December 2016

ROTARY CLUB OF CARLISLE

PRESIDENT David Morton

SECRETARY Mike McNally

THE BORDERER

DECEMBER 2016 & JANUARY 2017

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Our Charter Night on 30^th November was very well attended and I am truly grateful to the many members who helped in every way to make the evening a success. We had an interesting and amusing speech from our main speaker, Les Armstrong MBE.

Don’t forget the Stainmore Cheese!

Simon and Mandy Strickland may now have moved to furthest Yorkshire. We will miss them and there is an appreciation later in this edition of The Borderer

The first outing of Santa’s sleigh is on Tuesday evening 13^th December. We meet at Stanwix car park at 5.30pm. We still require more volunteer elves to shake buckets at prospective parents. The second outing is on Tuesday 20^thDecember at the junction of Hunters Crescent and Dalesman Drive again we need more elves. Names, please to Michael Pearson

I look forward to seeing everyone next Wednesday for our Christmas Lunch, but if you cannot come to this extravaganza, can I take this opportunity of wishing you a Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous (typical accountant!) New Year.

PRESIDENT DAVID

CHARTER NIGHT

30^th November 2016

About 66 people attended our Charter Night at The Auctioneer. Even the Assistant District Governor was impressed that we had so many Rotarians and guests.

After an enjoyable 3-course meal, our vice President Nicki gave the toast to RI & Rotary GB&I

She likened Rotary to a tree.  The trunk of Rotary holds us all together, the roots keep us grounded and are our ethical standards - our objectives - which are to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and to advance goodwill and peace around the world.

The branches, boughs and twigs of the tree go to make up the different areas of our organisation, from club level right up to national and international level.  And Include the Inner Wheel, Polioplus, RYLA, Peace Centres in name but a few.This tree spreads out and reaches far and wide within the world, striving to serve humanity and to make a difference.But we must remember that for any plant to grow & flourish its needs to be nurtured.

Nicki said she is very proud and honoured to be a member of The Rotary Club of Carlisle, which is 94 years old today. We have fun, we laugh and there is a friendly banter but also a respect for one another and a seriousness of wanting to make a difference and help those in not only in our local community but also those much further afield too. We are but one small twig of the Rotary tree but if our Club is replicated in other clubs then the founding ethos of Paul Harris was not in vain.

Wendy Aldred replied to the toast to The Rotary Club of Carlisle. She congratulated the club on its membership challenge and its support for the various District initiatives. Nationally Rotary had made changes to its constitution and there were opportunities now to set up different types of club - there was no longer a requirement to hold weekly meetings.

Rotary Foundation was in its 100^th year and would be celebrating its outstanding record of fundraising,

President David gave the toast to our Guests. He pointed out that the club had already provided a legacy to the people of the Carlisle area, setting up the Eden Valley Hospice, The Carlisle and District Talking Newspaper for the Blind and helping start Life Education Cumbria. The Club’s Wishing Well raised about £2,500 every year.

David mentioned that the Club’s charities for the year were the Eden Valley Hospice and the Great North Air Ambulance and the outstanding work they do for the local community.

The main speaker was Les Armstrong MBE who farms at Blunderfield, above Kirkoswald. At the time of the Foot & Mouth outbreak Les was National Livestock Chairman of the NFU. It was in this role that he attracted National attention and frequently appeared on TV News Bulletins as someone who spoke fluently for the whole farming community. He was awarded a well-deserved MBE in 2006 for services to farming.

Les was very enthusiastic about agriculture; he said he was fortunate to be a farmer and fortunate to have the support from his friends. One of his beliefs was that a smile and a pleasant attitude to life He felt that the government should give more support for the farming industry and take this into consideration when considering any post Brexit subsidies.

It was a good night, enjoyed by all.

YOUTH SPEAKS

The successful Trinity School team will be travelling to The Lakes School, Windermere for the District finals of the Youth Speaks competition on Saturday 4^th February 2017.Contact Stephen Higgs if you want to give them some support.

YOUTH ZONE MINI-BUS

Rotarians from the four Rotary Clubs based in the Carlisle area, supported by colleagues from across Great Britain and Ireland who gave generously to our flood appeal, have been pleased to be able to help with making sure that the Youth Zone continued to provide the much-needed support for young people across the city.  Our club contributed £1,000 towards the £12,000 raised by Rotary as a whole, including District 1190, for the new Minibus.

