Annual Report 1949

THE ROTARY CLUB OF HASTINGS.

25TH ANNUAL REPORT, 1949.

Your Directors have pleasure in submitting the 25th. Annual Report and Balance Sheet for the Rotary Year ended June 30th. 1949.

MEMBERSHIP:   Our year commenced with an active membership of 70; we reached 72 during the year, but at the close of it we again number 70. This figure includes 3 Senior Active, 1 Additional Active and 2 Past Service members. It is very pleasing to record that we have no less than 15 Past Presidents still holding active membership in the Club.

During the year we welcomed three new members – Alan Esson (July 1948), Cyril Wilkie (August 1948), and Charlie Jackson (February 1949.) Three members resigned during the year – Colin Wilkinson, additional active to his father, F. C., and who forfeited this classification when he changed his occupation in August 1948; Archie Runciman, who entered the Club in 1936; was President 1937/38, and for the past 8 years the Club’s most worthy Secretary, and who had to relinquish all activities last March for health reasons; and “Pen” Penlington, who forfeited his classification on retirement from the position of principal of the Hastings High School. Pen had 20 years service as a Rotarian, having joined the Club in 1929, and was President for the year 1943-44.

Archie’s resignation as an active member and as Secretary was one of the biggest losses our Club has suffered. We miss his guidance and benign influence, but we are endeavouring to keep up the high standard he set for us.

ATTENDANCE: The average attendance for the year at our weekly meetings was 8.59% which is slightly lower than the preceding year’s figure of 85.7%. Illness, which in one or two cases was prolonged, and the absence of members overseas is partly responsible for our somewhat low average, but not wholly, and we hope for better results in the coming year.

Attached to this report is an analysis of members’ attendance for the year, and we congratulate the following members on having made 100% attendance; – Guy Baillie (2nd year in succession), Wally Edwards (4th year in succession), Bob Harding, John Holderness and Peter Priest.

OUR DISTRICT GOVERNOR, BILL MACKAY, has had the usual strenuous and busy time that falls to all District Governors in their term of office, and we are deeply indebted to him for his help and guidance during the year, and particularly for the inspirations we have derived from his Monthly Letters which have encouraged us to still greater efforts in Rotary’s service.

We were fortunate in having our District Governor with us on two occasions during the year – the usual Club Assembly, on November 9th. 1948, and again, unofficially this time, on June 14th. last.

To our incoming District Governor, Bill Gordon, we extend a very warm welcome and our assurance that we will continue to do our utmost to justify our existence as a Rotary Club.

DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S ASSEMBLY, TE AROHA, August 10th & 11th, 1948: I as President, Vice-President Bill Greer and Assistant Secretary Wally Edwards, attended the Assemblt [Assembly] to be schooled in our work as officers of the Club for the year.

DISTRICT CONFERENCE AT ELLERSLIE RACECOURSE, March 8th, 9th & 10th 1949:

This was an outstanding Conference, organised by three young Clubs as joint hosts – Newmarket, Onehunga and Otahuhu – and the attendance was the largest one to date, 371 Rotarians and 309 ladies, a total of 680. The nearest attendance to this was made at the Wellington Conference in 1937, when 311 Rotarians and 260 ladies were registered, a total of 571, from all the clubs in New Zealand.

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Our Club was well represented at Ellerslie by Jack Agnew, Wally Edwards, Bob Fish, Grif Griffiths, Len Harvey, and your President five of whom were accompanied by their Ladies.

I would urge, most strongly, all members, and particularly the younger ones, to make every endeavour to attend these Conferences, occasionally at least. They are well worthwhile for their Rotary educational value and for the enjoyment one gets, in cementing old friendships and forming many new ones.

WAIKAREMOANA FORUM: The 3rd Annual Forum of East coast Clubs was held at the Lake House, Waikaremoana, from April 22nd to 24th, and was again well attended by representatives of the Gisborne, Wairoa, Napier, Hastings, Waipawa (a new Club and their first attendance), and Waipukurau Clubs.

CLUB MEETINGS: The Club has held 46 meetings during the year. Included 8 Club Days, a “Farmers” evening meeting at which the Waimarama-Maraetotara Section of Federated Farmers entertained the Club as their guests (you will find a further reference to this meeting in a later paragraph under “Rural-Urban Acquaintance”), and a “Borough Council Day.” “Ladies’ Night was held in conjunction with our Silver Jubilee Celebrations, but we regret that this year we had to forego our usual “Sons and Daughters Day” because of catering difficulties.

It is gratifying to record that 48% of the addresses to the Club during the Rotary year (July 1st June 30th) were given by our own members. Taking our Club year, however, which is from August 1st to July 31st, the figure is still higher, being 52%.

OUR SILVER JUBILEE: The year’s highlight was our 25th Anniversary (April 7th) which we celebrated on May 31st. The thanks of the Club are due to so many of you for the success of’ various functions during the year and it is hard to single out individual names, but we owe much

of the success of our Jubilee Celebrations To secretary Wally, to Reddy and Archie for their splendid addresses, to Paul for all the time and care he devoted to recording Archie’s address, and last, but by no means least, to Immediate Past District Governor Reg Gambrill for deputising for District Governor Bill, who was unable to be present’ and thus giving us that vital link with R.I.

