Thursday 21 April 2011 - GSE Chennai get together

Team leader James Pinder and his wife Dain hosted a lovely evening get together of the Group Study exchange Team which went to Chennai earlier in the year.

John Lewington of the Rotary Club of Newark Castle was instrumental in managing the programme for the incoming team and has also been very involved with our own team.
Unfortunately Carl Makins was unable to come along as he was still in London following his St John duty at the London Marathon and the Royal Wedding preparations.

Wednesday 20 April - Rotary Club of Bolsover Charter

President Robert Richards and the Rotary Club of Bolsover held their Charter celebration at the Hostess Restaurant. As usual the meal and service was excellent.








The entertainment was Kick 'n Rush, a Skiffle / comedy band.

When a "volunteer" was needed to play the teachest bass all fingers pointed to me and I was delighted to discover that my rthymn had not deserted me and we all kept to time!

Tuesday 19 April - Sherwood Sunrisers

Kevin Brown of Sherwood Sunrisers presented me with a cheque for £1,486 for the India housing project which he and his son Phil collected by climbing to Everest Base Camp.

Bad weather meant that that stayed longer than anticipated in Katmandu due to cancelled flights!

Thank you so much Kevin and Phil.

Monday 18 April 2011 - St Geoges Day celebration at Bretby!

The Rotary Club of Bretby held a superb evening to celebrate St Georges Day and
Bess of Hardwick joined the fun.
















I was delighted to present two awards.
The Rotary International Club Builder Award is limited to just one per District each year and Garth Hamp-Gopsill was very surprised when I announced his name! To qualify the recipient had to have introduced a minimum of five new members who are still in the same club. There were a few nominations but Garth was the clear winner.

The second award was to President cedric Insley on behalf of the club for their support of the Polio Eradication campaing in the last Rotary year.

The evening concluded in tradtional English style with flag waving to "Land of Hope and Glory"

Friday to Sunday 15 to 17 April. RIBI Conference in Dublin

Brian Darlison was District Governor when I was club President and we have been great friends ever since.
I have to admit that Terry and I did not see very much of Dublin due to shortage of time and a busy Conference schedule.

Guest speakers included the rugby legend Willie John McBride and Terry Waite.

I was delighted to host Pam McConnell, the Association President of the Inner Wheel and her husband Tom

Terry suggested that Brian and I did a "Titanic" pose on the fast ferry back to Holyhead and this is the result!

District team meeting 12 April 2011

This was the last District team meeting of the Rotary year and my sincere thanks go to everyone for their support.

District 1100 Conference - venue and speakers

Warwick University Conference Centre facilities and surroundings are very good. The spring flowers were amazing.







Peter Fewell, known as "Diesel" proved to be the outstanding speaker of the weekend. He has turned his life round after spending time in prison where he learned to read and write and is now a very good writer and speaker. DG David Butler D1060 joine me for the photograph.

John Bird is the co-founder of the Big Issue and he certainly roused the audience with his outspoken style and views.

The Service was very different and most enjoyable. It was led by Reverend Roger Royle of BBC Radio 2 famewho told amusing anecdotes about his life with Terry Wogan and numerous household names. Roger's account of the time when he took John Inman's funeral will never be forgotten!

Roger was joined by Reverend Roly Bain, an Ordained clown who gave the most oustanding performance linked to stories in The Bible.
It is certainly unique and left a lasting impression on everyone. The Salvation Army band from Coventry sent us on our way with music ringing in our ears.

District 1100 Conference - RI Director and visiting DGs in attendance

RI Director David Liddiatt was the RIBI President when I was President of Sherwood Sunrisers and I have known David for some time through working with RIBI.





Left to right: Sue Butler, host DG Chris Fairhead, me, Terry, DG David Butlet, Norma Fay and DG Les Fay
It was great just being a guest and left to our own devices with others doing the speeches and organising!
Here is DG Chris Fairhead before he had a drink on Friday night.

8 to 10 April 2011 - District 1100 Conference at Warwick University

I spent some time with District 10 Chairman Liz Hodgkinson who gave a fabulous rousing speech to an receptive audience. She extolled the true value of Inner Wheel members and left everyone on a high.

