About Fay Norman
“Through travelling as the Governor’s wife, I have been provided with opportunities to see Rotary through a wider lens.”
I was inducted into the Rotary Club of East Coast Bays in District 9910 on Monday 11 March 2019 so I am a very new Rotarian. However, my involvement with Rotary commenced when my husband became a charter member of the Rotary Club of North Harbour in 1989. Our children were young and this club offered many opportunities for whanau fellowship and community engagement. Over the past 30 years I have enjoyed supporting the club through such activities as fundraising events, tree planting on Motutapu Island, hosting IYE students and club catering for Ronald McDonald House dinners for families.
I was a primary school teacher for over 30 years with 26 of those years teaching and as Deputy Principal at a Decile 1 school on Auckland’s North Shore, where I saw Rotary in action. Local clubs supported our school through hands on projects, funding programmes and equipment. It was the willingness of participating clubs to always say “yes’ to requests that impressed us the most. I am now retired from full time teaching but I continue to work in schools as a relieving teacher.
Over the past 2 ½ years I have had the privilege of being a part of an incredible journey with my husband Jerry, the current Governor of District 9910. Together we decided this would be a challenging but rewarding role and in July 2016 the first part of our chapter commenced.
As the wife of the Governor I wanted to be a hands-on teammate. In this role I took on the challenge of completing the District Directory; timetabling club visits; writing the monthly Governor Newsletter; catering for the many formal and informal district meetings; chairing the conference committee and became the ‘Governor’s Chauffeur’. Together we have visited 45 D9910 Rotary, Rotaract and Satellite Clubs in New Zealand, Noumea, Vanuatu and Norfolk Island. We were warmly welcomed by Rotarians across the district and heard of the wonderful work they continue to do. The highlight of this time for me was to witness the hard work undertaken in Vanuatu by dedicated Rotarians and the treasured memories of fellowship from our visits to our Pacific Island clubs.
It has been as a result of my time as the wife of the Governor, having had the opportunity to observe Rotary with a wider lens, that I made the decision to become a member of this wonderful organisation. I am looking forward to participating in projects that make a difference to the tamariki (children) and women in less privileged communities both locally and globally.
Jerry and I have 3 adult children and 8 mokopuna (grandchildren) who all live in close proximity to us. Whanau is very important to us and even over the past year we have attempted to continue our “nana and papa” roles whenever possible. Once Jerry’s Governor role ends in July 2019 I look forward to reading the stack of books I have sitting on the bedside table, spending more time up at our shared family beach house in Mangawhai Heads, getting in some fishing and catching up with friends.
One of the most significant achievements I am proudest of is being the inaugural organiser of what has become the largest Cultural Festival for Primary and Intermediated schools on Auckland’s North Shore. I continued to coordinate this event for the following 22 years.