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Founded 1933 RI No 3630 RIBI No 393
For previous years click on http://www.hoverotaryclub.name/2006/7 or http://www.hoverotaryclub.name/2006/ or http://www.hoverotaryclub.name/2005
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ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE (District 1250 Skittles Champions) BULLETIN JUNE 2008. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellows, My last thoughts! Just as I thought I was getting the hang of it, my year is coming to an end. The two most recent memories are of the International Barbecue held on 31st May at Storrington, which was not only a pleasant social occasion but raised a useful amount of money for our International Fund. As I write, the exact sum is not known. I would like to thank the extended Tiltman family for their hospitality ranging from the magnificent facilities, superb food and even the talented Amber who announced the raffle winne3rs over the microphone with great confidence and professionalism! Ted Bartup and his helpers ensured that there was an endless supply of soft and hard drinks including Polish beer!! Everyone knew what was happening thanks to Keith Upton and his public address system. My grateful thanks to all: - I hope I have left no one out. I am a very proud President of the District 1250 Skittles Champions team. We soundly defeated Godalming Woolsack by 172 points to 166 last Wednesday. Congratulations, everybody. I will try to sum up the Club’s achievements more fully in my Valedictory address when I hand over to President Ken. I am the President of a successful Club. Our achievements are the result of a lot of hard work by dedicated Club Members not just in the last year but over many years in the past. I said at the beginning of my year that I hoped I would enjoy the reflected glory of the efforts of my fellow Club Members. I certainly have! I thank all of you Hove Rotarians who have supported me in my efforts in the last year and know that President Ken will get the same enthusiastic support in his year. Enjoy Your Rotary David.
CLUB DIARY 2008. June. Mon 2nd. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm. Tues. 3rd. Club Assembly when i/c Ken Jones sets out his programme for the forthcoming Rotary Year*** Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, draft programme issued by Peter Fowle and further details will be forthcoming Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles. Sun 8th. Paul Harris Fellowship Lunch at Reigate Manor Hotel. See John Eaton for further details***. Wed. 25th. Bangers and Mash at Pangdean Farm. Please note that this is a re-arranged date but is still a "Must Go To" event. Detailed arrangements will be announced at a later date by organiser Bryan Meakin*** July. Tue. 1st. Induction of i/c President Ken.*** Sat.5th. Housing Society Charity Barbecue 30, Sackville Road, Further details forthcoming*** Mon.7th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm*** September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff 2009. April Sun 26th. Motorcycle Rally – Blatchington Mill School – all day!! Watch this space! New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR June Cash – Roger Patterson. Care of Visitors – To be announced CLUB DUTIES FOR JULY Cash - Bryan Meakin. Care of Visitors – Derek Clouting. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR JUNE. 3rd. Today is the occasion of the Club Assembly when i/c President Ken will be introducing his team and they will be giving us their ideas and intentions for the coming Rotary year. ADG Duncan Anderson will be the moderator. 10th. Today is set aside for one of our own members to speak to us. 17th. We have two speakers today, and they will be the candidates who represented our Club at the recent RYLA course in Amersham. The vote of thanks will be given by President David. 24th. President David’s last meeting in charge and he will be marking this with his Valedictory. He then will hand over his Presidency to i/c President Ken. BANGERS IN THE BARN. – 25TH JUNE. Bangers in the Barn, held at Pangdean Farm, Pyecombe is upon us again. This event, held in conjunction with Brighton and Hove Soirée and Brighton and Hove Breakfast Clubs was a great success last year, apart from the fact that not many members of this Club attended. Those who didn’t go missed a truly good Rotary night out. The grub was good, complete with a chocolate fountain (and strawberries!) for pudding. Music was supplied by members of Brighton and Hove Breakfast Club and jolly good they were too! Please try to support this very worthwhile night. You won’t regret it. Tickets are available from Bryan Meakin at the bargain price of £12.50 each. DISTRICT CONFERENCE, CARDIFF, 26TH-28TH SEPTEMBER. Conference is not too far away now and I’m sure that i/c President Ken will be very grateful for your support at what promises to be a very good conference. Please contact either Peter Fowle or myself so that we can make hotel arrangements. As it’s a bit of a trot to Cardiff it may be a good idea to book in on the Thursday, to save a last minute dash down the M4 on the Friday. Registration forms are available from i/c Pres Ken. Last time there was a Rotary conference, an RIBI one, some ten years or so ago, a whole load of us went down, together with the ladies, whose Inner Wheel conference was on just prior to our own and a great time was had by all. Cardiff is a real fun place to visit, with very many interesting points of interest. The rejuvenation of the Tiger Bay area is particularly something to see. MOTOR CYCLE RALLY – AN APPRECIATION. The following is extracted from the May edition of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club’s Newsletter. The title of the article was "I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH THE SUPERB ORGANISATION OF THE ENGINEERIUM RUN. and went on to say "Above is a photo of some of the entrants at the Engineerium Run having their lunch in a covered area at Blatchington Mill School where the run was based as the refurbishment of the Engineerium is not yet finished and probably won’t be next year either. The school is an ideal venue with ample playground for parking and an indoor hall as well as the covered area in the photo with tables and chairs for folks to get out of any rain. In fact it is a much better venue than the Engineerium. The school agreed to it being used again as everything was cleaned up so well after last year. I was impressed at the superb organisation – nearly every Rotarian must have helped! " routes to be signposted, marshals at roundabouts, St John ambulance, not to mention cleaning up afterwards including loos and oil drips in the playground. No wonder it gets more popular every year. I’m sure it will become a National event before long! Well done Rotary Club of Hove!" I’ve published this because I done think you realise how much this event is appreciated by the motorcycling community as a whole and I also think it would be a shame for it to fall by the wayside because of the continuing fight to get volunteers to man the whole thing. CLUB MEETINGS. 6th May 2008. Unfortunately, your correspondent, together with many Club members was away on the Polish trip, reported in great detail later on in this bulletin, and I have no details of this meeting, except to say that there were approximately 19 members present under the Chairmanship of IPP Michael Barley. 13th May 2008. 28 Present – 26 of our own members and two non-Rotarian Guests; Cllr Carol Theobald, Mayor of Brighton and Hove accompanies by her husband, Cllr Geoffrey Theobald. Yveline Milner reported that Ron Knight is now back at home have follow up treatment and is talking about coming to see us in July, which was much more positive than previously thought. Social Secretary Adrian Ball made final announcement about Presidents’ night being held this coming weekend reminding people to arrive at 6.30pm for a 7.15 start to the meal. Ray Tiltman then got up to give people more details about the fundraising barbecue to held on 31st May at Storrington, appealing for raffle prizes. Bob Hinton spoke of an email received from Elise Spofford, last year’s Ambassadorial Scholar, in which she told us that she is doing a sponsored bike ride across USA for charities in Nicaragua, Bob will give more details later. Today’s speaker the Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Cllr Carol Theobald, who was born and brought up in Patcham and is the mother of two sons and has one grand child. She told us that she is a former Miss Brighton and also, in her young days, was a fashion model. She has been a council for Patcham for some time, and was first elected for that ward when it was part of the County Borough of Brighton. .Carol is a bright and bubbly lady and showed during her talk that she has thoroughly enjoyed her time as Mayor. This, in fact, was the third time she has been with us in recent weeks, when firstly she attended the fish and chip lunch at Portslade Community Hall and Rotary point on Good Friday. A few weeks later she was our guest of honour at the Motorcycle Rally at Blatchington Mill School. She told us that she took on the job of Mayor at very short notice because the councillor who was due to be mayor lost his seat at the local elections a couple of weeks before he was due to take office. In fact she said that she only became sure that she would be mayor on the actual day of induction. She has come full circle now because this week is her last in office and she will be handing the Mayoralty to Councillor Peltzer-Dunn two days later. Because of the lengthy Polish report later on in the bulletin I have to try to keep reports of our meeting down to the bare minimum so I will finish this report by saying that this was one of the best Mayoralty talks I have heard in my 23 years of Rotary and I am sure that she was an excellent ambassador for our City. The vote of thanks was given by President David. 20th May 2008. 24 Present – all our own Members. Peter Savage was pleased to give greetings from Ken Guest, past President of this Club, who was a fellow passenger on a (another!) recent cruise. President David has spoken to Ron Knight, who is still back home and said that he sounded quite cheerful. President David also gave special thanks to Adrian and Hillary Ball for all their hard work in making the Presidents’ night on Saturday such a great success. Today was the occasion of the Club’s AGM and the meeting took its usual form with the minutes of the last AGM being formally signed by the President. The names of those elected to Club Council were announced and they were as follows: David Burchell, Peter Fowle, Frances du Toit, Yveline Milner, Tad Phillips/Filipowicz and Bob Mulholland. Reports of the last year’s workings of the various Committees were then read out by the relevant chairman. Treasurer Michael Nettell was then next up and he presented his budget for next year, stating that he intended to keep next year’s subscription at £104.00. Approval was then given to appointment of next year’s Club Chairmen and Club Service Officers, details of which will be in next months Bulletin. 27th May 2008. 29 Present, all our own members. It was announced that Club Assembly will be held next week and ADG Duncan Anderson will be the District Moderator. It was announced that permission need not be sought to removed jackets or ties at the club meeting. This will apply until the end of September. President David read out note from Adrian and Hillary Ball in which they thanked him for his kind gift in appreciation of their hard work organising the Presidents’ Night. Gordon Cummings then gave short account of his trials and tribulations with British Airway (and Terminal 5) He told us of his arriving, with wife Jane and Roger and Jan Patterson three and a half hours before their flight time. He said there were loads of monitors which you tap into with electronic booking. A helpful chap told Gordon that these were not working and they had would have to book in the conventional way. On arriving at the check in, telling the nice lady that he had prebooked his seats, he was informed that this hadn’t happened and that there were only a handful of unbooked seats, all singles, scattered throughout the very large aircraft. Consequently all four of them were separated, but Jan and Roger, through a Good Samaritan were able to be reunited. Despite having booked four suitcases in under one single name, Gordon’s, on arrival at Los Angeles baggage hall they found only one suitcase had arrived. To cut a long story short they were reunited with the other three cases, two of them the following morning and the other one the following evening, but it was still at Los Angeles airport, which meant that they picked it up next morning, leaving him without a suitcase full of clothes for some two days. The perfect start to a holiday!! Howard Attree was delighted to announce that he was holding a cheque for £10,000 which was a part payment of a legacy from Wally Muggeridge, a founder member of the Portslade and West Hove Club. Wally left a considerable sum of money to his daughter, who has since died. A quarter of this sum has been left to us. This was a first payment but the final payment could be in the order of £30,000 but this could be some time as rest of the legacy is in shares, but there could also be significant dividend amounts on the way. Ray Tiltman made a final announcement to do with the upcoming barbecue in Storrington, asking if Members could ask their other halves to supply "puddings" for the event. Raffle prizes were also needed. John Mainwood informed members that this Club are the new District 1250 skittles champions, details in other parts of bulletin. Bryan Meakin rose to publicise the tripartite (Brighton and Hove Breakfast, Brighton and Hove Soiree and Hove Club) "Bangers and Mash" evening, which is to be held at Pangdean Farm, Pyecombe, on Wednesday 25th June, tickets priced at £12.50 each. The remainder of the meeting was devoted to reports from various participants on the recent trip to Poland, duplicated by the lengthy report at the end of this bulletin. "40 SET" NUMBERS Herewith list of numbers for this year’s "40 Set" for you to make a note of. 1: Howard Attree. 2:John Austin, 3;Adrian Ball, 4; Michael Barley, 5; Edward Bartup, 6; Veronica Bartup, 7;Paul Beaken, 8;David Burchell, 9; Joan Burchell, 10: Clive Chapple, 11; Derek Clouting, 12; Ian Collington, 13; John Couch, 14; Gordon Cummings, 15; Patrick Douch, 16: June Douch, 17; Frances du Toit, 18; John Eaton, 19; Peter Fowle, 20; Pam Fowle, 21; Bernard Greaves, 22; May Greaves, 23; Bob Green, 24; Ralph Harrison, 25; David Haycock, 26; Chris Heath, 27: David Henderson, 28;Christine, 29:Bob Hinton, 30; Ken Jones, 31:Ron Knight, 32;David Knowles, 33;Bryan Meakin, 34;Yveline Milner, 35;Bob Mulholland, 36;Michael Nettell, 37; Roger Patterson, 38; Tad Phillips/Filipowicz, 39; George Robinson, 40;Peter Savage, 41; Paul Thrasher, 42;Ray Tiltman, 43; Chrissie Tiltman, 44:Keith Upton, 45;Ian Varley, 46; Tony Woodthorpe, 47;Ron Loadsman.
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN MAY 2008. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellows, I write this with the memories of the Motorcycle Run fresh in my mind. It was a great success. There was an excellent entry and the motorcycles were turned out to a very high standard. The catering arrangements were up to the usual high standard and the venue – Blatchington Mill School – proved to be well chosen as, when rain threatened, we were able to have the presentation under cover, in the dining area. Our Mayor, Councillor Carol Theobald, appeared to be enthralled by the occasion and mentioned her memories of her first motorcycle ride as a little girl. I had my camera ready in case she tried to repeat the experience but did not get the chance! The atmosphere with the smell of oil and the distinctive engine noise of British single cylinder engines took me back to my first ride on the last of my uncle’s BSA Empire Star. I still remember the fear when the bike leaned over into the first bend! I would like to express the Club’s thanks to all of those who worked so hard with the organisation, route planning and signing, catering, bar and marshalling. Also grateful thanks to Blatchington Mill School and Peter Hill for making it possible for the participants and spectators to visit West Blatchington Windmill. As I write this I do not know the amount of profit made, but there was a turnover of some £5,800. Again we have had some first class events at the lunchtime meetings. I always look forward to the contributions from our own members. Every one has been a winner! I am sure that we are in for a good night at the combined Rotary and Inner Wheel dinner on 17th May and I am looking forward to the trip to Poland on 5th May. Yours in Rotary – David. CLUB DIARY 2008. May. Mon 5th – Sun 11th. Trip to Poland. Meeting to discuss the final details will be held sometime in January. Mon 11th. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm***. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. Tues. 20th Club AGM. Names needed for new Council Members. Lunchtime*** Sat. 31st. Fundraising BBQ at the usual venue in Storrington. Tickets £10 from George Robinson*** June. Mon 2nd. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm. Tues. 3rd. Club Assembly when i/c Ken Jones sets out his programme for the forthcoming Rotary Year*** Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, draft programme issued by Peter Fowle and further details will be forthcoming Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles. Sun 8th. Paul Harris Fellowship Lunch at Reigate Manor Hotel. See John Eaton for further details***. Wed. 25th. Bangers and Mash at Pangdean Farm. Please note that this is a re-arranged date but is still a "Must Go To" event. Detailed arrangements will be announced at a later date by organiser Bryan Meakin*** September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff 2009. April Sun 26th. Motorcycle Rally – Blatchington Mill School – all day!! Watch this space!*** New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR MAY Cash – Mike Peters. Care of Visitors – To be announced CLUB DUTIES FOR JUNE Cash - Roger Patterson. Care of Visitors – To be announced. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR MAY. 6th. No speaker as yet but numbers could be quite low this week because President David along with numerous members will be on holiday in Poland. 13th. We welcome the Mayor of Brighton and Hove today; Councillor Carol Theobald, who will be telling us all about her year in office, which concludes in the very near future. 20th. Today is the occasion for the Club AGM, when reports from the various Committee Chairmen will be considered and, hopefully, nominations will have been received for members of Club Council for the Rotary year 2008.09. 27th. There is no speaker arranged today, but it will probably be one of our own Members giving an account of his experiences of life in general. FUNDRAISING BARBECUE. Yes, it’s that time of the year again, when hopefully the weather will be good enough to make our first Barbecue of this calendar year a great success. It’s at the usual venue, Ray Tiltman’s daughter’s place in Storrington, complete with a very large garden, and shelter in the barn if needed. The food will once again be beautifully cooked by Ray’s son-in-law and there will also be plenty of refreshments on hand, if needed. Tickets for this, one of the highlights of our Rotary year, will be priced at £10 and any profits from the evening will go to the International Hospitality Fund. Make a note of the date: 31st May and the time: 6.30 for 7pm MOTORCYCLE RALLY. Despite heavy rainfall during this, our largest fundraising event of the year, the day seemed to go off quite smoothly. President David has already thanked everyone for their efforts, particularly the event Committee who put in an incalculable number of man-hours in the months leading up to the rally. At the time of going to press, the only figure I have is the same as that in President David’s message but I am sure that it will have shown a pretty healthy return when all the outgoings are accounted for. I know that it’s pretty long notice, but if the rally is held next year, it is pencilled in for Sunday, April 26th. Until you hear anything different, I suggest that you keep this date clear of any holidays to enable us to garner as many volunteers as possible.
CLUB MEETINGS. 1st April 2008. 29 present – all our own members. President David reminded members that Stroke Awareness Day would be on Saturday, 12th April and would be taking part outside Hove Town Hall from 10am-2pm when both he and Michael Barley would be giving blood pressure tests to members of the public. Volunteers are needed to canvas people to have the tests. I/C President Ken Jones reported on his day at PETS (Presidents Elect Training Seminar) last Sunday and told us that the highlight of the day was the news that Bill Gates, President of Microsoft has pledged $100,000,000 to Polio plus if Rotary matches this sum. Our own Patrick Douch was the speaker for today. He told us that he thought his being asked to speak was an April fool because he was completely unprepared for it. The talk started off on a happy note with a joke about an Irishman in a multi-storey car park, getting very frustrated after spending a lot of time looking for a parking space. He finally sought the help of God, saying that he would give up Irish whiskey and would go to mass every day for the rest of his life. Lo and Behold he turned the next corner and found a parking place saying to God "Never mind! I’ve found one!" Patrick then went on to tell us that he had been in the funeral industry for some forty odd years, devoting the majority of his life to other people’s needs. The rest of Patrick’s talk was devoted to the art of embalming. Why embalm? It is to restore the natural appearance of the body after deterioration caused by various enzymes and bacteria breaking down, which causes extreme swelling and unpleasant odours. The internal organs are removed because that is the only way to carry out embalming. This process takes some two or three days. The original art of embalming goes back to Egyptian times with records of this procedure going back to 5400BC. Patrick said the Egyptian method was very interesting, taking a very long time and without the use of the modern fluids. They used a salt solution, placing the body in a tub, leaving it there for some thirty or forty days and then putting the body out in the sun to dehydrate. After dehydration a linen cloth about three and a half inches wide was placed round the body, some 1200 yards of cloth. Even now, when tombs are opened, the bodies are in great shape, proving that it must have been a very effective method. Embalming in the modern age came into popularity during the American Civil War in the 1860’s with 4,500 soldiers being embalmed during that conflict. Firstly it was only the officers that were embalmed but then the other ranks were included. Embalming only took hold even more in the US when formaldehyde was discovered by two Dutchmen, but strangely enough very few countries in Europe were keen on using this new chemical. It didn’t become commonplace in Europe until the 1930s. Patrick felt that embalming did help remember their loved ones in a much nicer state and thought that presentation was very important when relatives came to the chapel to view the deceased. He then went on to tell us all about the latest craze for preserving bodies. This is called resomation, an American idea, which will help with the larger size bodies, most prevalent nowadays. Because it was April Fools Day, a lot of were under the impression that Pat was making it up about this new method but I have since looked it up and it is very interesting. Resomation is a process for the disposal of bodies, which is claimed by its practitioners to be more ecologically favourable than cremation. The process is being marketed world-wide as an alternative to the traditional options of burial or cremation. Up the summer of 2007 it is claimed that more than 1,000 people have been resomated in the USA. There is a company in this country calling itself Resomation Ltd which is the driving force behind the procedure in England. Patrick didn’t really explain the procedure, but I have found out since that it is as follows: The body is placed in a silk bag, which is itself placed within a metal cage frame. This is then loaded into a resomation machine for approximately three hours. The machine is filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide (roughly 500 litres of water and 20 litres of hydroxide), and heated to a high temperature (around 160 degrees Celsius), but at a high pressure, which prevents boiling. Instead the body is effectively dissolved into its chemical components. The end result is a small quantity of green-brown tinted liquid (containing amino acids, peptides, sugars and salts) and what appear to be bones, but are described as calcium phosphate ‘shadows’ of the bones, easily crushed in the hand to form a white-coloured dust. Both the liquid and the dust can be returned to the next of kin of the deceased, and may be buried or applied to a garden. Patrick thought that this was the new way forward, citing an example when he recently had to bury a body which weighed 29 stone, much too big, or heavy, to be cremated. Another great presentation by one of our own members President David gave the vote of thanks.
8th April 2008. 34 present – 32 of our own members and one Rotarian visitor; David Perrin from Brighton and our speaker today, Dr George Deutsch. It was announced that Club AGM would be on 20th May and Club Assembly on 3rd June. Nominations are being sought for next Rotary year’s Club Council. President David was very concerned by the fact that the motorcycle rally seemed to be short of personnel for marshalling purposes and we have had only 17 volunteers thus far. It is hoped to have a wine tasting at a later stage and Yveline Milner will be supplying details when possible. President David also told members that one of our RYLA candidates had dropped out at very short notice but Hanna Mulholland, granddaughter of our own Bob Mulholland had kindly agreed to step in. President David was also very pleased to be able to thank John Eaton for the generous donation from the Osborne Charitable Trust of £500 which will go towards paying for candidates for next year’s RYLA. Adrian Ball rose to talk about the motorcycle rally which was now less than three weeks away. There is a committee meeting due this week to finalise arrangements but it is quite upsetting that volunteers have not yet come forward. It will not be possible to run this event with as few helpers that have volunteered to date. Adrian also asked people to support the President at his joint President’s night, together with Inner Wheel, on 17th May at the Dyke Golf Club. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken mentioned Stroke Awareness Day this Saturday, with members needed to direct people to the St. John Ambulance caravan, where our two Doctors will carry out blood tests. Today was the belated "40 Set" draw and the cheque for £25 was won by Ted Bartup. Our speaker today, Dr George Deutsch retired some four weeks ago as Chief Oncologist at The Royal Sussex County Hospital after a term of some 34 years. George told us that he has lived and worked through huge changes in the treatment of cancer. He was a member of Brighton and Hove Soiree Rotary Club but had to resign because of pressure of work. He told us that he was appointed as a consultant at the RSCH at a very young age. Shortly after he took up his post, chemotherapy came into use and it was then that he became known as a cancer oncologist. Huge changes have been made, not only in the treatment of cancer, but in the number of people involved, this being typified by the fact that when he started at RSCH there were only two consultants, those being himself and Dr. Jan de Winter, who died only last week. Nowadays there are 14 consultants just dealing with the non-surgical management of cancer. The original staff of 25 has now expanded to 150. Equipment has also changed dramatically, with the RSCH being one of the crudest departments when he started. It is now one of the best is Britain but still does not approach some European cancer centres. The English clear up rates are also nowhere near as good as those in Europe. He said that in the old days, surgeons had to open patients up to see the extent of their cancer, but of course nowadays there is equipment, such as scans, that tells the consultants how far it has gone, George said that many consultants work in a small specialised area of cancer but this is not always a good thing because they don’t see the whole picture. He also said that early diagnosis is much more prevalent now. People are also a lot more knowledge about the prevention of cancer because it is much more public than before. He gave us the chilling statistic that one in three people will get cancer in their lifetime but the good news was that there is a 20 percent improvement in cure rates and those who cannot be cured lead a much better lifestyle than in the old days. He said that attitudes to cancer have also improved, saying that 34 years ago he was asked to go to see a man on a ward who had just had an operation and the surgeon had performed an "open and closed" procedure after finding very advanced cancer, thinking that nothing could be done for the patient. George saw the patient and told him that nothing could be done and the patient said he would be pleased if someone would tell him what was wrong with him because he hadn’t even been told he had cancer. George said he gently told him and the patient thanked him for telling him. The surgeon who performed the operation rang George later that night and tore him off a strip for telling a patient what was wrong with him! Nowadays, of course, patients know everything about their ailments, being kept informed all the way through. Some doctors have to be told how to communicate with patients during this time, as there is a certain way of doing it. He said that most people have an expectation of being cured. The Internet has played major part with patients being very well informed of their various illnesses. George told us that some of them think they know more than the consultant does and some of these people get very tense and agitated at consultations. I’d like to report on this talk more fully but owing to restriction of space I can only conclude by saying what a brilliant account of a man’s career this was and I think many of us could have listened to George for a lot longer than he spoke at this meeting President David gave the vote of thanks.
