Rotary Club of Gloucester

THE President of 59,000 Rotarians in 1,853 clubs throughout Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) paid a visit to the Rotary Club of Gloucester last month. Brian Stoyel, a member of the Saltash club in Cornwall, is a former headmaster and an educational consultant, and was on a visit to the local district of RIBI.

In the morning he had visited Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury where plans had been made for a Rotary Glade of maple trees to mark the centenary of the Rotary movement in
2005.

In Gloucester he had lunch and then spoke to members of the Gloucester club and representatives of 12 other neighbouring Rotary clubs. Brian, who was introduced by Gloucester Rotarian, David Seed, said that there were now 1.2 million Rotarians in 166 countries and the past 100 years had seen wonderful achiev-ments by the movement.

In particular he mentioned that the end was in sight to Rotary International's on-going bid to rid the world of the scourge of Polio by 2005. The campaign called Polio Plus is one which has involved thousands of Rotarians and billions of dollars of Rotary funds over many years.

However he stressed that if Rotary was to have a similar impact in its second century it was essential both to actively seek new members and to be flexible enough to retain existing ones.

He also spoke of the three charities he has chosen for his presidential year - The Association of Children's Hospices, Rotaract Overseas Projects and Rotarians Eliminating Malaria in Tanzania

This will be one of the main fundraising events for the 2004/05 Rotary Centennial Programme and will take place on Friday, October 15,2004 at Woodlawns Country Club, Green Street, Brockworth. Monies raised will go to provide and equip an overnight room and facility for parents of seriously ill children in the new children's wing of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and to support the club's other community and international projects.

To make the event a success 120-150 gifts or pledges will be needed to auction. Club members are requested to seek such gifts or pledges. Sponsorship and catalogue advertising is also required. On the night the cost of the tickets will be around £17.50p which will include entrance, a catalogue, a three course dinner, coffee and mints.

It is hoped that 150-200 Rotarians and their guests will attend. Colin Eynon is heading up the auction committee and John Smith would be delighted to hear from members who can help with providing items to auction.

FOR the past 23 years the festive season for most Gloucester Rotarians and member of Inner Wheel has started with the annual Christmas party at the Home Farm Trust at Frocester Manor. This year was no exception.

However the usual fare of carols, games, music and fellowship was tempered by doubts over the future of the facility and the realisation that this could be the last time we celebrate with out friends at Frocester.

But all thoughts of gloom were cast aside thanks to the combined efforts of Master of Ceremonies Jeremy Keck and Master of the Baton Trevor Picken who conducted the Nailsworth Silver Band.

It was Trevor who helped organise the very first party at Frocester 23 years ago and has contributed so much to its enduring success ever since.

Thanks must also go to Inner Wheel members who each year have provided a splendid buffet and this year was no exception.

Thank you to all who contributed to another great evening.....let's hope it isn't the last !!!

IT'S not every new Rotarian who is inducted by the national president but that's the welcome which the club's latest member Graham Solari received when he was introduced into membership by RIBI president Brian Stoyel who visited the club last month.

Graham is no newcomer to Rotary. He was a member at Wolverhampton until 1998 when he stepped down from membership to take an MBA at the University of Aston.

During his earlier membership his classification was that of farming having been a potato grower and merchant and a pig farmer for 30 years until increasingly difficult economic circumstances decided Graham on a career change. Now instead of growing animals or crops he's growing people as a leadership and personal coach.

He's particularly proud of the fact that when he left farming at Kinver near Stourbridge his four staff with 100 years service between them all left farming and moved on to better and more satisfying careers. He describes his new job as helping individuals to chart their own futures in both business and life by clarifying issues and helping them to reach their own decisions.

Graham and his wife Maggie moved to Awre near Newnham in May 2000. The couple have four children ranging in age from 17 to 26. A keen sportsman having played both hockey and rugby, Graham now enjoys water skiing and 'warm water' yacht sailing .

??Brian who is President of 59,000 Rotarians in 1,853 clubs in Great Britain and Ireland was touring the district when he visited our club. In the morning he had gone to Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury where plans had been made for a Rotary Glade of maple trees to mark the centenary of the Rotary movement in 2005.

In Gloucester he spoke to members and representatives of 12 other neighbouring Rotary clubs.

Brian said that there were now 1.2 million Rotarians in 166 countries and the past 100 years had seen wonderful achievements by the movement. But he stressed that if Rotary was to have a similar impact in its second century it was essential both to actively seek new members and to be flexible enough to retain existing ones.

He also spoke of the three charities he has chosen for his presidential year - The Association of Children's Hospices, Rotaract Overseas Projects and Rotarians Eliminating Malaria in Tanzania.

DESPITE a pre-Christmas illness when kept him out of the firing line, President Clive had reason to smile as money poured into the club's coffers. By the end of last month the club's charity account had seen an influx of 00.

Most of this came from Christmas collections at city superstores and from the carol float which toured streets in the Abbeymead and Abbeydale areas. Together the static and mobile floats raised 70 (minus expenses).

In addition came from Twigs Garden Centre on the Tewkesbury Road where, for the first time, the club provided a rota of Father Christmases and in return received a donation for every child who visited his grotto.

We have the Salvation Army's highly enjoyable charity concert to thank for an additional - contributions given following an excellent presentation on the county's Air Ambulance Service by President Clive.

And last - but by no means least - a further was presented to the club by Trevor Picken after the annual party at the Home Farm Trust at Frocester . A delighted President Clive said it had been a splendid effort. He was extremely pleased that the money had been raised without the need for Rotarians to have to dip into their own pockets.

