February 2018

PRESIDENT Nicki Quayle

SECRETARY Mike McNally

THEBORDERER

February 2018

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

I was delighted that Trinity school won the District Round of the Youth Speaks competition – it was well deserved and the Club sends them our congratulations.   It is so good to see the competition going from strength to strength each year and hopefully equipping our youth with valuable life skills. 

What a wonderful John Peel evening Brian and his committee organised for us, with Tommy and Dick from the Lakeland Dialect Society,   foot tapping music from the Allerdale Fiddlers,  Donald’s amusing address of the sausage  and Peter’s very apt Grace.  Very grateful thanks to all those who made it such a fun and enjoyable evening. PS  I promise you won’t be needing your earplugs again!!

Although the snowdrop are out and the daffodils are peeping through the weather is still somewhat wintry but thankfully not as cold as that at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.  However I hope you are all taking note and getting a few tips for our forthcoming curling competition.

NICKI QUAYLE

PRESIDENT

JOHN PEEL SUPPER.

We've been accustomed to celebrating Burn's Night on a fairly regular annual basis so this was a welcome change.

We enjoyed one of Peter's specially written graces before Donald, in his own inimitable style, entertained us with his address to the Cumberland sausage – but was he actually supposed to eat it as well ?

Before the meal the Allerdale Fiddlers – not all violinists but keyboard players , flautists and an accordion player – played popular English and Scottish tunes . The ladies of the orchestra then split up and joined various tables for the excellent lamb dinner, and it was a pleasure to have their company amongst us .

After the meal 90 year old Tommy Coulthard, retired farmer and past chairman of Lakeland Dialect Society , regaled us with some of his own poetry and he was followed by Dick Garget who took us on a trip through the Lake District in his heavy, local dialect laden, poetry – at least I suspect that is what it was but the strong Norse element meant it was rather tricky to follow !

 Much amusement arose when the leader of the orchestra mentioned that the elastic in her skirt had snapped – she certainly moved around rather carefully . But was it actually skirt elastic or some other?

 President Nicki amazed us with her Tallyho's on an authentic hunting horn – how can such a small person produce such a loud noise? – before leading the fiddlers, and ourselves in song, by playing D'ye Ken John Peel and Auld Lang Syne on her trumpet .

 A very happy occasion – well done to Brian Edmundson for putting his idea into such good effect

 David Hoggard

Click here to see more of Tony Wiseman’s excellent pictures of the John Peel Supper

TRINITY TEAM WINS YOUTH SPEAKS

District round – Windermere, Saturday, 3 February 2018

10 teams of speakers and about 100 supporters gathered for the District round of Rotary’s ‘Youth Speaks’ competition. There were 5 teams from Cumbria, including the Nelson Thomlinson School and our own winners, Trinity School, and 5 from Lancashire.

On a cold, wet afternoon, we were treated to a heart-warming event, where determined young people spoke passionately about a wide range of topics.   The team from the Preston Muslim Girls High School set the standard early on when they spoke with feeling about Mental Health.   The Nelson Thomlinson team gave us a discourse on Globalisation.  Other topics included American gun laws, the effects of social media on Body Image, and Fast Food.

Trinity’s team spoke, as they did at our competition in October, on the topic of ‘The unknown truth about Ballet’.  Jasmine Metherell brought assured confidence to the role of Chair, Jessica Crowther gave a passionate rendition of her thoughts on Ballet and Harry Mossop rounded off the presentation with clarity and humour.   Their overall contribution was even better than when they performed for us in October, and input from the Carlisle Speakers’ Club has clearly been of great benefit to them.

After a half-hour break, the judges gave their verdict.   They had four teams very close together at the top, and gave St Michael’s Academy, Chorley, second place for their speech on ‘The stigma surrounding Mental Health’.   Trinity were adjudged winners, and many members of the audience were kind enough to tell us that they agreed whole-heartedly with the judges.

The Regional round of the Competition takes place on Sunday, 18 March, in Cheshire.                                                        STEPHEN HIGGS

ARTHUR RANSOME – a brief report

Our thanks to Rtn. Ellis Amos for hosting speaker Rob Matthews who is well travelled and has many interests including the Arthur Ransome Society of which he is a founder member.