15th April 2008. 22 present – 21 of our own members and one Rotarian Visitor; Assistant District Governor Anderson, our speaker for today. Members were reminded that District Assembly is being held this coming Saturday and that Club Assembly will be on June 3rd. A board was circulated for members to denote whether they would be coming, with their partners, to the fifth Tuesday lunch on the 29th of this month. President David spoke of the Stroke Awareness Day, when 85 members of the public were given blood pressure tests. One of the people tested had been tested a year ago, when he was informed that he needed to see his doctor where he found that he was suffering from a quite serious narrowing of the arteries. He was very grateful to us for saving him from more serious consequences and he was also delighted to find that his blood pressure was "spot on" this time round. David said he felt that this made the whole exercise worthwhile. Ray Tiltman spoke of RYLA, telling members that a party of Rotarians from this Club, consisting of Ray, John Mainwood, Roger and Jan Patterson, and Bob and Ann Mulholland went along to Amersham to see our two RYLA candidates, who included Bob Mulholland’s granddaughter Hanna, take part, together with the other 40 odd participants, in the final night Gala performance. Paul Beaken thanked those who had taken part in the Stroke Awareness Day and expanded on President David’s earlier announcement by telling us that the Club has made a donation of £100 do St. John Ambulance Brigade. He also said that we took £80 in donations on the day and gave blood tests to 85 people, five of whom were referred to their GPs. 22nd April 2008. 34 present – 33 of our own members and one non-Rotarian guest; Tim Bunting, a guest of John Eaton. Secretary told members that the forms for members to say if there were any alterations to their details, to be included in next year’s Club Directory, are on the cash desk. President David informed members that Ron Knight is due to have a gall bladder operation this afternoon. It was also announced that there was to be a fundraising BBQ on Saturday, 31st May at Storrington. Tickets £10 from George Robinson, proceeds to go to the International Hospitality Fund. It was also announced that the Club Skittles team had been triumphant against Seaford RC and they are now in the Final of the District 1250 competition. They also managed to win the subsequent charity match, raising the magnificent sum of £25.00 which was swollen by a £5.00 by John Eaton’s guest, Tim Bunting. Adrian Ball spoke about the motorcycle rally, saying that one or two different jobs needed to be filled but otherwise all those who have put their names down for Saturday should be at the school for 9am. All volunteers for Sunday should be there for 7.30am on Sunday and marshals to arrive by 9.15am for their briefing. Peter Fowle has leaflets to give out in immediate vicinity of school to warn residents of any disruption to their quiet Sunday morning. This will be done on Thursday and Friday. He said that Peter Harries-Rees was unable to help out this year so someone is needed to peg out the short Route. It was decided that Peter Fowle and Gordon Cummings would do the short route with Bob Mulholland and Chris Heath doing the long one. It was the turn of one of our own to speak today, with Howard Attree here to give us a run down on the latest news on having an elected Mayor for Brighton and Hove. Before he started speaking on this subject he mentioned the fact that our Club had a party of 11 attending the Club Assembly in Copthorne last Saturday and this was the largest representation of any Club in the District. Howard told us that he was involved in the referendum, held in 2001, when the people of Brighton and Hove turned down, quite emphatically, the chance to appoint an elected Mayor. Howard said that he wasn’t that keen on having an elected mayor but thought it would stop the business of hung council votes year after year. He’s not a great fan of committees, quoting the old saying of the committee that was commissioned to design a horse finished up with a camel. He asked if a committee system is democratic and answer the question himself by saying "No!", stating that decisions are made behind closed doors before meetings and any rebels are brought into line. He also hoped that there would be a more democratic thrust with an elected mayor. He also said that with a more high profile mayor there would be more media interest which could lead to a better turn out at local elections and hopefully there would be more competition between candidates of different parties. He pondered the question "Why bring it up now?" because as said before, in 2001 it was turned down. Firstly, the council is still hung and secondly, the government has forced the abandonment of the committee system and councils must now opt for a cabinet system or elected mayor. At the moment, with the new cabinet system, the council leader has the same powers as an elected mayor. (Continued) Howard believes that the election of a Mayor should be left to the people of Brighton and Hove and not as the result of a government directive. He pointed out that a new leader of the council was elected recently by her peers, who number 14 in all. An important decision like this should have been made by the majority vote of the 250,000 people in the city. He also cited the example of three political advisors being recruited at a cost of £105,000 to the ratepayers. He said that this means the political funding of parties by the back door and said he didn’t feel we were getting good value for money under the present system. A very interesting talk about an intriguing subject and this was reflected by the amount of questions asked at the conclusion of his talk. I’d love to expand on the questions but space forbids. The vote of thanks was given by Bryan Meakin. 29th April 2008. 39 Present – 27 of our own members and three non-Rotarian guests Bob and Dorothy Allen, here as guests of President David and Andy Thomas, our speaker for today. The rest of the company was made up of wives of members, as this was a fifth Tuesday meeting. Secretary David reminded Committee Chairmen that reports of their various committees were due for presentation at the AGM next month. He also mentioned that nominations were being sought for Club Council in 2008.09. President David thanked most profusely all those who had helped make the Motorcycle Rally such an enjoyable and successful event this last weekend. He made particular mention of Keith Upton, whose work in installing the sound system was exemplary, despite him having been working until very late on the previous night. George Robinson then rose to publicise the fundraising BBQ being held on May 31st (see previous page). President then went on to say that the tickets for the joint Rotary/Innerwheel Presidents’ night were going well, but there a few tickets still available at £35. The "40Set" Draw was made today and the cheque for £25 was won by Adrian Ball. Our speaker today was Andy Thomas and the subject of his talk was "Crop Circles Mystery – They’re Not a Hoax!" Andy is thought to be probably the world’s most prolific write on the subject of crop circles and is an intrepid researcher into the extraordinary phenomenon of crop circles. Andy started off by saying that he has no explanation of how these amazing patterns appear in field of maize, barley, wheat etc. but will try to give some explanation as to why they happen. He told us that the shapes of these mysterious patterns had changed throughout the years and they were not a modern phenomenon as generally thought. The earliest recorded image, claimed to be a crop circle is depicted in a 17th century English woodcut called "The Mowing Devil". The image depicts the Devil with a scythe mowing a circular design in a field of oats. The pamphlet containing the image states that the farmer, disgusted at the wage his mower was demanding for his work, insisted that he would rather have "the devil himself" perform the task. Some of the pictures of crop circles contain mysterious lights but these are thought to be ball lightning. Andy apologised for the fact that he wouldn’t be able to give the talk justice because he was truncating an hour and a half talk into one of twenty minutes. Apparently, some 12,000 crop circles have been reported worldwide in the last decade but the one thing they all had in common, in this country, was that they were all located above large sources of water. Andy said that some of the more complicated patterns are thought to be "Psychic predictions" and that miracle cures have been claimed by afflicted people who have rested at the various sites. A most fascinating subject, given by one of the most accomplished speakers we have had. There was obvious interest shown by members judging by the amount of questions afterwards. If you want to find out more on this subject, there are many, many pages of information on Wikipedia, the internet encyclopedia. The vote of thanks was given by John Mainwood.
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN APRIL 2008. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellows, I have just realised that I have only two more issues of "Thoughts" to write after which I will revert to being a mere "foot soldier" again. It will be change to have to wait to be served at Rotary lunch! We have had some great achievements in the last month. The crowning achievement must be RI President Alan Jagger’s visit to our housing projects in Hove and Portslade. His complimentary remarks were most encouraging. Unfortunately, no mention was made of this in the latest issue of 1250 News. We have had some thought provoking events at Club Meetings. The huge cost of Hospice Care at the Martlets was brought home to us by Antonia Shepherd. Terry Salter’s talk on Arthritis Care was another example of how much is left to be done in spite of the vast amount of research that has taken place about the causes and treatment of the many different types of crippling arthritis. I look forward to hearing the next "My Life" talk by one of our Members and hope that many more of these talks will be a part of the Club’s programme in the future. Tad Phillips and I checked one of the routes for the Motorcycle Run. If the weather is good it will be a very pleasant country ride for the participants. We managed to cover rather more than the 60 miles of the calculated distance as had to do quite a bit of reversing in narrow roads as our route was blocked by vans and large cars! I am sure that the motorcyclists will have better luck. I am trying to make my mind up to what costume to wear at the James Bond Rotary-Inner Wheel dinner. Perhaps I shall just come as an overweight Rotary President! Yours in Rotary – David.
CLUB DIARY 2008. April Mon 7th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details! (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sat. 19th. District Assembly Effingham Park, Copthorne. 9am*** Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past May. Mon 5th – Sun 11th. Trip to Poland. Meeting to discuss the final details will be held sometime in January. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, draft programme issued by Peter Fowle and further details will be forthcoming*** Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles. Wed. 25th. Bangers and Mash at Pangdean Farm. Please note that this is a re-arranged date but is still a "Must Go To" event. Detailed arrangements will be announced at a later date by organiser Bryan Meakin*** September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR APRIL Cash – Yveline Milner. Care of Visitors – Paul Beaken. CLUB DUTIES FOR MAY. Cash - Roger Patterson. Care of Visitors – To be Announced. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR APRIL. 1st. Today sees a talk by one of our own members. This time it’s Patrick Douch and he will be letting us into the secrets of his trade as a Funeral Director. President David will perform the vote of thanks. 8th. Dr. George Deutch is our speaker today and he will be giving us an account of "My Career as a Cancer Specialist". One again, President David will give the vote of thanks. 15th. A mystery speaker today, but it is due to be another talk by one of our own Members. Details are forthcoming. 22nd. This should be a really good talk today. Our speaker today is Tony Diamond, a well-known local character and author who will be giving a talk entitled "Pebbles On The Beach". The vote of thanks is in the hands of Bryan Meakin. 29th. A fifth Tuesday this month, when our ladies will be present, and today we will be listening to Andy Thomas explaining one of the mysteries of life with a talk entitled "Crop Circles Mystery – They’re Not A Hoax!" Appropriately enough the vote of thanks will be given by John Mainwood, our own man of mystery. MOTORCYCLE CHARITY RUN. I hope you don’t mind me banging on about it, but we still need plenty of volunteers for this, our biggest (only!!) fundraising event of the year. David Knowles will be very grateful if you could give him more names to put on his "jobs" sheet. Ask family or friends if they would be willing to help out on a very enjoyable day for all concerned, both riders and helpers. So come on, ask sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, friends or neighbours if they would like a very pleasant and satisfying day out, either at Blatchington Mill School or out on the road, stewarding. It’s only three weeks away now, on Sunday 27th April. DUXFORD AERODROME. Thanks are owed to Ted Bartup for organising an excellent day out at this most outstanding Museum. The five or so hours we were there absolutely flew (excuse the pun!) by. I was lucky enough to go round with President David, who appears to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft. A thoroughly enjoyable day out and let’s hope we can persuade Ted to organise something similar in the near future.
CLUB MEETINGS. 4th March 2008. Unfortunately I had to attend a funeral on this day and I’m unable to give a report of this meeting. 11th March 2008. 26 present – 25 of our own members and one non-Rotarian guest, Robert Griffiths, our speaker for today. Secretary David announced that there was to be a District Membership Seminar on 18th March and reminded members that the next District Council Meeting would be held at Ardingly on Thursday 27th March. Registration forms for the District Conference in September in Cardiff were also available. Mike Peters spoke about the Motorcycle Rally, giving a brief report on the two routes that participants would be taking. Peter Fowle was seeking a volunteer to give a talk to Club the following week (18/3). Our speaker today was Robert Griffiths, chief of fundraising for the Martlets Hospice. Robert has the mind boggling task of raising some £3,000,000 annually to help towards the £4 million it takes to run this fine establishment that cares so well for cancer sufferers in their final days. The Martlets also supplies intense nursing for those who prefer the option of staying at home in their last days. Approximately £400,000 of the £3million comes from donations from individuals, clubs and other organisations. Many of these donations come from the families and friends of people who have stayed there. Robert told us that the Hospice lottery, which was founded in 2000, raises some £500,000, with 300 extra people taking part every year. The Martlets is an 18 bed inpatient unit with a day unit for a further 15 patients. A large chunk of the money needed, £1,000.000, is the profit from the seven shops scattered around the city, all manned by unpaid volunteers. All goods to the shops are given without charge. Money is also raised from high profile charity events, such as the London Marathon and the Midnight Walk for women, where 700 ladies took part, Much to Robert’s enjoyment. He said that it was the first time he had spent the night with so many women. Other money comes in from sponsored parachute jumps, a very good earner. Approximately £1million per annum comes in from legacies. Robert reported that the remainder of the money comes from their own trading agency, which has set up a care agency for supplying palliative care, charging people for this service. He said that all these sums of money would not be enough if it weren’t for the vast amount of supporters and volunteers helping out at the hospice. It would cost about £5,000.000 pay these people otherwise. Robert said that the support from local media was most generous and helped keeping the Martlets in people’s minds all the time. Robert finally confessed that he doesn’t actually raise the money but looks on himself as a conduit for the incoming funds. A very interesting talk with plenty of questions from those present. The vote of thanks was given by Adrian Ball.
18th March 2008. 26 present – all our own members. President David announced that Incoming President Ron Knight has had to step down as President for the coming year owing to ongoing health reasons. Bryan Meakin, President nominee for year 2009/2010 unable to come forward a year but Ken Jones, President nominee for year 2010/2011 has agreed to step in. President David wishes Ron well and thanked Ken for agreeing to step in for his second "stint" at such short notice. Ray Tiltman asked for names of those who wanted to take part in the annual fish and chip lunch at Rotary Point and the Portslade Day Centre on Good Friday. Sports Officer John Mainwood was pleased to report that the skittles team have made it through the semi final of the District 1250 competition and would have to beat Seaford to progress to the final. Today was the occasion for one of our own members, Peter Savage, to give us "A Trip Down Memory Lane". Peter told us that he was born in 1926, the year of the General Strike, in Glossop, which is in the heart of the Peak District in Derbyshire. He told us that he had a happy childhood, and was the son of a local policeman, who apparently "called a spade a spade". His first job was a solicitors clerk in Glossop, but this was short lived because six months later he moved to a clothing factory as a clerk, earning the magnificent sum of £1.00 a week. Peter was also attending evening classes at the time and gained a First Class Bookkeeping Certificate. He also joined the Air Training Corps with ambitions of joining the RAF at a later date but was frustrated in this ambition by being unable to fulfil the eyesight requirements. Peter also found time to take dancing lessons, with his sister, but soon ditched her to dance with "ladies who were attracted to him". He was called up for active service in 1944, initially in Carlisle, but was then sent down to Byfleet, Surrey, for clerical training. His wartime service included being able to attend dance nights at the Hammersmith Palais and The Locarno, Streatham, the latter venue proving very significant because this is where he met Pat, his beloved wife. Peter was eventually transferred to the War Office, at the office of the Judge Advocate General, in May 1945, and was promoted to Corporal, the lowest rank possible in the War Office. One of his tasks was to deal with the forms that had been filled in by prisoners of war. Due to lack of space, I will have to skirt through the rest of his life, mentioning the fact that after working as a barristers’ clerk in Temple Bar, just off Fleet Street, he purchased a newsagents in Shropshire, before moving down to Richmond, joining Round Table and then the Rotary Club there, serving as Secretary for many years and achieving the office of President of Richmond RC. In the meantime he’d become the father of a boy in 1952 and a girl, Wendy, in 1955. Fortunately, he was able to buy the shops either side of his newsagents in Richmond, which turned out to be an excellent pension for him and Pat. He sold his house, in Kew, for £37,500, and settled down in 1984 in Benham Court, on the seafront. He became a member of Hove Probus in 1986, President in 1996 the same year that he had quadruple heart bypass surgery. He has been Chairman of Benham Court Residents’ Association for 20 years He told us that he swims every day of the week, at the King Alfred and sees his daughter, who also moved down here, to Portslade, every week. Peter concluded by saying that he has made many, many friends in various organisations and they have enriched both his and Pat’s lives and said that he was honoured to share these memories with all present. President David proposed the vote of thanks. 25th March 2008. 27 present – 26 of our own Members and one non-Rotarian guest, Terry Salter, our speaker for today. President David was pleased to announce that he had received a cheque for £500 from The Osborne Charitable Trust, thanking John Eaton for this generous donation towards helping us supply candidates for RYLA A letter from the social club at Sanders House, in Ingram Crescent, was read out, which thanked us for our donation of £400 to pay for purchase of crockery. Ray Tiltman reported on the fish and chip lunch at Rotary Point and Portslade Day Centre, thanking all those that had attended. He said that an invitation had been received from the Mayor to a charity and coffee cake morning on Friday, 10th May, 10.30am at Brighton Town Hall, which will cost £5 but will include a guided tour of the Police Museum. Bob Hinton stood up to publicise forthcoming concerts by The Wanders Minstrels on 28th/29th/30th March at Ditchling, Knoyle Road and Rottingdean. He said there was no need to book, just turn up on the night. Our speaker today was Terry Salter, representing "Arthritis Care". He gave us details of the various types of arthritis, some 200 in fact, that are classified into three distinctive groups. The bulk of his talk was about how widespread it is, including the fact that 12,000 children in the UK have arthritis, 8.5million people in the UK have osteo-arthritis and 387,000 have rheumatoid arthritis, with a result that one in five people in these islands are affected by this condition He said that over two million people visit their GP each year because of osteo-arthritis. Arthritis Care relies on membership to keep them going and if you are interested in becoming a member you should ring 0808800450 for further details. Terry said that the staggering figure of 206 million workdays were lost in 1999-2000 because of osteo-arthritis. These are amazing figures and I don’t think people realise the effect that this crippling disease is having on the nation. His organisation believes in giving support for people with arthritis, helping them live life to the full through their nationwide network. A very thought provoking talk by someone who really knows his subject and this was reflected in the number of questions asked at the conclusion. David Burchell gave the vote of thanks. . ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN MARCH 2008. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellows, I am sad to have to tell you of the death of Irene Comber, who died last week aged 92 years, after a short illness. Irene was the widow of Bert Comber who was a past President of the Rotary Club of Portslade and West Hove, and mother of Barry Comber, who was also a past President of that Club. All who knew her will miss her. Her funeral has had to be delayed but will take place at The Downs Crematorium on 9th April at 11am. May she rest in peace. On 4th February we were honoured by a visit from RIBI President Alan Jagger, who was visiting the area accompanied by DG Alan Knight. He was particularly interested in the work of our Housing Society. His profession is "Building" and he looked over our properties with a very professional eye. He made many favourable comments on the quality of the work and the capable way in which the project was financed. He expressed surprise that we had not won an award for it and we explained that we had hoped to be given one at the Belfast Conference in 2006 but was disappointed. This reflects great credit on our Club and it made me feel very proud that the efforts of our Housing Committee have been recognised in such a way. Again, we have had some excellent speakers at our meetings. I was very impressed at the activities of the Brighton Unemployment Centre as explained by Peter Sutcliffe. It was a revelation at hour much can be achieved with so little finance. Frances du Toit carried on the tradition of telling us of her career. Again, it shows what interesting and talented members we have. Last week, Rob Silverstone talked about his career as a lecturer and restaurant proprietor in Brighton, but I was particularly interested in his outsider’s views of the locals as he recounted his experiences in running a restaurant in Normandy! The evenings are now lengthening and I think that spring has almost arrived. We have some great events in front of us. Our Motorcycle Rally will soon be here, as will my President’s Night, shared with Inner Wheel, at the Dyke Golf Club. I hope you have all reserved the date in your diaries! Before that there is the Polish visit and in June we travel to Evreux for the Contact Visit.