He said the club turnout in support of the mobile and static floats had been magnificent - despite a degree of illness among the members. He paid particular tribute to Graham Howell for the facilities and help he had provided to assist with the project and to Jeremy Keck who had done a 'great job' organising the manpower and taking an active part in the collections themselves.

Clive said that many Rotarians had turned out several times to ensure the collections' success - typical of those who had braved the weather (and illness) had been Ian Stuart who drove the carol float for five nights and had also assisted with a daytime collection.

Quite apart from the welcome addition to club's coffers, the collections raised the profile of the club in the city and the number of children and parents who enthusiastically greeted the carol float as it toured city streets is proof of the tremendous goodwill it created which cannot easily be measured in terms of financial success.

Already President Clive has more than 00 available to contribute to the Air Ambulance. The remainder will go towards the club's contribution to the three-clubs centenary project to provide parents' rooms at the new Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and also to the benefit of disadvantaged local children.

FULL marks to Tony Tetley for organising another extremely enjoyable Christmas dinner for Rotarians and their guests, which was again held at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham. Nearly 80 sat down to a delicious four course supper followed by enthusiastic carol singing to the music of an 'ensemble' from the Gloucester Salvation Army led by club Rotarian John Smith.

As usual this convivial sing-a-long was led by our resident Santa - Mike Westbury - who brought his own mixture of wit and musical talent to the proceedings. He even cajoled a reluctant John Lovell (definitely the odd man out in a DJ) to play the part of a dubious mind reader assisted by a delightful Rose Woodman.

This was Rotary fellowship at its best and it was hardly any wonder that members and their guests were reluctant to leave at the end of the evening. During the evening President Clive was presented with a cheque for the County Air Ambulance charity for £508 - the proceeds of a Christmas Charity Concert staged by the Salvation Army a couple of weeks earlier.

The concert had been a delightful festive mixture of items by the Salvation Army's talented band and songsters, congregation participation and solo items. On this occasion the soloist was trombonist Kevin Lee who plays for the nationally renowned Jaguar band who amazed with his dexterity and musicianship. Kevin, who once 'filled in' for John Smith in the Gloucester band, is now a sought-after soloist with many top bands including the Flowers and Black Dyke outfits.

He performed three items - the 'Bluebells of Scotland' (which even left the audience gasping for breath), the haunting Moon River from the film Breakfast at Tiffany's and the well loved Christmas favourite 'When a child is born.' It was a masterly performance of musical virtuosity.

It was a wonderful way to raise money for the president's chosen charity and we areexceedingly grateful to Major and Lorna Doust, the members of the city corps and to all those who gave so generously on the night.

Playing at being Santa

For the first time this Christmas , our club has been given the opportunity to play at being 'Father Christmas' at the Twigs Garden Centre on the Tewkesbury Road. In exchange for providing the chap behind the whiskers the club gets a £1 each time a child opts to see Santa. Here is President Clive's experience of donning the road coat and white beard.

"You arrived at the appointed time, wandered through the pretty entrance with water and mist and snowy trees and reported for duty. The Santa gear was in the office which was just like my shed, a bit of a muddle. You found the gear and dressed, checking your appearance as best you could in the reflection of a computer screen or blacked out windows (there is no mirror).

"Next you wandered through to the attractive Grotto to check the music and lights together with all the gifts in age and sex order in the sacks on the sleigh.

"Then you waited sitting on the sleigh. Often when a child entered he or she would meander round the trees admiring the detail or terrified of the dark and cold! ..... then you would be seen and met with either sheer terror and screams or faces of delight and wonderment.

"The dialogue began with - what's your name? How old are you? Do you have a chimney? Do you promise to be good up to Christmas? Leave something for Santa and the Reindeer i.e. mince pie, milk, port, beer, whisky to keep the cold out. What would you like for Christmas?

"Replies were often play station 2, Barbie Dolls (including Barbie Houses), Karaoke sets etc while some of the boys wanted horrible monsters and bikes - fortunately no-one asked for guns or drugs which was a relief!.

Some children didn't know what they wanted and mum or dad had to prompt them! Were they sad or terrified? Well let's face it - an old man in red with a huge white beard is a frightening sight to many young kids but give them a present and you soon got their attention!

Ages varied from 12 months to 12 years but who cared as long as the kids can retain their fantasies for a bit longer, reality can be cruel at times The odd cup of coffee you received was very welcome and measuring time spent with each child in the queue was important.

I think we get a bit of a buzz when doing a Santa session and lets hope that the world of fantasies can continue.

All in all an extremely rewarding, if challenging, experience and one which I hope the club will have the opportunity of repeating next year.

ILLNESS meant that neither the President nor Senior Vice were fit to attend the Christmas lunch so Junior Vice Howard stood in ....and an excellent job he made of it too. Here we see him presenting a bouquet of flowers to Theresa as a mark of thanks for the tremendous extra work she had put in to ensure the RIBI President's visit to the club had been a great success. She also received the usual gratuities from members to split among her staff as a mark of our appreciation of all their hard work during the year.

NEW YEAR MESSAGE

John and Wendy Sargent wish all Rotarians and their partners the warmest of seasonal greetings and hope that the New Year will be happy, healthy and prosperous for you all.

ON THE MENU

January 9 - Gloucester Sausage and herb mash with onion gravy;
January 16 - Steak and kidney pie with Lyonaise potatoes and vegetables;
January 23 - Chicken Provencal with new potatoes and vegetables
January 30 - Roast Gammon and parsley sauce with potatoes and vegetables
February 6 - Liver and Bacon with vegetables
February 13 - No lunchtime meeting
February 20 - Roast beef
February 27 - Poached salmon with lemon sauce
March 5 - Chicken wrapped in bacon
March 12 - Steak and kidney pie
March 19 - Fish pie
March 26 - Roast pork