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Return to Rotary in the Pacific
The story of
the growth of Rotary in the Pacific, the largest of the world’s
oceans, and which contains one-third of its water, is part of the
growth of Rotary in New Zealand.
The Rotary movement was slow to arrive in New Zealand when the first two clubs were formed
in Wellington with 36 charter
members on 6 June, 1921 by Special Commissioner Lt. Colonel J.
Layton Ralston of the Halifax, then possibly Montreal club and in Auckland
with 50 members on 13 June by Special Commissioner Jim Davidson
of the Calgary club.
The Wellington club was formed by the efforts of Charles
Odlin, a timber and hardware merchant and the Auckland club by
Sir George Fowlds, president of the Auckland University College
(now the University of Auckland).Both of the clubs functioned
happily together and Fowlds undertook extension work with
enthusiasm, On 22
May 1922, he assisted in the
formation of the Christchurch club with 43 charter members.
In
September, 1922, Fowlds received a letter from General Secretary
Ches Perry which said:
“At the recent meeting of the International Board, consideration
was given to the fact that there are now three Rotary clubs in
New Zealand
with prospects for additional clubs, thus creating a situation
which seems to require some provision for supervision and
administration of the existing clubs and direction of the
extension work.
The Board feels that it would be best not to consider the
establishment of a Rotary District in New Zealand until there are at least
five growing clubs.
At that time, and thereafter the administration of the New Zealand clubs will be through a
District Governor of Rotary.
Meanwhile, the Board has directed me to advise you of your
appointment as Special Commissioner for New Zealand.
In that capacity it will be your duty to represent the
International Board such as a District Governor does in an
established District.
Undeer the general supervision of the Board of Directors
you are charged with the particular duty of furthering the
objects of Rotary International, of supervising the organising
of new clubs and of promoting cordial relations between several
member clubs in
New Zealand
and between said clubs and Rotary International.”
Fowlds
organised a club formed in
Dunedin
on 24 January, 1923. Further clubs followed: Hamilton, on 12
December, and in 1924, the following clubs: Invercargill,
25 February; Wanganui, 3
March; Napier, 5 April ;
Hastings, 7 April ; Palmerston North, 29
May . Five more
clubs were to follow in 1925; Hawera, January 30;
New Plymouth, February10;
Oamaru, April 1; Whangarei, June 4 and Masterton,
December 3.
At the
Cleveland Convention in 1925, Dr W,E,Herbert of the
Wellington
club was elected District Governor of the newly created District
53 incorporating all of the
New Zealand clubs.
As more clubs were formed the District was divided into
#52 (later #39) and #53 (later#40) from 1946 until 1956 when a
further division was made into three districts, (38, 39 and 40).
Continued growth saw yet another division into four districts
(292, 293, 294, 298). on 1 July, 1970 with district 298 being
divided later into 297 and 298.
As Rotary
grew in New Zealand it began to extend to the Pacific Islands
and the first Island club was formed by H.D.Guthrie of the
Dunedin club, who had served as district governor in 1935-36.
The Suva club in Fiji was formed on 17 February 1936
with 80 members and incorporated into District 53.
From
December 1942 until May 1945 the whole of the central Pacific
and the South West Pacific became the largest theatre of war in
World War II and many island territories became either staging
areas for both allied and Japanese forces or bloody
battlegrounds of great carnage..
After the
hostilities concluded the first priority for the Pacific islands
peoples was the repair of their shattered communities and
traditionally basic economies before it was possible to consider
any extension of Rotary.
The first
post-war Pacific islands club to be formed was Lautoka
(c) in 1957, followed
by Papeete (d) in
1959, Noumea
(f) in 1961 and
Nukualofa (i) 1963.
After an
interval there followed a number of clubs;: Nadi
(c), Pago Pago
(a) and Rarotonga
(b) in 1969’ Apia
(h) 1970; Suva North
(c) and Labassa (c)
in 1971;
Port Vila (j) and
Sigatoka (c) 1972;
Norfolk Island
(g) 1973; Santo
((j) 1974;
Noumea
Ducos Boulari (f)
1975. In 1980, Suva
East (c) was formed
and there was a hiatus until the formation of .Noumea Ouen Toro
(f) in 1994, followed
by Savusavu (c) 1996
and Suva Peninsula Sunset
(c), 1999.
The new
millennium saw the extension continue with the formation of
Taveuni
Island
(c) 2002,
Raiatea –Tahaa
(d) 2004,Taravao
Tahiti Iti (d),
Moorea (d) 2005:
Bora Bora
(d) 2007 and Kirimati
(e) 2008.
This growth is expected to continue in the future with
the establishment further clubs being investigated
By 1981
District 992 had grown to 68 clubs in an era stretching from a
line drawn from the rural town of Tuakau across to the Firth of
Thames extending to the northernmost part of New Zealand and
including all of the clubs in the Pacific.
It had become impossible for a district governor to
adequately devote time to the support and development of each
club because of the huge area of the district coupled with the
difficulties associated with the extensive travel..
The decision was taken to apply to RI for the formation
of an additional district which was approved with effect from 1
July 1983. The new
District 9910 and District 9920 were both based from the city of
Auckland
and a dividing line was drawn across the city from Onehunga on
the west coast to Devonport on the east coast.
All mainland NZ clubs north of that line (with the
exception of the Auckland club) became
part of the new District 9910, which embraced the
overseas clubs of Norfolk Island; Noumea and Noumea Ducos
Boulari in New Caledonia; Port Vila and Santo in Vanuatu.
The remaining mainland clubs in District 9920 and the
other Pacific islands clubs made up the new District 9920.
(b) Cook
Islands (c) Fiji (d) French Polynesia (e) Kiribati (f) New
Caledonia (g) Norfolk Island (h) Western Samoa (i) Kingdom of
Tonga (j) Vanuatu
An article by RGHF Secretary
Norm Winterbottom,
9 October 2008, posted by
Jack Selway
6 June 2009
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