Yours in Rotary – David. CLUB DIARY 2008. March. Mon 3rd. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm for *** Thu. 27th. District Council Meeting, Ardingly Showground. 6.30pm for 7. Wed. 26th. Coach Trip to Duxford Air Museum – details from Ted Bartup later*** Sun. 30th P.E.T.S. (President Elect Training Session) Ardingly Showground (all day) April Mon 7th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm*** Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details! (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sat. 19th. District Assembly Effingham Park, Copthorne. 9am*** Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past May. Mon 5th – Sun 11th. Trip to Poland. Meeting to discuss the final details will be held sometime in January. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, draft programme issued by Peter Fowle and further details will be forthcoming*** Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles. Wed. 25th. Bangers and Mash at Pangdean Farm. Please note that this is a re-arranged date but is still a "Must Go To" event. Detailed arrangements will be announced at a later date by organiser Bryan Meakin*** September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR MARCH Cash – Bryan Meakin. Care of Visitors – Ted Bartup. CLUB DUTIES FOR APRIL. Cash - Bryan Meakin. Care of Visitors – Ted Bartup. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR MARCH. 4th. This being the first meeting of the month, there will be a short report on what happened at last nights Club Council. This meeting has also been set-aside for "A Debate", but at the time of writing I have no more details. 11th. Robert Griffiths, from the Martlets Hospice, is our speaker today and the title of her talk is "£3,000,000 a year" and the vote of thanks will be given by Adrian Ball. 18th. Today’s talk is to be given by one of our members, not yet known and it will be along the general lines of "My Life and Careers" and the vote of thanks will be given by the President. 25th. Today’s speaker is Terry Salter and the talk will be entitled "Arthritis Care" and the vote of thanks will be given by David Burchell. RESPONSIBILITY OF THOSE ON CLUB DUTIES. I have been asked by Council to give a reminder to those who are on "Club Duties" as to their responsibilities whilst performing those duties: CLUB MEETINGS. 5th February, 2008. 33 present – 32 of our own members and one Rotarian visitor; Laurie Hillditch from Brighton. Paul Thrasher reported that Isobel is back in hospital for observation, after a setback to her health, where they hope to sort out her medication. He thanked everyone for their good wishes. President David said this morning was one of the proudest mornings of his Rotary life when he took District Governor Alan Knight and President of RIBI Alan Jagger on a visit to some of the Housing Society projects. He gave special praise to Paul Beaken for his wonderful photo display, which was shown at this hotel prior to the tour. He also said that President Alan thought our project was unique in RIBI and he was very impressed with the whole thing and would be spreading the news of our good work. President David then went on to announce Lewes Rotary Club’s charity quiz, being held on Friday 27th March. The cost of entry, for a team of four, is £28. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton spoke of marmalade, eight jars of which had been given out to members that had returned previous jars, together with money that had been accumulating in said jars. Bob also said that Yveline Milner has also made a batch of marmalade, some with whisky as an ingredient! Ted Bartup announced that a board, for the trip to Duxford on March 26th, was in circulation Ted, in his role as Chairman of the Housing Society, also reiterated what President David said about the visit this morning and also thanked Paul Beaken and John Eaton for getting the information booklet out, ready for the visit, at such short notice. He also thanked Patrick Douch for the use of the limousine. Our speaker today was Ian Varley and his talk was entitled "A Matter of Luck". As he said in his opening sentence, the talk was a reprise of his "My Job" talk, which he gave to the Club in 1966, some 42 years ago. Ian said his first bit of luck was actually being born, because his parents were both in their mid forties. His very early life was spent in Preston Park Avenue, where his bedroom overlooked the Preston Bowling Club’s green. He remarked that even now, some eighty years or so later, the bowlers still dressed in almost the same rigorous dress code. His first school, which is now long extinct, was in Belmont, the cul-de-sac in Dyke Road, very close to Seven Dials, where he made lifelong friendship with two boys. He also felt that he was lucky to be born when he was, citing the lack of freedom that children seem to have nowadays, mainly due to their being plenty of policemen on the streets in those days. Ian, together with his two friends, went on to complete their secondary education at Brighton College, the college having survived on money earned from manufacturing munitions for the First World War. Initially, Ian wanted to be a mathematician but finished up training as a civil engineer and after a long period of studying qualified in that profession. His luck continued with regard to his time in the forces, because he arrived at RAF Farnborough on the day after the end of World War II in Japan, so no one was interested in him when he turned up. The next stage of his career was spent with British Rail, with one of the jobs being the designing of bridge at Deepdene, Dorking, which meant that he could come home to live. He left his career on the railway when they were nationalised with the resulting overwhelming bureaucracy, going on to work on various structures for The Festival of Britain, which took place in 1951. Ian remarked that many of the buildings are still standing. Ian then said that a man called J.T. Chester wanted someone to look after his practice, in Singapore, for six months and Ian was offered the job, despite his lack of seniority. Wife Jean insisted on going with him and they went steerage on a ship and stayed there for a year, rather than six months. There was plenty of work, mostly little jobs, to keep in busy but 1957 was not a great year because Jean’s brother and Ian’s mother both died and Jean contracted polio. Ian came back in 1959 for leave for the first time in five years and then went back and joined a bigger partnership. The price of houses rose some 50 percent between 1959 and 1962 but Ian and Jean managed to have their house in Henfield built, the house that Ian still lives in now. Life really changed for Ian in 1964, when a got a letter from a Geoff Martin, asking him if he would like to be an equal partner in his firm. Despite business booming he came back, because his daughter needed schooling. He was set up in a small office in Hove, because his partner knew he would’t commute to the London office. Life really changed in 1964 when he got a letter from a Geoff martin, asking him if he would like to be an equal partnership in his firm. Despite business booming he came back, because daughter needed schooling. Another piece of luck then came his way, in 1966, when Leslie Bunker, past President of RIBI, and a member of this Club, asked him if he would like to join Rotary. Ian then worked his way through the ranks, firstly becoming Assistant Secretary of Community Service, the lowest of the low as he put it 5th February 2008. Ian remarked that there used to be a total of 20 people at a Community Service Committee meeting, where they met at Langford’s Hotel, which was the club meeting place in those days, and they all retired to the bar following the meeting. In 1973, Geoff Martin became sick and Ian had to travel around, with work in Poland, Korea and Greece included. A new shipyard also needed building in Singapore on reclaimed land. For all his travelling during his working life, he has always holidayed in Cornwall, and has been there nearly every year since 1971, buying an apartment there in 1992. Looking back, he felt that he had been very lucky, with many good friends and partners, both in marriage and business. A really entertaining and fascinating talk, enjoyed by everyone present. President David gave the vote of thanks. 12th February 2008. 36 present – 34 of our own members and 2 non-Rotarian guests, Peter Sutcliffe and Ellie Multon, joint speakers for the day. President David reported that he and Christine, together with David and Joan Burchell had attended the dinner for the President of RIBI at The Ardingly Showground. He informed members that President Alan Jagger mentioned his visit to the Housing Society properties that morning, also remarking that he was pleased to see David Burchell there, who was the very first governor of District 1250 on its merger with District 1140. President David also reminded members that this week’s meeting, which was being held at Langford’s Hotel, was a one off and that we would be meeting at Courtland’s next week. John Eaton reported to members that Tad Phillips/Filipowicz had returned home after his recent sinuses operation. It was also reported that Isobel Thrasher had returned home after a recent relapse in her condition, and that she is making a satisfactory recovery. Our speaker today was Peter Sutcliffe and he was representing the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project. The BUFCP was founded in 1981 as a drop in project, a self-help group to alleviate unemployment for the lower paid. They now have premises in Tilbury Place, backing onto Tarner Park, in the news lately as a centre for organised graffiti, that they rent from Brighton and Hove City Council. They supply 4,000 vegan meals a year from a kitchen that is staffed by 30 volunteers. Many of these volunteers see this work as a first step in their catering careers. Christmas lunch for some 130 people took place last year. They also have a "Free Rail" that consists of clothes, toys and books. Peter said there is also a crèche, staffed by volunteers as well as two full time workers. He explained that there should be more than two full timers but they are in the middle of a cash crisis at the moment. It is a free crèche for parents who might not be able to access fee paying crèches. The crèche has regular outings to parks and even to Knowles Tooth, a speaker from which was at club recently. The project fulfils many roles, with weekend trips away and legal help to the unemployed, having advised some 2000 people on legal matters last year. This part of the project is expanding and they are hoping to start outreach sessions in other parts of the city. Despite the lack of space the project tries to offer some 40 or 50 courses a year. These courses cover Healthy Living, Creative Arts, Computing and Languages. Under the title of Healthy Living, there are courses in gardening, shiatsu, walking groups, Egyptian Dance and suchlike and the language course covers French, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese and English for non-native speakers. Peter certainly gave us plenty of information about the project and he also explained that financially they predict that they will break even this year but a shortfall of some £40,000 is likely next year, which is approximately 20% of their yearly budget. If you want to find out more about this organises you can log on to www.bucfp.org A very interesting talk about a most worthwhile organisation. Howard Attree gave the vote of thanks. 19th February 2008. 27 present – all our own Members. President David was absent today, attending a funeral in Blackpool. Senior Vice President Ron Knight was in the chair today and he was pleased to announce that there were no Presidential announcements. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton said that all the latest batch of marmalade has been sold but Yveline Milner still had some left Our speaker today was Frances du Toit, our newest members and her talk was about her "Life and Times. Frances is a local girl and as a child lived just down the road from Ian Varley before he moved away. She told us that her family had part Irish and part Liverpudlian background. As a girl, in wartime, she was evacuated to Northern Ireland and has vivid memories of just three things. Firstly, looking out of the attic window and watching the flames, a result of the bombing of Belfast Docks. Secondly, her grandfather being awarded the CBE, which he said stood for "controller of boiled eggs!" He later went on to be given an OBE, which he said denoted that he belonged to "the order of boiled eggs". Coincidentally, Frances was also awarded the OBE, much later of course! Her third memory was being told, coming back to England by boat, how to put the light on if the ferry was torpedoed. On returning in 1944 she went back to school, just in time to see the doodlebugs, leaving at sixteen, because, as she said, most girls did because there was hardly any further education unless you were aiming for a degree for your job. Frances studied accountancy but packed it in after about four hours because she found it didn’t suit her. She then left home to go nursing in London. At the time all nurses had to live in and if marriage came along you found yourself out of a job. The job entailed long hours and involved working for nine nights on and three nights off. Nurses then had to wear the bonnet and cloak, but there were privileges, such as free taxi trips and free newspapers. Tickets were also sent from the West End theatres for nurses to attend free of charge. Eventually she moved into a flat, in Pimlico, with four other nurses, who she is still friends with to this day. Frances then told us that she decided she wanted to learn midwifery and moved down to this area, the midwifery course being at Southlands Hospital in Shoreham. Following on from this she went to New Zealand where, at one hospital, she found she was the only trained nurse on duty one night. Frances came back to the UK in 1963 and became a ward sister at Worthing Hospital. Following on from this she became assistant matron at Brighton General. Frances remained in the National Health Service for the rest of her working life, including a spell, from 1972, in the Hospital Advisory Service, that took her all around the country visiting various hospitals. In 1974, she went to Scandinavia, on a Glaxo scholarship, to look at the care of the elderly in that part of the world. As if she wasn’t busy enough she decided to apply to be a JP, and was appointed in 1983, about the same time she became chief nursing officer to Worthing. Frances belong to University the Third Age and has also graduated at The Open University. There is a lot more I could report on her talk but space is limited. Nevertheless, it’s amazing how often the talk by one of our own members is of such high quality and this was no exception. What a full and fruitful life she has led so far. Frances will obviously be a great asset to our Club Vote of thanks was given (much to his great surprise!) by Derek Clouting. 26th February 2008. 32 present – 32 of our own members and one visitor; Rob Silverstone, our speaker for today. Bob Mulholland reported that John Couch is unwell at the moment, suffering a bad bout of ‘flu but is recovering, albeit slowly and said that he would be glad to receive telephone calls. President David was saddened to bring news of the death of Irene Comber. Irene was the widow of Bert, former President of Portslade and West Hove and mother of Barry, also President of that Club. Vocational Chairman Ted Bartup spoke of the visit to RAF Duxford on Wednesday, 26th March telling members that still needs more participants on trip to qualify for the larger coach. He said that friends and relatives would be most welcome to take part. Tad Phillips/Filipowicz asked those people who were going on the Polish trip in May to stay behind for a meeting after lunch. Our speaker today was Rob Silverstone who worked for many years as a chef in this country and around Europe. He then became a lecturer in food and nutrition at Bournemouth and Brighton Universities. He wrote extensively on food contamination, healthy eating and vegetarian and organic food. In the 1990s he ran a restaurant on Brighton seafront – "The Cook and Fiddle" – using local fish, wine and cheeses. In 2000, Rob moved to Rouen in Normandy but now he is back in Brighton making another reputation as a photographer and exhibiting locally. And he has written a local book called – "A Mule in Brighton". Rob started off by telling us that while he was in Rouen he started to write about the region as well as about the restaurant. (Continued)
26th February 2008. He said that Haute Normandie is a remarkable region with an amazing history and fabulous architecture. He reminded us that it was the cradle of Impressionism, citing Monet’s Garden as one of the more famous attractions. One of the biggest pulls for tourists is the Joan of Arc tomb at Rouen Cathedral. He said he found the people of Normandy very distrustful on the whole and if anyone was offering something for nothing they would also question their motives. He also said that the weekly markets in Dieppe and Rouen were amazing, much bigger concerns that the farmers’ markets starting to appear over here in places such as George Street in Hove. All in all a very good talk, painting a fascinating picture of such a gastronomic region The vote of thanks was given by Yveline Milner. VISIT OF PRESIDENT OF RIBI TO ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE COMMUNITY HOUSING SOCIETY. President David was delighted to have the honour of welcoming President of RIBI Alan Jagger and District Governor Alan Knight to Courtland’s on the morning of 5th February. Both President Alans were shown a comprehensive visible display of the working of the Society, most professionally compiled by Paul Beaken. He then went on a visit to one or two of the Society premises. As President David remarked at the Club meeting that same day, President Jagger was most impressed with the whole concept, and took a very professional interest in his role of a builder by trade. Following on the visit the two District Governors were ferried, in Patrick Douch’s limousine to Rotary Point, where Ray Tiltman, Chairman of Porthove Society, showed them round that establishment before both District Governors made their merry way to Chichester for lunch. In the evening there was a dinner held at Ardingly Showground, which was attended by Rotarians, including President David and PDG David Burchell and their ladies, from many parts of District 1250.
Pictured left to right are: Patrick Douch, (supplier of a limousine for the visit), President David, Chairman of Housing Society Ted Bartup, RIBI President Alan Jagger, Immediate Past Chairman Housing Society John Eaton and District 1250 Governor Alan Knight.
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN FEBRUARY 2008. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellows, A belated Happy New Year to you all! The memories of my Australian trip are fast fading. I visited Goodna Rotary Club and was able to pass on our greetings to them when I attended their Christmas meeting. I bring back good wishes from President Ken and the members. Anna, their Ambassadorial scholar from the Czech Republic was the speaker. Her description of the celebration of Christmas during and after the Soviet era given in excellent English was the high point of the meeting. Each day around Christmas has a special ritual and name such as "The eating of the Nut" and "The eating of the Carp" day. She made an excellent traditional Czech Christmas cake, donated a bottle of Czech brandy as a raffle prize and finally sang the Czech National Anthem as a request item. Goodna Club meet in the clubhouse of Springfield Golf Club. All the surroundings are named after famous American Golf Tournaments. It would be an ideal place for a Club "raid" if it were not some 26 hours away. At home we have some important events to look forward to. On 5th February RIBI President Alan Jagger is visiting the District. In the morning he is visiting our housing projects in Sackville Road and at Rotary Point in Portslade. Thanks to Ted Bartup and Ray Tiltman for organising this. He leaves for lunch in Chichester and returns to Ardingly for a dinner in the evening. On the 27th of April we have our Vintage Motorcycle Rally. It is our main fundraising event of the year and we need a maximum turnout to ensure its success. At the beginning of May we visit Warsaw and Gdansk. The programme is nearly finalised. I understand that a visit to a Chopin concert has had to give way to a visit to the Polish Folies Bergere. I suppose we’ll just have to put up with that!! On 17th May we have our joint Ladies’ night with the Inner Wheel at the Dyke Golf Club. Contact Visit to Evreux. We have a great final 5 months of this Rotary Year to look forward to. Yours in Rotary – David. CLUB DIARY 2008. February. Mon 4th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm March. Mon 3rd. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm for *** Thu. 27th. District Council Meeting, Ardingly Showground. 6.30pm for 7. Wed. 26th. Coach Trip to Duxford Air Museum – details from Ted Bartup later*** Sun. 30th P.E.T.S. (President Elect Training Session) Ardingly Showground (all day) April Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details! (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sat. 19th. District Assembly Effingham Park, Copthorne. 9am*** Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past May. Mon 5th – Sun 11th. Trip to Poland. Meeting to discuss the final details will be held sometime in January. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. Wed. 25th. "Bangers and Marsh" at Pangdean Farm. Further details forthcoming. This is a "must go to" event in your diary.*** June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR FEBRUARY Cash – Ron Loadsman. Care of Visitors – Adrian Ball. CLUB DUTIES FOR MARCH. Cash - Bryan Meakin. Care of Visitors – Ted Bartup. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR FEBRUARY. 5th. This being the first meeting of the month, there will be a short report on what happened at last nights Club Council. This meeting has also been set-aside for "A Debate", but at the time of writing I have no more details. 12th. Today’s speaker is Peter Sutcliffe and he is here to tell us all about The Brighton Unemployed Centre Families’ Project" and the vote of thanks will be in the capable hands of Howard Attree. 19th. Our newest member, Frances du Toit, is our speaker today and the title of her talk is "My Life and Times" and the vote of thanks, as is traditional, will be given by President David. 26th It’s Rob Silverstone’s turn to talk to the club today and the title of his talk is intriguingly entitled "A Mule in Brighton – a chef’s view of the city". Yveline Milner will propose the vote of thanks. A PERSONAL VIEW ON FUND RAISING (BY MIKE PETERS) Having just read Bob Mulholland’s notes of the meeting of 6th November regarding fund-raising for the Club, I feel that the old ‘chestnut’ that was raised of "purse service " over "personal service" has nothing whatsoever to do with the situation today. "Purse service", which has been much derided and was prevalent in many clubs, referred to members writing cheques when calls were made upon their club for assistance. To my mind there is little wrong with this system provided that all members can afford to donate equally. However in today’s membership of mixed fortunes this system is unfair to those of modest means. Therefore we need to raise money by our joint efforts; as realistically paying for worthwhile community and international projects is the only way of giving the "service above self" which is at the heart of the Rotary movement. No longer can we physically assist the vulnerable elderly, or the sick or the lame as these people are adequately dealt with by the Social Services and specialist charities. No longer are we qualified or allowed by law to carry out these services without extensive training and police checks. Neither is it feasible for many of us to travel overseas to install water systems or set up new schools etc. We have to find cash to pay for other people/organisations to do this on our behalf. I suggest that those who think that Rotary is not a fund-raising organisation should look to joining Probus, Past Rotarians or some other "non-service" club and that those that stand behind Rotary’s basic philosophy of "service above self" should support the fund-raising efforts physically, and those that can’t for whatever (and there are many legitimate and sound) reasons should support (as they are able) by some form of "purse service" i.e. donations in lieu of personal service. I remember Past District Governor Ian Varley, many years ago saying that if you wish to retain members and attract young ones you should give them a job to do. Younger people join Rotary in order to give something back to the community as part of a worldwide service organisation – they do not join in order to be part of a luncheon club. They cannot justify spending their valuable time on that form of luxury. Whilst travelling on the M1 to Derby just before Christmas I stopped at the Services and was amazed to see a very professional Rotary Christmas collection there. The six people who exited the Services Building in front of me ALL donated to the collection. The collection point was a Transit-sized pickup on which was placed a much-decorated garden shed and music powered by an on-board generator. Father Christmas was positioned on the roof! of the shed and waved jovially to all that passed. I stopped and talked to an Inner Wheel lady who was assisting and she told me that collections were going well there and on their evening street rounds. She then added that they needed the money as they had provided Christmas lunch for 200 elderly people in their village, which cost £3500.00 and they now needed to find the wherewithal to pay for it! But they were all smiling and VERY enthusiastic. Did we show a similar dedication and support this year, despite Paul Beaken and his committee’s valiant efforts with a new sleigh, Father Christmas and increased visual impact posters depicting the projects of our club over the last few years?? May I wish all members a happy, prosperous and thoughtful 2008 Yours in Rotary, Mike Peters NEW EMAIL ADDRESS FOR DR MICHAEL BARLEY. Please note that Michael’s new email address is michaelbarley@f2s.com BT CAROL CONCERT 18TH DECEMBER. Adrian and Hillary Ball led a party of Rotarians, Rotarian friends and Rotarian wives on this most enjoyable trip up to London for a spot of Christmas shopping, and then attending the Annual BT Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Judith Chalmers compered this year’s concert. I enclose a photograph, taken on Ian Collington’s Nokia N95 of our esteemed organisers. . CLUB MEETINGS. 4th December 2007. 32 Present – 30 of our own members, one Rotarian Visitor; Laurie Hillditch from Brighton and one non-Rotarian guest; Ann Ward, our speaker for today. Ian Varley reported on a recent visit to Honorary Member Jack Wingfield at his nursing home in Haywards Heath and said that he found Jack amazingly chirpy but none too good on his feet. He also said that Jack would be very pleased to see any of us. President David told members that Roger Patterson has been granted three months leave of absence owing to the serious nature of his father’s illness. He also reported on the Club’s victorious skittles team who triumphed over Littlehampton Rotary Club at The Spur, Slindon recently. The team also won the subsequent charity match that benefited the charity fund by some £20. The President was also pleased to tell us that Keith Upton is back at work after a short convalescence. Members were informed that the Club would need a new treasurer for the year 2008/2009 because Michael Nettell will have completed the full five-year term allowed at the end of this Rotary year. It was also announced that the International Committee have met and decided that the proposed 2009 Contact Visit to Oxford should go ahead. The cost will be £385 per couple for the whole weekend, which will include two nights Dinner, Bed and Breakfast and the banquet on the Saturday night. It was stated that one or two volunteers are needed to deliver Christmas gifts to the housing society tenants. Members were also told that a new nameplate has been affixed to the outside front door of 29 Sackville Road that has been kindly donated by Patrick Douch. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken said that Christmas collections have to prioritised and confirmed that we have sufficient people for the Sainsbury’s site on 22nd/23rd December. Volunteers are needed for Tesco Church Road on 15th/16th/22nd and 23rd. He said that the bulk of our money is collected at Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s Church Road so it is essential we keep these sites fully manned. He said that Tesco, Station Road, is a "different kettle of fish" because it doesn’t take a vast amount of cash but has sentimental value and keeps Rotary visible throughout the borough (or city!) Our speaker for today is Ann Ward from Knowles Tooth Children’s Centre. Knowles Tooth was founded in 1892, and is based in Hurstpierpoint, with offices in Brighton and Hove. The reason for its existence is to give much needed breaks to groups of families with the help of their family support workers. She said that when these families first arrive at the centre they appear to be very tense and anxious but after a few days in the Centre’s unique atmosphere they relax. It seems that a holiday break makes the difference between coping and not coping with every day life at home. Ann said that it is a wonderful centre, which is a place of healing, and she encourages people to visit to see what they are all about. Groups from Sussex and beyond also visit, asking for respite for children with learning problems. She remarked on various personalities that had sought help at the centre such as Louise, who suffered from a stroke at a very young age and whose husband died suddenly last and she has one young child of six and suffers from depression, isolation and general tiredness. There was also Lisa, who has one son with cerebral palsy and one active daughter. Lisa’s husband left her and she has also been looking after her mother, who died recently. Then there was Sandra, who has a 20-year-old son who is "into drugs" and she is fighting a losing battle in getting him off them. He is also violent, kicking doors in, and she is desperate. She has retired from work and doesn’t know what to do. To top it all she has Parkinson’s disease. Staying at Knowles Tooth for various lengths of time has helped all these people. A very interesting talk by an obviously very dedicated lady. Great interest was shown by the amount of questions asked by members. John Eaton gave the vote of thanks. 11th December 2007. 61 present – 31 of our own members and 30 guests mostly consisting of wives and partners of members but including 7 ladies here as special guests of the Club: Phyllis Howell, Jean King, Jenny Saunders, Betty Raggett, Hazel Weeding, Gill Langley and Olive Hamilton. A further guest was Richard Robinson, our speaker for today. It was announced that there would be no formal club meeting next week, the 18th, but members not attending the Albert Hall Concert would be provided with sandwiches if they wish to turn up. Volunteers were still needed for the various Christmas collection sites, see Paul Beaken. Speaker’s Secretary Ian Collington told members that the printed programme of speakers for January and February are available from the cash desk outside. Bob Mulholland informed members that £200 had been raised from greetings in the December Bulletin and with the addition of gift aid would make a grand total of £248. Today was the occasion of the "40 Set" draw, with two prizes. Howard Attree won the cheque for £50.00 and Ian Varley was successful for the £25 cheque. Bob Hinton conveyed greetings from Elise Spofford, our Ambassadorial Scholar of last year, who sent warmest greetings to "all the men who fell in love with her while she was here". Bob was pleased to announce that Elise had also obtained her Master of Arts, making her a British MA. Our speaker today, Richard Robinson, was here today to give us a talk about Slime Mould. Slime mould is a natural product, which usually grows in woodland. It starts as a single amoeba, dropping itself on a mouldy old ground and it likes it so much it chomps away until pregnant. Mould first occurred some three and a half million years ago and slim mould is made up of billions of pieces of amoeba. Each creature has a brain the size of a molecule, with no intelligence at all. There are different and sometimes quite picturesque forms of slime mould, in different shapes and colours. At a certain time they all join up and move to the centre, forming a piece that moves like a slug, about a centimetre a day. It will live if you cut it up, the individual pieces forming their own life. He likened to as very similar to large corporations or small firms. Richard then went on make various analogies relating to businesses and slime mould. I’m afraid that the information and comparisons came too fast and furious for me and I lost the train of his argument when he segued on to starlings and then ants’ nests. We somehow then got on to the recent smoking ban in public places, which now encourages random encounters because workers have to leave the air of have a "crafty fag" and meet up with new people outside. He also touched on Manchester Docks, saying how the city of Manchester was formed round those docks. This talk, as I said earlier, was very hard to concentrate on, particularly having just finished our Christmas Lunch, complete with Christmas pudding and Mince Pies. I think if you want to learn more about Richard’s subject you will have to log on to his website at www.BrightonScience.Com He also said that if you wanted to find out more you should look of Quirkology on Google. The vote of thanks was given by john couch. 18th December 2007. No meeting today because majority of members were attending Annual BT Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. 25th December 2007 and 1st January 2008. No meetings on these dates for very obvious reasons. 8th January 2008. 38 present – 37 of our own members and one non-Rotarian Guest. Jennifer Saunders, formerly member of Brighton and Hove Breakfast Club and wife of the late Frank Saunders who was, of course, a member of our own Club some years ago now. This attendance was the highest in living memory and just showed how much our members missed there being a meeting for some four weeks or so. President David had the very pleasant task of inducing Frances du Toit into the Club. Derek Clouting performed the introduction of Frances and what a great job he made of it too. He certainly gave a sense of occasion to the whole thing.
