Club News - July - December 2009

President Colin and Rotarian Keith Wetherell attended the Presentation Evening at Charters School tonight. This is an annual event when those students who took their final exams in the summer, return to the school from university, gap year programmes or employment for the presentation of certificates and prizes. Each year we are astounded at the quality of their achievements and their aspirations.  

Among the many prizes presented is the "Service Above Self" Award which is donated by The Rotary Club of Ascot to the student or students who, as well as attending to their own education needs and enjoyment of school life, did much to help others in their studies, sporting and leadership endeavours. 

This year the Rotary "Service above Self" award went to Ashley Kilgallon, Laura Mullen and Andrew Smith.

Marking the end of our Rotary social events for the year 2009, Christmas dinner was held tonight at the Stirrups Hotel, Maidens Green.  Nearly 80 Rotarians, partners, Inner Wheel members and guests donned Black Tie and best frocks for this annual event.  A raffle for a Stilton Cheese and a bottle of Port (donated by Rtn Mike Lustig) raised £200 for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust.  After dinner the attendees were entertained by the Sunningdale Savoy Chorus who gave a performance of popular and seasonal songs, in aid of Ascot Day Centre.

More pictures to follow

"Brightly shone the sun that day ... " This weekend we were blessed with better than average weather for our annual Christmas Collection outside the Waitrose store in Sunningdale.  The David Jones jazz quartet provided the music, and the two day collection raised over £1,500 with the main beneficiary being the Thames Valley Air Ambulance Trust.  On Saturday we were joined by a group of Girl-Scouts from Runnymede, who sang Christmas songs during the lunch hour.

A packed evening tonight with speakers Brigadier (rtd) Richard Rook and Lieutenant Beth Mander, and guests from the Rotary Clubs of Bourne End & Cookham, Bracknell, Easthampstead, Heathrow Airport, Thatcham and Windsor St. George, also from Ascot 41 Club, as well as a number of members guests.  The Brigadier entertained and informed us of his "retirement job" as Honorary Colonel of 151 (London) Transport Regiment of the Territorial Army, and Beth gave an inspiring talk on her role as troop commander at a depot of the regiment.

Afterwards the Brigadier, who was Royal Logistics Corps director before his retirement, provided some thought-provoking and insightful personal commentary on the ongoing action in Afghanistan, then answered questions from the floor.   

Special guest this evening was the Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest, Councillor Bob Wade.  The Mayor spoke of his support for the many organisations which work in a voluntary capacity to support  the local community, and he presented President Colin a certificate recognising the "great work, dedication and industry" of the Rotary Club of Ascot.  CLICK HERE to view the certificate.

At the District Council meeting in High Wycombe tonight, President Colin was pleased to receive on behalf of the Club and all the members a certificate of appreciation in recognition of the Club's contribution to the "$200 Million challenge", part of the "End Polio Now" campaign, during the Rotary year 2008-9.

The District Council meeting also gave Ascot Rtn. Geoff Donovan an opportunity to make a presentation to over 100 delegates from Clubs around the District publicising our Wheelbarrow race on 1st January 2010.

At our monthly Business Meeting we were pleased to induct Bob Linnell (picture right with President Colin) as our latest recruit into the Rotary Club of Ascot.  Bob has had a career in teaching, and was a headmaster when he retired.  He is now running an educational consultancy.

Also at this meeting the Club discussed the flooding situation in Cumbria, and voted a donation of £1,000 to the flood relief fund. 

Another of our vocational projects with young people, we held the East Berks final of the national Rotary Young Chef competition this afternoon.  The event was held in the Licensed Victuallers School, and competitors from 7 schools in the Ascot, Bracknell and Wokingham area took part.  

Despite a fire alarm interrupting proceedings, the competitors achieved a very high standard.  The winner was Hannah Wilson of the Marist Senior School, Ascot, shown left receiving her trophy from President Colin.  The Runner-up was Nadine Harris of Luckley Oakfield School, Wokingham, and both now go through to the District Final in the New year.

CLICK Here for more pictures

CLICK HERE for Press Release

Some 70 people crammed into the British Legion hall tonight to hear another splendid jazz evening provided by Rtn David Jones and his jazz band.  Although 2/3 of the audience were Rotarians, partners and family, it was gratifying to see the number of guests and visitors who came along to this event.  All enjoyed the BYO Picnic and drinks format.

The band comprised David Jones on Trumpet, Quentin Bryar on Clarinet, Simon Wyld on trombone, Gwyn Arch on Piano, Robin Mosley on banjo, David Kellard on bass and sousaphone, and John Taberner on drums. Their repertoire this evening ranged from the 1890's through to Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball and Chris Barber.

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This evening we held the Ascot heat of the National Rotary Club "Youth Speaks" competition.  The event was kindly hosted by St. George's School, Ascot, with teams from a number of Ascot schools participating.

Fuller details including winners can be found in our PRESS RELEASE.

Picture (left) shows the panelists deliberating on their choices.

