Thanks For Life Week
As promised, here are a few Polio links (thanks, Chas):
Wikipedia
Rotary International site
RIBI site
Facts and Figures
RIBI Thanks For Life Page
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
Eradication Progress (Wikipedia)
WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES
US$100 buys 1000 doses of polio vaccine for Burkino Faso
US$500 buys 15 cold boxes for transporting the vaccine at the correct temperature
US$1,000 buys enough vaccine to immunise 1666 children
US$5,000 buys 3 refrigerators and freezers to maintain the vaccine
US$ 20,000 buys a 4x4 vehicle to deliver vaccine and conduct surveillance in remote villages
US$50,000 buys media spots on TV, Radio, and newspapers to attract parents to immunisation centres
History of Polio
1954 - Breakthrough by Dr. Jonas Salk with development of first polio vaccine.
1961 - Further advances through development of oral vaccine by Dr Albert Sabine. This allowed for administration of vaccine by trained volunteers.
1985 - Start of Rotary International’s PolioPlus campaign. Some125 polio-endemic countries with 1,000 children infected every day.
1991 - Last case in the Americas.
1996 - 85% reduction in cases with 150 countries polio free.
2000 - Western Pacific region polio free.
2002 - Europe polio free.
2003 - Only endemic in 7 countries.
2004 - 23 African countries unite to hold multi-national immunisation day.
2005/6 - Development of monovalent vaccines.
2008 - Only 4 remaining polio endemic countries – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Less than 2,000 cases per annum – a 99.4% reduction.
The final 1% will be the most difficult and the most expensive to eliminate.
Look at the table of cases in the Wikipedia article or the GPEI site and you will appreciate the current problem. Cases were at an all-time low in 2001, increased over the next two years and are holding steady since then. The final push is vital.
2009 Christmas Tin Rattling
It's all over for another year and some of us are now huddled over steaming bowls of Olbas Oil or nursing frost bitten toes and fingers but, it was worth it (I think!). Many thanks to Clive Bradburn for the photos.2009 Christmas Card
The 2009 Riverside Christmas card is now ready. As in previous years, a single donation of £10 to the club's charity fund ensures that all members will see your card online. This year, we offer either a choice from those photos already showing or your own photo or favourite design which should be emailed to me. We can also accommodate a personalised greeting provided it is not too long. To view this year's card, click here. P.S. don't forget to turn your volume up!Pepperpot Golf
Once again, Maidstone Riverside have retained the Pepperpot Trophy and bragging rights over Weald of Kent club. This year, the contest was held in the Pas de Calais region of France and we travelled by ferry allowing us all the chance to have a hearty breakfast before battle was joined on a very windy Wimereux course. At the end of day one we led 2½ - 1½ (despite a spectacular collapse by Messrs. Brokenshire and Wood who contrived to turn a score of 5 up at the turn into a 2 and 1 loss!).Day Two dawned warm and still and most of us were probably not as well rested as we needed to be given the hilliness of the St Omer course. Thankfully we won 3 - 1 to achieve a final score of 5½ - 2½ despite another slight blip by your scribe who almost let another handsome lead slip through his fingers but was ably supported by our president who seems unable to put a foot wrong at present!
Photos of the event can be seen here.
Petanque Evening
Many thanks to Andy Springett for organising a very entertaining petanque evening at The Walnut Tree in Loose. A fine time was had by all and we managed to get all our games in without a spot of rain falling. A very tasty curry or chilli washed down with some fine ale then followed before the prizegiving. Our overall winner was Tony Broadrick with a very commendable 22 points.Treasure Hunt
Many thanks to Ron and Malcolm for organising a splendid treasure hunt last night. 25 Rotarians and friends set off on a beautiful evening to solve 64 clues and explore parts of the Kent countryside which some of us had never seen before. In fact, some of us were so taken with the scenery that we retraced our steps more than once!3 hours and some 30 odd miles later we found ourselves in The Flying Horse at Smarden having visited Sissinghurst, Frittenden, Headcorn, Grafty Green, Egerton and Pluckley on the way. After we had been fed and watered (and given another quiz to do!), we were finally put out of our misery.
