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Tribute to Past District Governor (PDG) Astra DaCosta - July 27, 2012The Corpus Christi Nursery located on the compound of the St. Jude's Home for Girls in Belmont was a favorite charity of the late District Governor Astra da Costa.
At her District Governor (DG) training she apprised her classmates of this early in their relationship and after her passing it became one of their favorite charities too. As such, they contributed to the renovation and refurbishment of the Nursery as an integral partner in our Club's matching grant application. Some of the late DG Astra's classmates, as well as our District Governor Dr. Stephen Ramroop, attended the Rotary Caribbean Partnership Conference (CPC) and were overjoyed to visit the Nursery on the afternoon of July 27, 2012. They arrived at 1:15 p.m. to meet the welcoming party of Past District Governor Lara, Past Presidents Janice, Andrew and Lennox, Rotarians Ceronne and Barbara, Sister Janella of the St. Jude‟s Home and members of Astra's family led by Astra's sister Adonna and brother Ronnie. A pictorial display of the late DG Astra, highlighting her work in Rotary met their eyes and they were delighted. Then the welcoming speeches by PDG Lara and others were made at the Hall of the St Jude's Home for Girls, adjacent to the Nursery and Day Care Centre. The CPC Chairman who was also one of Astra's classmates, PDG Horace McCormack spoke about their cohort‟s first meeting with Astra and of how her presence and her shared vision were impressive from the beginning. She taught them by example to be positive in all her dealings and to have one or two persons with whom to brainstorm and share any disappointments. His wife and partner in service Carlotta shared that Astra had the ability to include the partners of her DG classmates as easily as the members of her DG class in her loving embrace. In attendance were two graduates of the Corpus Christi Nursery and Day Care Centre and two of its teachers and following the welcome addresses, the party convened in the garden where a ceremonial unveiling of a memorial plaque by PDG Horace and the planting of a tree in the central part of the ornamental planter by PP Andrew Joseph took place. The tree bore white flowers, a symbol of peace and friendship. It was truly a celebratory occasion and all were honoured to be part of it. Special thanks are due to Rotarian Tommy Chanona for sponsoring the building of the planter, Mrs. Sheila Quentrall-Thomas for the design and donation of the foliage, Rotarians Parkash Bhaggan, Andrew Joseph and Ian Gillette for refreshments and Rotarian Barbara Alleyne for table cloths. |
Caribbean Partnership Conference - July 27-28, 2012
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The Hyatt Regency Hotel was abuzz with the activities of Rotarians from Zones 33 and 34 on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th July, 2012 with the Caribbean Partnership Conference (CPC Conference 2012). CPC is an initiative of the Rotary Clubs and Districts of Zones 33 and 34 to foster friendship and partnership between the Southeast U.S and the Caribbean. In attendance or involved in aspects of the conference were President Gerry Mendez, PDG Lara Quentrall-Thomas, New Generations Chairman Tony Roberts, Past Presidents Janice Roberts and Andrew Joseph and Rotarian Barbara Alleyne. During the conference, projects from various Rotary Clubs from Zones 33 and 34 were presented in an attempt to attract partnership with other Rotary clubs. The partnered clubs can then apply for matching grants from the Rotary Foundation to carry out the various projects. The main emphasis was for the Clubs of the US mainland and the Clubs of the 3 Districts 7000, 7020, & 7030 of the Caribbean to develop Rotary relationships – and through fellowship would become lasting friend-ships – doing Rotary‟s work together.
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Guest Speaker : Peter Quentrall Thomas - July 19, 2012
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Mr. Peter Quentrall-Thomas made a presentation on his visit to Cuba. He is PDG Lara's father and a 65 year old retired Civil Engineer that came to build a school in Trinidad and never left. Mr. Quentrall-Thomas presented Pres. Gerry with a pennant from Manaus. His Presentation focused on the "Alternative Tour of Cuba", the things they do not show tourists.
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Speaker - Mr. Leslie Bowrin - July 12, 2012
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Mr. Leslie Bowrin, Head, Social Performance at British Gas (BG), spoke to the membership about a project on which the Rotary Club of Central POS could partner with BG over the next couple years. With funding in excess of $1 million and titled Making Life Important (MLI), the program is an “after school programme” with the aim of offering psychological testing, counseling education support, field trips and exposure to a different way of life. Beetham Gardens is the targeted community and the venue to house the initiative is to be the Excel secondary school.
