as your work and time commitments would allow, your opportunities for fellowship and service to the community can be very rewarding and worthwhile. And you meet some very top class people,” she added.
Beverly describes her membership as “an opportunity to put something back.”
“When I joined the club it was fairly conservative and a bit of an old boys club. From being a bit blokey and stuffy it has grown and developed to become very modern and innovative.”
Beverly was the first female member of the club. “In the old days when you became a member you were left to sink or swim – but these days there is a very well coordinated buddy system. You aren’t left alone so it becomes easier to build your networks.”
Nominated for membership by Tony Hassad, Beverly was all too happy to say yes. “I’ve been proud to see this club grow. It used to be thought of as a cheque book club, but in recent years it’s become very active in the community. It’s much more of a sleeves-rolled-up-club these days but it hasn’t lost its quintessential dignity as the oldest established club in New Zealand.”
Beverly’s first brush with Rotary came in the form of a Rotary Graduate Fellowship, made tenable at the University of Kentucky in the United States. Despite being her fifth choice, the University proved to be a stimulating and progressive environment with a well ranked school of diplomacy and several departments that Beverly believed to be cutting edge.
“It actually turned out to be an amazing experience,” she said. “It was an extraordinary university with about 20,000 students on campus.”
Beverley excelled at the School of Journalism and Communication, gaining more scholarships that enabled her to finish a master’s degree in communication. She recalls the opportunities availed to her through her university networks.
“There were ex-television network people amongst the staff in the faculty and I was given introductions to go to sit-ins by NBC to look at coverage of the 1972 presidential elections.”
“At the time, Richard Nixon swept back in, and the country came to rue that with the Watergate scandal – which I was there for. It was just a fascinating experience for someone with my background in news and current affairs.”
Prior to her stint in the United States, Beverly was employed at the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation as a cadet where she worked as Public Affairs Producer while completing the remaining two years of her undergraduate studies as an English and History major at Victoria University.
Upon returning from the United States, Beverly became the Executive Producer of District Current Affairs for Radio New Zealand and then Controller of Programmes for the following nine years. “Nine years in I felt a bit like a sausage machine,” said Beverly, who couldn’t see her next career step at the time.
“Opportunities for women, particularly as an executive, were limited.”
“The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation was being restructured following a royal commission of inquiry into the future of public broadcasting.
Radio New Zealand was being set up as a standalone entity. It had appointed a local director general and two assistant director generals, one from the United States and one from the BBC.”
“The American and the Englishman” saw Beverly’s potential, encouraging her to apply for vacancies for senior positions advertised in the circular. “They were for the top divisional heads of the organization and one of them was 11 grades ahead of what I was,” said Beverly, thinking for sure the pair had been mistaken.
“They can’t have meant those – I’ll wait.”
The night before applications closed Beverly received a panicked phone call - “where’s your application?”
Reminiscent of university days, Beverly stayed up all night writing an application for the position of news and current affairs chief and another for the senior divisional head for programmes, for which she was successful. When asked why she hadn’t considered herself a candidate for those senior roles Beverly said it had been the culture of the place.
“When I left there was no way that a woman could be promoted to a senior level and I didn’t understand what kind of a change the Englishman and the American were intent on making. Once I understood I saw a door and thought – well I’m going through that door.”
Beverly set about pooling the ideas of the senior management team, “getting everybody to open their bottom drawers and pull out any idea they’ve ever had to see what we had to work with.”
“We reshaped the whole of the national programme and introduced a new breakfast programme and made it more vibrant, lively and engaging.”
“They were exciting times. To be in on the ground floor and feel that you really were shaking the tree and making a difference was wonderful. We were modernizing the place, giving the staff a bit of air and space to be creative. They produced some wonderful work and I was able to elevate some extraordinarily talented people. And all I had to do is sit there and direct traffic – it was fantastic,” she laughed.
Beverly believes that she has been able to make a contribution in whatever she has done in her career. Her years in radio were the highpoint.
