Jubilee Celebrations

Since its inception, the Club has celebrated its existence four times. The first was in 1983 when the Club celebrated its 25th. This event was so successful, it was decided to have a smaller celebration when the Club turned 30.

In 2009 the Club reached 50 years and celebrated two events that year. In January it commemorated the formation meeting when the first group of members held their first meeting. Later in June 1959 the Club received its charter, and the 2009 membership gathered with many past members to celebrate at the Napier War Memorial Centre.

The following report is taken from the Club Bulletin 6th June 2009

This was a special night in the history of our Club and it turned out to be a very happy affair, as current members mingled with past members and special guests to celebrate the first 50 years of our Rotary Club.

From the time guests started to arrive for cocktails prior to dinner, it was clear that this event would live up to Mayor Barbara Arnott’s request the we all have fun. But such an occasion can only succeed provided there has been immaculate planning and for this we must thank the Jubilee team head by Clive Adams and President Richard Howell.

Many visitors travelled widely, from Dunedin (PP Ross Pinkham 1994-95) to Auckland, (PP Peter and Bev Simons 1982-83).

Also from Auckland were PP Tony and Marilyn Trent 1990-91, and past sergeant Denis & Christine Swan.

Local past presidents in attendance (but now retired from the Club) were Michael Davies (1963-64), Mark Read (1984-85), John Campbell (1986-87) and Ted Waaka (1975-76).

Special guests present were 

• Mayor Barbara Arnott who opened the 50th Jubilee.

• District Governor Geoff Mathis & his wife Marion.

• Georgina Earl & Caroline Evers-Swindell & the family of the late Kelvin Tremain.

• Foundation members Jim Dine & Bill Beaton

• Georgina Kingi and the girls from St Joseph Maori Girls College

• The Presidents local Rotary Clubs; from Napier - Ken Aldred; from Greenmeadows - Richard Shuker; and from Ahuriri -Max Patmoy

• Carol Charman, Assistant DG

Also present were Janet Gordon and Ann Brown, daughters of Tom McDonald, Foundation President 1959, together with John Munro and Ruth Stoddart, the siblings of foundation member, the late Alan Munro, and grandchildren of Club founder and past president, Ron Munro. Sadly, because of an accident, Nancye Munro, widow of Alan, was unable to be present.

In his welcome to all, President Richard briefly summarised the Club’s 50 years of contributing to the community, making special mention of the $10,500 donation to the Taradale Library as part of our Jubilee celebrations. He thanked the 50th Jubilee Committee and all those members & partners who helped to make the 50th Jubilee Evening a great success. During the evening a series of slides and videos ran on a large screen, and gained the attention of many, as they captured the essence of a proud history of fundraising and fellowship.

The night was officially opened by Mayor Barbara Arnott who thanked the Club for 50 years of contributing to the community. Along the way she drew a parallel with kiwis and their nesting habits. The female dominates the nest allowing the male to gather food. Using this analogy, she thanked the wives and partners of Rotarians for their support as well. She finished by applauding sentiments of President Richard, that the year had been fun, and wished everyone a fun night.

The other speaker was District Governor  Geof Mathis, who started by passing on the congratulations of Rotary International President, DK Lee. He went on to develop a theme of Women in Rotary and made the observation that women bring a vibrancy to a club. District membership has not grown greatly during his tenure, so he encouraged the club to play its part in developing future membership. The rest of his address focused on Rotary International and the Polio Plus project.

Between speakers and courses, Georgina Kingi, Principal of St Joseph’s Maori Girls’ School brought a small kapa haka group from the school to entertain. The receptive crowd love these talented young ladies, and their appearance reinforced the strong bond that has been built up over 40 years between the Club and the School 

Paul Harris Awards

The highlight of the evening were the two Paul Harris awards, unique in different ways.

• The late Kelvin Tremain.

The citation for this posthumous award was read by Mark Read, who outlined the major achievements of Kel, whose life was sadly cut short at the age of 54, in 1992. A young man who excelled at sport, his achievements on the rugby fields as an All Black for 10 years and captain of the Hawkes Bay Ranfurly Shield team, are legendary. But life after rugby focused on building up a very successful real estate business, now being carried on by his sons. At the same time he served his community through Rotary, where he used his personality to encourage members to get involved. This included his early involvement in establishing the Auction, and working as one of its auctioneers for many years. He got the Citrus Drive up and going, but more particularly, he was the prime mover in the establishment of fund to assist young students achieve their goals of a tertiary education, when their financial circumstances may have inhibited them without some extra help. Following his death in 1992, the fund became the Kelvin Tremain Memorial Education Trust. Again a video was shown highlighting his life, including a clip showing the match winning try he scored against the French on Athletic Park in 1961, and again the audience cheered.

The medal was presented by President Richard to Kel’s widow, and first woman member of the Club, Pam Tremain. Pam accepted the medal “on behalf of my late husband, and he thoroughly deserves it.” It was a pleasure to see the delight of the whole family following the presentation.

• Georgina Earl & Caroline Evers-Swindell.

The citation was read by Kevyn Moore, who outlined how two sporting twins from Hawkes Bay grew up taking every opportunity of exploring the wide range of sporting activities the region can offer before they discovered rowing. The list of achievements read by Kevyn was mind-boggling, but suffice to say the pinnacle of their success was winning 3 world championships and two Olympic gold medals. Kevyn stressed how the twins have used their celebrity status to assist charities, especially their support of the fundraisers for the Oliver Smales Trust, established by our Club. A video was shown of the two gold medal wins, and the guests became so involved in the gripping finishes that they cheered loudly, urging them on yet again to win that nail biting race in Beijing.

Georgina and Caroline have won many medals, but their pleasure at receiving one of a different kind, was transparent as they received the medals from DG Geog Mathis. In reply they stated they had no idea this was to happen, but thanked Rotary and the Club for the honour, which they greatly appreciated.

And so the evening passed with time to wander and make further acquaintances, between dining and a delightful 3 course meal. And for dessert, the Rotary Cake, cut by Foundation Members, Bill Beaton and Jim Dine.

Finally Benson Opetaia-Wilson, member of the National Schools’ Choir, and sponsored in the past by the Kel Tremain Memorial Education Trust, sang 4 songs and rounding off the evening with a great performance.