December 2018

PRESIDENT Ian Watson

SECRETARY Mike McNally

THEBORDERER

December 2018

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

You may all be reading this on or about December 21st the shortest day, and from here on in the days will become brighter. Although you could be forgiven for thinking those bright days were here already, as you look around the streets of Carlisle with the abundance of Christmas lights adorning nearly every other house, many of which have been there for several days. What has happened to the days when the Christmas tree was put up on Christmas Eve?

I would like to think that I could take some small credit for the decision Carlisle City Council took recently to abandon car parking charges at The Sands Centre in the evenings. I have felt guilty for some time now that there was going to be an extra cost to those attending the Charity Concert next January, and I took it on myself to enter into the debate and wrote, with particular reference to the Concert, how I felt it was unfair. I doubt for one moment my contribution made any difference to the outcome but it certainly makes me feel better! At the time of writing we have now sold just over 500 tickets and that's with a month to go.

Our SGM passed by and we are delighted to welcome Bob Mather as Vice President

for the 2019 -2020 Rotary year and also that both Mike and Ellis are happy to

continue in their respective roles. I am aware that Norman is in the process of getting the rest of 'his team' together in preparation for next Rotary year, and I'm sure he will get the same support I am enjoying.

As our speaker from Grange Rotary Club was unable to talk to us about the Rise Against Hunger project, this is to be rescheduled for early next year, we took the             opportunity to listen and then consider & comment on Nicks paper about The Future of our Club. It was well received and appreciated, and I'm sure the subject will continue to be discussed and debated over the months ahead.

Following our involvement with collection buckets at the Mayor's Fireshow we expect to receive £772.00, when the invitation comes from Carlisle South to attend one of their meetings in the new year. In the meantime I have been to the Mayor's Parlour for the official photo shoot and her thanks for our help.

Having written about the weather in most of my 'messages' this year I was disappointed to miss my namesake give his presentation on Climate Change. It is also reported elsewhere but I gather it was an eye opener and the message was be mindful of our future and future generations.

Having gone to support an RABI Carol Concert in Wigton Auction I also missed our ten pin bowling, it was a fun evening, it would  appear, the fun continuing for a day or so afterwards until someone replaced the battery in his calculator!

We had an excellent attendance at Christmas Lunch, thank you, it was my fourth

Christmas lunch since the beginning of December and without mentioning where the previous three lunches were, this one was the best, well done The Shepherds. Served as usual by our loyal waitresses, Mary Linda, and Ann and I presented them with their traditional gratuity, which was much appreciated. We welcomed a number of Club guests, Judy Brownlow, Helen Horne and Murray & Barbara Inglis who all looked extremely well. We also had with us the representatives of the four Charities for which we raised money in Nicki's year as President. Ann Marie Moffat from Blood bikes, Laura Ridley from Hospice at Home, Elizabeth Hall from Life Education  and Georgina Lamb from RABI. They have all received £2000 each. A very satisfactory result from a number of Club initiatives. I must not forget of course our lucky Christmas Bonus Lottery Winner Peter Tiplady, congratulations.

Once the formalities of the afternoon were over we sat back and enjoyed a performance by the singing duo, Me'Nu, (Jen & Bryan), we were well entertained and rounded off the afternoon joining with them to sing a couple of Christmas Carols. All in all a splendid occasion. Before I 'sign off' for a couple of weeks I must mention the Santa Sleigh which has been out once in the Stanwix area and will be at Lowry Hill on Christmas eve, thanks to all involved.

A very Merry Christmas to you all and we look forward to a stress free 2019!

IAN WATSON

PRESIDENT

Rotary Club of Carlisle Christmas Lunch 2018

Christmas Lunch at the Rotary Club of Carlisle is always a joyous occasion, a time to renew acquaintances with friends and the families of members.

This year The Shepherds had prepared eight colourfully decorated tables of eight to accommodate the guests and it was not long before the volume of talk and laughter had begun to rise.

Promptly at 12-30pm  President Ian extended a very warm welcome to everyone , saying how pleased he was to especially welcome Helen Horne, Judy Brownlow, Murray and Barbara Inglis and representatives from Hospice at Home, Blood Bikes, Life Education, and RABI (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution).

After the traditional Rotary Grace lunch was served, the menu this year was seasonal turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas pudding followed by coffee and mince pies, Rotarians do like their food!

