President Beverley's first half year report, July-December 2010Reviewing the past six months of being the president of the Ascot Rotary Club is knowing where to begin. The club has dramatically increased in size since I was last President & it never ceases to amaze me how much we get involved in & achieve by the dedication of you all. Tony Love & his committee have thrown themselves into community activities including organising cuddly toys for sick children who are traumatized by having to get into an ambulance. The planting of crocus bulbs at Charters School for the awareness of irradicating polio around the world was well received by the pupils. Our endeavours reached out as far as Cobham where we planted several thousand bulbs on a bank near Hans Jergen & Sabina’s property & our efforts were rewarded by them entertaining us with an excellent lunch. Hopefully formation of an interact club is now underway which is exciting as it promotes Rotary to the younger generation. A musical quiz evening at the Day Centre was extremely well attended much to the horror of the caterers Sonia & Edith who put on an excellent spread for 70 odd Rotarians & friends & here again thanks must be given not only to them, but Tony Love & David Jones for preparing the questions. David & his band were called on yet again for a well attended jazz evening at Cranbourne Hall & judging by the applause was well received. He again inveigled his band colleagues to perform on two cold days outside Waitrose for our annual Christmas collection. The following weekend in slightly warmer conditions in Tesco’s in Bracknell the patrons of the store were entertained on the Friday by live Christmas music to boost the many charities we support. Unfortunately the Saturday fixture had to be called off due to the appalling weather conditions. Our phantom member Mike Lustig & past President Colin Corio set up a stall at the Victorian festival in Sunninghill again selling DVD’s & CD’s & despite the cold promoted our club within the community. My reluctance at public speaking had to be overcome at the Youth Speaks Competition organised by Alan Clare & his team at St George’s School. The standard gets better each year. A few days later it was the Young Chef Competition at LVS & here again the standard was high. Back in September instead of our normal meal at Mill Ride the ladies joined us & we all went Italian at a restaurant near Egham & looking at the empty plates it would appear the food tickled our taste buds! So far this year the club has been fortunate in having Trevor Knowles to join us, now that he is living in Ascot, & I particularly hope he & his wife enjoy the activities we put on. In the next couple of months I hope to welcome back past President Bill Sheppard & Gail Robinson transferring from the Crowthorne club. I was astonished at the numbers who attended the Presidents Weekend in Stratford & I would like to thank you all for making the time so memorable for me. I was flattered at Uwe & his wife Gunnel who flew over from Germany especially for the event. Having been a member of the organisation for many years, to my knowledge there has never been a joint fund raising event with Inner Wheel & I was delighted that my idea of a charity fashion show proved to be so successful in that both of our clubs benefitted as well as the Thames Hospice Care. There was a lot of work put into this event, but I hope those involved found it fun, but probably don’t want to repeat the exercise again too quickly. The club thanks to Moya Harvey, was fortunate to take over the successful Christmas Breakfast Meeting that Heathrow Club used to organise & on this occasion not only did we have the pleasure of welcoming our district Governor but also the President of the RIBI who travelled in appalling conditions from Scotland to attend. Despite the weather over 40 Rotarians attended from the district & for her efforts at the Heathrow Club at the time of the Tsunami disaster a Paul Harris award was presented to Moya which was justly deserved. The Christmas dinner was held back at Ascot Rotary’s former home for nearly 25 years The Berystede Hotel in their main restaurant had an excellent turn out & we were entertained by the Rainbow singers which put us into the Christmas mood. As yet I haven’t heard of anyone becoming a millionaire on the lottery tickets but perhaps they are keeping a low profile!! New Years Day saw the club out in force at the wheelbarrow race which thanks to David Mear, Geoff Donovan & Anthony Hatch has grown in momentum. This year 26 teams entered & due to the mild weather there was an excellent turn out from the local community. The event entailed our whole club being involved in various duties which was admirable. The event is good for community spirit the awareness of the Day centre & has the added advantage of exposing our club to the residents of the area. During the last 6 months unfortunately I had to attend the funeral of Alice Pack the wife of one of the founder members of the club & Peter Barnett who was a member of the club for many years. I’m pleased to report that both Geoff Joyce & Neville Avens are recovering well from their stint in hospital. I look forward to the Five Clubs Dinner the Young Musician Concert the District Conference in Birmingham & the Auction of Promises Evening on the 1st April. The club is only as good as its members & I do appreciate all the support that has been given to me as its current President. A Happy & Healthy New Year to everyone. Beverley |