CLICK HERE for more pictures

Today we were pleased to welcome Rtn Susanne Bomhard, transferring from the Rotary Club of the Hague Metropolitan, into membership of the Rotary Club of Ascot.  

Susanne was installed as a member of RC The Hague Metropolitan on 28/02/06 but her life in the Rotarian movement started some years before as she was a Rotaractor in Germany.

Susanne was a member on the International committee and the following year she was in charge of the community service committee.  In 2009 she was in charge of the Club Affairs.

President Colin reports:- Mike, Moya, and myself, together with partners and Inner Wheel President Pam Coopey, visited the 'Lord Nelson' in Southampton yesterday. We had an interesting tour of the ship. From the accommodation you can see that it's a working ship, there being no passengers and everyone is expected to 'muck-in' and work as a team, a bit like Rotary !!! ?. It was also interesting that the skipper, chief and assistant engineers, together with a number of the main crew, were all women.

CLICK HERE for more pictures

Rtn Norman reports: The weather held up this year for the Fireworks Evening at Ascot Racecourse and a large crowd was rewarded with a magnificent display of pyrotechnics. The attractive Funfair generously provided by the Racecourse Authority was also enjoyed by the large number of youngsters present, many of whom were dressed in Halloween costumes. 

Thanks to all those who helped out in the organisation and especially those who assisted in the clear up on Sunday morning when they were rewarded with a drenching in the appalling weather conditions.  (Picture by "Ascot Matters")

WEB SITE UPDATES - The following items have been added (Click to View) - President's First Quarter Report, Press Release for the Wheelbarrow Race, Peter B's Photos from President's Weekend,  Council Meeting Minutes 21st October (log in first).  Also several useful lists under "User Admin" in the Member Area

At our lunchtime meeting this week we were delighted to welcome Vik Sharma as the latest member of our Club.  Vik has been a member of Rotary since 2007 and was formerly with the Rotary Club of Oadby, Leicester.  He has recently moved to this area with his wife, and they have just had their first baby.

Our speaker was Stevie Horton who is Director of Fundraising for Windsor, Ascot & Maidenhead District Sports Association for the Disabled, better known as WAMDSAD.  She introduced us to the aims and objectives of the organisation, and emphasised she is looking for new members as well as fundraising.

click for Ian's pictures

click for Hans's pictures

President Colin invited Club members, partners, Inner Wheel members and Rotary widows to his weekend event held at The Bear of Rodborough in the Cotswolds.  After an informal dinner on the Friday evening, we were up bright and early to visit Westonbirt Arboretum, for a 2 hour guided tour.  Our timing was just right to catch the autumn colours.

On Saturday evening we sat down to a black tie dinner in a private room to enjoy a sociable meal together.  Keith proposed a vote of thanks to Colin and Hilary for all their hard work in creating a very pleasant weekend.  CLICK HERE for Peter B's pictures

Foundation Chair Anthony with Evelyn, Ian K and Ian & Chris were at Oxford Kassam Stadium on Thursday evening to meet the Ambassadorial Scholars.  In an informal arrangement, the scholars moved from table to table meeting some 130 rotarians from different clubs in the district.  Timekeeping was rigidly enforced by the local Town Cryer who rang a very loud bell every 5 minutes to cue the scholars to move on.  Afterwards, as a test of our memories, the scholars each took 1 minute to describe one of their colleagues, and we had to guess the name, with a prize going to the table who had best recall.  The picture shows Angelo Capuano from Melbourne explaining his chosen subject to Anthony and Evelyn.

Our guest speaker this evening was Duncan Rayner of the Jubilee Sailing Trust.  The Trust has two "tall ships" - Lord Nelson and Tenacious, which are used to take mixed groups of able-bodied and disabled people to sea for short or long voyages.  Duncan is also a keen model builder and he brought along one of his 3-masted sailing ship models (pictured).

We were pleased to welcome Rtn. Susanne Bomhard of the Rotary Club of the Hague Metropolitan, who is pictured exchanging pennants with President Colin.

Tonight IPP David with Eileen, Ian & Chris, and Moya went to the Holiday Inn, Maidenhead for the farewell rally for our outgoing GSE Team to Rotary District 9320 (Zone 10) which encompasses the central area  of South Africa and Lesotho.  RIBI President David Fowler was there to wish the team well, as was our District Governor Terry Kenyon, and the team members told us what they were hoping to get out of the exchange.

We can follow the progress of the team by following their blog.

President Colin, with Ian V and Moya joined Rotarians from a number of clubs in East Berkshire for this evening's meeting of the Rotary Club of Easthampstead, where the guest of honour was RIBI President David Fowler.  President David encouraged the attendees to come to the RIBI Conference 2010, which runs 16th-18th April in Bournemouth, "a magical event".  He also provided some "words of wisdom" on his views on Rotary:-

• In Rotary, never say "No" if you are asked to do something - you won't regret it
• In Rotary, you have two choices - stand and watch, or really get involved
• Life is so much better if you say "Yes" than if you say "No".