Christmas is a time for giving and receiving presents, President Ian announced the winner of the monthly Bonus Ball, Peter Yates, and then the Christmas Bonus Ball to a hushed audience and a very surprised Peter Tiplady, who mentioned putting the cheque towards a garden shed! This was followed with a presentation to the waitressing staff in appreciation of their services throughout the year.

Time now to hand over briefly to immediate Past President Nicki who presented cheques to the representatives of her four nominated charities, Blood Bikes Cumbria (Ann Marie Moffat), Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland (Laura Ridley), Life Education Centres Cumbria (Elizabeth Hall) and RABI (Georgina Lamb).The monies raised were from the May Golf Charity Day and Nicki’s now famous sponsored Sky Dive, the combined amount raised reached £8000.

To complete the occasion we were delighted to receive a present in the form of music and song from Me’Nu alias Jane and Brian whose menu of songs had everyone’s feet tapping, and then to finish everyone joined in the singing of a few chosen Christmas carols.

President Ian thanked everyone and wished everybody a Very Happy Christmas before announcing the final toast; “Rotary, Fellowship and Peace the World over”.

DONALD EDGAR

Left to right Laura Ridley, Nicki, Ann-Marie Moffatt Robin, Georgina Lamb

Many thanks to Tony Wiseman for taking these pictures of our Christmas Lunch.

This is the picture that we hope will give our Club some publicity.

Left to right Nicki Quayle, representing the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Elizabeth Hall representing Life Education Cumbria, Ann-Marie Moffatt, representing Blood Bikes, Robin MacLeod and Laura Ridley from Hospice at Home.

The magnificent sum of £8,000 was raised principally by Nicki Quayle with her skydive and Robin MacLeod as the main organiser of our Club Charitable Golf Competition.

And after Christmas Lunch….

Here are some thrown away Christmas cracker jokes:

What did the bald man say when he got a comb for Christmas?                     Thanks, I’ll never part with it.

What is bad tempered and goes with crumble?                         

Apple grumble.

What does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in a chimney?

Claustrophobia!

What do they sing at a snowman's birthday party? 

Freeze a jolly good fellow

Why does Santa have three gardens? 

So he can 'ho ho ho'! 

Knock, knock… Who's there?..... Arthur ….Arthur who?...  

Arthur any mince pies left?

What do vampires sing on New Year's Eve? 

Auld Fang Syne

What happened to the man who stole an Advent Calendar?

He got 25 days!

What kind of motorbike does Santa ride? 

A Holly Davidson!

What is the best Christmas present in the world?

A broken drum, you just can't beat it!

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

The Club’s Special General Meeting was held after lunch on Wednesday December 5^th 2018. It was a well organised, but brief affair.

We confirmed the appointment of Norman Butler as President for 2019-20 and we elected Bob Mather as Vice President for 2019 -20.

We re-elected Mike McNally as Hon. Secretary and Ellis Amos as Hon. Treasurer for next year

As there were no other nominations, we elected the President, President Elect and Secretary to be our 3 voting delegates the Annual  Conference 2019.

We also adopted/received the Club’s General and Charity accounts for the year ended 30 June 2018. The accounts are not attached as they have already been sent out to all our members and they are not available to the general public

NOTE – The above is your reporter’s recollection of events which may be very different from the official minutes which will be distributed in due course

NORMAN BUTLER                                                              BOB MATHER

TEN PIN BOWLING

5^th December saw the Club Ten Pin Bowling Competition played at the AMF Bowl Carlisle. – and what a tense affair it was! Malcolm not only organised the event, but brought along his daughter-in-law Julie to make an even number for the team competition.

With drinks purchased Teams were drawn as follows:

• YELLOW, Malcolm, Julie, Joe & Tom

• GREEN, Phil, Hugh, Brian & Robin                             

   

  Given a consistent level of ability (or lack of!) it was always going to be a close match and with Malcolm and Hugh each hitting first game centuries for their respective teams the Greens went into a half-time lead of 342 pins to 329.

   

  The second half saw ‘Slowly Down the Middle’ Phil hit the night’s highest single game of 105, and as we approached the final frames it looked odds on that this would see the Greens home despite Robin struggling with a very sore wrist.

  But no! – in the very last frame ‘Ten Pin’ Tom hit two strikes for a single-frame score of 26 to give the Yellow team the match by the close margin 702 – 695.