Amazingly, if your name didn't begin with a B, you might just as well not have bothered.
Third Prize: The Bodycombes
Second Prize: The Bedfords
First Prize: The Brokenshires
Wooden Spoon: The Bowlings
Some very nice bottles of Pinot Grigiot came our way by means of prizes and everyone went home in good humour although Penny and Clive did mention something about marriage guidance on Thursday!
"A Spirited Defence"
Our congratulations to President Lloyd who romped home with 40 points to retain his title as Club Golf Champion! Harry Sargent came a creditable second and Ron is currently ruing his decision to ask Malcolm to be his caddy for the day. Malcolm is similarly thinking that he might have received less of an ear-bashing if he'd been my caddy instead!The weather was perfect and many thanks to Geoff Wood for his excellent organisation of the whole event and to Steve Elms for once again doing a magnificent job as scorer.
Friday Club Presentation
Immediate Past President Clive Bradburn made a presentation to one of his chosen charities: The Friday Club. Here is the detail in his own words:"Today I presented a cheque for £500 to the Friday Club- this is a social club for disabled people based in Parkwood Maidstone. The funding came from a District Simplified Grant that I applied for during my Presidential year and will pay for the coach hire to allow the Friday Club along with family, friends and carers to go to see a winter ice show at Brighton.
The DSG for our club was one of only 13 successful grants awarded this past year in District 1120. There were many other applications that weren't successful."
Well done, Clive. Pics here.
Visit to All Saints' Church
Many thanks to Richard Ratcliffe for organising our latest outing. The one hour presentation by our guide Brian Cannell was really only enough to scratch the surface of a history which dates back to 1395 for the church in its present guise and I for one could happily have stayed for twice that long (perhaps not sitting in one of the pews!) to hear more about this fascinating building. This was also the last occasion for some time that we would see Neil Turrell and his wife Trish who are moving to Singapore where Neil will be headmastering for the next three years. The evening ended with a splendid buffet meal at the Flame Restaurant in the Lockmeadow Centre. Pics here."That's All Folks"
Well, that's another year over and a big thank you to Clive for breathing a lot of fresh air into our club. His president's blog has made fascinating reading but now, like him, it will slip into the cyberspace equivalent of the back benches. It will no longer appear on our main menu but it will still be available from our Links page.
So, that's it Clive, your 15 minutes are up. It's time to join the rest of the old farts who used to be President on the 'bottom' tables. Time to get used to not getting served first!
"Oh What A Night"
Those who were there will need no reminder but, for those of you who missed it, may I just say what a fantastic night we all had at Clive's Presidential Swan Song at the Grangemoor yesterday evening! The room seemed much bigger than I remember from the days when we used to meet there every Tuesday night and it also looked very welcoming. On second thoughts, perhaps we'd better not go there, I think we all remember where such thoughts led us last time!
Back to President's Night. After a splendid meal (no fish or chicken to be seen!), acting VP, Peter Bodycombe summed up Clive's year very well and he was certainly accurate in his description of Clive as a 'Peter Pan' as we were to find out later in the evening. Clive then also ran through his presidential year (well, sauntered anyway) and then, following the 100 Club draw which I, yet again, failed to win, it was time for the musical entertainment. A very nervous (although, she had absolutelu#y no need to be) Maria accompanied by Clare's husband, Ross took to the stage and, for the next 90 minutes, had the audience eating out of their hands. Maria's lovely voice, their close harmonies and Ross's skilfull fingerpicking were a delight to the ear and their choice of music was just right for the assembled multitude. Three songs into their set they introduced a third surprise member of their group - none other than Clive himself who, like Alan Johnson before him, professed to always having wanted to be a rock star. Well, this was his chance and with very natty Bob Dylan style hat (actually I think it was the same one he wore on his cycle trip to Dordrecht) he launched into 'Blowing in the Wind' followed by Ralph McTell's 'The Streets of London". Then, to prove that there is no end to this man's talents, he introduced a song what he wrote himself entitled "Rotary the World Over". This proved a great hit despite the 32,000 verses (oh no, sorry, that's 32,000 clubs!) and Martin and Clare seized the moment by walking amongst the audience selling CDs featuring Maria, Ross and Clive who, it should be said, looked nothing like Susan Boyle despite what a certain past president remarked!
