Chartered 3 April 1943
Chartered 3 April 1943A fabulous evening meal was held at the boarding establishment of Feilding High School to conclude the 75th anniversary of the Rotary club of Feilding. President Russell Cameron welcomed visitors from other clubs along with AG Alan Deighton, Past AG Richard Wishnowsky and Assistant DG elect John Mohi. Visitors included Past District Governors, Presidents, Principal of Feilding High School, members of his team and Head Boy. The meeting was appropriately held at L.J. Wild House, Feilding High School - L.J. Wild was a charter member of our club and the second President.
The oldest honorary member, Eric Rose, cutting the 75th anniversary cake, assisted by the newest club member, Alison Everett.
A short reminisce of club history was presented by Past DG and club member Eric Linklater. It was interesting that membership began with 30 members in 1943, during the second world war. This time saw 12 clubs begin in NZ that year, with a further 12 in 1944. The club grew to a peak of 80 members. In 1943 the population of Feilding was 4,700. The activities have been many and varied with annual events such as picnic in the park, the Christmas cave (since 1967) along with building a skate park, concreting parking areas at Riding for the Disabled, planting 360 trees at Feilding High school, and developing Timona Park playground. Eric spoke of the "demolition years" where a team of members assisted in demolishing old buildings in town to raise funds. The late 1980's saw women joining the club and there have been four women presidents since.
Funding distributed this year, from projects and fundraising, into the community are in the vicinity of $20,000. One of the key strengths of this club has been to support the international student exchange programme (both incoming and outbound), RYDA, RYLA and assisting youth gain driver’s licence. The highlight of the evening was the award of a Paul Harris Fellowship to Noel Leins, (who is still surprised). Noel accepted the award with members of his family, (and a tear in his eye), celebrating the many activities that Noel has organised and supported over many years. Nathan Stewart, (Principal) and Richard Shanks (Head Boy), spoke of the role of Feilding High School in our community, who as Corporate Members of the club, encourage and enhance the relationship between the club and youth in our community. John Mohi, (DG elect), spoke of the proposed projects for Rotary, with an immunisation programme for the Pacific Islands, a programme of community tree planting, and celebrating 100 years of Rotary in NZ 2020 - 2021 with a written history of Rotary in NZADG Alan Deighton rounded off the evening with a poetic tribute to those who began the club of Feilding and its members today, followed by The oldest honorary member, Eric Rose, cutting the 75th anniversary cake, assisted by the newest club member, Alison Everett.