   

  Individual scoring was also extremely close and on the night Malcolm was declared Champion with a total score of 194 against 193 for both Phil and Tom. Malcolm took the individual trophy and a standard bottle of nice wine while the winning team each took home a somewhat smaller bottle.

   

  HOWEVER the story doesn’t end there. On reviewing the results at home the scorer (yours truly) realised that in the excitement of Tom’s last frame he had misread his score which was in fact 195 and not 193.

  Should I keep it to myself or should I own up and face the flack as any good Rotarian would do? Naturally I immediately phoned Malcolm, who fortunately hadn’t drunk the wine and who accepted my apology in good grace.

  The trophy and wine were presented to Tom at the following Rotary meeting.

   

  BRIAN EDMUNDSON

   

   

   

   

  THE FIRESHOW COLLECTION

   

   

   

  The cash collection at the Fireshow on 2^nd November raised £6,352 in total. Our share will be £772 plus Gift Aid.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  THE DISTRICT BULLETIN COMPETITION

   

  We have entered the July, August and October 2018 editions of The Borderer into the Club Bulletin Competition.

   

  Winners will be announced at the District Conference on Saturday, 23^rd March.

   

  Don’t hold your breath!!

“DO YOU BELIEVE IN CLIMATE CHANGE?”

President Ian, in the October edition of the Borderer, expressed the view that he had been somewhat sceptical in the past about climate change, but his namesake Ian Watson’s talk on “Do you believe in climate change” would have convinced him that there are no grounds for scepticism.

Climate change due to human activity is a fact but there are many reasons why it is not being recognised as such. It is perceived as a political issue and many politicians and journalists have a poor knowledge of science. There is a reluctance to accept the magnitude of the consequences of global warming producing droughts, flooding and the melting of the ice-cap etc. and people just don’t want to face the facts. There is also a belief by some that a solution will be found.

Action is needed now. The tundra has already started to melt with methane being released which is considered to be the trigger for runaway global warming.

Ian is leading by example by installing solar panels and insulation in his home, driving an electric car and pledging never to fly by jet except in an emergency.  Individuals can utilise solar panels, wind and hydro power, use buses rather than cars and avoid air travel but essentially urgent action is needed by governments.

Ellis Amos

SANTA NEEDS HELP!

We had a good evening in Stanwix on 14^th December, but we still need Elves to collect cash on 24^th December at Lowry Hill.

Christmas Eve is particularly both heart-warming and lucrative! The amount raised very much depends on the number of elves helping on the night, so please give your names to Michael Pearson. Drinks and mince pies are nearly guaranteed!

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CARDS NIGHT

Friday 8th February 2019

7.00 for 7.30pm

It’s the first social event of the year and the date has been fixed for our Military Whist Drive, which after many years at the home of Robin and Jenny, is ‘going home’ to John Hannon’s in Longlands Road – the scene of many such evenings in the past.

As ever the evening comprises a few hands of partner whist played in teams of four with the usual supper of  ‘splendid Wilson’s pie, mushy peas & pickled cabbage’ (seconds usually available) washed down with a glass or two of wine or soft drink and a cup of tea/coffee before prize-giving and home to bed.

All for £10 per head – inclusive of wine and spectacular prizes

Very little skill is involved (if you know the basic rules of whist and have a good sense of direction). Over the years this has been one of those pleasantly enjoyable social evenings in good company and comfortable surroundings. 

As ever we are limited to a maximum of 28 players so get your names down early if you want to join the fun!

Brian Edmundson.    

LETTER FROM PHIL GODFREY WHO SPOKE TO THE CLUB ABOUT APS LAST MONTH

Merry Christmas!

I have had a truly fantastic year, so thought I would share some of the highlights with you.

I’ve been travelling the country, on my “Round Britain Rail Tour” in aid of APS (Antiphospholipid Syndrome), which sadly Christine suffered from. The overall journey has been from Penzance to the Orkney Islands, basically around the coast - both sides.

I started at St Pancras, London in March this year, next to the statue of John Betjemen, and have had lots of days and weekends away plus several holiday in many lovely towns with super scenery.

The first of the big trips in July was to Oban, Fort William, Skye (three days), Kyle and then across to Aberdeen, Dundee and Arbroath. Beautiful Scottish scenery and wonderful people.