A reading of "The Objects of Rotary" by PDG David Burchell followed the induction. President David was delighted to inform members that an e-mail had been received notifying this club that Alan Jagger, President of RIBI wishes to visit our Housing Society project on the morning of Tuesday, 5th February prior to attending an engagement elsewhere. President Alan will also be the guest of honour at a dinner at Ardingly Showground that same evening and members requiring tickets should let secretary David know as soon possible. Tickets are £20 per head. A letter from Julie Neumann, our Ambassadorial Scholar from two or three years ago, was ready out, in which she wished us all a Happy New Year. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken was delighted to announce that the Christmas collections had raised a total of £2,720 and thanked all of those who had collected. He also gave particular thanks to Ron Knight, John Eaton, Bob and Ann Mulholland Ray Tiltman and his gang at Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s Portslade. President David then thanked Paul for all of his sterling work in raising such a good sum of money. One of our own members was the speaker today, it being Ted Bartup, who gave us an account of Veronica and his journey around Alaska not so long ago. Ted started off with a piece of trivia, informing us that Alaska was the 49th state of America, having been granted this status in 1959. The visit to Alaska was part of a special holiday that took in Canada as well. This section of the holiday started when they flew to Seattle, Washington, a city that Ted didn’t find at all impressive. From Seattle they flew to Ketchikan, in Alaska, where they joined a 102-passenger boat. Apparently it had to be a small liner, to enable it to navigate the many small passages found in Alaska. They found the trip quite tiring which found them retiring at about 9.30 each night. With the help of slides, Ted pointed out the many things and places of interest on his trip. One of them I found fascinating was Duncan Cottage, name of Father William Duncan, a famous missionary who was responsible for promoting the settlement of many Native American Indians from the mainland to Alaska. A most interesting talk about a fascinating part of the world accompanied by some quite spectacular pictures of both scenery, mammals and animals of this part of the world. Ted gave the impression that it was quite a jolly ship, and a very enjoyable holiday. President David gave the vote of thanks. 15th January 2008. 29 present – 28 of our own members and one non-Rotarian guest, Professor Fred Gray, our speaker for today. President David reminded members that a board is being circulated for members to denote whether they will be attending the fifth Tuesday, with or without their other halves, on 29th January. He also said that this would be the last chance to book tickets for the dinner at Ardingly Showground on Tuesday, 5th February, at which Alan Jagger, President of RIBI will be guest of honour. President David also told us that President Alain Jean of Evreux RC informs us that they have a project running in Senegal which involves the purchase of a new generator. More details will follow shortly. President Alain also wished to know how many members would be attending the contact visit weekend in June in Evreux. Tad Phillips/Filipowicz said that there would be a meeting, of people intending to go on the Polish Trip in May, after this lunch meeting. Our speaker today, Professor Fred Gray from the University of Sussex, was here to give us a talk entitled "Building The Seaside" coincidentally the name of his latest book! As you may have guessed, this talk was mainly about the contents of his book, a ‘plug’ in effect. Nevertheless he had plenty of interesting points to make and gave a very interesting talk on the place of the seaside in the English way of life. He said that everyone loves to be beside the seaside, and there is no comparisons between living in say Brighton or having to live in Haywards Heath or Dorking for example. He cited the sights and sounds of the seaside, such as the noise of the seagulls, and the smell and taste of candyfloss and rock, which he said, coincidentally, are both pink in colour. He said rotting seaweed evoked the smell of the seaside and even the taste of gritty sandwiches performed the same task. Professor Fred then went on to tell us how he researched his book, finding great sources of help in the Brighton Museum Finding old postcards in various shops was also a great help and family photographs too. This was a very long talk and I think if I related everything he said I would have to fill another three or four pages. A lot of the talk was fairly similar to one we had about the Regency House Project a few months ago but nevertheless it was very interesting. I’ll finish the report of by including the entry about "Building The Seaside" that I found on the Internet: The notion of taking a seaside holiday has only existed since the 18th
century, when it was slowly becoming accepted that fresh air and seawater are
good for health. Since then, a vast array of seaside resorts to suit all budgets
has been developed in all areas of the world along with fairgrounds, piers,
holiday camps, boardwalks, swimming pools and casinos. In addition, the seaside
has seen the development of a variety of distinctive architectures, from the
smallest beach hut to the grandest of hotels.
22nd January 2008. 37 present – 36 of our own members and one non-Rotarian guest; Bob Gunnell, our speaker for today. Secretary David reminded members that it was a fifth Tuesday lunch next week and a board was being circulated for members to denote the numbers attending. President David asked for some support for attendance at this April’s RIBI Conference in Blackpool. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken informed members of his committee that there would be a meeting of that body after lunch on 5th February. Our speaker today was Bob Gunnell, well known as a pioneer broadcaster at the long gone Radio Brighton, which after a couple of location and name changes has now "morphed" into Southern Counties Radio. Coincidentally, Bob was also Ian Collington’s boss those many years ago. Bob started off by telling us that there has been a big chance in local radio because in the "old days" it was a partnership between the local community and the local broadcaster. Community groups made their own programmes consisting of business, education, boating and sailing, fishing, gardening and all such groups would take part. Religious groups would supply "The Thought of The Day" and have a Sunday service every week. He said that this all became very diluted with the expansion to first Radio Sussex and now Southern Counties Radio. The Old Peoples Council discovered a group called earshot that was interested in setting up a local station. This station is called "Radio Reverb" and broadcasts on 97.2 FM. The Pensioners’ Forum and Age Concern then cooperated with The Old People’s Forum and Hospital radio personnel becoming involved with Radio Reverb and it went on air in April 2007, but only covers central and east Brighton, but they are certain high points in the west of the city where you can get reception clearly. Bob then went on in great detail about how the station was formed and gave us information about recruitment etc.. He said that a Community Interest Company had to be set up, which is now formally registered, complete with bank account – with very little money in it! They managed to get grants from various institutions and now have about £8,000 to pay for equipment but they are now looking for a proper studio. He thinks they may have a possible studio location, courtesy of Brighton and Hove City Council. He said that the particular programme on matters dealing with the elderly is one that lasts the odd amount of time of 48 minutes. He said that the team-making programme is getting bigger and volunteers are still needed to help in this. Many retired professional media personnel on board, such as a retired radio engineer and a retired Argus reporter. This station, like the Old People’s Council, is unique in the UK with only one other similar concern in Switzerland. The station cannot take advertising, but can be sponsored. All in all, a very good talk by a consummate professional, only slightly spoilt by the fact that some of us had heard the self same talk about three weeks before at Probus. Ian Collington gave the vote of thanks, equally professionally. 29th January 2008. 50 Present – 32 of our own members and 18 guests, mainly consisting of partners and wives of Members. Secretary David reminded members that there would be Club Council next Monday, 4th February. John Couch reported that Isobel Thrasher has been poorly, with angina, and is in hospital having had an angioplasty Procedure and should be back home later this week. Vocational Chairman Ted Bartup reported that the planned trip to Duxford, for the aircraft museum, would now be on 26th March. Further details will be forthcoming. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton rose to tell us all about the latest batch of marmalade for "Spread and Save". He informed us that as this batch was so good, he would be forced to ration it, and would only be able to supply some to members who brought in jam jars from the previous consignment, filled with cash. Today was the occasion for the "40 Set" draw and the cheque for £25 was won by ME!!. I hasten to add that this is the first time I have won in my 23 years of membership. John Couch was absolutely delighted to tell members that Legal and General have been most generous this year and have given us a cheque for £1,000 as sponsorship for the Annual Fundraising Motorcycle Rally. Great News!! Our speaker today was Juliet Bell, representing the Queen Alexander Hospital Home in Worthing. It is a hospital home for ex-servicemen and women. Juliet is head of fundraising for the hospital, having only been there since March last year. Most of us know this organisation as Gifford House, which was founded in 1919. Juliet told us that the home has been very successful in taking people, who were completely noncommunicative into their home and within a short time the transformation into being communicative had been achieved. The home started out in Roehampton, at Gifford House, the home of one of the Charrington Brewery dynasty. The home is completely self-financed with no help (surprise, surprise!) from National or Local Government. Juliet’s job is to write to various charity foundations, such as Dunhill, the cigarette manufacturers, who recently donated £25,000 towards a new kitchen. Not so long ago, £4,000,000 had to be found for new works, which were required by law if they wished to continue. After the new works were complete, The Royal Star and Garter Home, the most famous of this type of establishment, were so impressed with the set-up at Gifford House that they promptly copied it. Juliet made a good job or this talk, because there is only so much you can say about a nursing home, but there was obviously much interest in what she did have to say because there were many questions asked at the end of the talk. John Ansell asked if there was a waiting list and was told that there was only one spare bed and there were two other people in the process of selling their own properties before coming into hospital. In answer to Veronica Bartup’s question about funding from the forces’ organisations, Juliet said that there was none forthcoming from the forces themselves but funds were received from charitable organisations such as The Royal British Legion. In reply to Betty Raggett, she said that the British Legion and other service organisations also made referrals. Juliet was unable to answer a question from John Austin about whether there was any relationship between charity and funding because patients would be paying anything between £600 and £900, according to degree of care. Juliet was also unable to answer Frances du Toit’s question about chronically ill people who get various allowances from other sources. Juliet says she was no au fait with a lot of the fee-paying side of the business. Finally, Ian asked of the whereabouts, it being off Heene Road, which is just off the seafront in Worthing. Mike Peters gave the vote of thanks. MOTOR CYCLE RALLY - PRESS RELEASE FROM IAN COLLINGTON After a record run in the sun last year, the Rotary Club of Hove is expecting another bumper turnout on its 2008 Engineerium Classic Motorcycle Run on 27 April. This 11th annual charity outing will once again be based around on Hove’s Blatchington Mill School. The run’s traditional home, the British Engineerium, is still undergoing major re-furbishment. This year, riders, will be able to re-fuel with a bacon buttie breakfast when they arrive and take a free tour of the historic West Blatchington Windmill after the run. Entrants will be led off the beaten track on a scenic route through the byways of the Sussex countryside. There will another attractive but easier and shorter route for older and lower-powered machines. Entry includes a route card, souvenir badge, programme and hot lunch. There will be a licensed bar and refreshments. There is ample free parking in the school grounds. Last year’s run attracted some 350 entries and raised the biggest ever sum for charity. The Engineerium Run website (www.engrun.supanet.com) features a large gallery of photos of the 2007 run - together with full information on this year’s run with a downloadable entry form. Early booking is advised as the event has become so popular. The Rotary Club of Hove team are looking forward to welcoming back the many riders who have supported this important fund raising event each year. But they also hope that many more first-time entrants will join in what has undoubtedly become a major date in the national motorcycle calendar.
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN DECEMBER 2007. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellows, This will be my last communication with you before Christmas. Last month has seen a lot of hectic activity with discussions about our trip to Poland next year and to Oxford, for the contact visit, in 2009. The perennial problems of Club membership and the selection of Club Officers still remain with us. Fortunately, we have a new Junior Vice President in Ken Jones, who has kindly offered himself for a second term in that office but we will need to replace Mike Nettell whose 5 year term of office as Treasurer comes to an end next June. Ideally we should have an assistant Treasurer to shadow Mike prior to taking office but if someone were to put him or herself forward I am sure they would be confident to take over from Mike after six months. I was disappointed to see that we will be unable to cover all of the collecting sessions that we have booked at Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and George Street this Christmas and this really underlines the problems we have of membership and of the relentless advance of age (myself included!!). We look forward to inducting a new member at our first meeting in the New Year, on 8th January, and must try to find new members if we are to survive as a club and cover our commitments. We do have some good news however with an increase in our weekly attendance numbers. This could be due to the fact that we have had some excellent speakers (again!). Nick Tyson’s talk on the Hove Regency Town House Project was one of the best I have every heard on restoration schemes. Ann Ward’s talk on The Knowles Tooth Project showed how today some people unfortunately slip through the fingers of the caring services. It is good to know that Ann and her caring colleagues can fill the gap. On 7th December (last Thursday!) I left for my annual trip to Australia and look forward to meeting my old friends in Rotary where I first was invited to become a Rotarian. In Goodna Club, along with others in the District they work towards helping an Annual Christmas Charity called "The Smith Family". This is a way of personalising those less advantaged in the community for when Christmas is often a time of sadness and emptiness. "The Smith Family" is the name of a typical family whose situation limits the amount of comforts and treats they can afford for their children and partners. The local Rotary Clubs join together and prepare parcels for them and deliver them in time for Christmas – a bit like the old Portslade Club’s Christmas Parcels effort but on a much larger scale. It is a lot of effort but very satisfactory for all those who take part and always brings joy and comfort to the recipients. We will be having Christmas Dinner with temperature in the 30’s(centigrade!) Father Christmas always visits our family party and wears his traditional costume in spite of the heat. It’s strange but my eldest son, James, always seems to miss him! Christine and I would like to wish you and your families a Happy and Peaceful Christmas. Yours in Rotary. David.
CLUB DIARY 2007. December. Tue. 18th. BT Christmas Concert at The Albert Hall, London. Details Forthcoming 2008. January. Please note that there will be no Council meeting this month.*** February. Mon 4th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm*** March. Thu. 27th. District Council Meeting, Ardingly Showground. 6.30pm for 7.*** Sun. 30th P.E.T.S. (President Elect Training Session) Ardingly Showground (all day)*** April Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details! (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sat. 19th. District Assembly Effingham Park, Copthorne. 9am*** Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past May. Mon 5th – Sun 11th. Trip to Poland. Meeting to discuss the final details will be held sometime in January.*** Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. Wed. 25th. "Bangers and Marsh" at Pangdean Farm. Further details forthcoming. This is a "must go to" event in your diary.*** June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR DECEMBER Cash – Ken Jones. Care of Visitors – Howard Attree.. CLUB DUTIES FOR JANUARY Cash – Ron Knight. Care of Visitors – John Austin. CLUB DUTIES FOR FEBRUARY. Cash - Ron Loadsman. Care of Visitors – Adrian Ball. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR DECEMBER 2007/JANUARY 2008. Dec. 11th. This is the occasion of our Christmas Lunch when our ladies will be present. Our speaker today is Richard Robinson and his talk has the intriguing title of "Intelligent Slime Mould" and John Couch will give the vote of thanks. 18th. No meeting today because the majority of members are going to London for the BT Concert at The Albert Hall. Some members will be attending Courtland’s for an informal get together, which will include sandwiches. 25th. No meeting (pretty obvious really!!) Jan. 1st. No Meeting. 8th. this, our first meeting of 2008 will be given over to a New Year Resolutions Debate. 15th. Our speaker today is Fred Gray and his talk is "Designing the Seaside Professor" and giving the vote of thanks is Paul Thrasher. 22nd. Bob Gunnell, better known as Ian Collington’s former boss at Radio Brighton is our speaker today and the title of his talk is "Radio Reverb for Oldies. The vote of thanks will be given, appropriately enough, by the aforementioned Ian. 29th. Tina Ellis is our speaker for this fifth Tuesday lunchtime meeting and the will be talking of the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home. The vote of thanks will be given by Mike Peters. CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PATRICK DOUCH. Please note that Patrick’s new email address is juneandpat@btinternet.com. DISTRICT ASSEMBLY. Please note that this Rotary Year’s District Assembly is being held on a Saturday. This is to enable every Club in the District to attend, as obviously there are no Club Meetings on that day. It will be held on 19th April at Effingham Park, Copthorne and further timing details will be available later. JACK WINGFIELD. Following on from Ian Varley’s report on his recent visit to see Jack Wingfield I thought it would be a good idea to give you Jack’s address and also an alteration to the telephone number that was in the bulletin a few months ago: Downlands Park Nursing Home, Isaacs Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 4BQ. 01444 457871. MOTORCYCLE RALLY. This event seems a long way from being held but you will be surprised how quickly the time will go before it’s upon us. If you want to find out more about this Rotary Year’s rally log on to the designated website which is www.engrun.supanet.com This is an excellent website, run by Tim, son of Michael Nettell and comes complete with downloads of the entry form, so if you know anyone who wants to take part you can print an entry from and give it to them. CLUB MEETINGS. 6th November, 2007. 23 present – 21 of our own members and two Rotarian Visitors; Laurie Hillditch and David Perrin, both from Brighton. President David informed members that representatives from our Club would be attending the forthcoming Remembrance services this coming Sunday, one at Easthill Park, Portslade at 10.15am and the other at Grand Avenue, Hove at 2pm. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton told members that he had only three calendars left for sale at £3.50 each and also reminded members that it was not too late to order Foundation Christmas Cards, this being the last possible day of ordering. Today’s meeting was given over to a discussion about fundraising, there being some disquiet about how low the funds in the charitable account are. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken opened the discussion by saying that he didn’t want to say too much about the matter because he had already written a paper a couple of months ago with regard to this matter. Peter Savage said he was a "very old Rotarian" with 42 years service and he had always been led to understand that Rotary was a service organisation and not a fundraising organisation. He said he knew that it was necessary to raise money now and again, but this should be to "oil the wheels" of service, and he didn’t think we should get obsesses with raising large sums of money all the time. Bob Hinton reiterated Peter’s remarks somewhat but said that as the club has gone older in age of members and world around has changed, when people were able to go out to lunch whilst still working but not now. Our membership will always be one of an old age range and he thought that we should think more of personal service rather than "purse" service. He said there was an urgent need to adapt to the changing mood of our community. This Club is part of organisation dedicated to bringing good will and understanding and we should discover avenue where we could help in this matter. Ian Varley said he felt quite refreshed when reading Paul’s paper and felt that we have become bogged down. He pointed out that our Housing Society is making a lot of money and thinks we could diversify and maybe take up the suggestion made some time ago to set up student accommodation. He said that the way to attract younger members is to take on projects that will suit them. President David said we have had many wise words in the last few minutes and the recent conference made us aware of what we can do, such as the shelter box scheme, an amazing and comparatively new project. He said that the principle of such a project that would attract young people is very sound. Ray Tiltman said that he thought that our method of fundraising was faulty because all funds appeared to be spoken for before we’ve actually collected funds. He said that he thought that 50% of funds from various fundraising efforts should be put by for the future. Mike Peters said that we have insufficient funds to meet sudden emergencies and if anything crops up we are helpless to provide any financial help. Ian Varley said that members should be approached and asked to leave a sum in their will to the charitable trust fund. John Ansell asked the question "Does Rotary have an International plan to benefit local clubs?" Clive Chapple, taking up the point Ray Tiltman made earlier, said that he thought we did have money for back up and the Club Treasurer managed this. Treasurer Michael Nettell replied by giving balances of Charity and Community Accounts, saying that we did have some backup, but not very much. It was pointed out that in recent years there have been very few requests by various bodies for funds from our Charity accounts. Bob Mulholland pointed out that there was plenty of money in our charity accounts three or four years ago but it was decided by the Council of that year to distribute it all, stating that they didn’t want loads of cash "slushing around" in our accounts. Paul Beaken suggested that when we make a donation to a project we should follow this up by taking further interest in it. Laurie Hillditch, our visitor from Brighton, said that he club was involved in the Joe Harman projects for youngsters in India and a party of Club Members are going out to see the project in action. Ray Tiltman asked the question "When we give money, do we see end result." He said that we should follow up to see where the money is going and see that it is not finishing up in someone else’s pocket. John Eaton made mention of the Knowles Tooth project in Hurstpierpoint where he has made a recent visit and where he saw, in person, where our money was going. President David thanked Paul for taking the initiative in this very important matter and said it all boils down to the fact that we need active people to joint the club and asked the question "How do we achieve this?"
13th November 2007. 27 present – 26 of our own members and one Rotarian visitor; David Perrin from Brighton. Secretary David announced that District Council is being held tomorrow at Ardingly at 6.30pm for 7. He also asked members to denote if they were intending to come to the club meeting on 18th December, because numbers are needed to order sandwiches for that particular day. This is because the majority of members are going up to London for the BT Christmas Carol Concert and there will not be a full-blown meeting that day. President David reported on the wreath laying ceremonies at Easthill Park, Portslade and Grand Avenue, Hove on Remembrance Sunday. IPP Michael Barley informed members that he had attended prize giving at Brighton and Hove High School on Friday evening saying what a lovely occasion it was too. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton said that he was down to his last two calendars and would appreciate two members taking them off his hands. Tad Phillips/Filipowicz rose to speak about the itinerary for the proposed visit to Poland on May5th/11th and explained that if he could manage to get more than 32 people to take part it would bring the price down. There was no speaker scheduled for today but President David gave us a talk entitled "a bit on the side". He expanded on this by telling us that when he was a youngster, forty years at a nine-to-five job didn’t appeal to him. He took us through various jobs he had performed as a Doctor during his working life including a spell as a medical adviser to a travel assistance company. He told us that he was frightened of flying, although he loved aircraft For the last fifteen or sixteen years, David has been a police doctor with the Metropolitan police in Croydon, as well as running a general practice as the sole practitioner. He said that Croydon was a much more violent place than Brighton and Hove. All in all a very funny talk and I only wish I could have embellished it more but David speaks so quickly that I couldn’t get much of it down in writing. Ken Jones gave the vote of thanks. 20th November 2007. 29 present – 28 of our own members and one Rotarian visitor; David Perrin from Brighton. President David thanked David Burchell, Bob Mulholland, Paul Beaken and Howard Attree for representing the Club at last week’s District Council at which this Club was presented with the John Preddy Fellowship Award, which is given to the Club that makes most visits to other Rotary clubs. An appeal was made for members to support this year’s "40 Set" draw by paying £20 to Peter Fowle to qualify for entry. This was the first week that a board was being circulated for members to denote whether they would be willing to man one of the Christmas collection sites this year. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton has just one calendar to sell at £3.50. Editor Bob Mulholland made an appeal for members to give Christmas greeting in the Club Bulletin. A donation, usually £10, would make sure that this was done. This scheme raised some £160 last year and it was hoped to better it this year. Ray Tiltman brought greetings from the Rotary Club of Neuchatel, formerly a contact club of Portslade and West Hove. Today’s speaker was Yveline Milner and her talk was given in the form of a question and answer session with Ian Collington The questions were all about the live of Yveline, and what an interesting one she has led. The first question Ian posed was about her time as a young girl in Paris during the German occupation in the 1940s. Yveline’s parents were White Russians who had finished up in Paris after fleeing Russia in 1921, two years after the Lenin’s Russian Revolution. Ian then asked her questions about her current business life, Yveline stating that she was a property developer, this by default because in her married life she had looked after properties owned by her husband, while he spent time as a chartered accountant in London. John, her husband, had inherited quite a bit of property from his parents. After divorcing John she continued to look after the remainder of the properties. Ian then went back to her earlier times with Yveline telling us that he father was a bit of a playboy and he had spent a lot of time in France even when domiciled in Russia, and in fact he married a French girl, Yveline’s mother. In answer to Ian’s question as to whether she could remember any of her childhood in Paris, she said she could remember it, although it was none too pleasant under the Germans and she did, in fact, find the flat she used to live in on a visit to Paris last year. Things became a little bit more pleasant after the occupation when her father became Chief Interpreter at American HQ. She found Americans very kind at the time and they in turn found Yveline and her mother "rather cute" and they kept the family very well supplied with essentials. In fact, even though Yveline and her family moved to the UK in 1946 the parcels from the Americans were still arriving until 1952. Ian asked "Why did they decide on the move to England" and Yveline replied by saying that her father was classed as a stateless citizen and all his assets were frozen and the family had to rely on the kindness and generosity of friends who fed them and look after them generally. Her father decided to come to England because members of his family had already come here directly from Russia Yveline’s grandfather was in a business of petroleum waxes and had a rather large house in Dorking, Surrey. Yveline said she attended kindergarten at Rose Hill but had a bad time because she didn’t speak English and suffered bullying. This proved to be a great incentive and she spoke fluent English within three months! She eventually attended the French Lycee in London and found out that an elderly lady giving lessons, on learning of Yveline’s unusual surname, had given lessons to an uncle of hers who had attended the Lycee earlier. In later life she journeyed to Odessa, where many of her family had come from originally and she had found it very moving to find the house that they had lived in originally. She was treated most royally in Odessa, complete with guide and limousine. Yveline told us that she had met her husband during a lunch break in Mayfair and that she had been given a chance to work in Geneva but was in the process of bringing a young child up at the time. Ian finished his interrogation by asking her how she had come to join Rotary in Hove. Yveline replied by saying that he had heard a lot about Rotary and, having given up her own charity and voluntary works, thought she should take the next step by joining Rotary. She finished by saying that she was very grateful to be asked to join. A fascinating question and answer session, given by Ian in his own inimitable style and thoroughly enjoyed by all present. The vote of thanks was given by President David. 27th November 2007. 28 Present – all our own members. Today was the occasion for this month’s "40 Set" draw and the cheque for £25 was won by Peter Fowle. Paul Beaken said that two Christmas Collection boards were being circulated today, one for the Sainsbury’s site on 22/23rd December and the other for Tesco, Church Road on 15/16th December. This meeting was also the time for the Special General Meeting, held every year to elect Officers for the following Rotary year and also to examine and approve the Club Financial Accounts for the previous Rotary Year. Michael Nettell took members through the minutiae of the accounts step by step and various questions were raised by members that were satisfactorily answered by Michael. Accounts were adapted unanimously. Next came the announcement of election of officers for the Rotary Year 2008/2009 and it was announced that these were as follows. President; Ron Knight, Senior Vice President Bryan Meakin, Secretary David Knowles and Asst. Secretary John Eaton. Those present approved all these posts. President David said that no candidate had been found for the post of Junior Vice President (President in 2010/11) He thought it was said that there is no one coming forward to give it a go bearing in mind that the Presidency is not until 2010/11. Following this plea, Past President Ken Jones said that he would be willing to fill the post, if no one else came forward. Clive Chapple nominated and Bob Hinton seconded the motion that Ken should fill the post and this was passed unanimously by club members. GREETINGS FROM MEMBERS. The following greetings have been accompanied by a donation to Club Funds raising the magnificent sum of £200. ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2007. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellow Rotarians, These were the words of the chorus of a song composed by four handicapped patients of The Orpheus Centre, founded by Richard Stilgoe and performed by them at the end of the Folkestone Conference last Sunday. All of us who heard them were impressed by the energy, optimism and enthusiasm of these young people and not a few in the audience had tears in their eyes during the performance. All of us Rotarians could well take this as their motto. We, all of us, have something to give in life; it only needs a small amount of determination. In three days we all enjoyed an impressive display of some of the achievements of Rotary, in the community and throughout the world. In spite of all we have done there is always something more to do. We saw pictures of the devastation caused by the recent Peruvian earthquake and by the Tsunami, Interspersed in these slides were slides of shelter boxes being transported by gigantic jet planes, on mules and on the backs of people struggling to regain the lives they had lost. This was a most impressive demonstration of technology and human power, all organised by Rotary At the other end of the scale we had a talk by Michael Kasprowiecz a 17 year old boy from Brighton who has been working with a small group of young people in Zambia who have nothing and are being taught to become self sufficient. Damon Hill, the former Grand Prix racing driver, spoke impressively about his Halow Project, which is doing so much for the handicapped. Damon is the father of a Downs Syndrome child. Across the whole spectrum there are people who believe they could really make a difference. These were to me only a few of the high spots of Conference. There were of course the entertainments – Michael Vincent, the magician, who can turn a £10 note into a £20 one – I have given Mike Nettell’s contact details and we can soon expect a great improvement in the Club’s finances. Those three days here inspired me and I am sure that all other attendees felt likewise. I can simply encourage members who have not been to conference for sometime to travel to Cardiff next September 26th-28th. If we can £14,000 Katherine Jenkins will come and sing us four songs. (There will be a special collection after…. – perhaps not!) Finally a special thank you to all those members, and their other halves, who supported me in Folkestone. Back at Club – We have had an inspiriting talk from Batty Davies about support for the over 60s, memories from John Eaton and we look forward to more in the series. We also welcomed DG Alan Knight and just last week had a fascinating talk on the Regency Town House Project. Yours in Rotary – David. CLUB DIARY 2007 November. Mon. 5th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm. Wed 14th. District Council Ardingly 6.30 for 7pm*** December. Mon 3rd. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm*** Tue. 18th. BT Christmas Concert at The Albert Hall, London. Details Forthcoming 2008. January. Mon 7th. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill.6.30pm*** April Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details! (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past May. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later Sun/Wed. 15th/18th. RI Convention Los Angeles*** September. Fri/Sun 26/28th. District 1250 Conference – Cardiff *** New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR NOVEMBER Cash – Bob Hinton Care of Visitors – Tony Woodthorpe. CLUB DUTIES FOR DECEMBER Cash – Ken Jones. Care of Visitors – Howard Attree. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR NOVEMBER 6th. Today’s meeting is devoted to a debate on "New Fund Raising Measure for the Club" which will be led by Paul Beaken. 13th. Today was to have been a talk from Nick Tyson on the Regency Town House Project but, as you know, he stood in as a last minute replacement at our fifth Tuesday lunch last month so I am unsure as to what our programme is today. 20th One of our own is speaking today. Yveline Milner is giving us a talk entitled "My Life and Times" and President David will give the vote of thanks. 27th. The meeting today is given over to a talk by one of our members, still unnamed. This is the second of the fourth meeting of the month talks that are taking the place of committee meetings. CHRISTMAS GREETINGS. According to the Hotel Grand Burstin in Folkestone the Christmas period started on October 5th but I am just reminding you that I intend to publish greetings, from those members who wish me to, in the December bulletin. If you would like to e-mail or give me your message of greetings, with a suggested sum of £10 I will gladly devote one or two pages of the bulletin to this worthy cause. ST DUNSTAN’S. A very enjoyable visit was made to St. Dunstan’s, Ovingdean, last month. A party of 15 or so, led by President David spent an enjoyable few hours on a guided tour of these very extensive premises. The facilities for the patients, blinded whilst serving our country, were second to none. We also had our first Christmas lunch of the year, which was first class. Thanks to Ted Bartup for organising such an interesting, worthwhile visit.