The author of the Swallows and Amazons series of books was Rob’s subject for his talk and we soon realised that the Ransome family were full of intrigue and occasional scandal, which possibly enabled Arthur to become such a renowned novelist.

He was born on the 18^th January 1884 in Headingly, Leeds but his first experience of the Lake District was when he spent holidays with his grandfather at Grange- over- Sands.

As a child Arthur was educated at his local school but later moved to a residential school at Old College, near Windermere.

The family spent many holidays at High Nibthwaite on the eastern shores of Coniston, where they fished, walked, explored and had many picnics. Among his favourite places, Arthur spent many hours on Peel Island which inspired much of his writing.

After a spell at University College Leeds and a period of working for a London publisher, Arthur returned to the Lakes where he met the artist W. G.Collingwood and they became firm friends. Thereafter with the support of his new friends Arthur published his first book, The Sounds Of The Streets in 1904.

There followed an extensive writing career with the Swallows and Amazons series being the best known of all.

Coniston Water has held a special magic in the hearts and minds of numerous artists and those of a literary inclination, Arthur Ransome being just one famous name.

Maybe, Rob’s presentation to us in January has inspired Rotarians to explore more of the area that is Coniston Water!  Possibly a new adventure this spring?’

NICK UTTING

POETS’     CORNER

L'ENFANT GLACÉ 

 When Baby's cries grew hard to bear

 I popped him in the Frigidaire .

 I never would have done so if

 I 'd known that he'd be frozen stiff .

 My wife said: " George, I am so unhappé! 

 Our darling's now completely frappé ! "

 Harry Graham 18 74–19 36

The Lawyer with 12 kids

A lawyer, who had a wife and 12 children, needed to move because his rental agreement was terminated by the owner who wanted to reoccupy the home.

But he was having a lot of difficulty finding a new house.

When he said, he had 12 children, no one would rent a home to him 

because they felt that the children would destroy the place.

He couldn't say he had no children, because he couldn't lie.

Now we all know lawyers cannot, and do not lie...

So, he sent his wife for a walk to the cemetery with 11 of their kids.

He took the remaining one with him to see rental homes with the real estate agent.

He loved one of the homes and the price was right -- the agent asked:

"How many children do you have?”

He answered: "Twelve."

The agent asked, "Where are the others?"

The lawyer, with his best courtroom sad look answered

“Well, they're in the cemetery with their mother."

MORAL: It's not necessary to lie, one only has to choose the right words… 

and don't forget, most politicians are unfortunately lawyers

Who do you think you are?   ……….PETER ATKINSON

Born on the 24^th of July 19** at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon Peter Fraser Atkinson recently celebrated 50 years in Rotary.

In order to differentiate him from other Peter Atkinsons his birth certificate was given a sequential number.  Next his parents were issued with his National Registration Identification code number which subsequently appeared on his 1940 National Registration Identity Card, his National Health Service Medical Card number later becoming his N H S Number.

No more numbers until he left school and became an employee, this required the issue of another number, yes you guessed it, it was his National Insurance identification number. Peter felt that by now he was becoming a National Statistic!!  That was only the beginning. Next aged 17 a driving license which today consists of sixteen letters and numbers.

Following completion of his Professional Training Peter was about to be issued with yet another number, a number that he   was never allowed to forget, his National Service number*******. In recognition of his service record he had to be given another number. He reminded us of the necessity to repeat the last four numbers of his Service number each time he advanced to collect his weekly pay pittance!

Back in civvies street there was the number of his first car then his second car and his third fourth and fifth etc.; cars all with different number plates more numbers.  Professional advancement brought with it membership numbers in both the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors later to be increase by the addition of two preceding zeros and the Chartered Auctioneers and Estate Agents Institute.

Getting married to Pam, required another certificate and yet another number ******.

Soon Peter’s family would be requiring numbers of their own.

The wish to try foreign travel means that you require a passport more numbers , this time  composing of fifteen characters P/GBR**********. Back home your address would include a number and then in 1986 a post code only just another6  digits.