“I’d been in the place 26 years and at least 15 of those years near, or at the top”.
“Public radio, especially in the absence of a national newspaper provides the glue that holds everything together in many ways. You felt that you are giving the country a voice.” “It was challenging, creative, and frustrating at times,” she said.
Beverly’s roles demanded creativity, on which she thrived. With an illustrious career history under her belt, you would never imagine this mover and shaker once had aspirations to become an opera singer. “At one time in my life I had aspirations to be a singer. I have a deep contralto voice, but I realized that it wasn’t a big enough talent to take me where I wanted to go.”
“I still thoroughly enjoy music and theatre and my time as Chair for St James Theatre was the most fun I’d ever had in my life.”
“We ran the theatre profitably at the time, but it was like the biggest gamble outside of Los Vegas. If the theatre is dark, you aren’t earning any money, so we completely redeveloped and refurbished. We built a wonderful atrium and used that for product launches and shooting commercials until we got the theatres re-established on the South East Asia touring circuit.”
“Refurbishing the theatre was risky. At times I thought - crickey - will we ever recover from this?”
Beverly believes that if she hadn’t been introduced to Rotary via her foundation scholarship it would simply have been a matter of time.
“I think it would have been inevitable that I would have found it – or it would have found me,” she said.
Researched and written by Lauretta Ah Sam, Ciommunications Intern Dec 2011 - Feb 2012
Bob Stannard - member since December 1970
Seated in the lounge of the Whitby Room, Bob Stannard displayed extraordinary powers of recall that would put a much younger person (namely myself) to shame.
“I became a Rotarian 41 years and three or four days ago,” he says with barely a hestitation. “December 1970.”
“One of the great things about Rotary is that it keeps you in touch with the people that you’ve gotten to know over the years. In retirement, you run into them once in a blue moon, but with Rotary you are maintaining your contacts on a regular basis,” he said.
Bob was nominated by his good friend, Bruce Robertson. “I knew my friend’s enthusiasm about the club and was pleased that he took the initiative,” said Bob.
Bob grew up in Levin and came to Wellington when he left school. In early 1944 he worked and studied part-time at Victoria University, like many law and accountancy students of the time.
He confesses to have been too young for the war, registering when he turned 18. “I wanted to travel so I thought that I could travel the world during the war.”
Bob discovered that none of the services would take him overseas so he decided not to enlist. Instead, opportunities for travel to distant and exotic lands would come in his working years.
“In 1949 I wanted to go to England. Accountants were very poorly paid in those days. I had 100 pounds to my name and that was the price of a boat fare from New Zealand to the United Kingdom,” he said.
With the help of a close friend that worked for one of the shipping companies, Bob was signed on as Engineer/Steward and worked his passage across. “I got to London with my 100 pounds intact and was paid off 23 pounds six and four pence or something like that,” he chuckled.
“It’s virtually impossible to do that these days – but way back in 1949 that was really nothing out of the ordinary.”
The boat docked and Bob went to London with a letter of introduction from the Institute of Chartered Accountants New Zealand Society, who recommended he contact one of the international firms. This lead to his employment in London-based international accounting firm, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co.
Two years later he was sent to the Singapore office for a two month stint, after which he returned to the UK for a few months. “I was due to pick up an offer of employment and the potential offer of a partnership in a UK firm,” said Bob.
But his wanderlust proved too strong and Bob postponed his appointment to travel to the Far East, spending time in Singapore and Indonesia before returning to New Zealand to work for Bowden, Bass and Co. in 1953.
The following year, Bob was made partner of Bowden, Bass and Cox/KPMG Peat Marwick.
In 1987 he “picked up” a number of directorates and enjoyed working in several companies. “I finished my last board appointment a few years ago,” he said.
Bob cites his most important achievement as his role in solving the financial difficulties faced by the Public Service Investment Society in 1979.
“They got into financial difficulties and in order to prevent a disaster, the government passed special legislation without warning one night and I was named as the Statutory Manager of the Public Service Investment Society.”
