Rotary Engagements since July 1 215
Being a Rotary International District Governor is, as
I’ve implied in the title of this post, a very mixed bag. In a single week I’ve covered things relating
to this Rotary year, things building up to the next Rotary year starting in
July, lots of stuff to do with things happening locally but also national
responsibilities, much pure business, some a mixture of business &
pleasure, and some pure pleasure.
Began the week in Alcester, home of Rotary International
in Britain & Ireland (RIBI) for a meeting of the General Council, the 29
Governors for this year of the Districts in Britain & Ireland who are responsible
for the Administrative Area covered by these islands. Actually a fair number of pretty important
matters for the future of our Districts were discussed including the way on
which the structures & processes need to change, and what the future may look
like in terms of how many Districts we may reduce to, subject to agreement from
our membership. These will be taken
forward to future meetings and will eventually form the basis for quite radical
change. Important stuff! Definitely came under the national (but also
parochially local) and business sides of the week!
Monday evening it was time to contact all our clubs with
borders on the Thames to find out where we had cases of pressing need following
the flooding. Happily I’ve had no
reports of urgent issues. Although many have acknowledged that our work may start
when the waters go down and the extent of damage & recovery work is apparent.
Much of Tuesday was spent catching up with being in
meetings all day Sunday & Monday, but an evening of pure pleasure with the
first of two 1-0 home wins of the week for Watford FC – even if you win ugly
it’s still a win!
Cancellation of the trip down to Torquay with Conference
Chairman Jean was replaced by a comprehensive talk through all of the
conference (just 31 days to go!) and a lengthy call with our conference centre
contact Viki. Please, because of the cancellation
of the trip, to be at my club to hear a couple of our District visiting Rotary
Scholars talk to us about their studies and what they hope to do next – aren’t
young people great!
Thursday evening should have been a pleasurable
experience that saw Elthorne-Hillingdon triumph & make their way through to
the semi-finals of the District darts competition having defeated RC
Henley. Unfortunately two things went
wrong 1) Henley clearly hadn’t read that script and 2) our usually reliable
pairing couldn’t hit a double – at all!
We lost 3-1, deservedly and wish Henley all the best in the next round.
Friday saw us out at the Mill at Sonning for a memorable night
watching Alan Ayckbourn’s “Absurd Person Singular”. Played as a period piece it was great fun,
especially the line “I see it’s still raining” which, coming in the midst of the
storm, was truly appropriate. RC Marlow
organised for more than 100 of us to be there am0ongst a full house. Rotarians having a great time while raising
money for Polio eradication – what could be better?
Saturday morning we were off to Sonning again – this time
for our District Officer Training – gearing up for the Rotary Year 2014-2015,
followed by a quick dash back to see the mighty Watford to their second 1-0 win
of the week. Not quite so ugly, unless
you count the two sendings-off – one for each side!
Each year, our District holds a “Paul Harris Fellows”
Lunch (Paul Harris founded Rotary – fellowships are awarded to recognise significant
contribution and represent a donation to our charity, The Rotary Foundation in
that person’s name). Brilliantly orgainsed by RC Slough member Robin Weathersbee, 150 of us gathered
to celebrate and were addressed by Past President of RI John Kenny who flew down
from his home in Edinburgh especially for the occasion. Great lunch, great company and a stirring
address.
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