Proposed in 1917 by outgoing RI President Arch C. Klumph as an endowment "for the purpose of doing good in the world," it officially became a distinct entity in 1928. The Foundation has invested billions of dollars into global priorities like eradicating polio (PolioPlus), promoting peace, providing clean water, supporting education, and improving maternal and child health.
President Tim Orrell
Secretary
Shirley Stratton
Treasurer
Graham Evans
Hosted by President Tim
Guests: Caroline Ludford (guest speaker)
Henry Fullerton-Smith
Opening thought:
We are grateful for the food we are about to receive, and the help and care we receive from fellow Rotarians.
Parting thought:
You can get by with charm for about 15 minutes but after that, you've got to know something.
Raffle winner: Pip
Dinner menu: Corn and potato chowder followed by roast chicken with vegetables, gravy and salad
Chris Dentice
Dugald
Ian
Linda
Rotary Foundation Dinner
Ross
Gordon
The Kāpiti table
Brent
Notices
President Tim
There was a Board meeting on Monday. The Golf for Good Board vacancy has been filled by Gary Lawrence.
Congratulations to Linda and the Membership Committee for a very successful stall at the Kāpiti Women's Expo. Thanks to all who attended and helped out. There was lots of interest and it was an awesome day.
The AGM is next week. Please contact Shirley if you have any agenda items to add.
Golf Tournament
The annual golf tournament is this Thursday, 12 November at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, Kāpiti Road. No meeting at Ocean Rd that night.
All Members have been automatically registered for the meal as usual: please come along if you can and bid on the auction, and buy raffle tickets. Deregister if you can't attend. If you are signed up to play, you will automatically be registered for dinner too so please deregister from your ClubRunner registration so we don't count you twice. Guests have to be registered as usual.
All jobs are on ClubRunner and there are still a few gaps - please sign up to help out. Please consider sponsoring a hole or donating an auction prize, and signing up a team to play. Contact Tim to register.
A volunteer is needed to take over leading the tournament organisation next year. You will be given a handover and all the information and templates from past years. It's a great project to get involved in and you will be able to pull together a team to help out.
Club Xmas party
The Christmas party will be at Southwards on 10 December. It will be a fabulous night, with a dress-up theme to be advised. Partners are most welcome, and we collect gift vouchers for Kāpiti Women's Centre to distribute.
Rotary Foundation Fundraising Dinner 2 November
The dinner on Monday at the Wellington Club was a wonderful evening with Past International President and Chair-Elect of the Foundation, Gordon McInally and wife Heather. They were very approachable, and were delighted to be back in New Zealand. They were touched to receive gifts of pounamu and were looking forward to getting down to the South Island for a few days of R&R.
The Wellington Rotary Clubs did presentations about some of their key projects and there was a talk from Seb Grodd at Life Flight Trust. District Governor Brent Gerrard made a very moving personal speech in launching the Say No to Domestic Violence Campaign.
President Tim, First Lady Yvonne, Gary, Murray and Steph attended on behalf of the Club and had a pleasant evening.
Chris D
Chris talked about his personal journey with prostate cancer, and encouraged the men in the Club to get regular PSA tests done. He is part of the Movember team, and they have now been joined by Ross. Click here to sponsor Kāpiti Rotary Moustachids: https://nz.movember.com/donate/details?teamId=2294622
Linda
Kāpiti Women's Expo
Thanks very much to everyone who supported Linda at the Expo. It was epic. The lucky winners of the prize draw have received their prizes. A band of helpers will be ringing the 52 people who asked to be contacted to hear more about Rotary. No hard sell, and a wee script has been emailed out to those who are helping contact people. Hopefully we will get some membership prospects from this exercise.
Dugald
Golf for Good
Please feel free to join the happy band of greenkeepers at the minigolf every Thursday morning about 9.15am to keep the course in tiptop condition. Custard pies to follow.
Ross
Trailer raffle
The weekend will see the final tickets sold - great effort, everyone. Update: the tickets were all sold.
Ian
Lucky Lotto
Ian presented their winnings to Kevin B and Simon. Simon donated his back to the Sergeant's session and thanked members for their support and condolences for the loss of his brother.
Doug
Wood for Good
Next working bee is 14 November, with both splitting and deliveries at 2 sites; 47 Peka Peka Road near Harrisons in the morning and 55 End Farm Road in the afternoon. Still a couple of gaps; please sign up for duties on ClubRunner or contact Doug.