“I was there until 1987 and it survived and has flourished in the intervening years,” said Bob. “It was probably my greatest achievement, as their liability was fairly substantial – they were hopelessly insolvent,” he explained.
Years of crunching numbers and seeing first hand, the financial woes of others, has meant Bob has some sound practical advice. “If I were to give a young person one piece of advice it would be to avoid debt,” he said.
“A wonderful professor of economics, Barney Murphy of Victoria University used to tell us – slightly paraphrased ‘the bible tells us that the meek shall inherit the earth. That’s all very well but when they do they’ll find the strong still hold the first mortgage’,” said Bob with a laugh.
“Be careful – avoid debt and you’ll avoid trouble,” he added.
In his younger days, Bob tramped in the Tararua Ranges near his hometown Levin. “I went down to Fiordland with five others in 1946. It was my introduction to Fiordland and I fell in love with the place,” he said.
Bob was a Director of Fiordland Travel Limted, based in Te Anau which ran tourist boats and a 100 year old steamboat on Lake Wakatipu in Doubtful Sounds. “It was 25 years that I thoroughly enjoyed,” he said.
Bob was awarded a Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship in 1997 and has been a guest at Auckland, Taupo, Invercargill and Sydney Rotary clubs.
He commented on the change in membership composition over the years. “Head offices have moved to Auckland and insurance companies have amalgamated so today there is not the number of chief executive officers that we had in earlier years.”
“The club’s diversity has increased. Previously, we didn’t have members from the public service or representatives from the armed forces. The admission of women to the club has also enabled Rotary to survive.”
Bob believes that RCW is doing a marvelous job. “The people that go in as president do a wonderful job and I would hate to suggest anything that would add to their burden,” he said.
Responding to a question about his secret ambition, Bob said that “out of the ordinary is the impossible these days.”
“Although my tramping days are well and truly over, if I could, I’d hire a helicopter and fly around the mountains down there. Helicopter flying is the ultimate in flying,” he said.
Researched and written by Lauretta Ah Sam, Communications Intern Dec 2011 - Feb 2012
Bob McCay - member since June 1981
With a polite nod, Bob McCay offers me a homemade ginger cookie and glances out at Oriental Bay. “I think Rotary stands out. It has a wonderful history working in the community and in recent years we’ve seen some good innovations,” he said.
“Being a Rotarian has certainly broadened my career life. For networking it was very important,” said Bob.
Bob worked for The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) for 43 years, joining straight after leaving school. He later attended two business schools in Australia and completed a Masters degree at Stanford University in the United States, in conjuction with his work at the bank.
“Today it’s unusual to stay with a single employer, but in my time you went in there and stayed there,” he said.
Now this might be regarded as being very restraining, but BNZ was an extraordinarily good employer and I’ve had a very interesting career.”
Amongst the most memorable, was his work in Japan, where he travelled to Tokyo in 1969 to open operations for BNZ. During his three-year stint, Bob embraced the challenges of Japanese business culture. “It was once a closed society but the Japanese had begun to invite foreign banks to Japan. It marked the opening up of international banking and was an interesting and exciting time.”
This was BNZ’s first branch in a country where the national language wasn’t English. “It was a marvelous experience,” he smiled.
After Japan, Bob returned to New Zealand for two years before his next stint running BNZ’s operations in London. BNZ was one of the oldest foreign banks in London and the bank’s headquarters at the time.
“Leading the bank was a significant task. There have been times in my career that I thought I could have done things differently. But with the benefit of hindsight one could always think of things you could have done better.”
Bob regards his greatest achievement as having the opportunity to work his way to the top echelons of BNZ. “My last years at the bank were extraordinarily difficult – but I wouldn’t have changed the opportunity of wrestling with that,” he said.
He believes integrity and honesty to be the highest principles needed for the world of business. “The world has changed significantly over my 60 odd years. Things certainly don’t stand still, but when one sees what has happened in recent times regarding the demise of many financial institutions - that situtation is something I would never want to be associated with.”