RURAL URBAN ACQUAINTANCE: It will be remembered that on 29th June 1948 we entertained 35 farmers from the Waimarama-Maraetotara district as our guests at a tea meeting. This was appreciated by the farmers to such an extent that they, in turn, entertained the Club as their guests on 16th February last. One of the pleasing features of this function was the fact that our hosts, realising the difficulties with which the Club was faced at that particular time as regards catering readily agreed to our request to be allowed to transact normal Rotary business at that meeting. It is hoped that the Club will keep this Rural-Urban Acquaintance alive, and that in the near future we will again take Rotary into the country as we did two years ago when we held our first meeting of that kind at Maraekakaho.

FINANCIAL: The Balance Sheet attached to this Report is issued “subject to Audit” and will be audited before the Annual Meeting takes place on Tuesday, July 26th. It will be seen that the Club’s Accumulated Fund at June 30th stands at £354.1.3. This is lower than last year’s figure by £31.18.9, the difference being brought about by expenses in connection with our Silver Jubilee celebrations last month. But never-the-less this figure of £354.1.3 is quite satisfactory, and it will be seen that the Club’s financial position is a sound one.

The Club’s cash assets are as follows: –

National Savings A/C.   £165.18.0
O, Savings Bank A/C. £275.13.4
Bank of N.Z.   £25.6.4
£466.17.8

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At the beginning of the 2nd. half of the Rotary Year (Jan. 1949) members’ subscriptions have increased from £4.15.0 to £5 per annum, in order that each individual member should become a subscriber to “The Rotarian” again.

COMMITTEES:   All four Committees have held regular meetings which have been consistently well attended, and they are to be congratulated on the good work they are doing. I owe them and their Chairmen and Secretaries, my thanks. Maybe the results of their efforts are not blazoned on the front pages, but it is certain that individual Rotarians have benefitted by the education and increased knowledge of Rotary’s ideals that is derived from service on these Committees. Thank you Bill, Jack and Doc., and what a year the Community Service Chairmen have had – first Win, then Sivvy, and now Ray – my thanks to you all.

MUSIC:   The Club singing continues to be one of the highlights of our weekly meetings, and quite frequently we hear admiring comments from Visiting Rotarians. For this we are indebted to our inimitable Song Leader, Charlie, and we extend to him our warmest thanks, and to Fitz too, for so cheerfully and ably helping at the piano.

THE LADIES OF ROTARY – “Bless ’em all’, where would we be without them? I feel that without their unfailing help and inspiration we’d be much poorer Rotarians. We know that they must have to make many sacrifices when their menfolk attend numerous evening meetings of one kind or another, and we all appreciate this fully. To every one of them we extend our deep and sincere thanks for all their help and encouragement, and our warmest good wishes for their continued success.

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION:   At the time of our last appeal, a few weeks ago, the Club’s contributions to the Fund were far short of the “10 dollars per member”. (£2.10.0 N.Z. Currency) set by R.I. As a result of that appeal a further £44.7.0 has been received, but we still need approximately £50 to raise our Club into the 100 per cent contributor class. We do earnestly ask those members who have not yet made their full contribution of £2.I0.0 to do so at the earliest possible moment.

DISTRICT NUMBER:   During the year, R.I. re-numbered Rotary Districts and as from 1st July 1949, our district becomes No. 39 (instead of 52) and our sister district in the South becomes No. 40.

GENERAL:   The year, particularly the second half, has been a somewhat strenuous one.  Immediately following the Christmas Recess we were faced with grave difficulties as regards catering which made it necessary for the Club to change over to an evening meal for several weeks in place of the usual midday lunch. Although we have been able to revert to the midday lunch again we find ourselves somewhat handicapped at times by the lack of the space to which we have been accustomed. This year, too, it was our turn to organize and make all the arrangements for the annual Weekend Forum at Waikaremoana in April, and following that we had the organisation of our Silver Jubilee celebrations to handle.

Once more we record our very deep appreciation of Rotarian Bill Nicholl’s in the issuing of members’ badges and the collection of lunch dues, and we offer him our warmest and heartiest thanks. Pat, as Chairman of the Fellowship Committee, deserves special mention for the great amount of hard and exceedingly useful work he has done this year which has helped so much to make our weekly meetings run so smoothly, and to you, Pat, we extend our warmest thanks and our sincerest wishes for your speedy restoration to good health again.

To all our members, to the and other the Sergeant-At-Arms and other officers of the Club we extend our warmest thanks for their help and cooperation, and to our good friends the members of the Press.

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It has been a great year of good-fellowship, and the kindly helping hands you all, your cheerful and willing acceptance of all the burdens placed upon you, have made the year a memorable and happy one for me. That you have shouldered these burdens in the true Rotary spirit is proof of Rotary’s work within the individual Rotarian. I am certain that Rotary is a greater power for good in the world than many of us realize, and it is up to us to press forward in the service of Rotary, always.

In conclusion, we ask you all to extend the same loyal, whole-hearted support to the incoming officers that you have given so cheerfully to those who are now vacating office.

For the Directors,

RON GIORGI.
President, 1948-49.

July   22 July 1949  , 1949.