AMBASSADORIAL SCHOLAR ELIZABETH SPOFFORD’S FINAL REPORT. Today is the 27th of October and I’ve been in my hometown of Little Falls, Minnesota for nearly two weeks – yet, here I sit pensive still trying to figure out what exactly I want to say in my final Rotary report. The past year has been a mixture of academic enlightenment and adventurous exploration. I’ve learnt much about the world, and even more about myself. Through coursework I’ve gained a more comprehensive approach to understanding global issues from various perspectives, but it’s through the people I’ve met that I have gained much more. I believe my most memorable and valuable lessons have taken place outside of the classroom – during Rotary presentations and participation in Rotary sponsored charity fundraisers and social events, over cream tea with other Ambassador Scholars and in pubs with fellow classmates studying International Relations at the University of Sussex. What I’ve most recently realized and definitely did not expect after only twelve months abroad, is that I now have a home in Brighton, England too. To which I must add, I miss it dearly! I think that a "home" consists of much more than a particular space. It means to be part of a community where one is surrounded with unconditional love and support, not only receiving but also giving of one’s time and talents to others. This has been my experience as a Rotary Ambassador Scholar, and I feel so lucky to have been granted such a unique opportunity in life. Because of my musical interests, when I arrived in Brighton I was quickly connected with Jan Taylor, an enthusiastic Rotarian who is both active at local and district levels. We had the chance to perform flute duets twice – once for her own club in Storrington, and then again in September at my callback to Burgess Hill. Our practices leading up to the mini-recitals are what I’ll remember most, and re-calling them still makes me giggle aloud. I’ve always thought of music as an international language, and when I spent three years in Japan it was a way that I could more easily communicate with people in my community. In England, however, the reverse seemed true and this bamboozled me. During our practices Jan would say something like: "I think you are playing those ‘minims’ like ‘crochets’!" I had never heard of those terms before, and was quite confused. Eventually we figured out that her "minims" were my eighth notes and "crochets" my quarter notes, which greatly helped us rhythmically pull our Beethoven piece together. This story is just one of my several personal favourites – where the collision of British and American English has created a bit of humorous havoc. Almost any foreigner who has spent some time in England will comment on new lingo they’ve encountered and may even pick-up themselves – and I’m no exception. When I wish to make tea I now say: "I’ll put the kettle on", and when I’m tired after a long day I like to lounge on the "settee". One of the main reasons I’ve been able to gain greater understanding and usage of British English is because I was "in digs" – "staying" with my host counsellor and his wife, Bob and Sheila Hinton for my last six weeks in Brighton, well Hove, actually. Without a doubt Bob and Sheila are my two favourite Brits! I’ve told them this on more than one occasion, and I wish I could somehow show the Hintons just how much I have appreciated their love and support throughout the past year, and look forward to further developing our friendship in the future. Bob has been much more than a host counsellor – he’s been someone I’ve regularly asked for advice, someone I could always count on to make me grin, and someone who has taught me through his good example about how I want to live my life. Bob often credits his wife Sheila for helping him to become the best gentleman he could be, and he certainly is an excellent fellow, even when England isn’t winning the cricket. Now that I’m back in the United States, I look forward to sharing my English experiences as an Ambassador Scholar with Rotary Clubs in district 5580 as well as with other community organizations. It is my hope that through these opportunities I’ll be able to bring England a little bit closer to the average mid-western American – so that our Mother country across the Atlantic becomes something more than an island superficially associated with castles, quintessential pubs, tea and crumpets. I believe the best thing someone with firsthand experience can do is to share personal stories with others, so that people may not only gain good head knowledge but also wisdom of the heart. I know that during formal presentations and informal discussions the following question will most certainly arise – "what will you do next, Elise?" And truthfully, I must admit I don’t exactly know yet. I do know, however, that I will continue to try to be the best "ambassador of goodwill and understanding" that I can…whether or not it is my official title.
CLUB MEETINGS. 2nd October 2007. 33 present – 31 of our own members, one Rotarian visitor, Laurie Hillditch from Brighton and one non-Rotarian guest; Francis Dutoit, a guest of Derek Clouting. A board was circulated for members to denote whether they are coming to the fifth Tuesday meeting on 30th Oct. Peter Savage brought greetings from Rotarians on SS Aurora and told us of a lecturer on board who was also a hostage negotiator. He told us a very amusing story about a hostage situation that finished up with a police dog eating the fish chips meant for the hostages. Today was the occasion of a belated "40 Set" draw and the cheque for £25 was won by Ian Varley. A poster was circulated, advertising a boxing evening to be run by Worthing Rotary. Bob Hinton spoke about Rotary Calendars for 2008, which are available for sale. He also mentioned that there were two jars of each of the Plum Jam and the Green Tomato Chutney for sale. The remainder of the meeting was taken up with a discussion (or debate) about the proposed contact visit in Oxford in 2009. International Chairman Peter Fowle opened the session by saying that when the visit was first mooted he had a response from 15 members saying that they would go to Oxford on June 19th-21st 2009. Peter then outlined the programme for the weekend, which has already been documented elsewhere. He said that castings looked like being about £300 per person for the hotel but could be less after negotiations. Paul Thrasher, who has been costing the visit, said he had misgivings about the cost of the whole visit, with some £5,500 needed to finance it and we only have about £2,300 in international fund at moment. He also said that he thought fellowship would suffer if only twelve or so Rotarians were able to go, particularly as it was a "home" contact visit. Ian Collington suggested that we bring the visiting Rotarians over on the Thursday for the meal at our homes and then coach them down to Oxford. Bob Hinton replied by saying that both Pforzheim and Evreux Clubs suggested it, and agreed by Hove, that the meetings should be of two days and not three days as Ian was suggesting. Bob also said that he thought we should be a bit more adventurous and not worry too much about the expense and he felt that we had plenty of time to finance the whole thing. John Eaton said he felt that contact visits are becoming too competitive and felt that younger members of contact clubs would like to come to Sussex. Peter Fowle summed by saying that it was said that the club was very stagnant and he was not very happy with the response from members today. He said that when he was in Portslade club they used to go to District Conference in Worthing and then it was suggested that it be moved to Bournemouth. Back at his Club, he asked members who would like to go to Bournemouth and they all said no. When he asked people to put their hands up, they had changed their mind and voted to move the conference to Bournemouth. Roger Patterson apologised for a belated and possibly confusing thought and he wondered if Oxford warranted two whole days and thought that a day trip to Oxford and a boat trip to Runnymede. A vote was taken at the end of the debate and the result was level at 8 vote for and against with many members abstaining. Bob Hinton made a "practical suggestion" saying that no matter how we vote for or against but how many people would be willing to go to Oxford or not. He suggested that a slip be put in the bulletin to say whether they will go or not. It was decided to keep the project open until all votes were in. 9th October 2007. A REPORT FROM JOHN EATON, IN THE ABSENCE OF THE EDITOR. 31 Present – 29 of our own members, 1 Rotarian Visitor, Laurie Hillditch and Frances Dutoit. Brighton and Hove Sixty + A voice for senior citizens in the City. Our speaker for today is Betty Davis…. and I’m sure that she is fed up with people saying she has film star eyes! Betty is not a film star but an action taker. Since it began nine years ago, she has been very busy with the Sixty Plus Brighton and Hove action group. This brings older people together to tackle everyday issues that affect them. They put pressure on local decision makers in a number of areas including health, transport, the police and the environment. Monthly group meetings are held at 11 venues, as well as dealing with problem areas to the east of the city. Betty is also involved with the Southdown Health Trust and other City forums and together with her colleague, Sarah Hendricks, assists about 140 members of the group, who are asked to help with contributions to keep the group going. The work is relevant to us over 60s if any of us need it. President David gave the vote of thanks.
16th October 2007. A REPORT FROM JOHN EATON, DEPUTISING FOR THE SECOND WEEK RUNNING. Sorry, no attendance numbers so far. This was the first of a number of talks by members of the Club. The title of today’s talk was "Trains, Boats and Planes and Cars and anything else that comes into mind. The speaker was John Eaton. It started with a tale of the purchase of a two-seater tandem which John’s father bought for him on his 4th birthday in 1940. He and his brother would go into the local woods without any fear but one day they saw a German pilot descending under a parachute, having been shot down during an air raid over London. They both gave chase on the tandem but were turned back by the ARP. Two weeks later their house was bombed and the tandem was one of the casualties. After moving to Dulwich they were bombed out so moved to Abbey Wood on the outskirts of London. On the way to moving to their new house they went through Woolwich and saw Trolleybuses, with their great big balloon tyres, for the first time. Trolleybuses and trams were to be part of their lives for the next ten or twelve years. Shortly after moving to Abbey Wood the family (four boys and mother) were evacuated to Newcastle but stayed only 6 weeks before a lonesome father brought them back. This time they came back on the Flying Scotsman (every boys’ dream). Woolwich Arsenal was on the doorstep and everyday one could hear and feel the big guns being tested, a very nervous time for all. Holidays after the war were spent on the Isle of Sheppey and the journey would mean taking trams and coaches for many hours, as at that time there were not such things as motorways. Weekends were spent either on the Woolwich Ferry watching the engines or a round trip by tram into London with a picnic on the top deck. Bicycles would take great adventures into the countryside but then would come the Vesper scooters. During National Service days and hours were spent on the back of lorries or Land Rovers delivering sterilised syringes to various First Aid centres around Salisbury Plain. In Ireland canoes were built in a spare operating theatre where the Commanding Officer, instead of inspecting the theatres would inquire on the progress of the build using surgical instruments. Once married, travel became possible and the first flight was on a Comet, which landed in a storm in Majorca aquaplaning along the runway bursting more tyres than was available at the time. Sea crossings were made in luxury across the Irish Sea, taking twelve hours or more, and having to dress for dinner. Concord flight was also experienced, together with a flight from Shoreham Airport to Deauville for the day. The Orient Express was also talked bout having made two journeys on this famous train. Many cars that had been owned were also talked bout. The future was also briefly mentioned, that being the service from London to Paris in 2 hours 15 minutes but of perhaps another talk could be arranged in ten years time. The vote of thanks was again by President David. 23rd October 2007. 30 present – 28 of our own members and two visiting Rotarians, David Perrin from Brighton and District Governor Alan Knight from the Redhill Club. Secretary David reminded members that District Council is at Ardingly on 14th November, 6.30pm for 7 and Club council was on Monday, 5th November, (fireworks promised!!) at West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm The meeting started with President David having the greatest of pleasure in appointing Howard Attree a Paul Harris Fellow. The award was made for both Howard’s great service to the Club and to District as District Treasurer. President David was also delighted to report that Keith Upton is making great progress after his recent prostate operation. He also thanked Ted Bartup for arranging the visit, last week, to St Dunstan’s and remarked that it was the most impressive vocational trip he had been on. District Governor Alan Knight was our speaker for today and he started off by telling us that he had been a Rotarian since 1984. He also added his congratulations to Howard for his award today. He also acknowledge the hard work performed in District 1250 by the Pegs in our Club; David Burchell, Ian Varley and Clive Chapple. He thanked us for our warm welcome and hospitality. The first time he realised how much work would be involved in being Governor was when he received a huge box, via UPS, which contained a very thick District Governor’s Training Manual. Not only that, his wife also received a very similar parcel that contained a manual called Spouses Training Manual. She was not impressed because she thought the visit to San Diego was going to be a holiday for her. DG Alan said that we were the 52nd of his Club visits. He said that he should have visited all 60 clubs by now but he found out that 8 Club Presidents hadn’t read what he had sent them. He told us that he collating reports from the various ADGs on the various Club Assemblies ) He informed us that he has not adopted one particular charity for his year because he doesn’t believe in using his position to influence Clubs as to what charity they should take up. He believes that individual clubs should be left to pick their own charities to support. He reminded us that the Rotary motto, picked by the RI President, is "Rotary Shares" and said that there is an explanation of this motto in the current issue of the District Magazine. He told us that he is not in favour of a different motto every year and thinks we should stick to "Service Above Self". Alan was pleased to report that we now have three Interact Clubs in the district and there are more in the pipeline. Rotaract is less successful but a new charter is being given to Chichester next month with three more in various stages of formation. He then cited many facts and figures to do with foundation and also reported on Polio Plus (see report in other part of this bulletin) He cited a remarkable fact in that The Tamil Tigers, in Sri Lanka, have agreed to a five-day cease-fire to enable all the children in that area to be vaccinated with the polio serum. He also mentioned sustained membership of Foundation that involves contributing $100 (currently less than £50) a year, which with gift aid only works out at £40 per year. He said he wouldn’t go on about membership during this talk but said it was a mistake to become too complacent about membership because even his own club’s membership has halved in numbers in a comparatively short time. He also said that he doesn’t believe the stories that Rotary will be finished within fifteen years if things are allowed to carry on as they are. He suggested that if one wanted to get more out of their Rotary they should attend District Councils and Conferences. The DG also reminded us that next year sees the 75th Anniversary of our Club and he also said that ADG David Hodge has reported that we are a strong club with a distinct knowledge of Foundation (thanks to Bob Hinton!) He also said that we are the first club to work with local schools on environmental programmes. He thanked us for our support for this year’s District Conference, with some 18 people intending to travel to Folkestone. President David gave the vote of thanks. 30th October 2007. 50 Present – 27 of our own members with one visiting Rotarian, David Perrin from Brighton and 22 non-Rotarian guests, including Olive Hamilton, Francis Dutoit and Phyllis Howell, and our speaker Nick Tyson. The remainder of the visitors were our own lovely ladies. President David had the honour of presenting a Paul Harris Fellowship for the second week running. This week’s honoured recipient was Joan Burchell, who was given the award for her wonderful support to David and for all the work she has performed for St John Ambulance and Inner Wheel. Despite health problems these last few years she is always willing to support every event. President David congratulated John and Anne Eaton who were celebrating their 47th Wedding Anniversary today. There was a "40 Set" draw today and the cheque for £25 was won by Veronica Bartup. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton spoke of the availability of Christmas Cards from Foundation. He said it was a bit on the late side so orders were needed quickly. Our speaker today was Nick Tyson, chairman of the Regency House Project, an organisation that is bringing back two properties to their original specifications. The scope of his talk covered 1780-1840 He said we speak of Brighton being a Regency Town but Regency has two definitions. Firstly, there is the political definition which was 1811-20 and the stylistic use of the Regency period which some suggest is 1800-1830 and others suggest 1780-1840. He spoke of the transformation of the town from a fishing village to a stylish town that happened before any of the Regency periods but the town began to really develop at the beginning of the latterly named Regency period. Nick then showed us, with the aid of various maps, how the area developed over the years. He explained that Hove didn’t change much at all in this period, with only a couple of hundred people as inhabitants. The first part of Hove to be developed was the Brunswick area, which is, of course right on the boundary of Brighton. Charles Augustine Busby was the prime architect of this time and he was responsible for about a third of the buildings built in this period. If you want to find out more about this project there is an excellent website which will answer any queries you may have. This was an excellent talk by a real enthusiast, a man who has given up a much more financially rewarding career to follow his passion in life. Ray Tiltman gave the vote of thanks. POLIO PLUS UPDATE Here are the bullet points of the current successes and remaining obstacles to eliminate polio from those countries in the world that still have it. The tremendous reduction of wild poliovirus case counts in the endemic countries. (Due mainly to three important developments in 2005/2006 – for details of these check the RIBI website) The reductions in the number of exportations to the neighbouring countries but here there are difficulties of access, problems with warring factions and the population movements during the Hajji season. The recognition that more exhaustive and more regular immunisations campaigns are required due to the earlier incomplete coverage, the alarming birth rates (after all it’s the young and new born we must immunise) and the prevalence of diseases requiring more doses of the vaccines for them to be effective. In short, the setbacks from 2003/2004 have been understood, the immunisations are back on track, the end is in sight but more funding is required. OBJECT OF ROTARY I felt that bearing in mind the meeting that is upcoming about fundraising that this would be a good time to remind members of the object of Rotary: To encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster; DISTRICT CONFERENCE – FOLKESTONE – 26TH/28TH OCTOBER 2007. It was quite a sizeable group that left Hove to attend the Conference in Folkestone. President David and Christine led the way and they were joined by, Bob and Ann Mulholland, Ray and Chrissie Tiltman, Peter and Pam Fowle, John and Brenda Couch, Peter and Pat Savage, Bob and Sheila Hinton, George Robinson, Ken Jones and last but not least, Howard and Helen Attree who were based at the conference headquarters hotel. All of the party, excepting for Howard and Helen, were based at the Grand Burstin Hotel, a quite massive hostelry, with over 400 rooms available. Most of the party had "Premium" rooms, which I think meant that you had an ironing board in the room but I was very lucky because I had been given a lovely room, with a huge balcony, on the 11th floor, which turned out to be ideal for the President’s get together before going out in the evening. Most people turned up in time for the first session of the conference, which started at 2.45 on the Friday afternoon. As was usual at District conferences the first hour or so after DG Alan opened the conference was devoted to welcoming addresses from The Mayor of Folkestone, the District Governor, a presentation of the Conference banner from last year’s DGs club president, followed by a welcome by Yvonne Powell, Host Club President of the Rotary Club of Redhill. These were not too painful but this was followed by a welcome address from RI Presidential Representative Lars-Olof Fredriksson who spoke with a very thick Scandinavian accent, with his head pointed downwards, reading directly from his notes. It was really hard work trying to decipher what he was saying and I’m afraid I still don’t know what he was on about. It’s at times like this that I feel sorry for the District Governor because he has no say to who will be representing the RI President and it is a case of pot luck whether you get someone charismatic and easy to listen to or not. Lars-Olof is obviously a quite dedicated Rotarian who has risen to the top of the Rotary tree in a comparatively short time but it is not fair to inflict someone whose English is hard to understand. The District Governors in the last three years have been really lucky with their allocation of speaker but I’m afraid Alan drew the short straw this time. Next up was the RIBI President’s representative and this time it was a much better choice because we had Past President of RIBI Rodney Huggins, who is an excellent speaker, as you would expect from a serving barrister and judge. Following Rodney it was the turn of Elisabeth Locke, Inner Wheel Chairman of District 25, who, despite suffering from a severe sore throat, almost losing her voice completely, valiantly delivered her address, resulting in a tumultuous round of applause for her efforts. Next on the starting grid, as it were, was Damon Hill, the former Formula One World Champion and he was listed as here to talk to us about The Halow Project, a charity that he sponsors, a result of an interest created by the fact that he has a Downs Syndrome child of his own. Instead of talking of the project, he spent the first twenty minutes of his talk telling us all about his career as a World Champion racing car driver and it was quite fascinating with many amusing, and tragic, incidents involved. The last ten minutes or so of his talk was devoted to the Halow Project, an organisation whose objective is to secure a rewarding future for young adults with special needs based on the simple but passionate belief that they have the right to enjoy the same quality of life as any other person. Halow provides them with the help and assistance to allow them to live independently, with a good social life, but still close to their families and friends. Working with selected partners they build employment opportunities that will result in a structured but varied life, enabling the young people to reach their full potential. Our next, and last, speaker at this session was Peter Hems a member of the Leatherhead Rotary Club since 1968, and whose claim to fame is that he is the oldest and longest service Private Investigator in the world. He became a PI in 1953 and is still in employment and in 2005 was given an award for his longevity in front of 1,200 PI’s at a conference. Peter is a very ebullient chap and there was no danger in nodding off during his talk and it was very interesting and quite amusing at times, but personally I felt it went on a bit too long. Having said that this was the only session that finished on, or before, time. The session concluded with the usual Sergeant-at-Arms notices, delivered by The Reverend John Joseph, splendidly dressed in his uniform as a medieval Knight of the Realm. This session finished about ten minutes early but still left not much time to get back to the hotel, get ready and have dinner prior to returning to the conference centre for the evening’s entertainment. It still left us time though to have a get together "drinkies" in my room and have one or two glasses of refreshment, courtesy of President David, before going down to the restaurant. The evening’s entertainment turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax with all present being entertained by Abba Magic an Abba tribute group. The Abba tunes were enough to get people joining in and dancing but I didn’t think that this was one of the better tribute groups and all the songs were performed by the two girls in the group with the two chaps just playing the backing instruments. Most of our party left at the half way mark to return to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. SATURDAY This particular morning saw us all making our way to the conference session confident that we were going to be uplifted and entertained on what is normally one of the better sessions at conference. Unfortunately this didn’t turn out to be the case and it all got off to a very bad start when the session started some twenty minutes late, with no explanation or apology for this. Things went from bad to worse and by the time of the coffee interval proceedings were about thirty-five to forty minutes behind schedule and the last speaker of the first half of the session had to be held over until after the shortened coffee break. It would have been nice if the longer session had been any good but it was one of the most boring parts of conference that I have ever attended. The first main speaker was RIBI representative Rodney Huggins and instead of getting his usual mix of humour and inspiration we were subjected to a half hour lecture about "Climate Change" with statistic after statistic thrust upon us. I think it was safe to say that all of us there are pretty well clued up to what needs to be done to help in the fight against "Climate Change" and really didn’t come to conference to hear such a lecture on this subject. This was then followed by DG Alan’s first address to the conference and blimey if he didn’t punish us all with more and more statistics, this time they were Rotary statistics but it was still another speech containing far too many figures for us to take in. As said before, coffee was taken early and following on from this the next speaker was David Glover, and his talk was a breath of fresh air after what had gone before. David spoke to us about Shelter Boxes and the great feats that this project has performed in it’s relatively short life, it only having been in existence for some five or six years. This was concluded with a short video presentation showing us all aspects of this very worthwhile scheme. Unfortunately, this was only a short relief on what was turning out to be one of the longest sessions that I have ever been to, or maybe it only seemed to be lengthy because of the content. Next in line was the aforementioned RI President’s representative, the gentleman from Finland, who once again read copiously from notes, with his head down, in a very heavy Scandinavian accent and once again I lost all interest in what he was trying to convey after a couple of minutes. Things did get better after this with two excellent talks, firstly one by Donna Little, a local RNLI Co-ordinator who gave an excellent talk of this most worthy institution and this was followed by a first class talk from Malcolm Wells MBE who told us all about "Canine Partners" the organisation that trains dogs to a standard whereby they can do many helpful tasks for their disabled owners. This talk also included a live demonstration, first by a dog that was fairly new to the course and then from a fully trained dog whose owner put him through his paces to show us what they are capable of. It was then time for the Sergeant-At- Arms notices and then we were released from the hall, release being the operative word because the session seemed like a short prison sentence in the end finishing some forty minutes late, messing up lunchtime arrangements for many delegates, particularly when they found there were no buses to take them back to their hotels. Luckily, there was no official conference session in the afternoon so we were all left to our own devices. Our particular party met up once again before setting out for the conference centre again where a grand dinner was held in the banquet hall. Signs were not good at the beginning of the evening because, on arrival, we found that the wine that had been ordered for our tables had not arrived and was not forthcoming for about forty minutes or so. To exacerbate matters, it was discovered that we were two places short on our tables and there was no room for late arrivals Howard and Helen Attree and two place settings had to be made for them. Apparently this self same scenario was being repeated in other parts of the ballroom. After what seemed like an interminable wait dinner commenced. The first course was fairly nice and there was then another very long wait before the main course, steak, was served. This turned out to be pretty much a disaster as far as our table was concerned because the steak itself was tough as Old Harry and plates were returned with hardly anything eaten. We may have been unlucky because according to Laurie Hillditch of Brighton Rotary, his meat was quite tender. A raffle followed on from the dinner and then people at certain tables were told to move away from their tables to enable the dance floor to be cleared. In the meantime it was announced that there was alternative entertainment downstairs in the House of Friendship in the form of a Flanders and Swann tribute duo. This turned out to be one of the major highlights of the conference because they served up some quite superb entertainment, reflected by the fact that there over 50% of the diners were down there, leaving the ballroom embarrassingly empty. Thank God for these two wonderful entertainers because they saved a pretty bad night. SUNDAY. This morning saw many delegates making their way to the conference centre for this last session. The usual Act of Worship, conducted by Rev. John Joseph, preceded this. It was a very nice service, with contributions from some of DG Alan’s immediate family, including his brother playing the organ. There was a short coffee break after the service and this was followed by the last session which started off with a very articulate talk from Richard Kasprowicz, a 17 year old lad, sponsored by Brighton and Hove Soiree, telling us all about a project for the Misisi school, just outside Lusaka which now has some 1,000 pupils and which only started in 1997 from very small beginnings and was on the needs of children orphaned by Aids. His talk was very self-assured and was followed by a video of his own making. Excellent! This was followed by the third talk from our RIBI Representative Lars-Olof and it was quite a relief to realise that it was a farewell speech. Following on from this there was a very bright and breezy presentation by a GSE team from Mexico, they getting a very big laugh every time they mentioned individually that they were accountants. This was turning out to be the best part of the conference and got even better with the appearance of Alison Streeter MBE, a remarkable lady who told us all about her exploits in "Swimming the Channel". Alison has the distinction of being the only woman to do the three way non-stop (Dover-Calais-Dover-Calais) swim. Her other World Records include around the Isle of Wight, around Jersey, Ireland to Scotland and Scotland to Ireland, Gravesend to Richmond and vice versa and she is also the only person to swim from the Isles of Scilly to Cornwall. This was an excellent talk by a very bubbly lady. Following on from Alison DGE Pat Evans gave her pitch for next year’s District Conference in Cardiff. Not much mention was made of the proposed content but I can only reflect on the National Conference, held in Cardiff some years ago and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Cardiff is a great place to visit and being a month earlier than the conference this year we can hopefully look forward to some decent weather. There were then announcements from the Sergeant-At-Arms followed by the farewell to conference from the District Governor. After the DG’s farewell we came to what was most probably the highlight of the conference with a welcome return to Richard Stilgoe and his very talented group from the Orpheus Centre. Just to remind you, the Orpheus Centre is a residential performing arts centre for young disabled people, generally with physical and/or sensory impairments. The centre is in Richard’s former home in Godstone. It was a very moving performance at times and there were not many people with dry eyes in the hall after a couple of the songs. A fitting climax to any conference, particularly one that had some pretty low points.