“I guess as a banker one had to have high principles and if you didn’t, you couldn’t have been successful. So I considered that I had a very clean sheet in terms of standards that I set for myself and tried to live by,” he said.
Bob was introduced to Rotary by his predecessor at BNZ and joined on June 22, 1981. “I became a Rotarian because I was following the path of my career – in those days it was the pattern. Rotary rules were that you could only have one person from a particular industry classification – so you could only have one banker in the club.”
“RCW stood out because it was not only the oldest and the first, but it attracted the top people in the community. That in itself attracted many of the other people there,” he said.
Bob regrets not having enough free time to involve himself in club activities during his working life. “At the time I joined RCW I was at a very busy work load so I was not that terribly active as a member. The club understood that for me to achieve a 60% attendence was impossible.”
Once in retirement, Bob was able to further involve himself in Rotary, accepting the role as the club’s 1996 President.
“Then a strange thing happened,” said Bob, describing an unusual situation where he was required to return to office after he had finished his term. “My successor took up office, but suddenly resigned after five months to take up employment overseas. So I had to come back to finish the rest of that term – and that was difficult,” he recalls.
Bob believes that the regular change in leadership breathed new life into the club. “With each new person that comes in as president, new ideas are brought to the club which keeps things fresh,” he said.
“Rotary has done a splendid job and I can’t think of anything they could do better,” he said.
Researched and written by Lauretta Ah Sam, Communications Intern Dec 2011 - Feb 2012
Colleen Singleton - member since August 1990
Colleen has been a member of Rotary since 1990; she was nominated for membership by RCW current president and Colleen’s long time friend - James Austin.
James thought Rotary would be an organisation that Colleen could contribute to, a place where she could meet lots of amazing people and where she could get involved with new activities. She didn’t know a huge amount about Rotary before hand, she was aware of the club but it was a fairly steep learning curve for her, albeit a good one!
Being only the fifth women member at the time she joined, Colleen’s first impressions were that it was a club of corporate men who would sit at their set places, at their set tables and talk business, “you couldn’t have the kind of conversations we have today,” she explains.
Colleen doesn’t want to sound derogatory at all, because they really were fantastic Rotarians, but it did seem to be a bit of an “old boys club.” Wellington City was, after all, much different in the 1990s, but now that many of those big corporate organisations have gone off shore the membership demographics of Rotary has subsequently changed significantly.
While back in the old days fundraising may have been easier Colleen believes that Rotary has in fact changed for the better.
“Rotary has to change if we want the movement to continue,” says Colleen, and it’s with initiatives such as the associate membership pilot programme that are facilitating and allowing this important change.
“We have to keep up with the environment,” says Colleen and with the latest influx of members who are balancing out the gender imbalance and lowering the average club age it seems Rotary is on the right track for success. Colleen hopes that Rotary continues to grow and diversify. She believes “we have to look a little wider, expand our thinking - and the changing membership is helping with that.”
Newer members value the wisdom and knowledge of the older members, “those members” says Colleen “are the ‘unsung heroes’ and have done some amazing things – we can learn a lot from them.”
But she also believes that we must recognize the importance of young people to the future of the club. She uses the students of Christchurch as an example of people who got out there, lent a hand and did what they had to. “They may not want to join a club,” says Colleen “so we must find ways to attract these young people, it’s a really interesting dilemma.”
Colleen’s favourite memory is from November 2009 when she went over to America to compete in the New York marathon; during her time over there she also attended the annual Rotary day at the United Nations. With over 16,000 people from 46 different countries Colleen had the unique opportunity to meet some amazing people; scholars, ambassadors and Rotarians from all over the world.
Maybe most touching of all was hearing head people of the UN acknowledge some of the great projects Rotary are involved in and giving their thanks.
