Bulletin for June/July 2026

                                                         June/July 2026 Bulletin

From President David

Thank you all for making my Presidency so enjoyable. For everyone's consideration I attach extracts from my talk last Monday on the events our Club ran in 2025/26.

"I was born on the 5th February 1958.

Fast forward 67 years and on the 16th June 2025 I was inducted as your 54th President taking over from Nigel who took over from Kevin who took over from Geoff who inducted me into Rotary. Thank you Geoff. We miss you.

On the 2nd August we held a Garden Party at Sue's. Fabulous Weather enabled the large gazebo to be erected festooned with Rotary Badges from around the world. Duncan returned with his band to play music for our ears. I won the blind auction for the services of a toparist. Sue and Chris were excellent hosts. Thank you Sue and Vivien for planting the Garden Party seed.

Then it was off to Stanway House and the highest gravity fountain in the world. I would describe the day as an excellent jolly into the hills washed down by a meal at the Plough Inn at Ford. The servings were generous. It must have been the Cotswold air gave us all a hearty appetite. Thank you Gill for arranging this visit.

The autumn would not be the same without a Wine Festival. Not any old Wine Festival but an RCCN Festival. The legendary Steve Wood once again sailed us successfully through to our second Wine Festival of that year on the 18th October. Oh what giant shoes I have to fill for this years Festival on Saturday 31st October.

Onwards to the Carol Concert on the 16th December. Again a lovely evening which had the stamp of another event organised by Gill Rouse. Being President on this occasion I was able to enjoy the delights of the "green room" and have my agents Beth and John directing me throughout the evening.

Whilst enjoying my holiday down under an email arrived from Sir Henry offering us a Snowdrops Saturday. This was a long day organised by Vivien with superhuman drive and effort. The scouts returned to help us with the washing up in two shifts. We were constantly supplying the front of house ladies with cakes. At the end of the day Anne and Vivien were tidying up and Vivien left with a car full of used kitchen stuff which all would have needed unloading at home, washed and packed away. How many steps did your step counter read at the end of the day? Who says serving teas and coffees is easy work.

Finally to Friday last and the fantastic evening at Pip and Jim's organised and what a treat it was, by Gill and Michael. Three superb Opera singers and an accomplished pianist. A wonderful end to Spring"

Finally I would like to thank my Council members for their work and support this last year.

See you all at the AGM/Handover.

All About Opera Gill Rouse

What an amazing evening this turned out to be on Friday 29th May. With 3 amateur singers, who sounded more semi professional than amateur, we were entertained with a mixture of popular arias from well loved operas. Their voices soared in the church at St Philip and St James and what a treat it was. A huge thank you to Cathy Keating, Kate Bennett and Michael Ferris for their wonderful singing and to Fiona Brown who accompanied them on the grand piano. They have agreed to come again next year, all being well.

Ticket sales reached our target of 150 which was wonderful (Fifteen tickets were paid for by card and were not included on the previous ticket count) This resulted in a profit of £2,300 for local charities.

Thank you to everyone who helped on the night and ensured the success of this lovely event.

Party for David

On Sunday 26th July Richard & Helen are hosting a garden party to thank David for his very successful year as President. As a club we always used to have a celebration of some sort at the end of each Presidential year but, like many things , this fell to the wayside during and after Covid. Thank you Richard for re-instating this. Please let Richard know if you are intending to go.

News from Cheltenham Future Rotary Club Tony Pawley

The Club is hoping to use up to £750 offered by Kid’s Fun Day to provide an entertainer for 150 pupils at Oakwood School on 10th June.

They plan a garden party on 12th July, maybe mix of fund-raiser, recruitment attraction and club social. Maybe help from Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees.

A 3km Santa Fun Run is planned for Sunday 6th December in Pittville Park, like those run by RC Cheltenham Sunrise a few years ago.

The speakers from Grove Productions in April wanted Rotary to work with them to entertain young people, encourage an interest in the arts and provide employment for professional actors and theatre workers. Sadly, the brothers who founded Grove are no longer involved and the future of the company is uncertain.

Tony’s Trivia 5th June 2026

My pet hate: a dog owner saying they're Fido's mum – I think this is taking anthropomorphism too far. (But most owners seem to disagree.)

When I see an attractive lady with a nice dog, I have to stop myself from following up “What a lovely creature!” with “and the dog looks nice too.” (Case comes up next week – no, I forgot, it’ll be at least 3 years before any new case comes up.)