Club Bulletin September 2015

ROTARY CLUB OF RYDE

CLUB BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2015

A lot seems to have happened in the two months or so since my last bulletin. Our few fleeting days of summer have come and gone, England unconvincingly won the Ashes, most of Europe seems to have re-introduced border controls, Greece is still doing its best to drag down the euro, we have all nostalgically celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and Her Majesty has broken her great, great grandmother’s record. Ryde Rotarians, family and friends have also been very busy and many thanks to all who have worked hard on the events during this summer. 

On Saturday 25 July we held Party on the Green 2015 at Eastern Gardens, Ryde. It should have been a two day event but the decision to pack up on the Saturday evening was vindicated as gales and driving rain came as forecast on the Sunday. The spectators enjoyed the homemade cakes, sandwiches and beverages at the tea tent and were well entertained by the ever popular Steve Hull (Stevo the Magician), the dynamic Bloodstone Border Morris Dancers, Ryde Extreme circus skills, the graceful birds of prey flying display from Haven Falconry and the energetic Baileys Irish Dancers. We were also supported by a ukulele band, Ryde Military College, the classic Austin car club, children’s face painting and Sandra Ferguson’s dog show. Having hastily re-arranged the programme because of the weather, we lost the Great Ryde Cake Off cake baking competition and very regrettably the fantastic Vox Pop choir who I hope will forgive me and perform next year.

The August Bank Holiday weekend tested our resolve to run simultaneous events but, in spite of again being hampered by bad weather, things worked out as well as could be expected. The 1960s event at Eastern Gardens ran from Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 August and the dice game at Havenstreet Steam Show from Friday 28 to Monday 31.

For the 1960s Weekend we had decided to keep things simple with a beer tent selling a selection of real ales, lager, cider, wine and sandwiches and music supplied by local DJ Mick Weston. Unfortunately, the masses of scooters we had hoped would fill the green did not materialise but we were well supported by locals, yachties from the harbour and some scooterists. The music selection was superb, the atmosphere was great and our prices were well under those of the pubs, so everyone enjoyed themselves in spite of the weather and we made a very reasonable £800 after all costs.

Numbers of visitors to the Island Steam Show were down, again because of the bad weather, but those who ventured out were very supportive and we raised £248 from the dice game. More importantly no one won the smart TV!

Upcoming events are the crocus polio eradication collection at Busy Bee on 24 & 25 October and the Christmas supermarket collections in December for local charities.

The less formal programme of outside events, speakers and meetings now seems to be well established and I really appreciate the flexibility. Hopefully this more informal approach will continue to foster good fellowship and eventually attract new members.

Mike Jukes Bulletin Editor 12 September 2015