DISTRICT CONFERENCE – CONCLUSIONS. I know that I have moaned about lots of things at this conference but I wouldn’t like to put any of you off from attending future conferences. The last three or four District Conferences have been superb, the best I have been to in my 22 years in Rotary so it came as no surprise when this one turned out to be pretty bad. Law of averages I suppose! I realise that a lot of things that go wrong at conference are out of the hands of the organisers, particularly the choice of speakers allocated to conference by RI and RIBI. PDG Peter Nightingale was particularly lucky in his year when he was allocated a most charismatic lady DG from India who absolutely wowed conference on the three occasions she spoke to us. The meal on Saturday night was also out of the organisers’ control because catering is such a tricky thing, especially for such large numbers. What was in the organisers’ control was the length of speeches and I found it inexcusable that the Saturday session overran so much, and why wasn’t there any apology or explanation for starting so late. DG Alan asked at the conference for us to take a positive message back to the club and not harp on about the bad bits but I feel that this is wrong and that we must not ‘con’ people into coming as though nothing has gone wrong. I’ll support conferences in the future and will encourage club members to come along but one below-par conference should not put people off considering the quite excellent conferences we have had in the past. Better luck next time! PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS. I’m sure you will all join me in congratulating both Howard Attree and Joan
Burchell on their very worthy awards of Paul Harris Fellowships recently. I hope
you enjoy these photographs, taken on each other’s special day.
ROTARY CLUB HOVE BULLETIN OCTOBER 2007. Dear Fellow Rotarians,
CLUB DIARY 2007 October Mon. 1st. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm. Sat. 6th. Inner Wheel Harvest Supper – West Blatchington Windmill 7pm Tkts £10 BYO drinks*** Thurs. 18th. Visit to St. Dunstan’s. This will include lunch and tickets will be £10.00 restricted to 15 people. Fri/Sun. 26-28th. District 1250 Conference. Folkestone. Still plenty of time to register for this year’s conference. A good number from this club will be attending but there is always room for more of you. It would also be a good opportunity to support President David, who has always supported past Presidents at conferences gone by. November. Mon. 5th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm*** December. Tue. 18th. BT Christmas Concert at The Albert Hall, London. Details Forthcoming 2008. April Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details! (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past May. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR OCTOBER Cash – Chris Heath. Care of Visitors – Ian Varley CLUB DUTIES FOR NOVEMBER Cash – Bob Hinton Care of Visitors – Tony Woodthorpe. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR OCTOBER. 2nd. The first meeting of the month and it is a business meeting, coupled with a discussion about the proposed contact visit in Oxford in 2009, International Chairman Peter Fowle will lead this. 9th. Our speaker today is Betty Davis and her talk is entitled "Brighton and Hove Sixty +". The vote of thanks will be proposed by Adrian Ball. 16th. Today’s talk is "Stories of My Life" by a yet named speaker, who will be one of our own members. The vote of thanks will be given by President David. 23rd. Today sees the annual visit of the Governor of District 1250 and this year’s incumbent is Alan Knight from Redhill. 30th. A fifth Tuesday meeting and this will be held at lunchtime when it is hoped that many of our ladies will attend. The speaker will be Pat Burt and the title of her oration will be "Graphology – The Handwriting Detectives". JACK WINGFIELD. I have received the following letter from Jack Wingfield. "Just a line to say thank you for sending me the copies of the bulletin which I find most interesting. So nice to know so many of the old brigade keep going! I especially enjoyed your account of the talk by the Reverend Linda Hulcoop on the Nagem of Nagaland. During the War (long time past!) I had quite a long spell in Kohima and the family photo album contains several snaps of 2nd Lieutenant Jack Wingfield chatting to the local Naga Ladies! Once again, thank you very much – Jack" I’m sure that Jack would like to hear from all of you and just to remind you that he is staying at Downlands Park Nursing Home, Isaacs Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH164BQ. Tel No: 0845 644 1701. CLUB MEETINGS. 4th September, 2007. 29 present – 26 of our own Members and one Rotarian visitor; David Perrin from Brighton, together with two non-Rotarian guests, Elise Spofford our Ambassador Scholar from Little Falls, Minnesota, who would be making her final presentation today, and Francis Dutoit a guest of Derek Clouting, Senior Vice President Ron Knight was in the chair today and he was pleased to announce that President David’s recent eye operation had gone exceedingly well and he can see much better than prior to the operation and hopes to be with us next week. It has been decided that the meetings of the various committees of the club will no longer be held at Club and it will be up to the individual chairmen to arrange meetings, either after lunch or at another venue. David Perrin, our Rotarian visitor today, was congratulated on reaching the age of 87 last week. Ray Tiltman reported on last Saturday’s barbecue at Storrington and thanked George Robinson and Michael Nettell for their help in collecting the money for tickets. He also thanked Bob and Ann Mulholland for running the bar. He also gave thanks to the ladies of the Inner Wheel for supplying such a great selection of "puddings". It was a great success, both socially and financially, raising the magnificent sum of £965. Bob Hinton informed us about the birth of his first granddaughter last week. She follows on from seven grandsons. While on his feet he also mentioned that there were still some jars of Plum Jam, made by Yveline Milner, waiting to be purchased. Yveline has also offered to make Chutney and ten people raised their hands, showing interest in buying. Bob also "plugged" the upcoming performance of "The Gondolier" by The Wandering Minstrels", suggesting that the performance at Ditchling on Friday 12th October would most probably be the most convenient for members. Our speaker today was Elise Spofford, well known to all of us because of her very enthusiastic participation in various Club events throughout her year’s stay. She started off by saying how much she enjoyed the barbecue last weekend and thanked us for making her so welcome. She told us that, unofficially, she had finished her course at Sussex University. Elise then brought us up to date, helped by a slide show, of what she had been up to these last few months. She has recently returned from Japan, where she spent three years prior to her year over here, and she showed us slides of her work in a summer day camp in Tokyo where she spent most of last month. She taught English as a living language to young people. She then showed us snaps of her own family, who had visited the UK earlier on in the year. They were only over here for a week but they managed to cram in quite a bit of sightseeing including a visit to Spofforth, "The ancestral home". In Yorkshire. Elise also gave mention of her participation in Stroke Awareness Day, when she stood outside Hove Town Hall, together with Bob Hinton and Sandra, my youngest daughter. Numerous pictures of the Motor Cycle Rally at Blatchington Mill School followed this when Elise performed many duties, including stewarding and official photographer. Her final snaps were of the contact visit to Pforzheim and Baden Baden. She regretted that she didn’t have pictures of her time collecting money in George Street at Christmas. Informing us that she was going home on the 1st of October, she thanked everyone for their help and encouragement throughout the year and said that she has one more presentation, at Burgess Hill. She will also be going to the University to welcome this coming year’s Ambassadorial Scholar. She finished up by saying that she has various "irons in the fire", having applied to join a Japanese Peace Boat which sails the world preaching the peaceful way of life. Bob Hinton gave the vote of thanks. 11th September 2007. 28 present – 25 of our own members together with two visiting Rotarians, David Perrin and Laurie Hillditch from Brighton and one non-Rotarian Guest, David Arscott; our speaker for today. President David thanked everyone for his or her messages of good will after his recent eye operation. It was announced that the Club had purchased a Father Christmas and Sleigh display for the Christmas Collection. Bob Mulholland said that he was happy to take names of people that wanted to attend the RIBI Conference in April 2008. Bob Hinton said that most of the Plum jam, made by Yveline Milner, had been sold but that we now have jars of Apple and Raspberry Chutney waiting to be bought by the people who showed interest last week. He said that a minimum of £1 should be donated for each jar. Bob also informed members that tickets for the Wandering Minstrels performance of The Gondolier at Ditchling on 12th October are available. Our speaker today was David Arscott, formerly a broadcaster on the old BBC Radio Brighton and the subject of his talk was "Kipling in Sussex" David started off with a quote from one of Kipling’s poems, which on completion turned out to be the words of "Sussex By The Sea". He informed us that Kipling’s works came out of copyright this year so he was pleased to say that he was able to use Kipling’s material without payment. He told us that everyone was under the misapprehension that Kipling spent most of his life in India or other parts of the British Empire, but this was not so, because he lived most of his life in Sussex. He also fell in love with this county and penned many words about it. He only spent two periods of his life in India, this being the first five years of his life and for a short period as a journalist after he finished his schooling in the Portsmouth area. His first work – Plain Tales from the Hills – was written in India but the rest of his works were composed in Sussex. His one novel, Kim, set in India, he wrote while living in Rottingdean. He was not too keen on Rottingdean because his house there attracted too many sightseers David then read out one or two very amusing poems of Kipling’s. David then told us that Kipling then moved to Bateman’s to live. Bateman’s is situated near Burwash, which is in the far east of East Sussex, near Etchingham. Kipling was one of England’s first motorists, although, because of his bad sight, he preferred to be driven. He also wrote a series of poems for the motoring news column in the Daily Mail. In truth, the cars were not very reliable then and he quite often had to travel by train to his destination. Apparently Kipling was very fond of children and took his own to family America in 1899, but whilst there one of his daughters, Josephine, said to be his favourite, was taken ill and died. It was said that he was near death himself at the time. He later suffered another tragedy when his son, John, died at the Battle of Loos in 1915. David said that Kipling was a fairly solitary man and he had interviews with people that had known the Kiplings and they said that he was a very quiet man but his wife, Carrie, was a very tough lady. Kipling enjoyed "manly pursuits" but because of his small stature and ill health he was never able to take part in sports of any kind. David finished off by reading an extract from one of Kipling’s poems, the name of which escaped me. This was a really first talk and what you would expect from a professional broadcaster. His enthusiasm shone through throughout the address and I think I can say without contradiction that everyone present enjoyed it. Many questions were asked at the conclusion of the talk and Howard Attree performed the vote of thanks. If you are interested in finding out all about Kipling’s life you can purchase his autobiography, titled "Something of Myself" which was written in 1935, the last year of his life, and published posthumously. 18th September 2007. 20 present – 19 of our own members and 1 non-Rotarian guest; Elise Spofford, here on her last visit before returning to Minnesota. President said he was going to try and "pad out" the meeting a little bit today because we had no speaker and a lot of the announcements to be announced this week had been given out last Tuesday. Howard Attree inform us that he had attended the Charter Night of Gatwick Diamond club and enjoyed himself immensely. Howard also said that he had two tickets available for the start of the Brighton Philharmonic season that is on 30th September. It was reiterated that Committee meetings would now be held out club meetings that would free up one extra meeting each month. A speaker is in place for the first one, which is next week. A list is being circulated for members to volunteer to talk at these vacant meetings any prospective speakers were assured that they would be given plenty of notice after they have asked to speak It was announced that three jars, out of the original ten, were still waiting to be collected by those who said they were interested in purchasing them. Bob Hinton also advertised the next performance of The Wandering Minstrels at Ditchling on 12th October. President David finished by paying tribute to Elise Spofford on her last visit to us before returning to her home in the US. Elise replied, saying a thank you for all our kindness during her year in Brighton and Hove. 25th September, 2007. 31 present – 29 of our own members and two visiting Rotarians, David Perrin from Brighton and Durwin Banks from Billingshurst, who was also our speaker for the day. Bob Mulholland read out a letter of thanks from Jack Wingfield (see page 2 of this bulletin) President David informed members that there was to be a Harvest Supper, run by the Inner Wheel and this would take place at West Blatchington Windmill on Saturday 6th October at 7pm. Our speaker, Durwin Banks, was here today to tell us all about the beneficial advantages of Linseed Oil. Durwin runs a company called High Barn Oils and he produces linseed oil by the bucketful on his farm at Barns Green in West Sussex. He started off by telling us that he family had been farming in the Barns Green area since 1740, some 260 or more years ago. It was of course, until fairly recently, a conventional farm, producing wheat and barley crops and consisting of a herd of cows, pigs and suchlike. In recent times the whole farm is now geared to the production of linseed oil. Linseed oil, most famously known for keeping cricket bats in good condition, is full of beneficial Omega3, 6 and 9 oils. The yield of linseed oil for each acre varies between a half-ton and a ton. It is also a very hard crop to cut and the cutting is very labour intensive. Durwin’s interest was taken in this sort of crop when he bought a property off of a chap who was producing camomile and he carried on himself but never grew enough to whole it and he hadn’t the means to get the product right for retailing. Omega3 is the main goodness of the oil and apparently it is a better quality Omega3 than one would get in cod liver oil. Durwin then went into a long explanation, much too complicated for a layman such as myself to report on, about how the foods we digest are broken up into various chemicals. He said that our eating habits had not changed much since the Stone Age He also said that five percent of Omega3 was found in grazing animals because of what they ate while grazing, getting this from about five hundred different plants. The linseed was also used to make linseed cakes that were fed to cattle. Linseed is also the main ingredient of Lino, that longwearing floor covering, which is not seen at all much lately. Further very complicated explanations about Omega3 were forthcoming and I think it would be best if I referred you to Durwin’s website at www.highburnoils.co.uk if you want to find out more about it. This talk was very informative by a man who knows everything you would even want to know about linseed but at times it was much too technical for me. Judging by the number of questions asked afterwards, there was much interest in what he had to say, President David gave the vote of thanks. STRANGE ANSWERS TO STRAIGHTFORWARD QUESTIONS. I think you may find some of the answers to questions on various quiz shows quite amusing; Quizmania (ITV); Greg Scott: We’re looking for an occupation beginning with ‘T’. Contestant: Doctor. Scott: No, it’s ‘T’ for Tommy. ‘T’ for Tango. Contestant: Oh, right… (pause)… Doctor. Danny Kelly Show. (RADIO WM) Kelly: Which French Mediterranean town hosts a famous film festival every year? Contestant: I don’t know, I need a clue. Kelly: OK, what do beans come in? Contestant: Cartons? Jamie Theakston: Where do you think Cambridge University is? Contestant: Geography isn’t my strongest point. Theakston: There’s a clue in the title. Contestant: Leicester. Stewart White (BBC Norfolk): White: Who had a hit with What a Wonderful World? Contestant: I don’t know. I’ll give you some clues; what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow? Contestant: Arm. White: Correct. And if you’re not weak, you’re…? Contestant: Strong. White Correct. – and what was Lord Mountbatten’s first name? Contestant: Louis. White: Well there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the strong What a Wonderful World? Contestant: Frank Sinatra. Late Show (BBC Midlands) Alex Trelinski: What is the capital of Italy? Contestant: France. Trelinski: France is another country, try again. Contestant: Oh,um, Benidorm. Trelinski: Wrong, sorry, let’s try another question. In which country is The Parthenon? Contestant: Sorry, I don’t know. Trelinski: Just guess a country then. Contestant: Paris. University Challenge (BBC2) What is another name for ‘cherrypickers’ and ‘cheesemongers’? Contestant: Homosexuals. Paxman: No, they’re regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you. The Weakest Link (BBC"). Anne Robinson: Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what: prison, or the Conservative Party. Contestant: The Conservative Party. Beacon Radio (Wolverhampton). DJ Mark: For Pounds 10, what is the nationality of the Pope? Ruth from Rowley Regis: I think I know that one. Is it Jewish? The Weakest Link. Anne Robinson: What ‘j’ is where two roads meet? Contestant: Jool carriageway? University Challenge. Bamber Gascoigne: What was Gandhi’s first name? Contestant: Goosey? GWR FM (Bristol) Presenter: What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963? Contestant: I don’t know, I wasn’t watching it then. RTE Radio 2FM (Ireland). Presenter: What is the name of the long-running TV comedy show about pensioners? Last of The……? Caller: Mohicans. Phil Wood Show (BBC Radio Manchester) Phil: What’s 11 squared? Contestant: I don’t know. Phil: I’ll give you a clue. It’s two ones with a two in the middle. Contestant: Is it five? Richard and Judy. Q: Which American actor is married to Nicole Kidman? A: Forrest Gump. Richard and Judy. Richard: On which street did Sherlock Holmes live? Contestant: er…. Richard: He makes bread. Contestant: Er… Richard: He makes cakes… Contestant: Kipling Street. Magic 52 (Northeast England). Presenter: In what year was President Kennedy assassinated? Contestant: Erm… Presenter: Well, let’s put it this way – he didn’t see 1964. Contestant: 1965? Simply The Best (ITV). Phil Tufnell: How many Olympic Games have been held? Contestant: Six. Tufnell: Higher. Contestant: Five. Fort Boyard (Challenge TV). Jodie Marsh. Arrange these two groups of letters to form a word – CHED and PIT. Contestant: Chedpit. Lincs FM Phone-in. Presenter. Which is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world? Contestant: Barcelona. Presenter: I was really after the name of a country. Contestant: I’m sorry; I don’t know the names of any countries in Spain. Radio 1 Early Morning Show. Presenter: How many toes would three people have in total? Contestant: 23. Notts and Crosses Quiz (BBC Radio Nottingham) Jeff Owen: In which country is Mount Everest? Contestant (long pause): Er, it’s not in Scotland is it? The Mick Girdler Show (BBC Radio Solent). I’m looking for an island in the Atlantic whose name includes the letter ‘e’. Contestant: Ghana. Girdler. No, listen. It’s an island in the Atlantic Ocean. Contestant: New Zealand. National Lottery (BBC1) Questions: What is the world’s largest continent? Contestant: The Pacific. ROCK FM (PRESTON). Presenter: Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Contestant: Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The Biggest Game in Town (ITV). Steve Le Fevre: What was signed to bring World War I to an end in 1918. Contestant: The Magna Carta. James O’Brien Show (LBC). O’Brien: How many Kings of England have been called Henry? Contestant: Er. Well I know there was a Henry The Eights…er….er…..three? National Lottery: Eamonn Holmes: There are three states of matter: Solid, liquid and what? Contestant: Jelly? Richard Allinson Show (Radio 2). Allinson: What international brand shares its name with the Greek goddess of victory? Contestant (After long deliberation): Kellogg’s? Blind Date (ITV) Girl: Name a book written by Jane Austen. Boy: Charlotte Bronte. Chris Searle Show (BBC Radio Bristol) Searle: In which European country is Mount Etna? Caller: Japan. Searle: I did say which European country, so in case you didn’t hear that, I can let you try again. Caller: Er… Mexico. Dog Eat Dog (Ulrika Jonsson): Who wrote Lord of the Rings? Contestant: Enid Blyton. Paul Wappatt (Radio Newcastle). Wappat: How long did the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel last? Contestant (after long pause): Fourteen days. Daryl Denham’s Drivetime (Virgin Radio. Denham: In which country would you spend shekels? Contestant: Holland? Denham: Try the next letter of the Alphabet. Contestant: Iceland? Ireland? Denham (helpfully) It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel? Contestant: No.
