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By President Sue Gunn, Rotary Club of Rotorua
Sunrise, NZ
Rotorua
Rotarians and friends were out in force the weekend of February 22-23 for the
annual Rotorua Lakeside Concert and the Rotary Global Swimarathon. The
generosity of the community was evident with $12,000 being collected in one
weekend!
The
Lakeside Concert, held annually since 1997, has become the Rotorua
community’s eagerly anticipated big night out together. On February 22 the free
outdoor concert featured the best of Maori, classical and contemporary music, in
a format accessible to every citizen of the region.
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| Rotorua Sunrisers and friends with their collection buckets at the Lakeside Concert, Village Green, Rotorua. |
The concert appeals to just about everyone from the
young to the old, from the classical buff to the swinging popsters to the
romantic.
Rotorua is a breeding ground for talented singers
and musicians. With its rich history of hospitality, Rotorua really knows how to
turn on a party. This medium size New Zealand city punches way above its weight
and loves to celebrate the diversity of its citizens.
Every year the Lakeside Charitable Trustees and
Rotary Rotorua Sunrise select a worth charity for the annual ‘gold coin’
collection, and this year’s proceeds went to Te Whakaponu Trust to purchase a
badly needed dialysis machine at Rotorua Public Hospital. Rotary Club of
Rotorua Sunrise President Sue Gunn presented Philippa Wills of the Te Whakaponu
Trust with a cheque for $8,140.
Then, on Rotary’s
109th anniversary February 23, Rotorua Sunrise Rotary held the
Rotary Global Swimarathon, a community event at the Rotorua Aquatic
Centre from noon to 2pm.
19 swimmers
participated and they swam anything from 6 to 100 lengths each, achieving a
grand total of 545 lengths with each length sponsored, that raised just over
$3,000 for the End Polio Now! fund.
Swimmers included Rotorua MP Todd McClay and two of
his children, along with Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick, Rotorua Sunrise members
and other local swimmers.
We generated great publicity in Rotorua’s Daily
Post pre and post event, promoted the Rotary Global Swimarathon on our
website, community radio notice boards, Facebook posts, along with uploaded
photo files to individual Facebook pages, likes and comments to get it out
amongst members’ friends and networks. The event was a great success!
