Petone Rotary Club

Two new Paul Harris Fellows were awarded at Petone Rotary 75th Celebrations. To Sylvia Allan, and to Pam Hanna for the second time. Both have been hard workers for the Club and the wider community over decades. Read the citations below :-)

Petone Rotary celebrated its 75th Anniversary on 28th April 2026. A great celebration was held at Petone Club, with over 75 members, friends and supporters attending. With proceedings on the night ably managed by former President John Prendergast, and behind-the-scenes organisation by a bunch of people, led by Gerry Pallo, we reminisced, dined and looked forward to another 75 years of serving the people of Petone and beyond :-)

Petone Rotary helping fundraising for Te Omanga Hospice. A good time was had by all and many sausages were sold. Murray, Iain, Erin, Sylvia and Rob were just some of our volunteers that day :-)

The 2026 Petone Rotary Fair is almost upon us - Saturday 21st February, 10am to 4pm, Jackson Street between Cuba Street and Victoria Street. Bookings are full and Jackson Street shops will be selling on footpaths too. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Kaibosh is NZ Aotearoa New Zealand’s first dedicated food rescue charity. Their Mahi reduces food poverty, cuts food waste and protects our environment all guided by a strong commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Petone Rotary is very excited to help Kaibosh with the grant toward their new EV van. She looks amazing.

You might think we have all gone to Cambodia, but here we are having a festive dinner together at Sabaidee in Jackson Street. Pesident Kevin reminded us that although we are a small group, we do a great deal - from annually running the biggest community event in the Hutt Valley (Petone Rotary Fair), to supporting numerous community initiatives. This year we've worked with the other Hutt Valley Rotary Clubs on Lifting the Lid - a youth mental health initiative - and supported environmental causes ranging from local trapping initiatives, to Kaibosh, to Wainuiomata Marae's Tiny Forest Project. We've raised funds for Rotary Intenational's Polio Eradication Project. We've supported youth ventures, including helping fund a young person chosen to attend a Rotary event in London. We've also had great speakers and events all year, and quite a lot of fun!

Our speakers last week were Jenny Williams and Liz O'Hare from Pito-One Harmony Singers, a group established by Jenny to bring the positive effects of music therapy to people in our community (the lower part of Hutt Valley) with dementia. Music therapy helps people who are losing the ability to talk. The group started small, with the aims of making music, movement and social interaction available in a safe and accessible environment to people who otherwise might feel unable to participate in traditional choirs, and has continued to grow over its four years of existence. The work of this entirely voluntary group is amazing!

A group of local people has set up a meeting which might be of interest to members....
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN PETONE'S FUTURE?
Come along to a community meeting on Thursday, 6th November, Petone Rugby Club, North Park, Udy Street, 7pm to 9pm.
An opportunity to discuss matters such as the proposed route for the Petone to Granada road, what's happening along our foreshore, the new HCC committee structure, the possibility of establishing a new Community Association, other interests and concerns....
ALL WELCOME 😄

What a pleasure to hear about the experiences of Shivjesh (Shivvy) Nair from Wainuiomata at the recent RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) camp at Otaki. He says he learned a great deal over the 5 days and has made lifetime friends. Shivvy explained what they did each day, the learnings made, and how he scored the days - ranging from a 6 on the first day when he was still getting used to the vibe, to 10s as he gained confidence and benefitted more as the days passed. It is great for us to be able to sponsor these amazing young people and to hear of their experiences 😊

This year Petone Rotary sponsored two Hutt Valley students to attend the annual Rotary National Science and Technology Forum at Auckland University - Sophie from Sacred Heart and Antariksh (Ricky) from Wainuiomata College. Sophie and Ricky recently came along to our weekly meeting to share their experiences with us.
They described the "menu"of STEM subjects and the hands-on experiences they had been exposed to over the two week stay, ranging from robotics to built engineering and bio-medical science. Both said they gained immensely from the experience, not just from the science and technology exposure, but from making friends and finding mentors, and gaining confidence and learning about possible new directions for their futures. Their vision is of using curiosity and applying science to change the world.
Sophie has been chosen as one of 5 or 6 of the approximately 130 who attended the Forum, to head to London and attend the 66th London International Youth Science Forum in July.