I hired a car on Skye and toured the island: magnificent, moody, romantic and stunning, all apply.

In September, I was off to the north of Scotland (it seemed a very long way from home) to Thurso and Wick; then over to Orkney and its Islands. Firstly to Skara Brae and the Standing Stones of Stenness, fascinating old neolithic sites. The Island of Shapinsay was beautiful, but the one concession to tourism, the café, was shut!!  A day tour of the Island of Westray involved many stunning views and lots of stories, some true!  The last visit of the day was to the airport, where we saw the whole journey of the “World’s Shortest Commercial Flight” from Papa Westray to Westray – 80 seconds!

At the other end of the British Isles, I had a great few days between Penzance and Yeovil, staying with friends, and had good views of St Michael’s Mount and even an afternoon in St Ives.

Many short breaks, including St Andrews: nice town, ruined Cathedral and Castle and very golf orientated; North Berwick, where my parents lived in WW2 (Dad was in the RAF); York and Berwick on Tweed, indeed there have been so many places I really want to return to.

Overall, I’ve spoken at 50 Rotary Clubs and travelled approx 15,300 miles on 274 trains, meeting many Rotarians and friends old and new along the way.

I will finish RBRT “around the Coast”, early in 2019, and then on to the rest of the Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs “RBRT - inside the Country”, plus any other Clubs, if they so wish.

In June, I plan to fly to Shetland, so I can achieve a visit to the most northern point of Unst, which I should have managed last year on the walk, but for a damaged knee.

Thank you for your support, accommodation, lifts and overall interest during the past three years

PHIL GODFREY APS

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."  - Burton Hillis

 "Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas." - Peg Bracken

Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it.  Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it. - Richard Lamm

"Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money." - Author unknown

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH..

Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, and Batteries not Included.” – English Proverb

 "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph." ~ Shirley Temple

 "Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money." - Author Unknown

POETS’     CORNER

The funniest face
looked out at me
from a silver ball
on the Christmas tree!
At first I thought
it was Santa’s elf,
but I looked again and it was just myself

Sit and listen to the quiet
it’s outside the Christmas norm
because now, when all is silent
it’s the calm before the storm
the kids are upstairs sleeping
you’re resting, sitting with a drink
in a few hours …storms a brewing
it’ll push you to the brink
the kids are up and yelling
paper wrapping all around
until the house is empty
no more rest today is found

FOOD BANK COLLECTION ROTA

RESERVES JOE WATT AND JOHN CHURCHILL

WISHING WELL

The current charity is The Foodbank.

Future charities are, Hospice at Home, NSPCC, Life Education, Macmillan Cancer Support, MND Cumbria and Alzheimer’s Awareness.

This takes us to July 2019 and if any member has a suitable charity they would like to nominate please contact me.

MICHAEL PEARSON

RECEPTION DESK FOR CLUB MEETINGS

January     9              JV & Stephen Higgs

                16             JV & Euan Cartwright

                23             JV & Robin MacLeod

                30             David H & 

February    6^th             DH & Peter Yates

                13^th           DH & Malcolm Metcalfe

                20             DH & Brian Edmundson

                27^th           David H &

March        6^th             JV & Bob Mather

                13^th           JV & Malcolm Metcalfe

                20^th           JV &

                27^th           H N-W &

April          3^rd            DH & John Harris

                10^th           DH &

                17^th           DH &

                26^th           David H &

May           1^st             DH &

                8^th             JV &

                15^th           JV &

                22^nd          JV &

                29^th           H N-W &

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

2018

24^th December – Santa’s Sleigh – Lowry Hill

2019

Sunday 27^th January

The Farmers and Farmers Wives Choir at The Sands.

The Club’s major fundraiser.  With all costs of putting on this spectacular show in the City’s largest venue covered, 100% of every ticket sold will go to the charities selected by the choir and our President Ian.

Make sure you have the date in all diaries at home and tell your friends and associates about this special event.  Why not buy a few tickets as Christmas Presents and come as a party!

8^th February. Cards Night

John Hannon has agreed to host what will be a nostalgic return to Longlands Road for this event.  Details elsewhere in this edition of The Borderer.

13^thMarch - Curling at Lockerbie Ice Rink.

17^th May – Charity Golf Match

Club Council Meetings

Club Meetings Programme