July 2009
Wednesday 1st. Our annual competition Youth Speaks was tonight held at Oldfields School. There were some 11 entrants from four of the local Schools catering for the age group, 9-14. The topics ranged widely from "My life as a Squid" to "Arriving in England". The Competion was won by Adrienne Kuster from Abbotsholm School.
Tuesday 7th. An evening of Fellowship.
Sunday 12th. Our Junior Football Five a-Side Tournament was again held on the JCB Club Playing Fields. Despite some concern with overnight rain the day turned out to be dry and warm. Over 60 teams had been entered and the planning of some 300+ games was handled most efficiently by Duncan Mackenzie. On the previous day members had marked out the pitches and erected the tents to house the admin and food . David Martin, complete with his team of helpers from the Inner Wheel, provided food and drinks, a major source of revenue for the event. This, combined with car parking charges, programme sales, entry fees and supporting advertising generated over £2,500 for our Charitites.
Tuesday 14th.
Due to conflicting holidays, Handover had been delayed until this evening; it was time for President Bill to hand over to President Gerry. This also coincided with the visit of newly appointed District Governor, Lynne Devine, our first lady governor.
Tuesday 21st. Alan Hodgkinson from Dovegate Prison was the guest for the evening. Over the past two years members had visited the Therapy section of the prison, mainly to assist Alan in the education of inmates. Alan spoken eloquently of the benefits gained from such visits, particularly how he perceived the positive aspects of contact by the inmates with people "from outside".
Tuesday 28th Many years ago The Club had supported the introduction of the concept of First Responder in Uttoxeter. Since then the concept had spread to several of the local communities and tonight it was the turn of Colin Palmer from Abbots Bromley to tell us of their formation and activities.
August 2009
Tuesday 4th. Scheduled as an evening of Fellowship, each table was asked to talk on any chosen topic. This varied widely but the most active debate turned to the proposed formation of a New Club in Uttoxeter. Members were concerned that District seemed to be under the impression that we had agreed to be actively involved in it's formation, including providing material for Roto and a liaison Officer. As the President was absent, the Senior Vice President was asked to write to District instructing them not to take any further action on the matter until it had been discussed at Club Council.
Tuesday 11th A further evening of fellowship. However we were surprised by a visting Rotarian who at the last moment asked to speak to the Club. He came from a Phillipines Club and had relocated there in the last few years, having grown up in Alton. He was comparatively new to Rotary but in his late 70's! Essentially he was looking for support for his Club and it was agreed that we would discuss the matter further.
Tuesday 18th A visit had been arranged to the Buzzards Valley Vineyard near Tamworth. A party of around 40 members and wives made the journey and were well entertained. General opinion varied of the wines that were tasted, but undoubtedly it was a visit well enjoyed.
Tuesday 25th A Quiz Night, presented by Sandy Halcrow based on material provided by Ken Ryder. It proved both educating and entertaining and fullsome thanks were made to both members.
September
Tuesday 1st Following the Bank Holiday there was no Meeting
Tuesday 8th Our Guest Speaker for the Evening was Phil Greenwood. Phil is well known in the town for his courses with U3A into Genealogy and has helped a numbers of members research their family background. Phil explained the main sources of information such as the national Census, available from the early 19th century, and also the need to hold verifiable documents. With such a wide ranging topic it was only possible to cover the subject in broad terms, but it was enough for a number of members to consider investigating their heritage further.
Tuesday 15th David Sargeant, alias the PC Doctor, introduced the Club to Windows 7 Operating System. David clearly felt that the system, although heavily based on Vista, was better in many ways, and from his demonstration it gave every impression of being so. He then explained some of the problems in making upgrades from existing systems, but was more than ready to assist in any installation! With the projector in place and available, Paul Archer showed the RIBI video relating to the New Marketing Membership initiative. This was particualrly pertinent to the current debate in the Club regarding District's initiative for a new Club in Uttoxeter. A certain amount of discussion ensued.
Tuesday 22nd A Business Meeting. Essentially an update by the various Committee Chairmen on the proposed activities for the year. Whilst a few planned events had occured, things would really start happening with District Conference and Charter Night in October. However the main discussion centred on the District proposal for the New Uttoxeter Club. The President, following discussion at the recent Council Meeting, proposed to put forward three members as liaison with District. This was hotly debated and a vote was taken. This proved a split in the Club with 9 for, 6 against and 3 abstentions. A further motion asking District to withdraw any further activity, was passed unanimously with 20 votes.