Another favourite memory of Colleen’s is her trip last year when she and William Sommerville went to the Solomon Islands and presented one of the villages with a $20,000 cheque to build a school for deaf children, which will ultimately help those individuals participate in their community and no longer be outcasts.
Although Colleen has always been keen on justice for all and living in an egalitarian society, she believes that Rotary has influenced and enhanced her life by exposing her to aspects of life she might not otherwise been exposed to.
“Vocational visits help to make you a better person, less judgmental, and more understanding,” says Colleen “they also make you appreciate how hard it can be to change things.”
To Colleen ‘Service Above Self’ means putting others before yourself and doing the best you can. “You can’t help others if you haven’t got your own life in order,” she says “it makes you think about the way you run your own life and makes you appreciate what you have.”
“We are very lucky in NZ - we have the ability to help others,” says Colleen.
Attending the weekly Monday lunch is one thing Colleen enjoys about being a Rotary member. “I really value getting away from the office, getting to see and talk to people and catch up with the latest Rotary activities,” she explains “it’s my Monday ’me’ time.”
Being associated with Operation Heartbeat –a project which is providing a number of ambulances with defibrillators, is another aspect of Rotary that Colleen appreciates, “it could well save lives and we’re really making a difference, it’s great to help and be part of an amazing organisation such as Wellington free ambulance.”
“The nicest thing about being president,” said Colleen when asked about her role last year “was actually being the president! You wouldn’t expect it in such a large club. It’s not the kind of thing that falls to every person.”
Colleen, as she should be, is very proud of her presidency, it’s a big job and it was a very busy time for her “it was only after tidying my desk, that I realised how much of my work time was spent on Rotary activities,” she admits a little sheepishly. However, she’s very happy to be seeing some of the benefits, such as the Resilience Forum, come out of the planning session that was had and the strategic plan she put in place during her time as president.
Overall, Colleen enjoyed her time as president, feels like she has made her mark and was more than happy to hand over the responsibility to James at the end of her one-year term.
Although her time as president is over, Colleen is not done yet, “I’ll be with Rotary for awhile longer,” she laughs - and just like her old Te Puke High School motto and what Rotary International president recently encouraged Rotarians to do in an email, she will continue to “aim high.”
Written by Vanessa Higham - Communications Intern 2011
John Gibbons - member since September 1990
The man behind the audio equipment on Monday’s meetings, John Gibbons, came to be a Rotary member when Robert Fisher among a few others suggested it.
When John asked “why?” the men gave him some “reasonable reasons” and convinced him to join. That was about 21 years ago although John struggles to remember the exact date.
What persuaded John to join Rotary was that it was a club full of good business contacts with lots of opportunities for networking “it made sense at the time,” says John.
John’s first career was selling big computers for IBM, through this he had lots of contacts and was connected to a large network of business people, but when his career changed to selling bicycles for the family business John found he had lost all of his Wellington contacts. So that was a major motivator for him and clearly the timing was right to join the club.
Since joining John has made lots of business connections, “it’s really useful to have those contacts if you need them and of course the clubs been useful to making lots of friends, everywhere you go you see a Rotary member! You’re connected with a whole new group of people – it’s great”
When asked how Rotary has enhanced or influenced his life John replied “it’s widened my network of very interesting people – that’s been great.”
He also spoke about the Rotary excursions he’s been on – twice to Fiji and once to Manila and Germany. “The trips are an excellent way to meet and get to know people a lot better and they’re a great experience,” says John.
John hasn’t been to a Rotary convention yet as he’s been a bit busy, but he might later.
Some of John’s favourite aspects of the club are the great variety of interesting speakers; he can’t pinpoint anyone particular that’s stood out in his mind because there have been so many good, motivational and inspiring ones. “I enjoy hearing people sharing their experiences,” says John “and telling us what’s happening in the world, community or businesses.”
The number of friends and connections John has made through Rotary is another element of the club that John appreciates and of course the ideals of what Rotary stands for are particularly important to John “I think you have to be a part of a service group or club, so why not do it through Rotary?”