Advancing years require visits to the doctor for medical treatment and the hospital for more serious conditions so more numbers 10 for the doctor **** **** ** and 7 for the hospital 0******.

These so far these are the ones that really matter, and you will no doubt have noticed that to the Government “ I have no less than 8 separate ID numbers or names amounting to no less than 116 digits, numbers, letters and spaces in total”.

That was just the start. Peter then went on to mention Bank accounts sort code and account number another 16 digits worse if you have more than one account and they are with different banks. What about credit cards and debit cards, pin numbers, then online banking, username, and password!  Beside bank cards there are store cards, AA cards, Insurance policies not forgetting the modern be all and end all the Computer. Here is a new language which still requires the use of numbers and letters in many different shapes and forms to produce e-mail addresses, more user names more passwords more headache!

One thing Peter was relieved to note was that for the purposes of ISA investment they have managed to use one of the numbers already issued earlier in his life, namely his NI number. At last a number is being put to another use, it also used on his State Pension.

So do you now know who you are?    You are after all only a number!

DONALD EDGAR

SOLICITORS

A man walked into a solicitor’s office and asked about the solicitor’s rates. “£100 for three questions” replied the solicitor. “Isn’t that awfully steep?” asked the man.

“Yes” replied the solicitor “and what was your third question?”
The Cards Night

9^th February

The evening at Robin and Jenny’s was to be a Military Whist Drive with 24 cardsharps battling it out for flags of GB, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, USA and Japan.

Early drinks were taken to calm nerves and battle commenced with hearts as trumps. All went well until the first hand ended and troops had to navigate their way to the next battleground. One player returns to base camp to replace a team member who then joins their colleague who has moved on to the next table. Utter chaos – you wouldn’t believe we play this game once a year (perhaps that is the problem!).  However as good Rotarians we gradually got our internal satnav working and by the drinks interval all was working smoothly –almost.

More drinks were taken and the games continued until the final bell brought proceeding to a halt with promise of supper.  As ever, the Wilson’s steak pie, mushy peas and pickled cabbage were prepared to perfection and served by our ‘ladies in the kitchen’ while another drink was taken. Tea/coffee and shortbread followed as excitement mounted for the results.

It was with some embarrassment the evening’s organiser presented first prize of bottles of rather nice wine and chocolates to Team GB comprising his wife Marian, and friends Lynne, Phil and the aforementioned George.  Second place was a tie between USA and Wales, but it was with much joy that Team Ireland – Malcolm, Brenda, Ken & Sheila –collected the booby prize.  They can take heart from the fact that our winners got the booby last year

Cards Night is not a fundraising evening, but again there was a small surplus of £60 which was donated to Carlisle Food Bank along with 6 small tins of mushy peas and 2 jars of pickled cabbage. 4 surplus bottles of wine will be held in stock as raffle prizes on our Charity Golf Day in May.

Brian thanked Robin and Jenny for again making us so welcome, our kitchen team Jenny, Barbara and Judy and not forgetting Wilson’s Butchers making  such good pies.                                                                        BRIAN EDMUNDSON

PETER’S MISCELLENY

14^th February 2018

Peter Yates told us of his time at school and University and that he was called up for National Service in the Royal Engineers. After his basic training he attended the Army School of Engineering and on qualifying, was sent to Tripoli where life was quite enjoyable – he had no recollection of it ever raining!

He then produced an African warrior’s spear, telling us that he had bought it while on safari in Kenya.  His minibus had diverted through a small village where various local artefacts, including the spears, had been ‘on sale’. On returning to the minibus, the travellers compared notes on how much they had paid for the spears – Peter was surprised to find out that he had been charged £2 more than the others. It was an open minibus and when the vendor heard this, she banged on the side of the bus, pointing at Peter, shouting “Ha ha – I stung you!”   Try taking that spear in your hand luggage nowadays!

Peter and Jill still feel that their best holiday was to Australia, flying to Perth, Ayres Rock and travelling from Alice Springs to Adelaide on the GAN train. After some time there, they flew on to Sydney. They were surprised while walking past the Sydney Opera House, when he saw our very own David Hoggard and grabbed him on the shoulder. Poor David thought he was being mugged!  It’s a small world!

