Whakatū Rotary welcomed Troy Stade as president for the 2026–2027 Rotary year at the club’s American Independence Day-themed changeover dinner at the weekend.

At just a few weeks from turning 33, Troy is one of the youngest Rotary presidents installed across District 9999 (the South Island) this year. Rotary leadership runs in the family—his parents, Karen Stade and Martin de Ruyter, are both club members and former presidents, while Karen will serve as District 9999 Governor-Elect in 2026–2027.

Troy is keen to make the club even more project-focused, encouraging members to “get their hands dirty” by digging holes, planting trees, and taking the lead in developing exciting new community service projects and volunteer-driven events.

Whakatū Rotary went back to school for the first of the annual college balls last weekend, putting on a casino for the Nayland College Ball.

The four casino tables (Blackjack, Texas Hold’em Poker, Roulette and Spin the Wheel) are a fun alternative to dancing for ballgoers and have been welcomed by students over several years. Running the casino is a great way for our Whakatū Rotary croupier team to connect with teenagers and we really enjoy the night out with them.

The college support of our fundraising casinos helps us to support various community projects, so it’s a win-win.

If you’re interested in hiring our team to run a fun (cashless) casino for your event, get in touch with us.

Whakatū member Karen Stade became a District Governor in waiting over the weekend at the Rotary District 9999 (South Island) changeover event.

The annual event sees a new District Governor (DG) installed each June, ready for the 1 July start of the Rotary year. Sandra Isaacs of Christchurch is DG for 2026-2027 and Karen will take on the role at the end of June 2027. The image shows Sandra flanked by Immediate Past District Governor Keith McIntosh of Queenstown, and Karen.

It’s a great honour for Whakatu Rotary to have Karen in this leadership role as just four years ago fellow club member Phil Gully served a term as DG. Both Phil and Karen have served as club presidents and Assistant Governors, the latter supporting DGs in their local area by keeping in close contact with clubs.

District 9999 encompasses all of the South Island and 61 Rotary clubs.

Whakatū Rotary is very proud to have been awarded the trophy for Rotary District 9999’s best website 2025-2026.

“Up to date, on brand, easy to navigate, and a pleasure to read” were the comments from the social media and website awards judge.

The club’s media content creator Karen Stade was on hand at the district’s changeover event in Christchurch over the weekend to accept the award. The website is the result of a lot of work by a small club team, working with the Australian District 9510 Online Club, led by the late Graham Fussen. He and his team raise funds for community projects through the development of Rotary club websites, hosting, domain and email services. We’re sad Graham is not here to known how his dedication to helping clubs put up dynamic websites has reaped rewards.

We’re still learning about our website and how we can continue to improve what we share with you but we look forward to continuing to bring you up to date what we get up to and how we love being part of our community. If you’re interested in finding out more about what we do, membership, or just helping at an event or project, reach out to us at whakaturotary@gmail.com.

(And yes, for you eagle eyes, the trophy says District 9980. District 9999 combined two districts, D9970 and 9980 five years ago. We’re thrifty so continue to use trophies from both former districts.)