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Rotary Club of Central POS hosts its 32nd Handing-Over Ceremony
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On Saturday July 7, 2012 President Andrew Joseph of the Rotary Club of Central Port of Spain presided over his last meeting as president of this club before handing over to Gerard Mendez, who will serve as President for the 2012/2013 Rotary year. The annual Handing Over ceremony is conducted as part of the transition between presidents and happens every year in over 30,000 clubs around the world.
Out-going President Andrew Joseph highlighted the success of the service projects and fundraisers held during the Rotary year July 2011 through June 2012 and thanked his board and all those who participated and assisted the club. He touched on the Club’s on-going Adopt-a-Child programme targeted at the indigent in our society as well as the Club’s signature project, it’s Model UN Assembly which attracted in excess of one hundred secondary and tertiary students this year. Also highlighted was a tree planting project at the Sunny Hill Home for Boys and the Club’s efforts to assist a needy family devastated by the loss of their home to a fire and in the area of the Club’s youth arms, a beach clean-up exercise which netted half a tonne of garbage and other debris. The mantle of leadership was then passed to President Gerry Mendez who introduced his board for the 2012-2013 Rotary year and set the direction for the Rotary Club of Central Port of Spain for the Rotary year ahead. Mr. Richard Young, Managing Director of Scotia Bank and President of the Banker’s Association was the feature speaker for the evening and he shared with the evening’s attendees the importance of values. A Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary’s highest honour was awarded to Mr. Ian Royer, a consistent supporter of the Club’s Model UN project over the last 7 years. The evening’s proceedings were punctuated with entrainment by Trinidad’s own world class pannist, Ken “Professor” Philmore and the Rotarians and their guests delighted in the fellowship that was a hallmark of the evening. |
Club Members recognised by Outgoing DG Lara - June 30, 2012
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The Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel was filled with pageantry and ceremony on the evening of June 30, 2012 as the responsibility of leadership for Rotary District 7030 was handed over by District Governor Lara Quentrall-Thomas to in-coming District Governor Dr. Stephen Ramroop. Members of the Rotary Club of Central Port of Spain and their partners in service were out in their numbers in support of their club’s own Lara Quentrall-Thomas, District Governor during the 2011/2012 Rotary year.
After a year of leading one of Rotary’s most difficult geographic districts comprising 16 islands, 3 languages, thousands of square miles and transportation systems with varying degrees of reliability, Lara proudly declared in a review of her year as DG, that she had visited all 70 Rotary clubs (membership of about 2,000 Rotarians) and most of the District’s 34 Rotaract clubs. Never one to forget to say thank you, outgoing DG Lara took the opportunity at the Handing Over Ceremony to recognize three members of the Rotary Club of Central Port of Spain for their service in support of Rotary and its ideals during the Rotary year 2011-2012. Past President and out-going Assistant District Governor – North Clubs, Janice Roberts was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow (adding one sapphire to her existing PHF) by the District for her incredible work in organising the District Conference / Cruise. Not only did Janice willingly step in when the first Chairperson withdrew, she took over the management and organisation of the event with grace and confidence. The District owes her a huge debt of gratitude. Rotarian Nicole Matouk was presented with a token of appreciation for her efforts in pulling together the trip by DG Lara and her team to Haiti. Nicole helped coordinate flights, hotels, travel information and the planning of the program while the team was in Haiti. Past President and out-going District Secretary Eric Adams received a token for his help and support over the year as District Secretary. Loyal, dedicated and focused, Eric ensured the DG’s newsletter went out on time each and every month, in French and English, and that it was jam packed with district news and RI updates. Congratulations to PDG Lara on an outstanding year as District Governor and to Rotarians Janice, Nicole and Eric for distinguishing themselves through Rotary service. |
RCCPOS 32nd Anniversary Celebrations - Aug 17 2012
Members of the RCCPOS celebrate the Club's 32nd anniversary (chartered Aug 18, 1980) with a lime at Trinidad Union Club.
