Vol: 69 No: 25 8th March 2018
President Rob Murphy
0837267060
Secretary Keela van Niekerk 0720401131 Treasurer Mike Schreiber 0834140462
Editorial Board Barry Cleveland, Lina Howard, Keela van Niekerk, Hugh Maunder, Stephen Bredenkamp
March Rotary Theme Water and Sanitation Month
Wynberg Rotary meet every Thursday, 6 for 6.30pm, Palm House, Wynberg.
For more information about our club, like us on Facebook or visit our website:
Wynbergrotary.org.za
Minutes
1st March 2018 Compiled by Lina Howard
Attendance
17 members present Peter from Mountain Search and Rescue Asana from Wynberg Neighbourhood Watch Ben Polman and Sara Moron, from Madrid who are on exchange programme
Visitors
From the President’s Chair
Asana explained the new initiative of the Neighbourhood Watch Association, and informed us that there will be a PERSONAL SAFETY TRAINING Workshop on WED 14th at 7 for 7.30. Venue: Church on Main 3 Millbank Rd One of the most important functions of a President is an induction: In this case of Tendai Bonga, who was warmly welcomed by the Club members.
Fellowship/Members’ Aubrey and Adele’s Anniversary on 6th March Moments
Slots
Justin: Please promote Braam Malherbe’s talk on 27 March – use social media and email all friends. Biffy: 1. Suggested change of the Grace format – take out “Oh Lord” to make it more inclusive of other religions, or non. 2. Swimathon on 24th March for Mental health. Biffy showed us their video which was very good. Hugh: Objected to taking out “Oh Lord” as it is part of the Rotary Prayer Karen: Suggested that each person feel free to amend the prayer as they wish – but any official changes should come from Rotary International.
Guest Speaker
N/A – Business meeting
President’s Sweetie Pie
There is no record of the Sweetie Pie being won. It’s not to say that it wasn’t given to somebody, it’s just a bit vague where it actually went…… (where have we heard this before? – Ed)
Swindle
Biffy’s name was drawn but sadly she only managed to draw the (aah Shame!) Attendance prize: R20 went to Alan
New Wynberg Rotary member Tendai Bonga
Making Eco-bricks
Duty Roster
March 8
15
22
29
Sergeant
Cleveland
Overbosch
Schreiber
NO MEETING
Munday
O’Driscoll
Schonegevel J
Van Niekerk
Cleveland
Bredenkamp
Door Duty
Thomas
Todd
Van Niekerk K
Grace
Dietrich
Howard
Jackson
Loyal Toast International Toast Speaker Intro and Thanks
Schonegevel R
Schreiber
Smith
Howard
Jackson
James
Schreiber
Smith
Thomas
Wynpress Editorial Wynpress Minutes
Entertainment for the month
Overbosch, Schreiber M, Smith, Todd,van Niekerk K
Dates To Diarise 8 March
Hugh’s Circumnavigation of the Globe – Episode 2.
15 March
27 March
Wanda Moller, CEO of MOT South Africa, for whom we are considering a Global Grant, will tell us more about the organization. Dr David Harrison: “The first 1000 days” Also Rotary Friendship Exchange visitors from Kansas. Braam Malherbe talk at Bergvliet High School
29 March
NO MEETING.
5 April
TBA
12 April
Representative from Victoria Hospital. Details to follow.
19 April
Prof. Neil Armitage, UCT Civil Eng. Dept. : Moving towards a ‘water sensitive’ Cape Town.
22 March
Tailpiece: Today’s word in the hand – ‘Cabinet’ Once upon a time, a cabinet-maker was a person whose job it was to make all items of household furniture. Chairs, tables, beds, stools, spittoons … you name it, the cabinet-maker made it. This was before division of labour, before the couch guy went solo and founded an Ottoman empire, before built-in cupboards and long before Sweden gave the world the wholesome art of knock-down assemblage. Cabinet-makers are a rare breed in our time of smoothie-makers and plastic wood. People with enough cash to go “bespoke” (a word that once belonged to tailors but is now casually splashed on everything from ice cream to clogs) can still find joiners and carpenters to make spleen-shaped desks or whatever someone with bespoke cash might want. But for the ordinary mortal, cabinet-makers have gone the way of cassette tapes. Then came last week, when all of a sudden everyone remembered what a cabinet-maker was. Some were disappointed when South Africa’s cabinet-maker-in-chief did not put chisel and hammer to use in the crafting of a brand-new cabinet. Instead, he just moved a few things around in the old one. A cabinet was not always a clutch of politicians, nor was it always a receptacle for tinned peas and aspirin. Before pills and parliaments, a cabinet was what today we might call a “safe”. In the 1540s the English borrowed the word from the French (in France a cabinet was merely a small room) and turned it into a secret vault in which they stored swords and ferrets and whatever else they thought of as valuable. The Online Etymology Dictionary takes us further back, to the Latin root of cabinet. In the ancient world a cavea was a confined pen in which one kept sheep so that they could not be got at by wolves. Or wolves, so that they would not go off and get at sheep. Thanks to democracy, today’s cabinet may contain both wolves and sheep. Cabinets evolved into places of policy-making in rather a strange way. In 1667 King Charles II chose five ministers to be his trusted confidantes, the brus with whom he could share stuff he might be embarrassed to tell the entire English parliament. Think of them as his National Executive Council. Their surnames were Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley and Maitland (Earl of Lauderdale), so naturally they became known by the acronym ‘cabal’. The word ‘cabal’ already existed – it had its roots in the mystical Hebrew philosophy ‘qabbalah’ and referred to a small group who met privately to discuss intriguing matters – but after Charlie’s council came into being, cabal took on a more sinister aspect and began to refer to the powerful few who pull the strings of the many. The original group broke up due to artistic differences about five years later, but the notion that more could be achieved by few stuck and there continued to be small gatherings of select councillors. ‘Cabal’, however, had become tainted by the sneaky skulduggery of Charlie’s advisers, so instead the wielders of power became known as The Cabinet. And there you have it. Sue de Groot