This Week - Lorenzo Barry on Distributing the Products of Small Farmers

 

He has a rich background in customer service and team management across diverse industries such as retail, hospitality, software solutions, and sales,He is a dedicated and enthusiastic professional. "My commitment lies in delivering sustainable solutions by harnessing both current and emerging technologies to enhance service delivery, improve customer satisfaction and increase business efficiency."

How he became involved with small farmers is going to be fascinating to hear and it might be to the Club's benefit.

Last Week

It was an interesting discussion on the Golf Day on Wednesday 5th June.

It was decided that the prize giving shoud be a social evening for Rotarians and partners.  It seems that the dinner is a set meal provided for participants and helpers but it would cost visitors R300 per head. Maybe there could be some flexibility there in terms of choice for those not wanting to spend that amount of money.

Next Week

It's our monthly Business Meeting.

International - Scotland

One coin at a time, a whimsical contraption celebrates a legendary Scottish locomotive while raising thousands of dollars for charity. Ken Wilson, a past president of the Rotary Club of Inverness Loch Ness, led the effort to commission and install the Flying Scotsman Automata in a local shopping center in 2016. A contribution of about 1 pound activates the complex mechanism, which depicts a kilted train conductor in an engine on a track trailed by bobbing carriages. Inside are characters that include a couple knitting and drinking tea, a pilot flying a plane, and Nessie, of course, whose tail spins to the musical accompaniment. The club has maintained the device and collected about 27,000 pounnds, allowing it to disburse more than 350 pounds in grants each month. “It has enabled Rotary Loch Ness to help nearly 60 local charities,” says the mall’s former manager, Jackie Cuddy, “which is amazing.”

This Week - A Project Meeting

 The primary discussion will be on the golf day but I am sure that other things might pop up such as Little Eden.  We ordered wheelchairs for the CEO Project and here they are being loaded into the container in the England by the Rotary Club of Rushmore for Northcliff Rotary Club to service and distribute.  It's nothing to do with Mount Rushmore in the USA.  Rushmoor is in Hampshire but there's also one in Surrey.  Take your pick.   This is the Hampshire one.

Ride for Sight

Opened the door and in flew Enza.  Enza had been threatening me all week and finally hit hard on Friday so, sadly, I was unable to be at Ride for Sight.  It hasn't gone yet so I am a prisoner in my own home with a tough female warder,,,,no I didn't mean you, I meant the cat!

Obviously it all went very well with the usual last minute hitches and problems and lunatic drivers. Many thanks, Lauwrence and Rene for stepping into the breach.  Congratulations, Mike de Beer on such a successful day.....he's walking out of shot, a modest man.  His organisation is meticulous and keeps everyone informed and up-to-date all the time from when the date comes out for the ride until the last rider home on the day.

Last Week

We had a very interesting talk by Dave Collier of Bakerman SA about the status of the baking industry and the problems we will be facing in the future.  I don't think any of us realised the industry's importance to South Africa's GDP or the increasing shortage of qualified bakers and the problems this will create in the future quite apart from his interesting comments on gluten intolerance.

He has expressed an interest in joining our club which is a bonus. 

Next Week:  Lorenzo Barry 

Lorenzo talks about the problems of distribution and marketing for small farmers.  This should be of considerable interest to us.

He is the Co-Founder & Owner of L&M Sovereign Holdings | RENBAR Solutions.

International - England

For its centennial project, the Rotary Club of Halifax built a scenic overlook above the town on an ancient road and footpath known as the Magna Via. Illustrated panels identify landmarks such as Wainhouse Tower, Borough Market, Square Church spire, the Halifax gibbet (a 

replica of the 16th century precursor to the guillotine), and the Town Hall, designed by Sir Charles Barry, architect of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. QR codes link to descriptions of the landmarks on the club website. “The views are magnificent and span the horizon,” says Ken Robertshaw, a past governor of District 1040. The $25,000 project, dedicated in late June, was funded by sponsoring businesses and individual donors, including Robertshaw, who contributed in honor of his late wife, Pauline. The Town Council agreed to maintain the overlook. “Given the history of the site, it seemed like an appropriate place for us to build something that celebrates the rich heritage of the town,” Robertshaw says.

This Week: Dave Collier on The Baking Industry, its Problems and the Opportunities it provides

 

RCL FOODS Young Baker Challenge 2nd place winner: Ameera Gani from Chefs Training & Innovation Academy in Centurion, Gauteng with Dave Collier, founding president of SA Bakers Association

Dave Collier has over 44 years of experience in the Baking Industry both in South Africa and the UK. He trained as a baker and confectioner before becoming a retail bakery manager in Tesco's, UK at the age of 22. After immigrating to South Africa in 1990 he continued with Pick and Pay for 3 years in retail before becoming their Central Bakery Manager. 