PS If a similar photo appears in the Cumberland News, look for the disappearing Liverpool FC scarf!!
CROSBY-ON-EDEN VILLAGE HALL

Stephen Higgs and I visited the village hall on their ‘Open Day’ to mark the completion of the work to rectify its flood damage.

The whole building has been completely redecorated; they have new kitchen units provided at below cost by Homebase, a new portable stage paid for by the Cumbria Community Foundation and a new floor provided by Brampton & Longtown Rotary Club and District 1190.

It was reported that the insurers refused to pay for the floor or the stage as dry rot was discovered in both – only 3 square feet in the stage. The negotiations had been ‘a nightmare’

As well as photos of the various stages of work done to the Village Hall, there were interesting plans of the village showing how the floodwater reached every property in the village, and two different proposals for improvements to their flood defences. The plans had been sent to the Environment Agency – with no response from the EA.

Both Lesley Connolly and Beryl Sowden were very pleased with the curtains and kitchen equipment that our club had paid for. They are planning a permanent sign in the hall to thank everyone for their support.

DAVID MORTON

THE FUTURE OF ROTARY IN CARLISLE

I attended a meeting of the Presidents of the Rotary Clubs in the Carlisle Area recently and there was a strong feeling that there was a pool of people aged under 30 who could be interested in joining a new type of Rotary Club – and not join one of the existing clubs – including Carlisle Castle. The new club would be project-based and not necessarily meet at a meal-time.

The most common sense way of dealing with this would be for one of the existing clubs to form a Satellite Club – starting with a ‘Raising Awareness Day’ on 28^th February. I made it quite clear that the Carlisle Club would find this whole idea hard to support.

DAVID MORTON

EMAIL SCAMS

From Rotary GB&I

We have had several members’ accounts being hacked recently resulting in emails purporting to be from them asking for assistance, usually after a mugging in another country.

Always be very wary if you receive such an email. Two things to look for are:

• No personalised greeting - if it was genuine the sender would surely have used your first name

• A return to email address – usually slightly different from the sender’ (possibly a space between two letters)

As always remember, just because it seems to be from a Rotarian, it may not be genuine.

SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS

Unfortunately our speaker was ill, but as we had invited several prospective new members, President David stepped in with a talk about his mother’s wartime experiences

VIVIENNE CROW

Vivienne began her career as a journalist on regional newspapers in 1990, acting as a sub-editor, mostly on busy evening titles.

She now writes and provides photography for a number of magazines, including TGO (The Great Outdoors), Lakeland Walker, Cumbria Life, Cumbria and Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly, and have walking/outdoor columns in several newspapers in the north of England including Cumberland News. Her work has also appeared in Countryfile, Walk (the magazine of The Ramblers), Country Walking, Camping.

Keen fell-walkers may already be familiar with the popular walking guidebooks that she has written for the Lake District and Cumbria, and she has also written or contributed to several travel guides.

Vivienne sold a number of books and guides which she had on display and as a result she gave a donation of £26 to The Eden Valley Hospice.

SIMON STRICKLAND

Rotarians come and go and shortly one of our members will be moving from Cumbria to furthest Yorkshire and we wish Simon and his wife Mandy bon voyage.

Simon has had a colourful military career. He was stationed in Aden, he was Military Attaché in Athens, when his predecessor was assassinated on his way to work, and he served in Berlin when the Berlin Wall was a Wall not a tourist attraction.

He and Mandy are keen long-distance walkers and they followed the pilgrims’ way of St James to Santiago de la Compostela right across Northern Spain and more recently walked the pilgrims’ way to Rome.

Simon has been a leading light in the repair to Our Lady of Eden Church at Warwick Bridge

Simon is a remarkable person and he has been an excellent member of this Club. We will miss him and his charming wife Mandy.

THE REFUGE

Once again we are collecting for the Refuge, which now has men as well as women.

There has been a big influx this year there are resident 21 women, 4 men (all with children) & a total of 15 children.  They have 5 girls between the age of 10 & 12, 8 girls aged 6 months to 6 years old and 3 boys aged 6, 7 & 10

So please could you help, if any of you would like to pick a specific age out then please can you let me know, then I can sort things out better.

We don't do boxes any more but I let the staff sort it out. If you do buy for children & men please could you put a label on your bag, indicating what gender or child & age?

Last day for gifts is December 14, Christmas Lunch Day, there will be a box or large bag at the rear of the function room so please can you place them there.