Tuesday 29th This was the first of our joint meetings with the Inner Wheel. The Meeting was held at The Boars Head at Sudbury and nearly sixty Members of both Clubs attended. Speakers at the meeting were two sisters from the Kingstone Gardening Club and an entertaining talk on their experiences in developing their gardens was given. Oveall the evening was voted as a success from the point of view of venure and fellowship.
October
Friday - Sunday 2nd-4th . This year the venue for the District conference was Southport. It was attended by some 15 Members and their partners. The Friday evening Fancy Dress was well supported with our President taking the part of Dame Edna Everidge; the remaining company entering into the spirit with appropriate costumes! The ConferenceIt followed a well established pattern, although the Saturday afternoon was left free for shopping. More details are found on the District web site
Tuesday 6th Following the District Conference this was a low key evening and designated as a Fellowship Meeting.
Tuesday 13th There was no meeting this evening as Charter Night was scheduled for the coming Friday
Friday 16th. Our Charter Night was a Dinner Dance held at the Platinum Suite at the Racecourse. It consisted of the now traditional meal of roast beef, carved at the table, with a full four course meal. This was followed by a presentation of "Henry VIII" by a well known local speaker, much to the amusement of those present. A disco, rather than a band, followed and this proved highly successful, the music being very well tuned to the mood of the over 100 guests present.
Tuesday 20th Our guest for his meeting was Daisy Waring, who had been sponsored by the Club for the District RYLA. Again the benefit of this programme became evident with Daisy clearly having gained from the experience.
Tuesday 27th Our Sports Officer had again secured an advantageous rate at the Cinebowl for an evening of bowling. Nearly 50 Members and partners attended and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Although billed as a competition, participation satisfied the majority of the membership. Winners received bottles of wine. A buffet followed at the Golf Club
November
Tuesday 3rd Tonight Carol Reilly from District gave a presentation on Health & Awareness, as defined by the Rotary programme. This is scheduled to take place next Spring and the Community Services Committee will be determining our participation.
Tuesday 10th Ann Overton from the RNIB was our guest for the evening. The Club had raised money to sponsor a Talking Book and Ann attended to receive the cheque for £1215. She explained the way in which books were recorded specifically for the RNIB and they were then distributed. Another successful programme run by the Club.
Tuesday 17th . A evening of fellowship.
Tuesday 24th Our guest this evening was Jim Wade, Principal of the new JCB Academy. Jim explained the development of the Academy which has included the modernisation of an old Mill in Rocester to provide the facilities. There is also the involvement of a number of major companies (JCB, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier etc) in the educational planning and ongoing support. The age group covered is 14-18yrs and would have a strong bias towards engineering. It was clear that The Academy would be a ground breaking feature in the local education system
December 2009.
Tuesday 1st The evening was scheduled as a Special General Meeting to approve the Officers for the year 2010-2011. President - Elect for that year is Ted Preston but there were no nominations for either Senior Vice or Junior Vice, a situation of some concern to the Club. There followed a discussion, lead by Paul Archer, on the Marketing of The Club. Members on each table were asked to pass comment on a number of topics including our attitude towards Rotary Fundamentals and the Public Perception of us.
Tuesday 8th. Continuing last week's discussion on Marketing, further topics, including Membership and Service were debated. The main purpose of the exercise was to gather a clearer pricture of how Members felt the Club is/should be viewed by the Public. It was felt that the Public only saw certain aspects of the Club (eg Fund Raising) and that there was scope to put across some of other attributes (eg warmth of our Fellowship). Inevitably other more debateable topics were touched on (ageism, sexism!) which required broader discussion elsewhere.
Tuesday 15th The Annual Christmas Party was held at Alton Towers, a new venue. It was generally agreed that the additional cost was well worth it for the superior facilities and overall atmosphere. The service and food were good. The traditional "Entertainment" followed the meal and this was organised by Terry Davies. A Ballon Debate allowed six Members to demonstrate their humourous "skills". This was followed by a "This is Your Life" on President Gerry, which included several revealing photos of various moments in his life, generously provided by his wife! As always, the Inner Wheel contributed, this year with a perverted version of the Mikado!
Wed 16th, Thurs 17th, Fri 18th. It had been decided that this year we would spend three nights with the "Santas Sleigh" collecting in the various estates around the town. The weather, whilst bitterly cold, remained dry on each evening and Members kept up a steady pace for almost two hours each evening, knocking on doors, welcoming little ones to see Santa, and also collecting. The total for the three nights exceeded £600, a considerable increase on last year's take.
