Our usual twice monthly meeting at the Grosvenor was cancelled by them at short notice, so unfortunately we were unable to have a speaker.
However it is good to keep in touch so we arranged to meet at Aroma, our nearest Indian restaurant. In an open restaurant we were unable to transact any business but we did share an excellent curry so all was not totally lost!”
The new RotaKIds Club at Abbey Primary met for the first time on Thursday 19th September. Given the level of interest at the school again this year, there will be a new club with new members each term. This year Rotarian Andy Cole will be looking after the clubs with the support of Rotarian Peter Sale. The school’s previous clubs have been very successful at supporting the school and local communities, so we are looking forward to more exciting projects this year!
Visit to Heerlen September 13-16th We have been twinned with a Rotary Club in Heerlen in the Netherlands, for over twenty years. We visit each other annually taking turns to host. This year it was our turn to go to the Netherlands. Rotary is an international organisation and apart from friendship it gives us a chance to see how Rotary works in a different country and occasionally to work on a joint project.
This time we flew to Dusseldorf where our friends kindly met us. The following day we enjoyed a guided tour of the nearby old town of Lanaken, which is in Belgium, but close to Maastricht. In the afternoon we visited an old distillery there, left exactly as it was when it closed many years ago. The records of how vehicles and equipment were requisitioned by the Germans in the two world wars were particularly interesting, especially the record of a delivery lorry which the business owners “gave back again” to their occupiers on their return in the second world war. On Saturday evening we enjoyed ten pin bowling with our hosts and then ate in the adjoining bistro.
On Sunday we visited the beautifully kept American war cemetery at Margraten. We were particularly interested to learn that our Dutch hosts had adopted two graves, and so shared in caring for this beautiful and peaceful place. The timing of our visit was particularly fortunate, as it coincided with the celebrations of the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands
In the afternoon we drove to the nearby town of Rijctholt where there was a particularly interesting parade, and an exhibition of military vehicles, mostly American, as they were the liberators of this particular area. There was however a small contingent of British vehicles. In the evening we enjoyed a meal together to celebrate our friendship, and the following day we returned home.
30th September – 11 of us plus partners were ‘bowled over’ at The Skittles Night at The Crown Inn in East Stour.
Following a welcome and enjoyable fish and chip supper, a very competitive match saw Martin Sayers the eventual winner of the men’s competition and Sheena Skam victorious in the ladies competition. The wooden spoons went to David Britton and to Liz Cook respectively. Clare, did a great job of the scoring and We also managed a little fund raising too.
Thank you to Tim Cook for organising.