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2007. Dear Fellow Rotarians, CLUB DIARY 2007 September Sat 1st. Fundraising barbecue 6.30pm for 7. At Hampers Lane, Storrington. Tickets £10 from George Robinson. Mon. 3rd. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm October. Mon. 1st. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm. Thurs. 18th. Visit to St. Dunstan’s. This will include lunch and tickets will be £10.00 restricted to 15 people. Fri/Sun. 26-28th. District 1250 Conference. Folkestone. Still plenty of time to register for this year’s conference. A good number from this club will be attending but there is always room for more of you. It would also be a good opportunity to support President David, who has always supported past Presidents at conferences gone by. November. Mon. 5th. Club Council, West Blatchington Windmill 6.30pm*** December. Tue. 18th. BT Christmas Concert at The Albert Hall, London. Details Forthcoming 2008. April Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool. Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details!*** (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! Sun. 27th. Annual Fund Raising Motor Cycle Rally. This is the only weekend of the year that we request that you don’t go away because all hands are needed to make this, our biggest fund raising event of the year, the success it has been in the past*** May. Sat 17th. A joint Presidential night for President David of Rotary and President Linda of Inner Wheel, to be held at The Dyke Golf Club. Further details forthcoming. June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR SEPTEMBER Cash – .Bob Green. Care of Visitors – Peter Savage CLUB DUTIES FOR OCTOBER Cash – Chris Heath. Care of Visitors – Ian Varley CLUB PROGRAMME FOR SEPTEMBER. 4th. Today sees a welcome return to Elise Spofford, the Ambassadorial Scholar from Minnesota, who will be giving us a talk on her year at Sussex University and the various happenings throughout that year. Bob Hinton, who was her counsellor throughout her stay, will give the vote of thanks. 11th. Today’s speaker, David Arscott, is well known to most of us through his years in local broadcasting and his talk in titled "Kipling in Sussex – an anthology". Howard Attree will give the vote of thanks. 18th. The meeting today is devoted to "Business". 25th. Farmer Durwin Banks is our speaker today and the intriguing title of his talk is "Fish Oil or Linseed for a Mega Memory?" The vote of thanks will be given by President David. . CLUB DIARY CORRECTIONS. Please note the following corrections to Bob Green’s details in this year’s Club Directory. If anyone has alterations to be made to their own particular entries, please give me the details.
CLUB MEETINGS 7th August 2007. 29 present – 27 of our own members, one Rotarian Visitor; David Perrin from Brighton and one non-Rotarian Guest, Garry Nicholls a representative of Nat west Bank, here with regard to business matters with the Housing Society. It was announced that a board was being circulated, seeking sponsors for Paul Beaken on his upcoming walk in the Hike for Hospice event. President David was saddened to announce that Past President Robin Chandler had tendered his resignation from the Club, citing pressures of work as the reason. President David will write to him to thank him for his valued membership in the past. District Governor Alan Knight will be visiting this Club on Tuesday, October 23rd, just a couple of days before the District Conference in Folkestone. It was reported that the visit to Borde Hill Garden to attend the Open Air Concert and Air Display had been successful. Members were also reminded that there was only a short time left for those interested in attending the BT Christmas Carol Concert on 18th December. Judith Chalmers will compere the concert and tickets will cost £17 per head plus the cost of the coach, which will be announced later. The fund raising breakfast, held recently at Bryan and Mary Meakin’s abode raised £400 before expenses and was felt to be a very successful happening. We were lucky enough to enjoy perfect weather for the occasion. A vote was taken on whether to cancel our meeting of 18th December, to enable those who wished to attend the BT Concert at the Albert Hall that evening. There was almost unanimous agreement to the cancellation. This now means that there will be no Rotary meeting on the three consecutive Tuesdays of 18th and 25th December and the 1st January. Ray Tiltman gave a reminder to members about the fund raising barbecue, being held on Saturday, 1st September at Storrington. He also asked for donations for the raffle. Sports Officer John Mainwood informed members that the various entry forms for District sports competitions were now available if anybody wished to take part. There then followed a general discussion with regard to the perceived lack of attendance at our Tuesday meetings, with some people regularly missing meetings. Ian Collington was our moderator and he remarked that in the old days there was a speaker nearly every week and he thought meetings could be livened up and he tended to feel that there was not much happening on those weeks devoted to committee meetings and thought we should have occasional debate, about things Rotary or not, to liven up the meetings. He also thought it would be interesting to hear details of members’ travel experiences or suchlike. Chris Heath said that he thinks we are "preaching to the converted" and we should talk to the members that are irregular attendees and ask them why they do not show up. Bernard Greaves thought the food was "boring" and lacked imagination with it’s four week Rotarian and thought it could be more imaginative. There was not much support for this view. John Mainwood thought we should have more talks from our own members because some of the most interesting talks in the past have come internally. Peter Fowle touched on the subject of younger members joining and asked our visitor, Garry Nicholls, if his firm would give him enough time off, during the day, to attend Rotary. His answer was a firm ‘no’ and this reinforced Peter’s view that in the old days firms were quite happy to let people have time off to attend Rotary meetings. Bob Mulholland suggested that we should go back to old system with regard to Committees, whereas they should not meet at Club, but in the evening at various houses or offices. Paul Beaken said that as a new member he thought that committee meetings at lunchtime sometimes seemed to be a waste of time and often business was performed after the meetings. Gordon Cummings said that he felt that some of the ideas muted today should be tried and he also remarked that he was quite happy with the food, saying that we get what we pay for and a more varied range of meals would probably mean more money. David Burchell said he thought that committee meetings held at home or offices, with snacks afterwards became very competitive with hosts trying to outdo one other. Ian Varley said that he liked the food at meetings and said that the committee system was not working well at the moment. He also thought that it was a bad sign that we are talking about the internal troubles of the club and that we should be talking about what we are doing as a Club. He also agreed that we are not using our own members enough with regard to speakers. Ray Tiltman said, like Chris Heath, that we are preaching to the converted. (continued) John Ansell said he had meant to keep his mouth shut and said some years ago the Rotary members gave a "My Job" talk soon after joining and a follow up talk some twenty years after. He said that Rotary has a great deal to give and this Club is continuing to do so. David Knowles said, in conclusion, that there were about ten points raised today and said he would circulate members for their feedback. Finally, Tad Phillips/Filipowicz asked members for a show of hands if they wished to take part in the proposed trip to Poland next year. There seemed enough interest for him to go ahead with planning the trip. . 14th August, 2007. 33 present – 31 of our members and two non-Rotarian guests, Linda Hulcoop, our speaker for today and Hillary Ball, wife of Adrian and chaperone to the speaker. The sponsorship board was passed round once again for Paul Beaken’s upcoming Hike for Hospice walk. Adrian Ball informed members that this is the last chance to denote if you wish to go to the BT Carol Concert on 18th December. . Our speaker today was the Reverend Linda Hulcoop from Southwick Methodist Church and she was here today to tell us all about the work that her church performs in Nagaland. Where? Yes, there is a place called Nagaland, which is a virtually unknown state in North East India, sharing a border with Burma and Assam. Nagaland is a unique state in India, with almost 90% of its population being Christian. Another thing that sets the population apart is that they have Mongolian features unlike the classic Indian appearance that we are all used to. The Nagas were originally head-hunters, real savages, and it was the custom in far off days for any male wishing to marry had to cut off the head of a man from another tribe. I know I said far off days but apparently this custom was still in existence up to the 1960s. The state, as I said earlier is 90% Christian and the whole state is populated with churches, mostly Baptist and there are no shops open on a Sunday, without exception. The state is also ‘dry’ and it is illegal to either purchase or drink alcohol. I don’t think I’ll be moving there. Linda was an absolutely wonderful speaker as you would expect from a lady preacher and her enthusiasm for her mission in Nagaland was most infectious. She remarked that wherever you went in Nagaland you couldn’t fail to see religious texts posted on every available surface. She thought this would be a good idea to have in Brighton. Nagaland is also well known for its military background and as David Henderson pointed out in his front-page message it was the site of the last major battle against the Japanese with some 10,000 soldiers killed. The battle was called "The Stalingrad of the East". Lynda told us that at the end of the Second World War the British said they would protect Nagaland but they reneged on this and helped make Nagaland part of India when partition started in 1947. This has caused problems over the years bearing in mind what I said earlier about their religious and facial differences. Eight years after partition, 1955, whole villages were burnt down and there is still a very strong independence movement in the state. The state is some sixteen thousand square miles, quite small, very mountainous and situated at the foothills of the Himalayas. The area was feature in the recent Michael Palin show about the Himalayas. Roads are very poor and it can take some four hours or more to cover 60 miles. There are no facilities for negotiating foreign currency exchange and no way or means to use credit cards, with mobile phones being almost non existent (Ahhh, bliss!!!). Linda said that despite their being sixteen different major tribes they all seem to get on okay because of the Christian ethic of the state. She feels it is important to have an international perspective of things and not think that our local church is the centre of the Universe as it were. Linda normally accompanies a party of about twelve people to Akumen, a village of some 400 people most of who live at subsistence level. Only two people out that 400 actually work and earn money from their work. The rest of the population are involved in the production of rice. Linda said that the villagers even built a primitive lodge for their English visitors, which, she said, was far better than any hotel. The village comprises of a very small school, where children get their first six years of education, a couple of shops in the village both of which contain very few items to purchase. They have on tithe barn where all the rice is stored, and also there is one church with its community hall. The villagers had requested Linda’s party to do certain things in 2005 including a rebuilding of their church because it was too small for the amount of churchgoers. Structural engineers worked out that they could double the floor space of the church if they did certain things. (continued) Bearing in mind the party had only one week to do this they managed to finish a quarter of the work and the villagers finished it off within the next month or so. The village has no medical provisions at all and the nearest road is some two kilometres away, which resulted in two children dieing recently with undiagnosed illnesses. Linda told us that the first time they visited they took a nurse along with them and she gave sex education classes, with the aid of condoms and bananas! Other training was also given in health and hygiene and as a result of the visit they now sponsor a doctor to visit the village once a month and he sees about sixty people on each visit, with a resulting saving of a couple of lives at least. The teacher in charge of the village school has had only one week’s training prior to becoming a teacher and there are very few books with just a basic blackboard and chalk. It only costs £4 a year to send a pupil to school and the Southwick group has set up a scheme whereas every child can attend school and it now has a 100% attendance. There was also the donation of lots of school uniforms from Newland School in Seaford, the school owned by Mike Holland, one of our sponsors at the Motorcycle Rally. The result of this donation means that they have been able to kit out the whole school. Another project that went down well was the making of cards of all sorts, including those for birthdays and Christmas, whereon the locals took them out to the main roads and sold over a hundred of these cards, thereby earning money for village schemes. Sewing machines and a weaving machine also came in handy. Men are now making furniture and doing woodwork of all sorts. The Southwick group also received a gift of ten acres of land from the village and it took some puzzling, deciding what they would do with it and after a lot of thinking and praying it was decided to give it back to them but with things replanted in this space. On this plot of land they have cut the trees down, planted orange, banana and pineapple pants and there is now also a training centre on the site. The site is also full of pigs and chickens. Linda then posed the question "Where do we go from here?" The villagers say that what they really need is water for the village, for irrigation and drinking purposes, so Linda’s organisation is grappling with the idea of getting a water system set up. They also need money to train the villagers in different skills and for payment of tools. She concluded by saying that, despite the harshness of the way of life, what with political and cultural differences with the rest of India, they are very motivated. Do we give more to them or do they give more to us? The Southwick people they received more from Nagaland than Nagaland received from them. An excellent talk by a seriously devoted lady. There wasn’t time for questions after because it was gone 2.30 by the time the talk finished. Ian Collington gave the vote of thanks. 21st August 2007. 28 present – all our own members. It was announced the Michael Nettell was in possession of barbecue tickets for those who wanted to purchase them. The questionnaires on Club meeting improvements need to be returned to Secretary David Knowles as soon as possible. President David was pleased to announce that we had received a cheque for £235, our proceeds from the "Bangers In The Barn" event held earlier in the year. President David also congratulated Paul Beaken on his taking part in the Hike for Hospice this last weekend. Paul raised some £200. 28th August 2007. 29 present – all our own members. The club nominated, with a unanimous vote, Howard Attree for the post of District Treasurer for the Rotary year 2008/9. It was announced that the Charter night of the Gatwick Diamond Club would be held on Friday, 14th September and it would be a "Diamonds Are For Ever" theme. Gatwick Manor Hotel is the venue and tickets for this event are £35 per person. Uniquely, President David asked all Committee Chairman to say a few words about what their committee had discussed during their meetings today. A full report of what they said will be included in this bulletin, most probably on the next page. President David then read out a letter from John Crake, Governor of District 1270 in which he said that the flood disaster funds would be led by a task force led by next year’s DG. Bob Hinton then spoke on spread and save, saying that there is a new batch of preservative, namely Victoria Plum Jam that was "lovingly" produced by Yveline Milner. Today was the occasion of the "40 Set" draw and the winner of the £25 cheque this month was Peter Fowle. Ian Collington then rose to speak of the questionnaire that has been circulated, saying that there had been a fair amount of replies. He also jogged memories of those people hadn’t returned a questionnaire. The whole point of the questionnaire was to ask the question "What can we do to make meetings more" fun. The first suggestion was for individual members to lead a short debate and the majority of members said that they would be willing to do this. 11 members denoted that they would like to give a talk on their travels or holidays. A similar number said they would like to talk about their hobbies or interests. 13 people said they would be willing to talk about their jobs or their life generally. The food served to us at our meetings was thought by most to be good and very good. In reply to whether we should hold committees outside of club meetings, 13 said yes and 5 said no. There was a vote of 14-4 in favour of having raids on other clubs. In reply to the question of whether emails should be send to arrange adhoc social activities, 12 were in favour and 7 against. As you may have gathered, there were only replies from approximately 20 members so there may be a clearer picture when the remainder of the questionnaires are collated. Paul Beaken then gave a report on Community Service, starting with the statement that he had made approximately £200 from his Hike for Hospice walk and thanked members for being so generous in their support. He also said that the Community Service Committee would like to be more actively involved with those charities that they donate to. He thought we should give specific items to charities and he, as Chairman, would follow up to see how gifts are used and take photographs for perusal by club members, He also thought that we should pledge ourselves to give money to charities at the beginning of the Rotary year so that we can have a goal to work for, rather than wait for "begging" letters. He said that, together with John Eaton, he would be visiting Knowles Tooth to see how they use funds or equipment. He finished by saying that two wreaths are to be purchased for this year’s Cenotaph ceremonies in Hove and Portslade. Peter Fowle, International Committee Chairman, then mentioned the contact visit in 2009 that it is to be held in Oxford. He said that there's still much research to do and as time marches on Peter will be asking members for input and comment. Ted Bartup, Vocational, said that various sites for visits had been discussed but nothing positive had been decided as yet, but there is, of course, the visit to St. Dunstan’s on 18th October, which is already in the club calendar. He said it was very difficult to get into places for vocational visits. President David had the last word when he reminded members that the barbecue at Storrington was this coming weekend and raffle prizes are still needed. PRESIDENT’S NIGHT. Make a note in your diary for this very important date in the Rotary calendar. This year’s event is being held jointly with Linda, President of Inner Wheel and is being held on Saturday 17th May at The Dyke Golf Club. Other details, such as price and time will be forthcoming. It’s always a cracking occasion at such a great venue. .
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN AUGUST 2007. Dear Fellow Rotarians,
Another month has gone by already. We have had an eventful four weeks. On 7th July I attended our own Rotary Club’s Housing Society barbecue, held in the gardens of one of their properties at 30 Sackville Road. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay too long because I had a prior engagement that evening, but during that short visit I managed to embarrass one of our older tenants by giving her an extended embrace for the benefit of the photographer. This aside, it is always a pleasure to have a social gathering with our tenants because I feel that they are also our good friends. Our thanks go to everyone who contributed towards making this a successful occasion. I am told that I shouldn’t single out any individual because I am sure to miss someone out, thereby offending one or more people. We have had some excellent speakers at our July meetings, thanks to our speaker secretary Ian. On a serious note, I am sure you will all share my concern for these affected by the flooding in Sheffield and Humberside. I was able to send our cheque for £500 to Governor John Craike of District 1270 whose district includes all these affected areas. Now, of course, Gloucestershire, Hereford, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire have been affected and RIBI has just lunched a national flood appeal. We will have to consider how next to respond to this new challenge. Already, this first month has shown two aspects of the Rotary experience – the pleasure of meeting our friends in fellowship contrasting with the challenges facing us on our own doorstep.
CLUB DIARY 2007 August. Sat. 4th. Proms Concert Borde Hill Park*** Sun. 5th. International Hospitality Breakfast, 295 Dyke Road, Hove. 10.30am*** Mon. 6th. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm Mon. 13th Lewes Rotary Club Charity Golf Day. See President Michael for details September Sat 1st. Fundraising barbecue 6.30pm for 7. At Hampers Lane, Storrington. Tickets £10 from George Robinson***. Mon. 3rd. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm October. Mon. 1st. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm*** Thurs. 18th. Visit to St. Dunstan’s. This will include lunch and tickets will be £10.00 restricted to 15 people. Fri/Sun. 26-28th. District 1250 Conference. Folkestone. Still plenty of time to register for this year’s conference. A good number from this club will be attending but there is always room for more of you. It would also be a good opportunity to support President David, who has always supported past Presidents at conferences gone by. December. Tue. 18th. BT Christmas Concert at The Albert Hall, London. Details Forthcoming*** 2008. April Mon/Wed 7th/9th Inner Wheel Conference Blackpool*** Fri/Sun 11th/13th. RIBI Conference Blackpool. Watch out for registration details!*** (Combine the two conferences and make a week of it in Sunny Blackpool! June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR AUGUST Cash – Bernard Greaves. Care of Visitors – George Robinson CLUB DUTIES FOR SEPTEMBER Cash – Bob Green. Care of Visitors – Peter Savage CLUB PROGRAMME FOR AUGUST. 7th Today is, I’m not sure why, the getting together of the various committees. I think the committees are meeting today because someone thought that it was still a Bank Holiday on the first Monday of August and that there would not be a Council meeting yesterday. 14th. The Reverend Lynda Hulcoop is our speaker today and the title of her talk is "Helping in Nagaland". Ian Collington will perform the vote of thanks. 21st. Today is classed as one of "Business" where various matters, including a report of the most recent council meeting will be given. 28th. Committees again! And they are back to their usual time of the fourth meeting of the month. CLUB MEETINGS. 3rd July 2007. 30 present – 28 of our own members and 2 Rotarian visitors; Laurie Hillditch and David Perrin, both from the Brighton club. Senior Vice President Ron Knight stood in for President David, who was attending a medical course. Senior Vice Ron bade a special welcome to John Ansell, back after a lengthy illness and Keith Upton, who has been absent owing to pressure of work. A letter from Inner Wheel was read out, in which they thanked us for our "generous" donation of £1,000. They informed us that the money has been spent already. This was the cue for someone to shout "typical!". The money has been donated to The Somerset Day Centre, Martlet’s Hospice and the Brighton Heart Society. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken spoke a few words about the upcoming barbecue at 30 Sackville Road. He said that the long-range weather forecast looks quite promising so the barbecue should go ahead. He said that the garden is in good condition so it should be okay underfoot, even if it rained beforehand. He called for raffle prizes for the event and also asked if helpers could come along at 10.30 on Saturday to help with the setting up of the various gazebos and the marquee.
10th July 2007 20 present – 28 of our own members and 1 non-Rotarian guest; David Bennett, our speaker for today. President David was in the chair today, in charge of his first full meeting of this Rotary year. He reminded members that there was a meeting of the District Council this evening, 6.30 for 7, at Ardingly Show Ground. He was also pleased to welcome back David Burchell, who has been somewhat poorly lately. Adrian Ball informed members that there were three social events to be made aware of. Firstly, a new tour of The Brighton Pavilion Tunnels, which connect to The Dome. Parties of ten to twenty people at a cost of £16 per ticket for this one and a half hour tour. For an extra £6 (£22) a visit to the domes at the top of the Pavilion is included. No date has been decided for this tour and it depends on how much interest is shown by club members. He also mentioned the upcoming Promenade Concert at Borde Hill Gardens, which was a great success last time we attended. Thirdly, he told us that Judith Chalmers would Tuesday, 18th December, compere the BT Christmas Concert, which is held at The Albert Hall. This year’s concert will in aid of Childline and Unicef and tickets will be £17. Fundraising Chairman Bryan Meakin informed members that there was to be an International Hospitality Breakfast, held at his residence, 295 Dyke Road, Hove on Sunday 5th August 10.30. £10. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken thanked all of is helpers at the barbecue, held last Saturday and gave special thanks to President David for "squeezing us in" before his next important appointment that evening. He also thanked Mike Peters for the use of his marquee, which survived two nights of gale force winds prior to the barbecue and came in very handy on the night. He also thanked Bob and Ann Mulholland for running the refreshment bar and the ladies of Inner Wheel for their most excellent catering. A letter from one of the Housing Society tenants was also read out, thanking us for a great time at the barbecue. President David then gave a summary of the happenings at the last council meeting which were as follows: Today’s speaker was David Bennett, President of Brighton and Hove Chess Club, and is a former member of Portslade and West Hove Rotary Club. The present venue of the Chess Club is the Railway Social Club, 4 Belmont, just off Dyke Road, close to Seven Dials. The Club has three teams in the Mix Sussex Chess League and holds tournaments for all standards of player. Brighton has had a Chess Club for a century and a half, give or take the odd interruption for wars and internal crises, and for much of that period the Club has enjoyed close links with the town's Corporation. The first Brighton Club was formed in the 1840's, under the inspiration of the flamboyant army-officer-turned-author, Capt. Hugh Alexander Kennedy. The founder's instinct for publicity soon promoted the Club to a significant role on the national chess stage, attracting such famous names as Howard Staunton, the best player in the world at that time, and the historian H.T. Buckle, both of them drawn to Brighton by their enthusiasm for the game. In 1844, following his victory over the French champion Saint-Amant, Staunton was honoured with a celebratory dinner at the Old Ship Hotel. In 1853, however, Kennedy took his leave of the town, and within a few years the Club was going through a period of difficulty, marked by falling membership and recurrent quests for new accommodation. One prospective venue, offered to its committee in 1858, was an area of Brighton Pavilion of which we shall hear more - the South Lobby, which today forms an annexe to the Pavilion Shop. In 1858 the Club voted against transfer to the Pavilion, but five years later the offer was repeated and this time the advantages of the move were more apparent. In 1863 the South Lobby became for the first time the home of chess in Brighton. While the next few years may not have been the most brilliant in the Club's history, they were important in establishing an association between the King of Games and the former 'resort of kings'. Even after the Club's departure in 1867, occasioned it would seem by financial difficulties, the Pavilion retained links with chess, and in 1870 the 'automaton' Ajeeb - actually a life-sized model of a chess player with a small man hidden in its interior - was displayed, again in the South Lobby. Three years later, and a few hundred yards away, a more significant development took place when a room in the new Free Library and Museum was opened to the public as a 'Chess Room'. Municipalities which have been prepared to fund the needs of chess-players out of the public purse can be counted on the fingers of one hand, but for the next forty years Brighton's Chess Room was to be a model for other towns to follow, attracting visitors both from Britain and abroad, and generating much admiring comment in the press. Church Street remained its home only until 1888, when space was needed to support lending facilities in the library, but the town still rated chess sufficiently highly to provide its devotees with an alternative venue, and this was, once again, the South Lobby of the Pavilion. From 1885, Brighton's chess-players had another focus for their energies, the town's Chess Club having been reconstituted with an ambitious programme of activities and a strong core of experienced players. The Club still had no settled venue, but through most of the 'nineties it formed one of the twin poles of Sussex chess, the Hastings Chess Club being the other. Distinguished visitors to the Club in these years included the World Champion Emanuel Lasker, like Staunton an Honorary Member of the Club, who in January 1895 was honoured with a complimentary dinner during one of several visits to the town. The Chess Club lost much of its dynamism around the turn of the century, and other groups took up the torch of organised chess in Brighton, notable among them the Christ Church Social Club. Through all these changes, however, the Public Chess Room continued to function both as a haunt of local enthusiasts and an essential stop on the travelling chess-players itinerary. This state of affairs might have continued indefinitely, but following the outbreak of the First World War the Pavilion was requisitioned as a hospital for wounded Indian servicemen, and the doors of the Chess Room closed. The 'interruption to normal service' not unnaturally prompted a rethink, and when in 1922 the South Lobby became once again the home of chess it was as the headquarters of a resurgent (and rent-paying) Brighton Chess Club rather than as a Corporation-funded chess resort. The inter-war period was a successful one for the Brighton Chess Club, marked by the development of significant local talent and by highlights such as the holding of the British Championships at Brighton in 1938. The Royal Pavilion formed a natural home for this high-prestige event, its ornate rooms attracting crowds of spectators as well as players during a ten-day period in August. This, however, was a moment of national chess celebration at a time of deepening international gloom. On the outbreak of hostilities the Pavilion was once again requisitioned, this time by the wartime Ministry of Food, and for the next three years the Brighton Chess Club eked out a hand-to-mouth existence in temporary quarters before being permitted to return to its old home in 1943.The immediate post-war years were uncertain ones for the Club and hardly had it reconstituted itself and recruited a new generation of junior players before the use of the South Lobby was once again withdrawn, this time administrative reasons. Happily, alternative accommodation was at once made available, still under Corporation auspices, at No. 4 Pavilion Buildings. There followed one of the brightest periods in the Club's history. Two British Championships were held in the Corn Exchange (in 1972 and 1977), while the Pavilion itself served as the venue for simultaneous displays by the Russian Grandmaster V Ragozin in 1955 and Britain's own Ray Keene in 1976. It is of interest that the proceeds from the latter event were donated to a fund for the restoration of the Pavilion's Music Room, damaged in 1975 in an arson attack. In the 'sixties there were also chess events on the Pavilion lawns, while in 1976 a room in the King's apartments became the setting for the first Variable Baseline Chess Tournament ever to be held in the UK (it was won, appropriately, by a talented local player). Finally, it should not be forgotten that over the years the Pavilion has been the venue for numerous Sussex Chess Congresses and inter-county matches. Like every human enterprise, chess has its ebbs and flows, and by the 'eighties the Brighton Chess Club was finding difficulty in maintaining itself in Pavilion Buildings. Early in 1986 the Club moved, first to the Co-operative Social Club and afterwards to a succession of interim homes, all more or less unsuitable. Today, despite an enthusiastic membership and four successful teams in the Mid-Sussex League, it finds itself in cramped quarters which inhibit its development and whose cost must be of major concern to the Committee. The Chess Club has been a part of Brighton's history, as integral to the town's idea of itself as sea bathing, Mr Volk's famous railway, or the onion domes and minarets of Nash's Pavilion. Any move toward restoring the links between the Club and 'official Brighton' can only benefit both. I took the liberty of copying all of this information from the Chess Club Website when I found that it was pretty much a copy of David’s talk anyway. His talk was quite enjoyable and someone whose current occupation is talking, not about chess but about calligraphy delivered it very professionally. These talks are mainly performed on cruise liners. Peter Fowle gave the vote of thanks. 17th July 2007. 29 present – all our own members. It was announced that there was to be a barbecue on 1st September, to be held at Ray Tiltman’s son-in-law’s residence at Hamper’s Lane, Storrington. The event will start at 6.30pm and tickets can be obtained from George Robinson at the bargain price of £10.00 Treasurer Michael Nettell reminded members that subscriptions for this new Rotary Year are due and must be paid by the end of this month. Past Presidents and Officers were reminded that "gongs" should be worn for the visit of the Deputy Mayor at the next meeting. Today was the first opportunity that President David has had to invest Senior Vice President Ron Knight. There then followed a lengthy discussion on what we could do with regard to the recent floods in Yorkshire and Humberside. At the conclusion of this discussion, it was agreed that the Club should send a cheque for £500 to the Governor of District 1270. This was proposed by Michael Barley and seconded by John Eaton and carried unanimously. It was reported that at the recent District Council, a resolution was passed, to be sent to RIBI, stating that District 1250 does not approve of the "Humanity in Motion" strap line on the official stationery. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton asked members to think about being counsellors for the next batch of Ambassadorial Scholars, due to start at Sussex University in September, Apparently there are only four scholars attending this year. He also mentioned that this year’s GSE team, from Mexico, are coming to our area in October and they would be looking for clubs to host them. This usually means bed and breakfast for a member of the team for one week. Social Chairman Adrian Ball made mention of the Concert at Borde Hill Gardens and the BT Christmas Concert on August 4th and December 18th respectively. He needs name in the next three weeks for those going to the BT Concert. Tickets are £17. It was reported that registration numbers for the District Conference at Folkestone in October are disappointingly low despite it being report at District Council that they expect 600 to attend.