John’s contributions in Fiji and the Solomon Islands are something he’s very proud of “it’s really worthwhile and it’s great to be able to see the benefits,” says John.
If John had to pitch Rotary to a potential member he would tell them about the great Monday lunch meeting! “Good food, good speakers, good interesting people. That’s what I would promote,” says John.
So, why Rotary? “They snapped me up first, and it was really appealing at the time I joined because Rotary didn’t do what the Lions club do, so I wasn’t obligated to spend my weekends doing things,” says John.
John has three children and would be happy if they were to follow in his Rotary footsteps and join the club.
For the future of Rotary John hopes that the club keeps growing and doing good work, “I’m positive it will continue.”
Written by Vanessa Higham - Communications Intern 2011
Johnny Johnson - member since February 1973
You know you’re speaking to a true-blue Rotary member when they struggle to remember when they joined but they believe it was about a whopping 37 years ago.
Johnny Johnson has clearly been part of Rotary for a very long time “I think I joined in… 1963? But I couldn’t be accurate, I’d have to look it up,” Johnny admits sheepishly with a laugh.
It was Frank Drewit who brought Johnny into the club, “I just went along one day, that was when it was at the old Majestic Theatre, it was a good club they had the sing-song in those days,” remembers Johnny – something that he admits he doesn’t miss “I’m pretty tone deaf,” he laughs.
Johnny then tells a tale of his school days when during a singing rehearsal he suddenly felt a big thump beside his ear – the singing master had struck him for putting every one else out of tune and then demanded that he leave!
“After that whenever all the other boys were at singing rehearsal I had to roll the cricket green,” he says, so maybe its just as well Rotary scrapped the sing-a-long.
In the time Johnny has been a member the club has undergone a number of changes from the venues to the food to the membership demographics, “the injection of females has been very good,” says Johnny “its brought variety to the club and created a different culture and atmosphere.”
Rowing has played a big part in Johnny’s life, he started while he was at school in the UK in 1944, he then took a break for a few years and came back to it in 1958 when he played rugby for College Old Boys and a friend there took him along to Wellington rowing club STAR. Since then he has been heavily involved with umpiring and coaching and still umpires in the odd regatta, helps to repair the boats and does a little coaching when required.
Johnny’s not as active in the club as he used to be, but he still manages to run the door welcoming roster. He’s served on most of the committees, has hosted a Rotary exchange and played a big part in the Wellington Rotary Charitable Trust. In fact, it is his involvement with the WRCT that Johnny is most proud of. He was there in the initial stages as they carried it, worked it through and developed it “it’s nice to see the progression of it,” he says.
Rotary has enhanced and influenced Johnny’s life “an awful lot,” he says “I’ve met so many people, made lots of friends, there’s such a good camaraderie - that’s why you see so many people coming every Monday, you’re surrounded by friends.”
Johnny found it difficult to pin-down a favourite memory of his time at Rotary “that’s a cold, tall one,” he muses “I like everything! Nothing really specific, it’s all so well run.” But when pressed he says he always enjoys the schools leavers luncheon. “Yes,” he decides “that’s one of the highlights; we host the luncheon at parliament and invite all the principals, head boys and head girls from all the secondary schools in the area. I like it because I’ve coached a lot of them and it’s nice to see what I would call the ‘good youth,’” says Johnny.
Johnny also enjoys the Monday lunch time meeting where he can hear a good sergeant’s session and some very interesting speakers.
Johnny thinks the clubs motto ‘Service Above Self’ is a very good one, “it can be hard to live up to,” he says “but you always do your best.”
Johnny hopes that he’ll be able to keep coming to Rotary for a good while longer “but you can’t guarantee anything as you get older!” And for the club he would like to see it continue to grow and get stronger “but it’s been going so long, I see no reason why it wouldn’t continue!” he says.
It’s a bit hard for Johnny to remember now but when asked about what he recalls from his first meeting he speaks of the food they had “it was fish and chips or sausages and mash - pretty mundane stuff, not the kind of food we get now!”
