Charity Fundraising Dinner with Peter Blake, 1990.

The late Sir Peter Blake

The guest speaker was Sir Peter Blake. In 1989 he won the  Whitbread Around the World yacht race with a clean sweep winning all 6 legs with his yacht Steinlager2.

Being a keen yachtsman, and knowing how to  get the contact,  Club member Kevyn Moore was quick to secure Peter's services as a charismatic speaker at a fundraising dinner to raise money for Child Cancer.

Kevyn recalls, "I phoned him at his home in Hemsworth, England and he agreed to come to NZ just for this dinner. Child Cancer Foundation was his charity of choice.  Steinlager paid all expenses except the return airfare from Auckland to Napier and his and accommodation in Napier".

This was the first of a series of fundraising events organised by Kevyn. The Dinner was held in the  Assembly Restaurant in Hastings.

Peter Blake and family after winning the Round the World.

The following article was  submitted to Rotary Down Under. 18-5-91.

"The Rotary Club of Taradale (Napier, N.Z.) sponsored a charity dinner and "celebrity" auction and raised $33,200, aided by sponsors' donations, for Child Cancer Foundation research work.

"The 90-member club has no lack of experience of public auctions. Annual second-hand goods auction-cum-market days have for a number of years helped to fund the club's community projects, and other Rotary-based initiatives ($17,000 this year; $170,000 in total to date).

Kevyn surveys some of the auction goods

"But the celebrity auction was an added, one-off venture. Originally planned as a feature of the Rotary District 993 conference in Napier it had to be deferred at that stage owing to sound system deficiencies.

"That left the problem of what to do with the sizeable list of donated items, ranging from a squash racquet belonging to Susan Devoy and a Rugby ball autographed by the New Zealand sevens squad to "celebrity" ties and tee-shirts. The Taradale club provided the answer by agreeing to sponsor a charity dinner and auction.

"The format followed closely one used by Taradale president Kevyn Moore while stationed in Scotland for a time, during which he had continued his Rotary ties. He and his Taradale committee "sold" tables (round tables each seating 10 guests) to companies, which were able to claim the cost ($600 per table) as an advertising promotion expense. The companies invited important clients, suppliers, shareholders etc. as their guests. Thus 90 per cent of the 310 who attended got in free.

The now Dame Susan Devoy, World Champion

"A cocktail hour was followed by a four-course meal with top Hawke's Bay wine as well as coffee and liqueurs. In this period a travel raffle (prize $1500 of travel) was sold and drawn, 300 tickets going off at $10 each. Also, 1000 mystery envelopes were sold at $2. each or three for $5, with instant cash prizes ranging from $250 down.

"Then followed a talk by champion Whitbread round-the-world skipper Peter Blake who, while in London, had readily accepted Kevyn Moore's invitation to take part. His presence cost the club only his air fare from Auckland and accommodation expenses. Blake's sponsor, Steinlager (N.Z. Breweries), was also a major sponsor of the evening.

Sir Peter Blake, DG Jim Judd, Pat Tully (on behalf of CC Foundation), IPDG Jim Ross. (it was set up in his year)
 

"Winding up a much enjoyed evening, the "celebrity" auction raised $12,360, bringing the profit from the whole evening to $19,200. At the district conference itself, the Taradale club had pitched in with $5000, and sundry sponsors had given another $9000. This meant that a total of $33,231 was handed to the Child Cancer Foundation.

"The committee at the helm was Kevyn Moore, John Campbell, Mark Read, Ron Ebbett and Trevor Kilpatrick. The auctioneer was Colin Hay."

 An amount of about $33,200 was raised for the Child Cancer Foundation.