President Robert and members warmly welcomed Robin Aitken at the end of June, as our newest Member. He said his memory of Graeme Blick's mantra, “Rotarians are good people, doing good things”, was still fresh in his mind.
Originally from Scotland, Robin spent 12 years at sea in the merchant navy. He first came to NZ in 1969, where he met his late wife Julie, a Lower Hutt girl. They married in 1970 while sitting his Master's ticket in Wellington. In 1973 it was time to come ashore and he lived in Auckland, Dunedin and New Plymouth while managing shipping company offices for Blue Star Line.
Robin has three children, a son Andrew in Bristol, and daughters Karen and Jane in Martinborough and Normandale respectively; he's very proud to have 3 very young grandchildren. In October 2019, he moved into Bob Scott Village.
Rotary life began in 1987 with New Plymouth West Rotary. There he served as President in 1996 and again in 2007. In that time he chaired various committees and also served as Assistant Governor for 4 years, including District Committees – International Youth Exchange and World Community Service.