Day 2 of District Conference

Sunday 19th of April and we dressed up in our suites and finery and headed off to the Conference to do our presentation in front of around 300 attendees. Prior to us the International Youth Exchange group did an entertaining sone and dance act then at 9.30 we were on stage. Personally i was quite nervous however the team did their presentation very well and we finished off by saying thank you in four different languages. Feedback afterwards was that even though the Solomons and PNG are relatively near neighbours most were unaware of what's happening in that part of the world and found the information interesting and informative.

Warkworth Club had an interesting fundraising exercise where they had a dinner for some 2300 people in a tunnel. This was a new extension to a northern road system and it was so popular they sold all the tickets in less than 24 hours. The logistics of holding such a big event in a tunnel without kitchens, toilets etc proved no obstacle to the Club who undertook the exercise in conjunction with two other clubs and the even raised $100,000 for the community charity funds. A great example of thinking outside the norm. The conference concluded with a talk from Marcus Akuhata Brown who came from a background where success simply didn't exist. Yet against the odds he finished high school then went on to University and became a member of the junior version of Chogum and met Prince Charles, went to the White House and became an inspiration to many who couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when he told his story about how he emerged from a tiny little village on the East Coast which had two shops and a pub, no electricity, no TV and to make matters worse the pub burnt down!

Great finish to a well run conference.

We picked up our lunch box on the way out and headed off to the local airport to have a look at our hosts airplane, then it was back to change and refresh and head off to David Ashby's farm for a barbeque and some fellowship with the team and members of the Whangarei Sunrise Club. We left with our hosts at around 9.15pm for the 40 minute drive home and needless to say we all slept well after a busy and entertaining day.