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New Zealand’s Capital Club:
The Rotary movement first came to New
Zealand when thirty-five men met at a luncheon in the rooms of the
Y.M.C.A., Wellington, on 7 June 1921. This was a mere sixteen years
after the inaugural Rotary meeting in Chicago.
Amongst the guests at the luncheon was
one of two special envoys from Rotary International, Colonel Layton
Ralston, who carried the new club’s charter. The two Canadians had been
touring Australasia promoting the extension of Rotary.
The occasion had an echo seventy-three
years later, when the Rotary Club of Wellington provided funding for a
new teaching programme at the University of the South Pacific, dubbing
it the Davidson-Ralston Fellowship.
Wellington City: population 164,000 Greater Wellington: population 335,000
Situated at the southern tip of the
North Island. An area of mountain ranges, with rugged coastlines, two
good harbours and and fertile hinterland.
Wellington is not the largest city in
the country but it is the governmental, political, diplomatic, financial
and commercial capital of New Zealand. There are facilities in
education, research, art, drama and music proportionately stronger than
the size of population would suggest. Average levels of education and
training, and levels of income are substantially above those in other
cities in New Zealand. A certain politician claimed also, a few years
ago, that the median IQ level of the Wellington population that he
represented was above the national level; he was subsequently voted out
of office.
The City by virtue of its role
attracts non-government organisations, lobby groups, national trade and
professional associations, and a wide variety of service industries.
This in turn makes it an attractive conference and exposition centre.
The City’s character is reflected in
the strength of the Club’s membership, the quality and variety of its
luncheon speakers, and in the variety and impact of its service
programmes.
Spotlight on membership: a curious
consequence of the Club’s membership character is its regular bottom
ranking in the District for luncheon attendance, such is the amount of
internal and international travel that is undertaken by members in the
course of their work. A standard Presidential fining call each week is
‘overseas travel - comings and goings’.
The Club has exploited the expertise
and connections of its members in facilitating and promoting significant
developments in the community. Some of these programmes have had
regional and national effect: Karitane Hospital; Milk in Schools scheme
(later adopted as a national Government scheme); Crippled Children’s
Society; Tuberculosis Association; Meals on Wheels; Mobile Blood
Transfusion Service; Cancer Society; Birthright Wellington; National
Society on Alcoholism; Outward Bound; National Child Health Research
Foundation. |
In a less visible way members of the
Club serve on boards and executive committees of a large number of
charitable and social service organisations, and as trustees of
charitable funds. Some of the latter have been established through
gifts or bequests by Club members; notable examples are the J.R.
McKenzie Trust, the J.R. McKenzie Youth Education Fund; the Wellington
Rotary Charitable Trust; the Salmond Fellowship; and the J.I. Ilott
Charitable Trust.
Spotlight on membership: the Club has
had an extraordinary number of long-term family associations. Some
names have appeared repeatedly in the roll of members over the decades:
Button; Cook; Fisher; Gibbons; Greenwood; Ilott; McKenzie; Mayer; Myers;
Norwood; Radford; Smith; Baker.
The Club by virtue of its seniority
has been able to make a large contribution to the Rotary organisation.
It has been the sponsoring club for a number of new Rotary clubs and in
1922 gave considerable support to the formation of the distant
Christchurch club in
the South Island. Seven District Governors
have come from the Club, and one member, Sir John Ilott went on to
become an R.I. Director and R.I. Second Vice-President (1943-44).
The Club has through much of its
history placed an emphasis on work with youth and education. It has
been active in the customary programmes for educational exchanges,
Rotary Foundation Scholarship,
RYLA, Outward Bound, and Rotaract. In
1998, in anticipation of the centenary of Victoria University of
Wellington the Club declared a special relationship with the University,
established annual scholarships for students, and brought into the Club
more members from the university sector.
Spotlight on membership: immediately
after the landmark R.I. Convention of 1988/89 the Club inducted its
first woman member - Beverley Wakem, who some years previously had been
a Rotary Foundation Scholar under the Club’s sponsorship. The Club now
has twenty women members in a roll of 150. Amongst these, as an Honorary
Member, is the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright.
Visitors are almost as much a feature
of Club luncheons as are the absences of Club members who are out of
town on business. We are pleased to see members from other Clubs, and
we have a reputation as a Club which is welcoming and interesting to
visit. The members of this Club are proud of their City and their
region and well-equipped to advise visitors on things to do and see in
any spare time that they have. Wellington is a place with spectacular
scenery, a lively arts and entertainment sector, national institutions
such as Te Papa (national museum), National Library, New Zealand Film
Archive and National Archives; home to the National Symphony Orchestra
and the Royal New Zealand Ballet; and a world-class sports stadium. A
hour of driving will take you to one of New Zealand’s most distinctive
wine making areas, home of Martinborough vintages. A couple of hours in
the inter-island ferry from the downtown terminal and you can be in
another premier wine area, Marlborough.
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