Johnny must have attended a great deal of meetings in his time with Rotary but he thinks fellow member 90-yearold Colin Mcleod would have been to more ”he’s like part of the furniture,” jokes Johnny “he’s perpetually here.”
During that first meeting Johnny simply absorbed everything, “it seemed to be a right fit for me, I was used to being apart of other organisations so it appealed to me,” he says “I feel like you need to belong to these types of organisations and I love to be involved and get into as many things as possible whether it’s rowing, rugby or Rotary.”
Johnny believes the way to sell Rotary to those unfamiliar with the club or those thinking of joining is by talking to them about it “I would tell them what the club does, what it aspires to, and I’d get them to come along to one or two meetings, so they can experience it for themselves and see if suits them or not. It either gets them or doesn’t get them.”
And Rotary certainly got Johnny, “I’m not sure if the club grew on me, or if I grew on the club,” he says, but either way the club has been all the better for his part in it.
Written by Vanessa Higham - Communications Intern 2011
Marion Patchett - Executive Secretary since 1989
Marion has worked as the Executive Secretary for RCW for over 22 years.
Her involvement with Rotary started when her husband, Glynn, joined the Tawa club in 1972.
RCW has had a secretary since 1924 and only four have held the position since then. It’s a big, diverse job with lots of responsibility and it certainly keeps Marion’s plate full but nevertheless “it keeps me sane!” she laughs “and I do really enjoy it.”
But Marion was well familiar with doing the all-important behind the scenes and admin work “when my husband became the president of the Rotary club of Tawa, who do you think all the paper work fell to?” she jokes “I did a lot of the donkey work but I was happy to do it.”
Marion not only keeps the books for RCW but she is also heavily involved with the student exchange programme. “I’ve been on the district committee of the Australia – New Zealand student exchange since 2000,” she says “I can’t get off it!”
Throughout the years Marion has had many exchange students stay at her house and she loves to see how the kids learn to stand on their own two feet having done their own thing for a few months, “it’s really wonderful.”
When asked what she thought attracted her husband to Rotary Marion believes it was his love for doing things for other people. She and Glynn seem to embody the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” whether it was agreeing to be the Brownie leader for her daughters group so they could have a club or taking in exchange students, the Patchett’s were all about helping others.
“But you don’t do it for yourself,” says Marion “you do it for them.”
The annual jumbo tennis is another great RCW activity that Marion looks forward to “I took one look at the giant racquet and thought I’ll never be able to lift that! But it was lots of fun, but I did hurt my back a little!”
Marion’s favourite thing about being a part of Rotary is the fellowship. “Rotary is such a neat club,” she says “you make so many friends, even when people leave.” A moment that really signified the love and support of Rotary was when Marion’s husband died a few years ago. RCW rallied around her and helped her out. “We had over 400 people at the funeral,” she remembers.
“Rotary is like an extended family, there’s a lot of love and I don’t think you necessarily get the same kind of love and support in other clubs.”
After seeing this aspect of Rotary both of Marion’s sons have expressed their interest in joining Rotary somewhere down the track.
Marion has had the privilege of attending two Rotary International conventions – one in Singapore and one in Brisbane.
She’s made many friends through her travels and the RI conventions give her the opportunity to catch up with them and she plans on attending next year’s convention is Turkey to see many of them again.
The familiarity of Rotary members from all over the world coming together for a common purpose is something Marion finds really special about the conventions
“People are the same the world over,” she says “its mind boggling!”
Marion believes that the age level of the club has to be spread with young and old and it’s the changing age demographic that is brings up new perspectives, stirs up important questions about how the club functions and will ultimately keep things going.
“It really is such a great club,” says Marion “and I hope it stays around for a long, long time.”
Rotary has clearly been a very big part of her Marion’s life and it’s the unconditional love and support through good times and bad that keeps her coming back and striving to always give service above self.
Written by Vanessa Higham - Communications Intern 2011