Some 40 members, partners, Inner Wheel members and guests attended this week's meeting to hear Group Study Exchange team leader Rtn Greg Wilkinson, and two of his GSE team members Eleanor Cracknell and Alison Munro, speak of their 4-week visit to British Columbia earlier this year.  Alison spoke of the "All things are possible" attitude that she found in BC, and Eleanor spoke of the trend towards making public records available over the Internet.  Cultural activities included meetings with "First Nations" people who inhabited the region before the European settlers arrived.

(Picture l to r - Foundation chair Anthony, GSE team member Alison, President Colin, GSE team member    Eleanor and GSE Team Leader Greg)

Following news of the situation in Samoa and the Philippines, the Club voted to fund another Shelterbox to help with relief work.

Tonight was marked by the visit of our District Governor Terry Kenyon on her official rounds of the clubs in District 1090.  After dinner she spoke of the challenges and opportunities for Rotary in the coming year, and the messge from RI President John Kenny "The Future of Rotary is in your Hands".  She also spoke of the final push in the drive to eradicate polio across the world.  After her talk she presented President Colin with the RI Banner for the year.

We were also pleased to welcome as a guest Rtn. Susanne Bomhard of the Rotary Club of the Hague Metropolitan, who has recently moved to the area.

Our Charity Golf day was held at Chobham Golf Course, with 18 teams taking part.  In the morning there was a Texas Scramble competition, followed by putting, then the main Stableford event in the afternoon.  In the evening there was a Gala Dinner during which the prizes were presented, and a grand auction.  

Preliminary figures indicate that we made about £9,000 on the day, which is a very satisfactory result in these recessionary times.  The proceeds will be divided between the nominated charities -  "Christopher's Smile" and "Sebastian's Action Trust", - and the Rotary Club of Ascot Charity Account

CLICK HERE for more pictures

We were pleased to welcome Past District Governor John Chapman, RC Marlow, who came to speak to us about “Shelter Boxes”, accompanied by Betty Clark, RC Marlow.  Starting 9 years ago as the brainchild of Rotarian Tom Henderson of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall, ShelterBox has grown to become the largest Rotary Club project in the 100 year history of the organisation.  RC Ascot has funded 7 boxes over the last 3 years, which have been dispatched to disaster areas all over the world.

We were also pleased to welcome a group of Rotarians from our neighbouring Club, RC Easthampstead, who were on a "Scatter Week".

President Colin, accompanied by Moya and Ian, manned a stand at the Golden Age Fair at Ascot Racecourse today.  The object of the day was to raise the profile of Rotary locally, initially in the 50+ agegroup who were the target audience of this fair.  In the event we identified several possible candiates for membership and a number of people and organisations who would like to come along as speakers.  We also proved that we can mount a public relations activity in the community and communicate to local people the messages of Rotary.

Nigel & Cynthia hosted our Summer Barbecue in their lovely garden on an uncharacteristicly sunny day this weekend.  Beefburgers, sausages and lamb steaks were cremated by Ian and Nigel on barbecue management (including a brief spell of fire containment), whilst Hilary, Val, Moya and Chris provided salads and the ancilliaries which went into making a most enjoyable event.

Afterwards President Colin presented Nigel and Cynthia with a plant, and thanked those who had helped to make the day a sucess.

CLICK HERE for more pictures

On Sunday a group of 20+ Rotarians, Inner Wheelers and partners met up at Brooklands Museum to inspect the cars, planes and transport memorabilia on display.  After coffee on arrival we went on a free format tour of the exhibits, which included an early Concorde, an opulent VC10 used by the Sultan of Oman, a Wellington Bomber rescued from the depths of Loch Ness, and a BAC 111.  It was also interesting to see some of the famous banking which is still in existence around parts of the old circuit.  

After the visit we were invited to a very enjoyable "sundowners" get-together at Hans-Juergen and Sabine's home in Cobham.

CLICK HERE for more pictures

President Colin set out on his first "Official Visit", to attend the Ascot Inner Wheel garden party, this year held in the garden of Mike and Sue.  The weather could be summed up as "scattered showers", all in the course of a couple of hours.  Fortunately there were sufficient marquees for everbody to keep dry, with the possible exception of those running about with pots of tea!

The main picture shows President Colin with a visiting Rotarian from RC Sevenoaks and his wife (caught in one of the sunny intervals).

CLICK HERE for more pictures

On Friday IPP David with Eileen, Secretary Ian with Chris, and Rtn Gordon with Jacqui went to the Sindlesham Masonic Centre to witness the handover of the District Governor regalia from Malcolm Boddington to Terry Kenyon. Over 100 Rotarians and guests attended the dinner and handover ceremony

Terry’s first duty was to present the district governor elect medallion to Laurie Cunningham, and the district governor nominee medallion to Niall Blair.  Terry  introduced her 2009-10 District Team, and reminded her audience of the Rotary International theme for the year “The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands "

CLICK HERE to visit the District Web Site Press Release