The Inner Wheel Club of Howick celebrated its 30th birthday on Saturday, November 5.
The club was charted in 1991 with 55 members. Ethel Abercrombie was the first club president. We were blessed to have four charter members at our party who still belong to our club as active members. Margaret Drake flew from Christchurch to join us in celebrating as she, too, was an charter member. It was an evening of great celebration.
The objectives of Inner Wheel are friendship, personal service and international understanding.
Each year the club honour’s a person from the community with the Dawn Johnson Koru Award. This award is in recognition of a resident from the Pakuranga, Howick or Botany area who has displayed perseverance in overcoming obstacles to realise significant achievements. It is awarded to someone who demonstrated resilience, compassion, and a desire to assist others in their community. This year it was awarded to an outstanding lady, Martine Abel-Williamson, who resides in Pakuranga.
Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown nominated Martine for this award and was present at the celebration and was able to present the award. Martine is totally blind and is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities all over the world. She serves on several boards and also works as a senior human rights advisor at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. Her life story is awe-inspiring and we had the privilege of having her husband Gary and their guide dog Greg present with us too.