Doug
5 minute speaker: Doug Hooper Smith
Doug regaled us with his life story, from his upbringing as a sporty kid from Dannevirke to his current busy life as a Rotarian, husband, father and grandad. He attended prep at Havelock North and college at Whanganui. Doug left school, went shepherding and played rugby for Wairarapa Bush. He met Hilary and they decided to go farming. They raised 3 kids and a variety of livestock, and expanded and developed the property at Dannevirke, which today is farmed by his younger brother. Doug and Hilary moved to Kāpiti in 1995 where he ran a mowing business before going into a residential property management business with a couple of fellow Rotarians. The couple has had adventures around the motu in their caravan, picked grapes and every spring, they pick the daffodils on the old farm. Their bolthole there is in the old shearers' quarters, and is much enjoyed by all the family.
Guest speaker: Caroline Ludford - Gorilla encounters in Uganda
Shirley introduced Caroline, a photographer who spoke to us a couple of years ago about her experiences as a police officer in the UK and New Zealand, including her time working with the mounted police and in forensic photography.
Caroline and her husband travelled to Africa in 2025 and visited Botswana, Kenya and Uganda. Uganda is a lush rainforest and at the heart lies one of the rarest wildlife experiences on earth, the chance to encounter mountain gorillas in the Bwindi National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site). There are fewer than 1100 gorillas left in the wild and these great apes survive only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic of Congo.
They received a wonderful greeting from the ‘Ride 4 A Woman’ organisation which operates in the community, right on the edge of the Bwindi forest. It was born out of a desire to help women in the local community who were struggling with HIV, domestic violence, widowhood and single parenthood. Many of the women have never had the opportunity to receive an education or develop skills. The women are taught skills such as sewing, weaving and making handmade products which are sold in their shop. The women receive a regular income, a daily meal and more importantly, a safe and supportive environment to meet up, share experiences and support one another.
Following the briefing where you are put into small groups of 8, you set off to find the allocated family. It can take hours and the air is thick with moisture, the ground very slippery and every rustle makes your heart skip a beat. When the guide finally whispered that they were very close, the whole group fell silent, cameras ready. And there they were, a family of mountain gorilla going about their lives in the forest. NO fences; they are not in captivity. You are sharing their forest.
For Caroline, the most extraordinary thing wasn’t simply seeing the gorilla; it was being able to watch a family in its natural environment. Seeing the strength of the silverback, the tenderness between mother and youngster and the curiosity and playfulness of the younger ones.
As a photographer, Caroline wanted to capture more than just portraits. She wanted to record something of their lives, their relationships and the fragile beauty of these remarkable animals. The survival of mountain gorilla has not always been assured. They faced serious threats from habitat loss, poaching, snares, disease and human encroachment. Conservation efforts involving the Ugandan authorities, international conservation organisations, researchers, rangers and local communities have helped bring about a remarkable recovery. Mountain gorilla are now classified as ENDANGERED rather than critically endangered and tourism has played an important role in this recovery.
This is why organisations such as ‘Ride 4 A Woman’ are so relevant, and the future of the gorilla is closely connected to the wellbeing of the communities living around the forest.
Caroline came away with a greater appreciation of these magnificent animals, the importance of protecting their habitat, and the people who are working so hard to ensure that future generations will still have the opportunity to see them in the wild.
Caroline's experiences in the jungle getting close to gorilla families were amazing
Shirley and Caroline with the book our guest signed for local school children
President Tim, Shirley and Caroline
Thanks very much to Caroline for generously sharing her speech notes and photos with us.
Sue and Mana
Stephen sold the last raffle tickets
Paraparaumu College presentation
Selly Hyde Scholarships
Every year, the Club sponsors a scholarship in memory of Selly Hyde, one of the Club's founders, for a student from each of our 2 local Colleges, to assist with tertiary study costs. This year, the Board has increased the awards to $1,000 per student and now a 3rd scholarship has been added for Ōtaki College (after the closure of the local Club).
On behalf of the Youth Committee, Sue Taylor attended the prize-giving at Ōtaki College to present the scholarship to Mana Toimata. Sue reported it was a fabulous night, with multicultural elements and a lovely supper. She was very impressed with the students, especially Mana.
Paraparaumu College's Selly Hyde Scholarship was awarded to Jack Stephens. Jack was a Community Captain for 2026 and was an integral part of the activities and games organised for the College during the year, alongside representing the College at community events, e.g. ANZAC day. Youth Director Cherie attended prize-giving to present the award.
