President's Report, January 2006After a welcome break over Christmas and New Year, we started the second half of the Rotary Year with a fascinating talk from Geoff Cook on Hypnotism. It was a subject that held the interest of all the members who came to our first meeting on the 4th January. Just when we thought that Peter Short’s provision of speakers could not get any better, Mike Power, the Chief Operating Officer of the 2012 London Olympic Bid Team provided a thorough insight on how he led the team responsible for bringing the games to London. As I said in my final comments on the night, we in Rotary had witnessed the Olympic announcement back in 2005 and now in this very same room we had learned how the win had been achieved. The presentation came with a variety of video clips, PowerPoint slides and Mike’s personal experiences and contributed to the best attended and longest Friends evening since the Programme began. After the feast of content in recent meetings, our lunchtime attendees enjoyed a well-attended fellowship meeting on the 18th January. The Business Meeting on the 25th January followed a very heavy Council Meeting held on the previous Thursday. The variety and weight of subjects covered during the Business Meeting reflected the commitment of our club to the many causes and entertainment activities with which we get involved. I was very pleased to welcome Keith Wetherell as the third new member of Ascot Rotary this year. Keith has enjoyed his time as a ‘Friend’ and latterly has become deeply involved in the planning process for the Charity Golf day on August 14th. We also enjoyed that rare commodity for Ascot Rotary of a visitor, in that Frank Smiley of the Rotary Club of Chipping Norton joined us for the evening.
Alan Penny |