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1990. Charity Fundraising Dinner with Peter Blake, Winner 1989 Whitbread.
 In
1989, Peter Blake won the Whitbread Round
the World yacht race in his
boat, Steinlager2. Being a keen yachtsman, and knowing how to get the contact,
Kevyn Moore was quick to secure Peter's services as a charismatic speaker
at a fundraising dinner to raise money for Child Cancer. This was the first of a
series of fundraising events organised by Kevyn.
The
Dinner was held in the Assembly Restaurant in Hastings.
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).
"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.
"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.
"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.
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