Saturday 19th. The final big "push" with the Santa's Sleigh was a day Collecting outside Tesco. This was broken into four two hours shifts, so we had coverage from 9.00am thro to 5.00pm. Again, the weather was dry but bitterly cold. This did not deter the collectors hovering inside the doors of Tesco, but poor Santa needed all his warm clothing! Despite a six hour "stint" in that role, Ron Oddy managed to maintain his image and enthusiasm to the bitter end!
Tuesday 22nd Our Christmas Dinner was at the Robin Hood, as has been the norm for the last few years. An excellent evening of fellowship.
January 2010
Tuesday 5th.John Titlow from the United Reform church was our guest this evening. John gave the New Year Message in a very relevant and amusing address.
Tuesday 12th. As we had two teams entered in the District Quiz the turnout for the evening was somewhat depleted. Never the less a very pleasant evening of Fellowship was enjoyed by all. On a subsequent report we leaned that at least one of our Quiz teams had progressed to the next round
Tuesday 19th. Jo Perry from the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust was the speaker for the evening. Jo spoke of the activities carried out by the Trust within the area and of the many benefits enjoyed by all sections of the Community.
Tuesday 26th. Sean Elliott, a local PCSO, joined us this evening. Sean was already known to a numbers of Members as he had previously been a local postman! He explained the role of a PCSO was effectively keeping in touch with the local community in a designated area. A lot of his work was dealing with minor complaints of misdemeanours by youths, much of which was sorted out by clearing up misunderstandings by the complainant. They also assist the Police with more serious breaches of the peace. The general concensus of the Club was that he performed a valuable role in our community.
Friday 29th. Millionaires Evening. This was held in the Bramshall Village Hall and over 80 Members and Guests enjoyed an evening "at the Tables". A variety of games were available, although certain traditional forms of gambling, like the Roulette wheel, inevitably proved more popular. A buffet had been prepared by the ladies of Inner Wheel. Another successful event added over £600 to our Charity coffers.
February 2010
Tuesday 2nd. With the continuing inclement weather numbers were reduced, and as there was no planned speaker the evening was deemed one of Fellowship
Tuesday 9th. Cliff Cotterill, not quite our latest recruit, gave his "My Job Talk". Cliff, an accountant by training, spoke of his many years associated with some of the biggest international companies in the power generation equipment manufacture. Having started as a trainee with English Electric on leaving school, he rapidly gained qualifications which lead him to key positions of a number of companies, including Finance Director of Alsthom just prior to his retirement.
Tuesday 16th. Tonight we welcomed Sally Herbert, the wife of one of our Members, to talk to us on the Malanga Mission. This is a rural hospital that Sally, and her colleagues in Inner Wheel, had supported as a Charity for a several years. Sally, with the help of a number of slides showed us some of the many problems that healthcare workers in the more remote areas of Zambia faced. A fascinating and edifying talk.
Tuesday 23rd. This was the evening for the now "traditional" Theatre Trip. Again the venue was the Thetre Royal in Hanley, this time to see "The 39 Steps", which proved to be highly entertaining. As with previous years the same restaurant, La Bella Napoli, provided the pre performance meal. It was noted that the menu had not changed!
March 2010
Tuesday 2nd. Amy Johnson from Katherine House was the guest speaker. This Hospice is well known in the area and has received our support previously. Amy explained how they were developing the different styles of care for the terminally ill, with emphasis on including the whole family. Her intentions were to establish a long term relationship with donors; as an immediate step the Club presented her with a cheque for £250.
Tuesday 9th. The tri-partite Games Evening with Cheadle & Blythe Bridge Clubs took place this evening. It had been several years since the last occasion and was well supported by the Club. Some 20 members showed their skills in various games from cribbage and dominoes thro to darts and table tennis. A thoroughly entertaining evening, although we won the wooden spoon!
Tuesday 16th. This evening's meeting was held in the Town Hall for the presentation of the Graham Barker Award. Some six candidates had been judged on their service to the community and the winner was Maxine Broadfoot for her work in reducing bullying. She was presented with a £200 cheque by the Mayor.
Friday 19th. A Murder Mystery Evening was held in Kingstone Village Hall as as fund raiser. The challenge to find the Muderer was taken up by almost 80 Members and their Guests and it was agreed that the "Cast" who presented the scenario, and answered all the questions, did an excellent job. It proved a very pleasant evening with a Licensed Bar, a hot meal being served in the interval and a Raffle to support the event. Over £800 was raised..
