Charter Night 2019 (Saturday 30 March 2019)

The 96th Charter celebration of the Rotary Club of Guernsey was held at Les Cotils for the first time and what a great evening we had. The Club was honoured to welcome His Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey Sir Ian Corder and Lady Corder.  Also attending were Sue Whalley, President of the Inner Wheel Club and Helen Salisbury, Treasurer of Rotary Guernesiaise and there was a table of members from the Friends of Rotary Club.  Many members and guests also were in attendance.

The evening started with pre dinner drinks, with guests being entertained by Lars Henningsen, a locally based magician, before being called into the dining room, where all guests welcomed the club President Mike Le Conte and his top table guests.

President Mike gave a short welcome speech, before Paul Steele gave the Grace and we all settled down to an excellent three course meal. Lars moved from table to table between courses giving some very close up magic, which was truly amazing and very well received by all.

Following the Loyal toast given by His Excellency, President Mike gave a short speech on what the club has achieved this year and the difference it has made to people in the island and overseas. This was followed by two very special presentations.

A “Paul Harris” award – the highest Honour our club can bestow on a member. This honour was awarded to a long standing member and past President of the club, Mr Geoff Norman. President Mike detailed the work Geoff had put into not just the Club but also island life in the many roles of public service he had taken up over the years.

The “Alec Forty” award – This is a recent award in honour and memory of Alec. Alec was a member and past President of the club, and epitomised everything that was good about Rotary. This award is for “Service above self” and is not awarded every year.

The recipient this year, was past President, Simon Milsted, who is in fact a relatively new member of the Club and President Mike went on to explain the work Simon had done for the club and in particular Chairing The Saffery Rotary Walk. He also highlighted other areas of island life where Simon has stepped up and made a difference.

President Mike closed the event with a thank you to the staff of Les Cotils for an excellent evening and proposed the Rotary toast.

President Mike closed the event with a thank you to Nigel Dorey for organising the evening, Simon Wood for being Master of Ceremonies and the staff of Les Cotils for an excellent evening and proposed the Rotary toast.