CLUB MEETINGS 24th July 2007. 26 present – 25 of our own members and one visitor; Councillor David Smith, Deputy Mayor of Brighton and Hove, who was our speaker for today. Foundation Chairman Bob Hinton informed members that he needed "marmalade" money now, to enable him to close the books before making a fresh batch for "Spread and Save". Councillor David Smith- deputy mayor of our City, meaning that he was Mayor in the last mayoralty year and who missed talking to us during his year, was born in Hove and has lived in Brighton for most of his life. He has been a councillor since 1974, some thirty-three years. He is a very bright and cheerful chap, full of bonhomie and he started his talk off in a quite unique way by insisting on kissing the one lady in the room, Yveline Milner. He told us that he had attended over seven hundred engagements in his year, a number only surpassed by the Lord Mayor of London. One of the most enjoyable engagements, he flatteringly told us, was Easter with the old people in Portslade (no, not Ray Tiltman) when he sat down and ate fish and chips with the tenants of Rotary Point. He told us that one of his first engagements was at a "Samba Do" when he was asked to sing and dance and then found that this was expected of him at many of his appointments. The most ostentatious act of his Mayoralty was arriving in a helicopter at the Mayor’s Garden Party at Stanmer House. On disembarking from the helicopter he knelt down and kissed the ground, Pope like. He felt that one of the more enjoyable things of the year was ground round all the primary schools in the city and he made sure that he invited the council of each school to the Mayor’s parlour to tell them all about the running of the city. He told us a story of a visit to Whitehawk Primary School in full regalia, with his chauffeur wearing his macebearer’s uniform. One child asked the Mayor’s wife is she was the Queen. He also thought that the Mayor was Father Christmas and the Macebearer was a pirate. The "Old Crocks’" race was another highlight and he had the privilege of being a passenger in one of the cars for the last leg of its journey into Brighton. He remarked that he was glad that he didn’t have to do the whole London Brighton trip in it. He told us of things that are in the pipeline, such as the new Brighton Centre, which has had an eighteen and a half million pound grant, approved by SEEDA (that well known unelected authority!) There are huge new developments in prospect, with Churchill Square extending right down to the seafront and the new Brighton Centre will be located on the corner of West Street. Hopefully all this will happen by 2011. There were numerous mentions of works that are in prospect throughout the city, too many to catalogue here. The big highlight of his year, of course, was the visit to Brighton by Her Majesty the Queen, which he will remember all his life, with many lovely photographic souvenirs of the trip. He said he was very impressed with the Queen’s attitude throughout the visit, with her attempting to speak with as many people as possible. He also said that he found it very strange, giving the Loyal Toast with the Queen present. In fact you have two loyal toasts when this happens, the second one being to the Duke of Edinburgh and the Royal Family. He finished the talk in his own unique way by asking all present to give a couple of rousing choruses of "Sussex by the Sea". A brilliant talk by one of the great enthusiasts of our city. President David gave the vote of thanks. FUNDRAISING BARBECUE. Yes, it’s time for another of our favourite social occasions of the year. This must be the fifth or sixth time we have been given permission to hold a barbecue at the fabulous home and grounds of Ray Tiltman’s son-in-law at Hamper’s Lane, Storrington. We all remember our successful previous barbecues have been at this quite idyllic location. Come along and enjoy bags of food, drink and fellowship on Saturday, 1st September, 6.30pm for 7. Tickets, at the knock down price of £10, are available from George Robinson.
The report on the meeting of 31st July will be in the next edition of the bulletin. I think I wrote too much on the chess club that means that I have insufficient space for the aforementioned meeting.
ROTARY CLUB OF HOVE BULLETIN JULY 2007. Dear Fellow Rotarians, I write my first Presidential message with some trepidation. I am following in the footsteps of former Presidents of the Club who have had the ability to inspire both by the spoken and written word. I will do my best to carry on their tradition. I would first like to express my thanks to IPP Mike Barley for the way in which he accepted the duty of office of President a year early due to my ill health. I congratulate him on the way he discharged his duties and guided the club as if he had been doing it all his life! We have an exciting and challenging year ahead of us. Although I am sure we were happy with the success of Blatchington Mill Motor Cycle Run we must not rest on our laurels but must look for other ways to raise the funds we need to carry on our charity work. Bryan Meakin, our fund raising officer, is keen to find new ways of increasing our funds and I am sure that he would welcome suggestions from any member who has any ideas for boosting our finances. Another suggestion is that the Club might make another visit to Poland. I would appreciate the view of Club Members, particularly with ideas of Members who are interested. Could you please let Tad Phillips know? We are happy to have a President’s Ladies night at the Dyke Golf Club in late Spring. It has been suggested that the Club perform regular "raids" on other neighbouring clubs. What do Members think? I am concerned about the number of apologies for absence each week. I am aware that fellows business commitments, ill health, holidays and the like but a disturbing thought comes to mind – do some Members not enjoy their Rotary? What can we do to make it more enjoyable? Please let me know. We have a good programme of speakers, a good programme of events. Be there! Enjoy your Rotary! Rotary Shares! Yours in Rotary David CLUB DIARY 2007 July. Mon 2nd. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm*** Sat. 7th Housing Society Barbecue. 30 Sackville Road, 6pm. Ticket details later. August. Mon. 6th. Club Council. West Blatchington Windmill. 6.30pm Mon. 13th Lewes Rotary Club Charity Golf Day. See President Michael for details*** October. Thurs. 18th. Visit to St. Dunstan’s. This will include lunch and tickets will be £10.00 restricted to 15 people.*** Fri/Sun. 26-28th. District 1250 Conference. Folkestone. Still plenty of time to register for this year’s conference. A good number from this club will be attending but there is always room for more of you. It would also be a good opportunity to support President David, who has always supported past Presidents at conferences gone by. 2008. June. Fri/Sun. 6th-8th. Contact Visit Evreux, arrangements will be forthcoming much later*** New Dates*** CLUB DUTIES FOR JULY Cash – Peter Fowle. Care of Visitors – Tad Phillips/Filipowicz. CLUB DUTIES FOR AUGUST Cash – Bernard Greaves. Care of Visitors – George Robinson. CLUB PROGRAMME FOR JULY. 3rd. This first meeting of the Rotary Year will consist of a full report of the previous evening’s Club Council, presided over by President David. 10th Our speaker today is David Bennett, Chairman of Brighton and Hove Chess Club, who will be making all the right moves in telling us about his hobby. The vote of thanks will be in the hands of Peter Fowle. 17th. Today will see the first getting together of the New Year’s various committees. 24th. This meeting will be one of business, 31st. Our first fifth Tuesday meeting of the month sees a talk by a representative of the Pestalozzi International Village. As yet, no one has been designated to reply for the Club. CLUB MEETINGS. 5th June 2007. 32 present – 29 of our own members and 2 non-Rotarian guests; David Bloomfield, a member of this Club many years ago, and Beryl Rae, guest of David Perrin, our Rotarian visitor, from Brighton. Howard Attree was pleased to tell us that he was the first speaker, invited to address the newly formed Gatwick Diamond Rotary Club. President Michael read out a report of the previous evening’s Club Council that is summarised as follows:
10. A total of 17 people will now be going to Pforzheim, two having dropped out. It was agreed to make a donation for charity purposes to up to the value of £200 (Proposed by Peter Fowle and seconded and Michael Peters) Money to be converted to Euros.
Ray Tiltman thanked members for supporting him by sponsorship of his participation in The Cardiac Walk and he brought the certificate along with him to confirm completion of the route. Community Service Chairman Paul Beaken confirmed the details, published in the Club Council Report, of the Barbecue on 7th July and emphasised the need for raffle prizes. He also sought volunteers to help clear out the shed at Sackville Road, which will be needed for catering purposes. Then there was a general discussion about lack of attendance at Club meetings, particularly the new low of 16 at the evening meeting last week. Ian Collington said that he felt that it was time we came together and had a good look at ourselves to see where Rotary and, specifically our club, were going. He threw in a few suggestions and suggested that we form a small working group to thrash out something about this. This could possibly lead to a forum in the next Rotary year. No conclusion was reached but watch this space! 12th June 2007. 19 present – all our own members. Another worryingly low attendance! President announced that there was to be a brief meeting of Club Council after this meeting to discuss donations for Foundation and Inner Wheel. There were no other announcements from the President at this meeting so he went straight into his valedictory by saying that in his year of office the Club has been involved in all the usual ways. Membership stood at 42 and attendance has hovered at around 67-68 percent all year. The said thing is that the age of our members has also increased by one more year. He felt that membership problems were being felt by all service organisations and quoted an example of a fellow doctor whose Rotary club has a question mark hanging over with regard to its existence. He went on to mention what a great job Ian Collington had performed as speaker secretary and singled out some of the excellent speakers we had this year, including local entrepreneur Mike Holland, professional diver Sean Clark, Christopher Littledale from the Brighton Toy Museum, Ivan Rockey of Brighton Philharmonic,Charmian Hartley, head of the award and fund winning language department at Hove Park School, Frances Gibson of Independent Age, the 140 year old charity that helps older people live independent lives with dignity and peace of mind, Jim Oliver, who spoke to us of District 1250’s Hikes for Hospices project, a major fundraising walk being held on the South Downs this August. He was introduced by ADG Mike Harvey. This is a huge event that is hoping to raise some £50,000 for the four hospices that are on the route of the walk. President Michael then went on to thank the management of Courtland’s Hotel for looking after us so well throughout the year. He was pleased to welcome our two newest members, Ron Loadsman and Yveline Milner but as the same time he was sorry to report on the passing away of Richard Langley and Malcolm Clayton, two very valued members of our Club. He then went on to catalogue many happenings throughout the year, including both District and RIBI Conferences, both at Bournemouth, the now completed joint Foundation project that supplied equipment to the Andaman Islands following on from the Tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. ( Elise Spofford, the Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar from Little Falls, Minnesota, has attended and addressed club meetings and Michael was very grateful to Bob Hinton for being her counsellor during her year here. He reported that club has also supported mock interviews at Brighton and Hove High School that resulted in the President attending prize giving night at that school. He made special mention of the Christmas Collection, which raised some £2300 this year and gave thanks to Paul Beaken for his efforts on our behalf. He thanked Bob Hinton for his "Spread and Save" efforts with two batches of marmalade raising over £300. Riders for Health was a beneficiary of our charity with £700 being donated by us and a further 500 Euros each from Pforzheim and Evreux Clubs donated at the end of last Rotary Year. £5,000 was also donated to Lorica St. Patrick’s to cover the cost of one of their "sleep pods". Ray Tiltman gave this to Father Alan Sharp on behalf of Porthove. As a Doctor, President Michael was also pleased to have taken part in the Stroke Awareness Day, held outside Hove Town Hall in April, when 104 individuals’ blood pressure was taken. Some of these people were referred to their own GPs. He said that even if one stroke had been averted, the exercise would not have been in vain. He remarked that he was unable to comment on the Contact Visit to Pforzheim this year, because it was being held later than usual. He then gave high praise to the committee and organisers of the Motorcycle Rally and he finished off by thanking all of us for our support throughout the year. He then thanked (modesty forbid!) for getting out the bulletin every month and said he always came to me because I was a mine of information (all true!!!). He finished off by thanking Ian Collington (again) and Bob Hinton for all his work for Foundation. IPP Bob Mulholland gave the vote of thanks. 19th June 2007. 26 present – 21 of our own members; one Rotarian visitor, David Perrin from Brighton, and 4 non-Rotarian Guests: Kim George, Liz Cook, Katie Ring and Ellie Tuck, our speakers for today. Members were reminded about the barbecue on 7th July and a board was circulated today for people to put their names down for this event. It was also announced that there is to be a District Council Meeting on Tuesday, 10th July at Ardingly 6.30 for 7pm. Members were also reminded that next week sees the Presidential handover (a week earlier than usual) and Club Officers were reminded to bring their various sashes along. President Michael remarked that many of us were off to Pforzheim this week for the contact visit. He also informed members that David Burchell was unwell, with breathing difficulties. He was also very pleased to welcome John Ansell, who has been very poorly, to his first club meeting for some time. Our speakers today were four very delightful young ladies from Portslade Community College, who were our most recent crop of candidates to attend RYLA, that most worthwhile leadership project that RIBI organise every year. Youth Activities Chairman Roger Patterson introduced them to members and then the presentation was started by Kim George, who started by thanking us for enabling all four of them to go on the RYLA course that they found of great benefit. She told us off her experiences on the first day of the course that was very gruelling, consisting of a game of "Connect" which took part in woodlands. It consisted of finding the various connecting markers and running back to affix them to a board. Liz Cook was next up and she told us of the first full day, on the Monday, with many tasks to perform with each task having a different leader. One of the tasks involved trusting the other members to catch them after falling backwards off a log. There was also a task that involved a blindfolded string trail that meant that you had to trust your leader somewhat. In the evening they had to perform a sketch with the help of a supplied prop. Tuesday morning consisted of a street dance, with Liz remarking that the boys on the project were not very good at it. Paintball was the activity in the afternoon during which quite painful circular bruises were attained. They then had to build a raft, capable of taking a party across the water. By the end of the race, the rafts were an absolute mess. . Katie Ring was next and she told us of a low rope session on the Wednesday, which involved people getting round a course without touching the floor. Ellie Tuck reported on the Thursday, which was their favourite day, because they went on a hike around the area, not realising that it was a 17-mile hike that was completely circular. At one point they had to ask a bystander for directions. She also related many mishaps that had occurred during the various tasks. At the beginning of the week they were informed that there would be a gala performance on the final day (Friday) but didn’t realise how hard this would be, because they were all very tired by the time if came around. Nevertheless an excellent performance of "Chicago" was given and they all found it most enjoyable. Kim spoke for the second time to say that they all learnt something new about themselves and thanked us, once again, most profusely for letting them take part. Roger Patterson gave the vote of thanks, followed by presentation of RYLA certificates by President Michael to all of the girls. 26th June 2007. 23 present – all our own members. Members were once again reminded that there would be a District 1250 council meeting at Ardingly on Tuesday, 10th July, at Ardingly 6.30pm for 7. Our own Club Council will also be held next Monday, 2nd July, at West Blatchington Windmill, 6.30pm. Today was the occasion for the handover of the Presidency from Doctor Michael Barley to Doctor David Henderson. President David’s first task was to present Michael with his Past President’s badge. His second act was to ask if there were any early leavers! He then invested Secretary David Knowles and Treasurer Michael Nettell with their sashes of office. David then went on to give us his thoughts and hopes for the coming year. He thanked us for our confidence in bestowing the office on him and he felt very honoured to take up the office of President of this Club. He praised Michael for taking office some twelve months prematurely, owing to David’s own eye problems at that time. He said it his aim to make Rotary more fun and make duties we discharge as pleasant as possible. He remarked that he was worried about the number of apologies that are made every week and would like to encourage them to come more often and would look forward to seeing all of our members. He said that thanks to Ian Collington, we have good speakers upcoming and there were also some good vocational visits on the card from Ted Bartup. Mention was made of the barbecue at Storrington in September and he was hoping to hold a further one in spring next year. He was pleased to announce that Tad Phillips has agreed to organise a visit to Poland if wished so by enough members. Notice was given that his Presidential Ladies’ Night would also be held in spring, at the Dyke Golf Club. Fund raising was also a concern to him, as there is always a demand for funds. He had also been worried about the move from The Engineerium to Blatchington Mill School for the Motorcycle Rally but this proved to be unfounded. He said that we mustn’t rest on our laurels and must look for alternative means of raising money. The District Conference in October looks as though it will be very successful and there is promise of great entertainment. Bookings are down overall in the District, despite this Club’s bookings being very good. At the contact visit, this last weekend, there was interest in starting a project, involving a matching grant. He concluded by saying that this club is a good club and still has great potential, and with "Rotary Shares" being the motto, he would like to see this carried out. On the conclusion of his talk, he then made a couple of Presidential announcements, including the fact that David Burchell is making some improvement but not up to coming today, but should be here next week. Today also saw the drawing of two numbers for the "40 Set" draw. Ray Tiltman won the first cheque, for £50, and Michael Nettell won the second cheque, for £25. President David finished the meeting by given a short report on the recent contact visit. He said that it involved an awful lot of walking around with tours to a jewellery centre in Pforzheim and an exhibition of modern art at a gallery in Baden Baden. President David announced that the next contact visit, to Evreux, would take place from Friday to Sunday on June 6th to 8th 2008. MEN AND THEIR BARBECUES (HALF INCHED FROM THE PROBUS MAGAZINE) "After months of cold weather we are now approaching the barbecue season and it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime al fresco experience as it is often the only type of cooking a ‘real’ man will do, probably because there is an element of danger in it. When a man volunteers to do the barbecue the following chain of events is put into motion; the woman buys the food, makes the salad and the dessert. She prepares the meat for cooking and places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces. Here comes the important part; the man puts the meat on the grill. The woman then goes inside and organises the plates and cutlery. Smelling burning she goes outside and tells the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation. The man then takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman. The woman prepares the plates, bread, utensils, napkins and sauces and brings them to the table. After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes. Most important of all everyone praises the man and thanks him for his cooking efforts. The man asks the woman how she enjoyed her "night off" and upon seeing her annoyed reaction concludes that there is just no pleasing some women.". CONTACT VISIT 2007. A party of 17, consisting of President Michael Barley, Keith Upton, Gwen Leach, Bob and Sheila Hinton, Bob and Ann Mulholland, David Henderson and Christine, John Mainwood, Ian and Scilla Collington, Howard and Helen Attree and Ambassadorial Scholar Elise Spofford made their various ways to meet up in Pforzheim in the afternoon of Friday 22nd June, to meet up with our friends from Evreux and Pforzheim. Well, that was the plan anyway, but there was a slight hiccup in these preparations because our friends from Evreux had been held up by traffic and were not expected until about 6pm. Nevertheless, we took the short stroll through Pforzheim shopping centre to The Schmuckwelten. As you may have gathered, shmuck being a slang word for jewellery in this country, it was a centre devoted to the making and design of jewellery. A tour of the centre followed, that included a demonstration of his work from one of the top jewellery designers in the world. We were able to see some really wonderful stuff but 99% percent of the goods on show were beyond the humble contents of my wallet. After the tour we then retired back to our hotel rooms for us all to get ourselves ready to be hosted by members of the Pforzheim club in their own homes, a tradition which has stood the test of many years and is looked forward to by everyone who takes part. I was lucky enough to be hosted by Wolfgang Schaffrath and Susanne. Making up the party, together with Ann and myself, were Bernard and Marie-Louise Roy from Evreux and Rainer and Ingrid Arbogast from Pforzheim. It was a truly hospitable evening and like they say, "time flies when you are having fun" and the party didn’t break up until almost 2am. One interesting sideline was the fact that Bernard, who has only been a member for approximately one year, had only just arrived back from the RI Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, the day before and was still suffering somewhat from jetlag. One year a Rotarian and he has already attended a convention, what enthusiasm! Saturday saw the men gathering for a joint Rotary meeting in the Park Hotel, chaired by President Christian Kohler of the Evreux. The main part of the meeting consisted of a lecture on the history of the jewellery industry in Pforzheim, given by incoming President of Pforzheim, Phillipp Reisert, director of the aforementioned Schmuckwelten. Unfortunately the whole of his talk was in the German language, although we were given an English translation of the synopsis of his talk. The presentation continued for about an hour and to be truthful I thought that it was far too long. When you take into consideration the fact that the contact meeting is now one day shorter in length, it seems a shame to spend one hour of it listening to something you don’t understand, and considering that we had all been on the visit the day before and knew a lot of the stuff that Phillipp was telling us anyway. I hasten to add that this is only a personal opinion and I feel that the meeting on the Saturday morning is far too important to waste in this way. I think it should be the subject of joint discussions, to do with Rotary, and more fellowship. Following on from the meeting, we met up with the ladies of our party, and went off in either our own cars or, in the case of those who had flown to Pforzheim, other people’s cars for the forty five or so minute journey to Baden Baden, where we were staying for the second half of the visit. On arrival at Baden Baden, after checking in at the Quellenhoff Hotel, we made our way down to the restaurant for a very nice, but lengthy, buffet lunch. After lunch, those who wanted to, set off to Frieder Burda Museum to see an exhibition of modern art, featuring works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein amongst others. I think we found it quite enlightening but also a lot of it quite baffling. Nevertheless it was a very enjoyable afternoon, only spoilt by a huge rain burst just as we were about to go back to the hotel. This left us a couple of hours to get ready for the Gala Dinner, held at Kurhaus "Runder Saal". Cocktails awaited us, and while we were sipping these we were entertained by a local quartet of absolutely marvellous singers, barbershop style, who also imitated musical instruments in some of their numbers. The self same quartet also performed for us after dinner. After a superb meal and the usual round of speeches from the three current Presidents and a very hoarse Patrick Nicolas, President of Evreux in 2007/2008, some of the company returned home and others took advantage of the free entry to the Casino. Farewells were said by our hosts in the Hotel restaurant on Sunday Morning. A copy of President Michael’s speech at the Gala Dinner will be posted on the club website as soon as possible.
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