Rotary Club Honours Two Members

The Rotary Club of Wakefield Chantry held its 33rd Charter celebration at Hatfield Hall recently following a days’ Golf competition against its UK friends from the Rotary Club of Woodall Spa. Woodall Spa play at the home of English Golf (HQ of the English Golf Union) and come up to Wakefield every year for the first leg of their annual competition at Normanton Golf Club.

The main purpose of the day however was to celebrate the 33rd birthday of the club. Members and guests assembled in the evening for dinner. The celebrations were attended by 80 members and guests including the Mayor of Wakefield, Clr June Cliffe and her Consort Jack Cliffe, together with Hazel Haas, the Yorkshire District Governor for Rotary. Making up the honoured guests were Derek Cocup from Ackworth and John Parry, known to most as “the Voice of Wimbledon” who has umpired virtually all of the Wimbledon finals in his career including a number of notable John Mcinroe matches! Although retired from Wimbledon due to their age policy, john continues to Umpire all of the worlds’ top start at other tournaments around the world.

His after dinner talk was appreciated by all of the guests and was full of memories from his many years at the top of the tennis umpiring world. What most didn’t know was that John was also a parachute instructor working with the Special Forces and  in charge of the RAF Free Fall parachute team and went all over the world with both the display team.

The evening however was something of a surprise for two of the members of the Rotary Club who were honoured by the Club for their contributions to the world of Rotary. 

Trevor Waddington, who is the Treasurer of the Club received the Paul Harris Sapphire award which is the highest honour available within Rotary. Only 2 other members of the Club have received this honour in the 33 years of its history and it was awarded for his many years of unstinting service in support of the club.

The second award, was to the Club President, Bob Guard. This is the Paul Harris Fellowship Award for his work in support of the many charities that have been supported during his year which will come to an end at the end of June this year. Bob said “this was a complete surprise. The past Presidents who decided to make the award did so without letting anything slip during the run up to these Charter celebrations. This honour is really appreciated as it is a vote of confidence in my year of being President and I am deeply honoured.”