MARIAN REED

DISTRICT QUIZ

Our team won the first round of the District Quiz against Wigton.

Our team, consisting of Brian Armstrong, Peter Tiplady, Tom Dawson and Mike McNally go on to the second round.

The second round took place at Greenhill on Tuesday 6^th December and the result was a narrow win for Cockermouth. Following the match Rotary Fellowship was shared whilst eating the traditional chips and sandwiches.

TEN-PIN BOWLING

8th November saw our first round match in the District Ten-Pin Bowling competition take place at the AMF Bowl in Carlisle.It turned out to be a tough draw against the Appleby Club who we learned were previous finalists in this event. We were represented on this occasion by Phil Beadle, Michael Pearson, Malcolm Metcalfe, Brian Edmundson and President David – a fine body of men hand-picked by our F&S Chairman Marian.

While one might expect a home draw to be of some advantage it was soon evident that we were in for a tough night and at the half way stage we were some 150 points adrift.  Nevertheless, once we realised that much could be gained by keeping the bowling ball somewhere near the centre of the lane there was significant improvement. In fact we must have won the ‘second half’ as after a late flurry of strikes and spares the deficit was reduced to 80pins – scoring 490 to Appleby’s 570.Perhaps if we had continued into a second game (sadly not allowed in the rules!) we might now be on edgeawaiting the draw for Round 2!

Our individual scores are withheld to avoid any embarrassment, but mention must be made of Phil who with a score of 145 was the leading player from either side on the night.  Well done Phil.

SOME CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

What do you call an elf who sings?
A wrapper!

Why does Santa Claus go down the chimney on Christmas Eve?
Because it soot's him

Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
Because he had low elf esteem.

Whats the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet?
The Christmas alphabet has Noel.

What do you call Santa living at the South Pole?
A lost clause.

How does an elf get to Santa's workshop?
By icicle.

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
Claustrophobic.

What do get if you cross a duck and Santa?
A Christmas Quacker.

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Frostbite

What do you call a blind reindeer?.
I have no eye deer

SPEAKERS and PROJECTORS

• A POSTCRIPT

  The Shepherd’s Inn now has a brilliant projector which is available for speakers at our meetings.

  It works a treat if you use the High Definition(HDMI) socket on both the laptop and projector. The cable is supplied with the projector.

  Also supplied with the projector are Thunderbolt connectors for iMacs and micro USB connectors for Android phones, so you could run a big-screen presentation from a mobile phone!!

   

   

   

   

  CHRISTINA NICHOLSON-WALKER

  It is with great sadness that Hugh told us that his beloved wife, Christina, died early on Sunday morning, 6th November. She finally succumbed to motor neurone disease after a relatively long journey, but Hugh and the Family, will miss her terribly.

  Her funeral was at Wetheral Parish Church, and the service was taken by Peter Tiplady, whom Christina particularly requested.

   

A BIT OF LIGHT RELIEF

What does the Queen call her Christmas Broadcast?
The One Show!

How did Mary and Joseph know that Jesus was 7lb 6oz when he was born?
They had a weigh in a manger!

Why is it getting harder to buy Advent calendars?
Because their days are numbered!

Why don't you ever see Father Christmas in hospital?
Because he has private elf care!

Which famous playwright was terrified of Christmas?

Noël Coward!

What is the best Christmas present in the world?
A broken drum – you just can’t beat it!

What's the most popular Christmas wine?

'I don't like Brussels sprouts!'

What did the beaver say to the Christmas Tree?

Nice gnawing you!

Why are Christmas Trees like bad knitters?
They keep loosing their needles!

What carol is heard in the desert?

O camel ye faithful!

What do angry mice send to each other at Christmas?

Cross Mouse Cards!

What athlete is warmest in winter?
 
A long jumper!

WISHING WELL

We collected £283 for The Royal British Legion, so we will be sending them a donation of £300.

Future collections are for:

• 17 November to 4 January: Food Bank; Peter Hall & Michael.
• 5 January to 22 February: Eden Valley Hospice; Joe & Robin.
• 23 February to 5 April: Great North Air Ambulance; Robin & Michael.
• 6 April to 31 May: Jigsaw Children’s Hospice; Michael & Peter Yates. 
• 1 June to 28 June: The Lanes charity ‘One Great Day’: Peter Yates & Ken Dewar.
• 29 June to 9 August 2017: Carlisle Key: Ken D & Joe. 

