Leigh Marshall's Message
Last Meeting - Monday 5th October 2026
Our speaker at last Monday's meeting was Dennis Waller, and he had two topics - first the Trees for Survival Charitable Trust, which was started in 1991 by Pakuranga Rotary. It has outgrown Rotary and is now professionally managed, and integrated into the school curriculum.
The statistics are impressive: more than 2 million trees planted, over 19.4 km of waterways protected, involving 223 schools. Each school receives 1000 seedlings each year, and they nurture them until they are planted out by the students in rural areas to revegetate erosion-prone land. The farm owner must fence off the area and it can never be farmed again.
His second topic was the Bill and Lorna Boyd Trust programme, Dictionaries in Schools, started in 2008 by Pakuranga Rotary when Bill Boyd was Rotary International President. The aim is to overcome literacy problems in NZ schools by giving every child their own dictionary. 26% of adults in NZ are at or below Level 1 literacy, equivalent to Yr 4-6 Primary School. Over 50% are below Level 3, and NZ adult literacy had the biggest drop in the OECD recently.
The illustrated dictionaries, retailing at $50, are often the only book in the child's house, and are intended for 8-9 yr olds, an age when they are transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn. Over 250,000 have been distributed to 290 schools north of the Bombay Hills, where there are 115 schools equivalent to Decile 1 & 2.
The Bill and Lorna Boyd Trust has recently set up Literacy for Life to get dictionaries into Year 1 classes.
Remuera Rotary has been committed to both these worthwhile programmes for many years, and some members have assisted the tree planting days. We donate annually to the Dictionaries in Homes project.
Our speaker next week is Mike Jaggs, a member of the 9920 District Membership committee, in place of the Chair, Kirsten Hawke. Mike will talk to us about building the membership of our club.
President Leigh
Volunteer Expo - 10 October 2026
This very enjoyable event was an opportunity for us to promote our Club and our projects to members of the public. There were about 30 exhibitors which also included the Rotary Club of St. John's Ellerslie. This is an annual event and well worth attending.
Vivaldi Musical Showcase
Following on from our last Musical Showcase, we are preparing for our upcoming Vivaldi Musical Showcase, featuring exceptionally talented young musicians performing a vibrant selection of Vivaldi’s works. This event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate youth achievement, support musical excellence, and strengthen our Rotary presence in the community.
To ensure the success of this showcase, we kindly ask for your support in promoting the event and assisting with ticket sales. Your involvement—whether by sharing the event with friends and colleagues, distributing posters, or helping sell tickets within your networks—will make a significant difference in reaching a wider audience.
Your encouragement and participation will help us to provide the opportunity for these young performers to compete in competitions throughout New Zealand.
Together, we can make this showcase an inspiring and memorable event.
Ticket price $35.
To purchase tickets, please use internet banking to make a payment to:
Rotary Club of Remuera Inc.
Account Number: 02 0256 0118563 00
Particulars: Your name
Code: Number attending
Reference: Vivaldi
