Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn celebrates milestone birthday
George Shoniwa and Anns president Priscilla Fuller were inducted during the ceremony
The Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn marked its 50th birthday with a celebration at the Ebotse clubhouse on July 2.
New club president George Shoniwa and Anns president Priscilla Fuller were inducted at the ceremony.
The 50th charter anniversary was attended by Rotarians and friends of the Rotary who came in numbers to witness the auspicious occasion.
During the ceremony, old newspaper articles of the club dating back from the 1970’s were displayed on slideshow while speakers took turns to congratulate the club for its milestone.
Honorary member of the club, Neil Murray, acknowledged charter members Rhoda Toker and Gill Davey for their unwavering service since the establishment of the club in 1972.
Past president Francois Joubert’s speech, which was read by Donna Andrews, highlighted that without the members support and contribution it would not have been possible for him to enact his role as club president.
Some of his highlights during his tenure in office as president included the Mercyship soccer day, monthly bunny park book and bric-a-brac sale, KMC premature mother and baby ward at OR Tambo Memorial Hospital and the Marakane Veggie Gardens.
Shoniwa expressed gratitude of being the club’s president and shared that from a young age he also knew that he was a leader.
His upcoming plans include increasing membership and organisation fundraising events to ensure the club meets some of the community’s needs.
Rotary Anns
Fuller was also inducted as the Anns president, taking over the reins from Gill Davey.
In her report she jokingly said if someone had told her in 2014, following the passing of her husband, that she would be inducted as president of the Benoni van Ryn Rotary Anns eight years later, she would have thought they are crazy.
“For one, I had no knowledge that there were Rotary Ann Clubs. And the idea of me becoming a member of such a club was almost unthinkable. So how did this happen?”
In her plans for the 2022/23 Fuller said they will continue with the Knitted Knocker’s Project.
“The Knitted Knockers Project is superbly run and self-funded by Ann Smith. She has a band of knitters who knit prosthetic boobs for ladies who have had a mastectomy. These are distributed to the oncology department at several hospitals.
“The Winter Warmth Project also has a band of knitters who make scarves, beanies and mitts, which are distributed where needed. For many of these knitters this task gives them a purpose to their lives. So it is a win-win situation for both the knitters and the recipients of the finished articles.
“The Packets of Hope. We buy ingredients to make a soup packet which will make nutritious soup and they are distributed where needed,” said Fuller.
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