Membership ChallengeTime marches on

There are now only two weeks to Christmas, which leaves only eighteen weeks to the end of this Rotary Year. Tom Dawson was the   first to complete the challenge and who will be next and who will be last, and who won't complete it at all. Please do not forget to invite your guest to sign the visitor's book.

A good way to introduce a person to Rotary is to invite them Christmas Lunch together with their respective partner so that each has an insight to Rotary.

 Well done Tom

CAROL SERVICE

IN AID OF RABI

From Nicki

I am organising a Carol Service in aid of RABI (Royal AgriculturalBenevolent Institution) Charity which helps those in the farming community in times of need or distress.  It is to be held at Hopes Auction Market, Wigton on Thursday 8^th & Friday 9^th December at 7pm.  We hold it in the ‘ring’ and have donkeys, sheep, St Stephen’s Brass Band, Allerdale Fiddlers & two local primary schools to do the nativity.  We have two local vicars taking the service which is roughly based around the ‘Nine Lessons’.  The price is £7.50 and includes supper in the Stocksman. 

If you feel you might like to come along and support this event please let me know.  And just to allay your fears Wigton Auction Market is a new, modern auction with underfloor heating and is certainly not a cold draughty place!!

NICKI QUAYLE

PICTURE QUIZ

THE ANSWER

The question was:

Who would not have this in his bathroom at home?  

Answer: Peter Tiplady – remember the Points of View – 21^st September 2016 and stealing toiletries from hotels?

The winner of a Champaign bottle is Norman Butler.

THIS MONTH’S PICTURE QUIZ

Where is this lovely garden?

All correct answers received by 1^st January by Donald or David will be put into the virtual hat and the first one drawn will receive an as yet unspecified prize.     

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Wednesday 14^th December

In first floor restaurant above the Auctioneer. Now accessible by lift!!

Your first drink from the bar will be paid from our ‘Lunch Fund’ 

Special entertainment not to be missed

NEW YEAR ADDRESS

We look forward to welcoming back the Rev Nick Mark on Wednesday January 4^th 2017 our first meeting of the New Year

BURNS NIGHT

Wednesday 25^th January 2017

Organiser Peter Tiplady

Robert Burns was born on 25 January 1759 in the village of Alloway, two miles south of Ayr. His parents, William and Agnes, were tenant farmers but they ensured their son received a relatively good education and he began to read avidly. 

Hard physical labour on the family farm took its toll on the young Burns, who increasingly turned his attentions towards the passions of poetry, nature, drink and women which would characterise the rest of his life. He fathered twins with eventual wife Jean Armour, but a rift in their relationship nearly led to Burns travelling to the West Indies with lover Mary Campbell

To find out more and with an opportunity to sample traditional Scottish fare put the date in your diary now and why not invite a friend and complete your Rotary Challenge.

Details will appear in the BLUE FOLDER

VISIT TO BORDERWAY MART

Wednesday February 1^st 2017

ORGANISER IAN WATSON

Harrison & Hetherington's farmstock business dates back to 1870 with its Borderway Mart at Carlisle now one of the largest and leading livestock sale centres in the UK, handling some 800,000 head of cattle and sheep on an annual basis and providing a proficient service to sellers and buyers from all geographical locations, including Europe.

The company operates eight other marts: Kirkby Stephen, Lazonby and Broughton-in-Furness in Cumbria; Middleton-in-Teesdale; Lockerbie; Newcastleton and St.Boswells in the Scottish Borders and Wooler in North Northumberland.  Specialist livestock sales are also conducted at various other sites culminating in 120,000 cattle and 680,000 sheep sold either by auction or private treaty annually.

Thoughts for Christmas

Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it white.  Bing Crosby

I will honour Christmas in my heart and try and keep it all the year. Charles Dickens

RECEPTION DESK FOR CLUB MEETINGS

December  14             John Churchill

21             No meeting

28             No meeting

January     4              Stephen Higgs

                11             Tom Dawson

                18             Marian Reed

                25            

February    1              Derek Heyes

                8              David Hoggard

                15             Robin Macleod

                22            

March        1             

                8             

                15            

                22            

                29            

April          5              John Harris       

                12            

                19            

                26            

Rotary Club of Carlisle Events

Club Council Meetings

Club Meetings Programme

FURTHER READING

Rotary GB&I NEWSLETTERS

If you want to read Rotary GB&I Newsletters, please click this link:

http://www.ribi.org/updates/members-newsletter