President's Report, December 2007The second quarter kicked off with a trip to Bisham Abbey to meet the incoming Ambassadorial Scholars who will be taking up a one year course at either Reading or Oxford University. Chris came along, also Brian Millis, Foundation Chair. One of our objectives was to line up some of the scholars to come and talk to our club later in the year (now fixed for 30th April). For our "Friends" meeting in October we were joined by colleagues from Ascot Round Table and Ascot 41 Club to hear a fascinating presentation by Peter Caddick-Adams on the battlefields in northern France, Belgium and Holland. Ronnie Wilkie, Director of Operations at Ascot Racecourse, also attended as our guest. The following week I got the opportunity to show off a few of my holiday snaps when I gave a short talk on "New Zealand - North Island" Big event of the autumn for me was the President's weekend, held in Wells, Somerset. It was particularly pleasing that the President of the Wells Rotary Club, Wendy Lucas, came to greet us on the Friday evening. On the Saturday we had booked a guided tour of the Bishop's Palace followed by a light lunch, and fortunately the weather was kind, as much of the tour was outdoors. Saturday evening the dinner theme was on one of my favourite subjects - food! Mark Tobin of the Swan Hotel introduced each course of the meal with some history of its source and preparation. October had a "5th Wednesday" so we were pleased to welcome the ladies to our meeting where our guest speaker, Kate Bradford, took us on a nostalgia trip through the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. She also reminded the ladies of the duties of a "Good Wife" based on a 1955 article on the subject. November started with a bang, and a flash or two, as we supported the efforts of Ascot Round Table in presenting the Fireworks display at the Racecourse. This year, for the first time, we were able to integrate the traditional fireworks display with a race day at the race course, and this meant that the audience could watch the display from the comfort of the new stand. As a bonus, we had quite a good view of the Legoland firework display in the background! "Youth Speaks" is one of our annual youth actions, and this year we had 14 teams competing at St. George's School, in two age groups. The winners go through to the zone final in February. At the November "Friends" meeting we welcomed a new member, Alan Clare, into the club. We also heard that our candidate for the Group Study Exchange trip to Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Oonagh McCarthy, had been accepted by the District as a team member. Our speaker was Rotarian Lynn Walters from the Rotary Club of Easthampstead, and former Master of The Worshipful Company of Horners. At the end of November my "pet project" to initiate a local heat of the RIBI Young Chef competition came to fruition when 9 competitors from 5 schools, sponsored by ourselves, RC Bracknell and RC Wokingham cooked a nutritious meal at the Licensed Victualler's School in Ascot. The winner and runner up go through to the district final in February. Many thanks to Peter Short who was the driving force in getting this project to fly. Early in December we received an invitation to see how the money raised at the Golf Day and donated to the Children with Special Needs Foundation had been used at Charters School. IPP Geoff Donovan, VP David Marshall and I saw the laptop computers provided for the learning support room, and a rain awning outside Resource Unit. The 7th and 8th December saw the annual collection outside the Waitrose store in Sunningdale. Our chosen charity this year was the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance. David Jones once again brought his jazz group to provide entertainment. On the same day, Beverley Williams organised a Cabaret Evening in the Cordes Hall, and this was a great success, raising money for the Day Centre and Thames Hospicecare. Entertainment was provided by students of Novello Theatre, and the Rosie Rainbow Fund. Finally to finish the year in style, our black tie Christmas Dinner was held at the Royal Ascot Golf Club. The highlight of the evening was the performance by a Salvation Army band to accompany our attempts to sing along to the well known Christmas Carols. Well - the first half year seems to have gone by relatively smoothly - now to see what the second half year can throw at us…… Ian Valentine |