Week 38 “Oh what a Circus, Oh What a Show”!! (Part 1- Thursday & Friday)

Rotary Engagements since July 1                              254

Well what a week that was!  The culmination of many days of work spread over almost 3 years – yes I’m talking about the Rotary District 1090 Conference 2014!

Joan & I set off for Torquay on Thursday morning – uneventful journey arriving at lunchtime – our final meeting of the conference committee – everyone in great spirits anticipating the onslaught – jobs still to do of course – packs to the hotels, set to be built etc etc.  Followed by a very pleasant dinner – the calm before the storm!

Friday morning took me over to the conference centre for a sound check and a preview of the set, which looked great even though at that stage it was still a work in progress.  Updates from DGE Tim & Linda with their progress down from Heathrow with our President’s Representative Ed Futa - he arrived at Heathrow at 5:45 a.m. – rather him than me!  And then on to the first official duty of the conference – a drinks reception for the guests of conference – great to see all of them, but particularly to make Ed’s acquaintance and see a couple of my fellow DGs, Dave & Anne Sadler and Simon & Jackie Kalson making the journey down for the weekend. 

Followed by lunch with the same group and then on to what turned out to be a brilliant curtain-raiser for the conference, our Inner Wheel District 9 session, with Joan as the simply amazing speaker on the subject of Inspirational Women, Isabella D’Este (1474-1539), Nell Gwyn (1650-87), Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842), The Bronte Family (Charlotte 1816-1855, Emily 1818- 1848, Anne 1820-1849), Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), HM Queen Elizabeth II (Born 1926) (you’ll need to book her to speak to you to know more about themJ). 

Gripped the audience and left us feeling we’d like to know more about each of them – always a great thing.

And so over to the Riviera International Centre (remind me to tell you how good they are – so professional) for the start of the show.  Good reaction to the set reveal and opening music – “We Can” (LeAnn Rimes) and then off we went. 


We were welcomed by the Leader of Torbay Council Julien Parrott who shocked some, well, me for certain, by the extent of the background briefing he’d dug out – quoting stuff I’d written back in July last year and noting that we’d first been to Torquay in 2011 – scary!

You never know how the President’s Rep is going to go down – what they’re going to say – how they’ll be received – needn’t have worried – Ed went completely against what we were expecting – didn’t use a script or any of his slides but just talked about the things he found inspiring mixed in with stories of people he’d met who were achievers in terms of helping others – tying in wonderfully with our theme and giving us a dream start.

Next up we should have had James Lancashire, Outward Bound instructor, mountain climber, TA Major.  Unfortunately, the Army decided Friday was debrief day and he was unable to come.  So we turned to Alan Wolstencroft from Banbury, one of our members who has been making things happen in Sierra Leone for 9 years, building schools and improving the lives of kids in that war-torn country.  As usual he was humbling for the rest of us mere mortals – the extent of his commitment and dedication is awe-inspiring.  Having just completed a new 4 classroom block he’s now working on another, with a completion date of May, before the rains come.  Delighted to say that by Sunday morning, a promise of a loan had secured an early start to what will undoubtedly be another fantastic achievement for Alan.

A video showcasing our achievements within the District took up the next half hour, with a whistle-stop roundup of projects that our clubs have been carrying out.  More than 25 clubs in the District submitted information and the whole thing was put together by Lisa Hunter and fronted on the day by Julia Collis – lots of great feedback from delegates – nice warm glow!

Finally in the afternoon, Bob & Megs Wilson came to talk to us – a bit about Bob’s footballing career and a lot about The Willow Foundation, the charity they established after their daughter died tragically early in her early 30s.  The charity provides special days for similar young adults for whom this could be a last opportunity.  Very emotional stuff.

After dinner, we were back in the Riviera for an absolutely superb concert.  Kicking off with the Camborne Town Band who did 45 minutes of great brass band music – really well put together and impeccably performed with the highlight for many being the battle of the zylophones featuring two 15 year olds.  

We ended with nearly an hour of the Chivenor Military Wives Choir – yes we recognised some of the ladies from the TV programme and they were a great conclusion to a pretty damn perfect day.

Stories from Saturday & Sunday will follow soon – promise!