In 1995 he went into partnership in his first bakery, which evolved into a training bakery. With the birth of the SAQA qualifications system in 2000 Dave went full time into
training as a service provider with Advanced Bakery Management Services. 

In 2009 he returned to retail where he first became the National Food Specialist for the Fresh Stop chain of convenience stores. following this in 2013 until very recently Dave was National Bakery Manager with The SPAR Group Ltd where he managed over 40 wholesale bakeries as well as looked after the interests of over 900 stores.

Last Week

It was a Business Meeting.  We don't have the final figures for the Burns Night fundraiser but everyone seemed quietly optimistic.  Our next fundraiser is the Golf Day and it was decided to take up this month's Project Meeting with a discussion on the Golf Day.  It's important  that we make it a success with as many 4-balls playing as possible as we have taken on additional projects this year and it's important that we don't neglect existing ones so the more money we can make the better.

Next Week  

We will be discussing the Golf Day and how to make it a success.  It is possibly under threat which, Bill Brunjes will explain and we must do our best to see that it survives and we support Bill to ensure that it's a great success this year.

Founded on 6 November 1890, members of the Johannesburg Golf Club first began playing "behind Hospital Hill", in an area that later became known as Clarendon Circle and Empire Road. The club did not settle here, moving four times in the next 19 years, before settling in 1909 on the land it still occupies today.  The Club helped create the Transvaal Golf Union in 1908, and provided the first President of the South African Golf Union in 1910.

In 1930, the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII), played the West Course. Six months later, he became the club's patron. In July 1931, King George V added the "Royal" prefix to the club's name.

Little is known about the original Kensington Golf Club that went out of business in 1918. The later version of Kensington hosted a number of significant South African tournaments and competitions, particularly in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Kensington merged with Royal Johannesburg in 1998.

International:  Sri Lanka

ll the world’s a stage for young Sri Lankan thespians who, with their Rotarian supporters, take their Shakespeare seriously. For nearly five decades, tens of thousands of them have participated in the All Island Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition. Known as the “Shakes,” last year’s contest, held in September and organized by the Rotary Club of Colombo North and the Colombo YMCA, included
more than 1,000 students. The ensembles performed 30-minute scenes that organizers chose from eight plays. “They are judged mainly on acting, and marks are also allocated for direction, teamwork, and effects,” Club President Lasika Jayamaha says. Rotaractors assisted with front of house and backstage roles. “The competition has been a springboard for thousands of young people across the island” to careers in acting, directing, and media, Jayamaha says. Adding to the shine, the coveted rotating trophy is a silver bust of Shakespeare that was a gift from the mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of the Bard.

This Week - A Business Meeting

 There's not much you can say about a Business Meeting, only speculate only that the new projects, Sichaba and assisting with employment and training for New Jerusalem Orphanage will be discussed.  Maybe a cartoon is the only answer.

On Sunday many Club members will be assisting Retina SA's Ride for Sight as marshals.....followed by a social breakfast all ably organised by PP Mike de Beer and his team.

Last Week

Though only one of our new members, Nivash Singh, was able to be present and talk it certainly gave a very interesting insight into what is involved in the IT industry.  Nivash is obviously very successful in developing the skills learnt during his degree course in moving from software development into software architecture where there is obviously a great shortage of expertise as he moves from one company to another  and currently to UJ.  In the relatively short time I have known him he has moved from security systems in New York to medical aid and now the university.  Thanks, Nivash, for an enlightening talk.

Next Week

Dave Collier will be talking to us about aspects of professional baking.  He has already helped the club with advice on the bakery set up at Cresset House and the St Vincent de Paul Society with the layout of an industrial kitchen to increase their production for feeding the homeless and impoverished people in retirement villages and homes.  

International - Honduras

Nearly 40 percent of adolescents are not in secondary school in Honduras, where educational achievement scores are low. The Rotary clubs of Tegucigalpa Sur and Peterborough, Ontario, teamed up to address the issue. In 2018 the clubs, which have collaborated on projects before, constructed a teacher training center in the municipality of Lepaterique and supplied books and other learning materials. Most recently, the clubs partnered with a nonprofit organization and the country’s Ministry of Education to provide literacy training to primary school teachers. “Sixteen-hour workshops are being held on a rotating basis with 160 teachers” representing 62 schools, says Marie Press, a member of the Peterborough club. “The feedback has been incredibly positive.”