To complete the tour they went north to Cairns where they went white water rafting and scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Finally Peter produced a boomerang “a scrap of wood” saying that it needed a field trial!

DAVID MORTON

PICTURE QUIZ

Who is this and what are they doing?

Answers, please to David M or any member of the Communications Committee. There may be a prize!

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH..

“I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I’m doing it myself.” – Albert Einstein

“Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.” – Jack Canfield

Round the tables

There has be some whispers that one or two of members have already selected their seed potatoes and are busy collecting egg boxes which they will use to hatch or is it chit their prize winning selection. We understand that the reason for this is that Easter is earlier this year and they want to get a heads start.

QUESTION

Why do gravediggers bury lawyers an extra two feet down – Because deep down they are good people!
 

WISHING WELL

We raised £250 for the Carlisle Food Bank and the current charity is Animal Rescue.

Future charities are:

7 February  2018 - RABI

7 March 2018  - Hospice at Home

4 April 2018  - Blood Bikes

Membership Challenge

Let’s keep the momentum going !!

This is not an onerous challenge and only requires you to bring one potential member to one meeting in the year.

Click here to see more of Tony Wiseman’s excellent pictures of the John Peel Supper

ROTARY WEBPAGES

Rotary Magazine – current & previous editions

https://issuu.com/rotaryingbi/docs 

EDITOR’S NOTE – The Borderer uses the free version of the same ‘issuu’ website!

Rotary Policies

Rotary GB&I Compliance Statement – 2017/18

Our Club President or Secretary have been asked to confirm that our Club has read and adopted the following Rotary GB&I documents:

 Rotary GB&I Equality and Diversity Policy

 Rotary GB&I Health and Safety Policy

 Rotary GB&I Safeguarding (Children) Policy

 Rotary GB&I Safeguarding (Vulnerable Adults) Policy

 Rotary GB&I Data Protection Policy Statement  

With grateful thanks to the Rotary Club of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire (a long way from the Brecon Beacons - according to our Welsh Correspondent!)

Rotary Central

https://my.rotary.org/en

To delve into the detailed Rotary statistics you may need a username and password

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

SNOOKER EVENING

21^st February

Organiser - Peter Yates

List in circulation in the Blue Book

CURLING at LOCKERBIE

14^th March

Organiser - Nick Utting

With the Winter Olympics in full swing up why not watch the experts on TV then come and try your hand for an evening of ‘friendly’ competition and supper at Lockerbie Ice Rink

DISTRICT CONFERENCE

Saturday 17^st March 2018 -

A one-day conference at the North Lakes Gateway. Conference fee £25 includes bacon butties & lunch. Contact Secretary Mike for details.

SPRING WALK and LUNCH.

22^nd April

Organiser Bob Mather

A light walk in the Bassenthwaite area followed by lunch.

Details to come.

CHARITY GOLF DAY

18^th May

Organiser -  Robin MacLeod

Our main fund raising event of the year at Eden Golf Club.  Teams and sponsors needed – details coming shortly.

IMPORTANT

Make sure the following events are in your diary:

PRESIDENT’S BARBECUE

SUNDAY 1^st July

President Nicki is holding her President’s Lunch at Moordyke.

More details in due course.

96^TH CHARTER ANNIVERSARY DINNER

FRIDAY 23^rd November

We return to our traditional Friday evening for the Club’s main formal occasion.   

ASPATRIA VISIT

…and the camera man said “say cheese”

…..full exciting story in the March edition of The Borderer!

RECEPTION DESK FOR CLUB MEETINGS

February    14             JV and Tony Wiseman

                21             JV and Tom Dawson

                28             David Hoggard and Nick Utting

March        7              DH and Peter Yates

                14             DH and Brian Armstrong

                21             DH and Hugh Nicholson Walker

                28             ?

April          4              JV and Nicki Quayle

                11             JV and

                18             JV and

                25             ?

May           5              DH and

Club Council Meetings

Club Meetings Programme