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Guest Speaker: DG Dr. Stephen Ramroop - Aug 30, 2012
On August 30, 2012 President Gerry Mendez and his Board met with District Governor, Dr. Stephen Ramroop to present the Club’s 2012-2013 plans and objectives. DG Stephen thanked the Board for hosting the meeting and following a perusal of the Club’s planning documents, the DG used the meeting to share with the leaders of the Rotary Club of Central Port of Spain, some of the key changes taking place at the Rotary International level and what Rotary expects its membership to bring to our organization to aid in its transformation. They include many disciplines, processes and activities that we pursue in our spheres of work, business and professional lives. He emphasized that there is a drive by RI to ‘formalize” the business processes in Rotary. DG Stephen advised that Rotary has shared its strategic plans and supporting the mission are three (3) pillars.
Pillar 1: Building strong clubs and supporting, empowering and motivating members. All leaders have been asked to focus on empowering our Rotarians. He described Rotary as pivotal in bridging the gap between the government and private sector. Rotary is well recognized for its activities and its structure and given Rotary’s values he believed that Rotary can bring equity, priority and the right focus during times of crisis and need.
Pillar 2: Make our projects more strategic and sustainable. While it is okay to “detour” and pursue the typical smaller projects, one off initiatives and pet projects during the Rotary year, RI would like clubs to stay focused and to execute their strategic (3 year) plans and to pursue sustainable projects; projects that are “higher impact” and DG Stephen urged the establishment of performance criteria and project management disciplines in managing them. He also communicated that Rotary Clubs will be required to each sign an MOU based on good governance principles, in order to access grants. Criteria for qualification include good stewardship practices such as ensuring that our public liability/risk transfer is covered and not exposed. He asked our club to establish procedures specific to our risk profile so as to mitigate our risks. For New Generation projects in particular DG Stephen stressed that we must ensure there is documentation for the project(s) to show we have applied risk mitigation procedures.
Pillar 3: Public relations and branding. Rotary is looking to develop a single brand and wants us to get involved in PR; share what we are doing. He shared that there were plans at the District level to advertise Rotary’s “Humanity in Service” and to publicize the greatness of our organization.
In summarizing his discussion with our Board, DG Stephen reminded the leadership that RI wants us to align with the three pillars and that RI has asked that we consider incorporating our club to protect ourselves against civil law suits. He further stated that this year’s Presidential Citation relates to the three pillars of Rotary and if we as a club embrace the three pillars we will in fact be executing a “balanced score card” and position ourselves for Presidential Citation consideration.
Pillar 1: Building strong clubs and supporting, empowering and motivating members. All leaders have been asked to focus on empowering our Rotarians. He described Rotary as pivotal in bridging the gap between the government and private sector. Rotary is well recognized for its activities and its structure and given Rotary’s values he believed that Rotary can bring equity, priority and the right focus during times of crisis and need.
Pillar 2: Make our projects more strategic and sustainable. While it is okay to “detour” and pursue the typical smaller projects, one off initiatives and pet projects during the Rotary year, RI would like clubs to stay focused and to execute their strategic (3 year) plans and to pursue sustainable projects; projects that are “higher impact” and DG Stephen urged the establishment of performance criteria and project management disciplines in managing them. He also communicated that Rotary Clubs will be required to each sign an MOU based on good governance principles, in order to access grants. Criteria for qualification include good stewardship practices such as ensuring that our public liability/risk transfer is covered and not exposed. He asked our club to establish procedures specific to our risk profile so as to mitigate our risks. For New Generation projects in particular DG Stephen stressed that we must ensure there is documentation for the project(s) to show we have applied risk mitigation procedures.
Pillar 3: Public relations and branding. Rotary is looking to develop a single brand and wants us to get involved in PR; share what we are doing. He shared that there were plans at the District level to advertise Rotary’s “Humanity in Service” and to publicize the greatness of our organization.
In summarizing his discussion with our Board, DG Stephen reminded the leadership that RI wants us to align with the three pillars and that RI has asked that we consider incorporating our club to protect ourselves against civil law suits. He further stated that this year’s Presidential Citation relates to the three pillars of Rotary and if we as a club embrace the three pillars we will in fact be executing a “balanced score card” and position ourselves for Presidential Citation consideration.
Banner Exchange - Jan 30, 2015
President Sam exhanged banners with the new German Ambassador, a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, GA.
Guest Speaker: Jacques Sturm - French Ambassador to POS - Oct 17, 2013
District Governor, Waddy Sowma's visit to Port of Spain Clubs