It all ended shortly before midnight and I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was one of the best President's Night ever and a fitting tribute to a president who has succeeded in breaking the mould in his approach to the task in hand. Congratulations, Clive - surely a hard act to follow.
For those of you who weren't there, I've uploaded the songs from the CD here and, thanks to Clive Carden, we now have some photos of the night here.
Going Dutch
President Clive Bradburn and soon-to-be President Elect, Martin Carter, decided that taking the bus to visit our Dutch sister club of Dordrecht was far too sendentary a way to pass the time so they hatched a plan between them to raise money for the Alzheimers Society. After dusting off Clive's 1934 tandem, they dressed in period clothes and headed for Harwich to catch the ferry.
You can read all about their exploits on Clive's blog but click here to see what Dutch TV made of their Grand Day Out!
Rachael back to star in Maidstone concert
A former pupil of Maidstone Girls' Grammar School and Roseacre Junior School, Rachael Lloyd, who has won fame as an opera singer, returns to Maidstone on Saturday June 13 to star in a major charity concert.
Rachael, a mezzo-soprano who has regularly sung at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and on its tours, is one of two soloists in Kent’s premier performance of Karl Jenkins's Stabat Mater at Mote Hall, Maidstone Leisure Centre.
She is the daughter of former head of Roseacre School, Mrs Beth Lloyd, who will herself be performing with Maidstone Youth Singers.
The gala concert in aid of Heart of Kent Hospice opens the 17th International Maidstone Music and Dance Festival and is presented by Maidstone’s four Rotary clubs (Maidstone, Riverside, Weald and Dawn Patrol) and Jupiter Workshops. Conductor is Jeffrey Vaughan Martin and the other soloist is the new Musical Director of Maidstone Choral Union Martin Hindmarsh (tenor).
The first half of the evening will feature Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicholas and the 150-strong choir will be formed by students of Maidstone Grammar School, Maidstone Girls' Grammar School, Invicta Grammar School and St Simon Stock RC School with Maidstone Singers.
Maidstone Singers and the Festival Choir will form the choir for Stabat Mater, which was first presented last year at Liverpool Cathedral and won world-wide acclaim.
Tickets are now on sale at Sharon Music, Maidstone High Street (01622 761407), at £15, £12, £10 and £8.
Dennis Fowle, President of Maidstone Rotary Club, said: “We are delighted to be bringing such a prestigious concert to Maidstone to help our local hospice. Support has been immense, including a free-let of Mote Hall by Maidstone Council. We think it will be a memorable night.”
Christmas 2008
Christmas Cards
We raised £250 for charity with our online Christmas card this year. Many thanks to everyone who contributed.
19th December 2008
Christmas Meal - Sissinghurst Castle
Looking ahead to the festive season, our Christmas Dinner will be held at Sissinghurst Castle on Friday 19th December.
Dress: Black Tie or Lounge Suit.
Tickets: £30 per person.
For a sneak preview of the menu, click here.
12th August 2008
Riverside Golf Day
On a day more reminiscent of the weather they had at The Open this year than the Glorious Twefth, 11 Riversiders plus over 50 guests enjoyed some great golf, good craick and a fine buffet at King's Hill Golf Club. The Rotary winners were:
First Prize and Claret Jug: Lloyd Rodgers 38 points
Second Prize: Nic Brokenshire: 34 points
Team Prize: Lloyd Rodgers, Nick Manser and Geoff Wood
More details when I have them.
Our photo shows Harry Baker and guest putting a brave face on after completing their rounds. President Clive not only presented the prizes but took all the great photos which can be viewed here: (Please feel free to post your comments although we would expect you to keep them clean!)
Our thanks as always to organiser Geoff Wood and his faithful assisstant Ron Goodman!
3rd August 2008
By-Laws and Attendance Make-Up Guidelines
Our President would like you all to know that the updated by-laws and a guide to making up attendances can be found right here!
By-Laws
Attendance