Haddenham & District Rotary Club

District 1090    R.I.B.I. Club No. 1654

Rotary Blog Monday 22nd January 2007

Anyone walking down Thame High Street on Monday evening would have been more than a little surprised to hear the exhilarating sound of Bagpipes.
Braving the bitterly cold weather Pipe Major Lenny Brown stood outside the hall to welcome all the guests with the iconic sound of Scotland – the bagpipes. Inside the hall there was a warm welcome - the bar was in full flow.
To commence the formal part of the evening, President Roger welcomed our guests, which was followed by the Selkirk grace and the piping in of the evening’s star attraction – The Haggis.
The address “To the haggis” was given by Jimmy Findley.  This sounded wonderful, full of tension, drama and words most of us did not understand.
One thing we did understand was how good the haggis was. Seasoned Burns Night devotees claimed it was as good as any they had ever tasted. (Thanks and congratulation to the Chef).  The haggis, neeps and tatties were washed down with an ample supply of whisky.
Following the meal Don Butler shared with us some of his very funny outlooks on life.
The keynote speech at any Burns Night Supper is The Immortal Memory speech on the life of Burns, his literary genius and his highs and lows. This was given with passion and humor by Logie MacKay.
To round off the formal part of the evening we were royally entertained by the very funny Jimmy Findley. Not a dry eye in the house as he had us all in fits of laughter. A brilliant way to end the formal part of the evening.
The two main reasons for holding a Burns Night Supper are: Firstly, to have a very enjoyable evening with friends and secondly, and more importantly, to raise money for good causes.
Two rounds of heads and tails were played and the winner of the first game receiving £50 and the winner of the second received £150.  Both winners most generously donated their winnings to the charity. A very special thanks to both.
The amount of money to be donated is £650. The charity to benefit from the money raised is Sight Savers.
Throughout this BLOG one name has not been mentioned, (I do try not to mention it too often), and that is Keith Smith.  Keith is largely responsible for the success of the evening. Without his hard work and commitment we would NOT have raised as much as we have.
Thanks Keith from all of us for the tremendous job you do in organizing Burns Night.

PS  - OK for next year?`

	An enthralled audience     listened intently to Trevor's    presentation.
	In this photograph Trevor    explains the importance of    the trenches and methods of    bombardment

I am not a great fan of matters military, but found the talk to be most interesting and enjoyable. Trevor’s detailed knowledge of his subject was clear to see, and he gave a vivid insight into the perils that the men on both sides suffered in that appalling carnage.

Here you can just see   this weeks 'blogger'     staring down the barrel   of a Lee Enfield 303     Rifle!
	...and finally, Trevor is holding an exhumed shell     and a plastic bag full of shrapnel

The members listened with wrapped attention, and even asked some meaningful and intelligent questions. Not a first, but a pretty rare occurrence! This of course made it difficult to make a choice for prat of the week, but Barnes is always a soft target.

Rtn Keith Smith

The first meeting of 2007 heard a presentation about Barnardos from Audrey Barnett, the fundraising manager for this part of the country, and Anna Penn who works locally with a Barnados project in Aylesbury. This well known charity has long since stopped running children's homes and moved to providing a wide range of community services for children, young people and their families. Audrey and Anna used some graphic examples of the work, ranging from helping youngsters subject to sexual abuse to supporting children who are themselves carers for older relatives.  Barnardos is one of the District-nominated charities for this year.

	Audrey Barnett, Barnados Fund Raising Manager for central south England
Anna Penn, local project worker for Aylesbury

Our weekly presentation of the Grumpling Trophy for hero or "prat" of the week was made by Jack Lazenby. Jack may be a little slow in getting to his feet these days, but once there is always determined to give value for money. The presentation turned into a prolonged and detailed history lesson on a design of glass bottle with a glass marble for a stopper patented by Hiram Codd in 1872. Not only could Jack describe the physics of how it enabled the content - the "wallop" -  to retain its gaseous nature, but he was able to produce his very own specimen. Rarely has the Grumpling Trophy been awarded with such a load of Coddswallop!

Rtn Roger Rickard