THE Rotary Club of Uitenhage South inducted a new president last Saturday evening during a gala dinner event with a difference.
Given the Covid-19 lockdown status and the need for social distancing, the prestige event was held digitally via Zoom. All delegates participated, in style for the formal occasion, from the comfort of their own living rooms.
Hemant Nathoo, the outgoing president, gave his state of the club address and then handed the presidents chain over to the incoming president, Ralph Meintjes.
The actual handing over event was recorded earlier under strict social distancing conditions and the movie was shown during the Zoom event.
Nathoo spoke about the work the club had done and was particularly proud of the contribution the club made, with help from the residents of Uitenhage, in providing food parcels to the hungry during lockdown.
He also presented the prestige award of a Paul Harris Fellowship to past president Dr Dayalan Naidoo, the actual award being delivered to his door at the exact moment during the Zoom event.
Incoming president Ralph Meintjes said he was humbled by his election and looked forward to leading the club in serving the community, especially during these difficult times.
A number of guests and family from outside of Uitenhage also attended, including from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. There was also an international guest, past president of Rotary Regional Great Britain and Ireland, Nan McCreadie from London, who inducted a new member into the club, Rotarian Nasstasia Dormer.
Albeit the event was on-line, the meal for everyone in Uitenhage was the same, as it was delivered by the caterer. The dress code for the event was a choice between formal or Bollywood. This led to some interesting costumes.
The two-and-a-half-hour event included all the usual speeches and meal breaks, during which pictures and fun movies from the past year in the club were shown on screen.
