Cambridge Rotary Club David Partis immediate past president reckons he couldn’t have asked for a better year in office than the one just ended.
Cambridge Rotary Club’s immediate past president David Partis with the two International Youth Exchange students hosted during his year – Austria’s Marie Witzel, left, and Louise Zakrzewski from northern France. Photo: supplied
Speaking to The News soon after the club changeover for the 2024/25 year, Partis described his year as extraordinary.
One highlight was the 2024 Rotary District 9930 Conference, hosted in May. That was particularly unusual in that it was the first time since 2007 that a Rotary club had hosted the club of a sitting District Governor, then Cambridge’s Bill Robinson.
World Rotary president Gordon McInally, centre, with district governor Bill Robinson check out the Urban Miners recycling operation in Cambridge. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Soon afterwards came the visit to the region of Rotary International president Gordon McInally and his wife Heather. McInally, a former Edinburgh dentist, was the first Rotary International president to visit New Zealand. So impressed was he with the Rotary’s Urban Miners’ recycling operation he expressed determination to take the concept back to Scotland.
Aside from those events, plus the normal run of Rotary activities, Partis and his partner hosted International Youth Exchange (IYE) student, Louise Zakrzewski, who returned to her home in Arras, France, last week. She narrowly missed the flight disruptions caused by the international CrowdStrike global tech upheaval.
Having the 18-year-old in Cambridge wasn’t initially on the cards, but it proved to be a nifty shift from the norm.
“She was Te Awamutu Rotary’s exchange student,” Partis explained, “but after a few months there, her interest in taking up opportunities here in Cambridge meant we worked together with their club to have her here for a while. She started at Cambridge High School at the beginning of the year… we had her for just over five months, but she returned to her Te Awamutu host family for the school holidays. It was a very unusual situation, but it worked well for everybody.
“At the end of the day, Rotary’s intention is to give our exchange students the very best experience we can.”
Louise’s interest in cycling at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome was central to that decision. She did several hours a week there and rode with the Cambridge High School club that regularly trains there.
Marie Witzel, who is fluent in German, English and Italian, with her first Rotary host mum, Shona Devoy.
Partis and his team were involved in hosting the Cambridge IYE student, Austrian Marie Witzel, ensuring she enjoyed as many activities as possible. She also returned home last week.
He has also set in motion the establishment of a sister-city relationship between Rotary clubs in Cambridge and Le Quesnoy.
Partis is moving to Melbourne for a spell, while remaining a member of Cambridge Rotary. He plans to meet up with Louise in Le Quesnoy at the end of August to finalise details of the sister-city club relationship. Joining them will be fellow Cambridge Rotarians David and Anne Blewden.
Cambridge Rotary’s recent changeover saw a handover to new president Gary Smith.
There was also a presentation of the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Community award to Greg Liddy, and two other Paul Harris Fellowship awards to club members Bev Maul-Rogers and Mark Hanlon.
Cambridge Rotary Club’s immediate past president David Partis, left, handing the chains of office to the 2024/25 president, Gary Smith. Photo: supplied
