Geoff Norman, PHF (31August 2023)

At the meeting of the Friends of Rotary on Thursday 31st August, there was a large contingent of members from the Rotary Club of Guernsey in attendance, including their President, Andy Salisbury.  It had been agreed beforehand for Andy to address the Club (after the usual formalities), below is a copy of his speech:

"Thank you all for the great welcome you have personally given to me as the President of the Rotary Club of Guernsey and to my fellow members who are in attendance today. Also a huge thank you on behalf of our Club for your tremendous support over the years, it is truly appreciated! However, there is also an ulterior motive for me being here today along with numerous members of our Club.

A distinguished member of our Club has recently retired from us and has joined your Club, the Friends of Rotary. He was an active, dedicated Member of our Club for decades and during that time served in many, many roles. He lead our Club as the President for the Rotary year 2004/2005. For his contribution to not only our Club but also to the wider community of Guernsey, my Club awarded him a prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award in 2019.

Personally, I have been in the Club for over 15 years and from my first day, this Gentleman was always friendly and made me feel part of the Club.

Bananas! Yes, I did say bananas.  The reason being as a member of the Rotary Round the Island Walk Committee, I remember calling this Gentlemen every year to arrange for bananas for the walk which he freely donated each year!

When I assumed the Presidency of the Club and was preparing our Club calendar, I decided to make a deliberate mistake by continuing to include him in our current member list as I needed to get Council approval to move him to the front of the calendar alongside:

- His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant General Mr Richard Cripwell
- The Bailiff of Guernsey, Mr Richard McMahon
- Sir Vic Carey
- Sir Geoffrey Rowlands
- Paul Mees
- Mike Torode

Unsurprisingly it received unanimous support!

And it’s his birthday tomorrow!

GEOFF, it gives me great pleasure and it is an absolute honour for me to present you with an Honorary Membership of the Club, I cannot think of any one who is more deserving!"