Home Page | The Rotary Club of Cromwell

Do YOU want to Make A Difference to the Youth and our Community? Are you committed to making positive changes in our community and the world while having a bit of fun at the same time? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship.

Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back while having fun.

Rotary Christmas Tree for Charity

The Rotary Club Christmas Tree entry into the Lake Dunstan Lions Christmas Trees for Charity.
The chosen charity for our tree was Ronald McDonald House Dunedin.

The event was held at The Bowling Club. Many local businesses, schools and organisations filled the room with beautifully decorated trees, that attracted a great number of visitors to vote for their favourite tree.

Results of the event yet to be annouced.

Fishing Competition Follow Up

The Lake Dunstan Fishing Classic 2024 was held on Sunday 17^th November. Once again this event was extremely well supported by locals and visitors. With entries from 23 children, 14 juniors and 90 adults the competition was keen. A grand total of 60 fish were weighed in with the heaviest fish, a Rainbow Trout coming in at just a touch over 2kg.

Our new member Phil Henderson did a brilliant job of organising the event this year with able assistance from Craig and from Richard and Murray who collated the results with the same expertise as always.

We would also like to thank the Cromwell Fish and Game Officer for his help on the day and all our supporters for their time and the generosity of our sponsors for the great selection of prizes for avid anglers of all ages.

A big thank you goes out to Bike It Now, Breen Homes, Highlands, Hunting and Fishing, Game Over Queenstown, Okuma, Southern lakes ITM and Subway Cromwell.

President Rose awarding the trophy to the winner Ryan Green

The first fish weighed in.

A very happy prize-winning child.

The crowd at the prizegiving.

New seat at The Big Fruit

Our ongoing project to improve signage and amenities in the area of the Big Fruit took a step forward this weekend.

A big thank you to the Cromwell Menzshed for designing and constructing the new seat and to our own Hayden Rogers for promptly collecting and securely installing it during the dodgy weather yesterday!

Great job Hayden, in due course an appropriate plaque will be attached to the new seat and the signage board design is also making progress. Members will be kept updated as it nears completion.

Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser

We are thrilled with the Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser

The new Ronald McDonald House for Dunedin benefitted wonderfully from the fabulous gala night at The Gate Conference Centre. An enthusiastic crowd joined in the boisterous bidding rounds for the varied range of auction items. Auctioneer Neil Bulling and MC Peter Williams joined forces to succeed in getting many sales well past their valuations.

Southland woman, Justine McRae’s heartfelt words of her family’s personal journey with their son Henry resonated with many in room. Her family spent 375 nights in Ronald McDonald Houses in Auckland and Invercargill during Henry’s illness. Sadly, Henry is no longer with us but the care and support offered in these houses definitely left a lasting impression.

Following on from this, a round of Last Man Standing saw most people pitch in to Host a Central Otago Family into a Ronald McDonald House @ $234 for one night. One, even supporting a family for a whole month! In total, 80 nights were gifted during the evening. Since the evening, more people have supported the cause and with all the donations confirmed we have now proudly reached a total of $59,000! That is $18,000 for Host a Family and $41,000 for the Dunedin Ronald McDonald House build.

This is an incredible outcome for the hardworking team of Rotarians who put the evening together and the amazing support of all our auction donators, our sponsors large and small, and our wonderful community.

Thank you everyone, what an epic result this is for young local families in need.

The evening was rounded off with plenty of dancing and singing to the fine entertainment from Deano and Cherl.

T&C Speaker Hayley Anderson

Hayley Anderson, Chief Executive of Central Otago Health Services Limited (COHSL), delivered an interesting and thought-provoking talk on rural health issues in our area.

Hayley was born at Clyde Hospital and grew up in Lett’s Gully. She left home to undertake nursing training in Christchurch and has since pursued a career in health leadership and management, mainly in the Hawke’s Bay. Returning to Clyde has now brought her full circle.

Hayley spoke of Dunstan Hospital in positive terms, in particular its clinical expertise with committed rural specialists and its highly skilled executive leadership team. She noted that COHSL do not own the hospital nor the grounds.

However, the need in our region is increasing rapidly. Over the past year, there has been a 17% increase in in-patient admissions and in chemotherapy patients, and the lack of an Emergency Department is obviously a gap in what they can offer. Eighty- five percent of patients admitted are managed at Dunstan (not needing to be transferred) and the average inpatient stay is two days.

Hayley considers that, overall, COHSL is incredibly lucky – they have fantastic staff and experienced leadership - but they need to be at the table for any discussions and decisions on the future of health services in Central Otago.

Jimmy Carter's vision for peace

This story appeared in the February 2018 issue of Rotary magazine.  It’s a crisp, sunny day in late October, and school groups are touring the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in

Espresso in a war zone