Friday 23rd. This was a Business Meeting at which the main issue was the failure to have any Senior or Junior Vice President in place. No decision was reached and it was agreed to hold another Business Meeting in four weeks time.
April 2010
Tuesday 6th. There was no Meeting following Bank Holiday
Tuesday 13th. Gary Phillips from the Uttoxeter Fire Station was our guest speaker. Gary explained the involvement of the Fire Service in the area and the wide remit it had; they didn't just fight fires! This included visits and talks on fire prevention, and the fact that free fire alarms were provided in certain cases. Obviously the New Fire Station was on the agenda and this would be very much more open to the community, including the use of meeting rooms.
Tuesday 20th. Rotn John Cooper had, for many years, been involved in recording the memories and photos of certain members of the Uttoxeter Community. He had compiled a portfolio of photos into a film, complete with voice-over, and showed part of it to the Club this evening. The remainder will be shown at a later date.
Tuesday 27th. Tonight we welcomed Nicola Wilson from the Staffs Council Trading Standards Office as our guest speaker. Nicola explained that the Watchdog Scheme was a concept developed by the Council and in many ways unique to Staffordshire. Its primary purpose is to warn members of the Public of the many scams and fraudulent trading activities that occur, ranging from counterfeit goods to misrepresented services. She gave examples of some of the current activities, a number of which had been experienced by Members.
May 2010
Tuesday 4th. This was the evening of the Club's AGM. There was much relief in the Club when it was announced that two Members had put their name forward as Senior and Junior Vice Presidents; Roger Mariott and Alan Durose respectively. There were the usual reports and nominations for Club Council were all accepted.
Tuesday 11th. Tonight's meeting was a visit to "Tastes of Staffordshire", a delicatessen in the Town owned by the daughter of one of the Members. About 50 members & guests heard Penny Warrington talk about her range of products, most of them locally sourced; she emphasised the benefits of their freshness & guaranteed quality, local loyalty, and environmental considerations. Members were then treated to a buffet.
Tuesday 18th. Our speaker for the evening was Lesley Blockley from "Home Start". This is a charity aiming to help young mothers and their children in their early years. For those in a strange area and lacking contacts, Home Start can help the mothers socialise and assist those struggling to cope with the demands of young children.
There followed a report on an Open Meeting following the recent District initiative to form a New Rotary Club in the Town. It became apparent that the canvassing and leaflet distribution had met with little success resulting in just one person attending. A further eight people, already known to the certain Members, had also been asked along. The merits, and result, of the "initiative" provoked considerable debate.
Saturday 22nd. Today The Club supported the Stroke Association by holding a Blood Pressure Day. A caravan was sited in the Maltings Car Park and volunteer Members persuaded the Public to enter to be checked and receive Lifestyle advice by medical professionals. A total of just over 100 people attended and several were advised to see their GP for further investigation.
Tuesday 25th. Our Guest and Speaker for the evening was Jonathan Marvin a retired Civil Airline Pilot. He told the story of how he initially trained as a pilot, courtesy of the RAF. He subsequently joined the Holiday airlines, working for a number of well known companies and had the opportunity to fly a variety aircraft. Previous to the 9/11 disaster he was able to welcome selected passengers into the cockpit and he had a number of amusing stories to recount.
June 2010
Tuesday 1st Following a Bank Holiday there was NO MEETING
Tuesday 8th Club Assembly. Ted Preston, our incoming President reported on the plans for the coming year. Reports were given by the Committee Chairmen.
Tuesday 15th This year the local Young Innovator competition was orgnaised by Blythe Bridge. Some 15 members made the journey to the Blythe Bridge High School, and we appeared to be the major supporters of the event. Unfortunately our entries were less successful and we had to be satisfied with third place.
Tuesday 22nd This evening we were the guests of Mr & Mrs Phillips at their property on Wood Lane, where their exceptional garden is part of the National Garden Scheme. The weather was ideal and members and wives wandered around the gardens at their leisure. Eventually we moved on to the Golf Club for a meal.
Sunday 27th The weather was perfect for President Gerry's Valedictory, held at his home in Kingstone. Supported by a very able chef, some 60 Members and wives thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of Gerry and his wife, Sue. An ideal way to end a busy Rotary year
Tuesday 29th Following the Valedcitory Party there was no Meeting this evening.