The Inner Wheel stand in the House of Friendship won the prize for the best display.







You can see from the magazine being held by Inner Wheel member Ann Fox that Association President Pam McConnell is on the cover.

Thursday 7 April 2011 - Rotary Club of Kirkby in Ashfield Indian evening

The joint Presidents of Kirkby in Ashfield, John McEwen and Eric Thompson held a fundraising evening organised by Karl White at the Nila Indian Restaurant in Sutton in Ashfield.
The restaurant was full and we had a superb meal and a lot of laughter as usual!
It was a surprise when the restaurant owner Subbu Variath presented me with a cheque for £100 towards the housing project and honoured us with shawls.

Wednesday 6 April 2011 - District Finance Committee meeting

Here are the financial brains of the District (???) having a break from deliberating the District finances.

Malcolm, our Treasurer, keeps us all on track!

Tuesday 5 April - Inner Wheel District 22 Service and Rally

What a wonderful day! Following a Service in the Church under the crooked spire the lunch Rally was held at the Winding Wheel.
Yet again, a superbly organised event which I thoroughly enjoyed in the company of Elaine Harrison and Pam McConnell and all of the Inner Wheel members.

The choir looked resplendent in their robes and the singing matched their appearance - excellent!

Monday 4 April 2011 - Rotary Club of Warsop, Shirebrook & District Charter celebration

President John Fretwell and the members of the Rotary Club of Warsop, Shirebrook & District held their Charter celebration at the Hostess with Billy Bean, a very good quick fire comedian, as the entertainment.



I was delighted to meet Carlo Santana who had a number one hit with Paper Lace .

Sunday 3 April 2011 - Walk for the Burton Scanner Appeal

Local Rotary clubs in the Burton area joined together with members from the Rotary Club of Tamworth Anker to organise a sponsored walk and run in Catton park.
Funds were raised for the Burton upon Trent Hospital Scanner Appeal and I was invited to start the event.
On arrival i discovered that I was walking either 5 or 10 miles!
I did the 5 and it was most enjoyable in the beautiful countryside surrounding the Catton Hall Estate.

Saturday 2 April 2011 - Rotary Club of Retford 60s night.

Presidents Phil Lewis and the members of both Retford Rotary Club and the Inner Wheel club had a riotous 60's night with a number turning up in 60's gear.
The evening was organised by the Youth Committee and many non Rotarians joined in to pack the Clarborough Village Hall.

TimeZone provided great live music. Who says that only the young generation has energy? Just look at the effort that Phil is putting in!

Saturday 2 April 2011 - A rare day off from Rotary

Today it was the World Cup Cricket Final in Mumbai with India playing Sri Lanka.

You can see from the photograph where Terry's loyalties lie and he did not move all day. Many text messages were received and sent to friends in Hyderabad who were watching the game. India was euphoric when they won and the partying lasted for days.

Friday 1 April, Rotary Club of Derby Charter

President Olivia Dean and the Rotary Club of Derby held an excellent Charter celebration at the cricket ground in Derby, another superb venue
It was a most enjoyable evening and John Lound was awarded a well deserved Paul Harris Fellowship by the club.

We enjoyed the company of the Mayor and Mayoress of Derby, exchanging many stories of our experiences in India.

The speak amazed us all! David Crowson's son Howard is a Judge and we were regailed with many amusing anecdotes of life at the Bar!

My congratulations go to all concerned.

Wednesday 30 March 2011 - Assistant Governors meeting

This was the final meeting of the year for me with the Assistant Governors.
Left to right: back row - Peter Moralee, Steve Lawes, Michael Longdon and Roger Summers.
Front row: Noel Harrison and Tony Bethell.

My sincere thanks go to them all for their excellent support and I wish them well in their future endeavours.

Next year peter will become the District Governor Nominee, Steve Lawes will be Extension Officer and Tony Bethell will be his wife Jill's assistant!
The others still have time to serve as Assistant Governors.

Monday 28 March 2011 - 2011 /12 Team meeting

The team for next year met for the first time following the RIBI Assembly which they had all attended at the weekend. The aim was to discuss the details for our own District Assembly and we had a good session.
It does not seem a year since we did it before!