The Fareham Flyer Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Fareham D1110 UK

President Linda Ingram

Service above Self Bulletin Number 342 JANUARY 2012 www.farehamrotary.com

Our Christmas party at

Cams on Thursday 22nd

December proved to be a

great occasion, with

good food, good compa-

ny and good entertain-

ment.

The room was filled to

overflowing with Rotari-

ans and their partners

and guests, who all en-

joyed a special Christ-

mas Carvery of turkey

and ham, with all the

traditional trimmings.

President Linda gave a

welcome to our guests.

PP George Cantrill said

grace, and PP Tony Cove

informed us of the re-

sults of our Christmas

collections. VP Pam

Bryant read the apolo-

gies.

On completion of the

excellent meal and a

‘comfort break,’ the en-

tertainment was opened

with an in-character reci-

tation of a poem read by

John Rowlinson. There

followed a most original

production of Cinderella,

performed by the ‘Sober-

ton Rotary Players. Fi-

nally, our Lady Guests

were given a small gift,

and we left the room

with best wishes for a

Happy Christmas and a

Good New Year.

A great day, well orga-

nized by Bob and Sue

Mussellwhite

(These photos and others will

be found on the website.)

_________________________

SNIPPETS FROM RECENT MEETING OF PAST DIS-TRICT GOVERNORS

PDG Brian Ray raised the

question of the use of the word

“Wessex” in the title of the

District magazine pointing out

that the Kingdom of Wessex

covered a far larger area that of

District1110. The DG said

they would let the title stand

for the time being but would

keep it under review.

There have been about 2500

members in our District for

some years but there are three

Districts in RIBI who may

have to be merged as their

numbers are falling below the

required limit. There are sev-

eral Clubs who may get a

shock when told they must pay

the limited capitation fee for

20 members!

There has been a proposal

from District 1270 (Yorkshire,

Lincolnshire etc.) that RIBI

should be abolished. The

“Powers that be” soon hit this

on its head and the Proposal

was withdrawn from the

Council on Legislation

(Known as COL). If recon-

structing Districts mean that

there are fewer and larger Dis-

tricts who would allow their

names to go forward as DG?

Our DG has 76 Clubs to visit

and be answerable to. I had 52

and that was almost a full time

job for a year!

We were told of the arrange-

ments for the Torquay Confer-

ence which sounded great. I

hope there will be a good turn-

out from Fareham in support

of Duncan!

After that will come the Plym-

outh Conference and steps are

already in place for the organi-

sation of this.

Nigel told us of the arrange-

ments for the Paul Harris Fel-

lows lunch at the Wessex Ho-

tel in Bournemouth. This is

more or less central for our

District. It’s tough that we live

on the eastern fringe of the

District, We have 17 PHFs and

I hope that we will have a

good support for this lunch

which sounds interesting.

The Soberton Thespians. Sue, John, Duncan, Bob, Penny and John

Who is the “Royal”? No one

is letting us know this!

There was a wide ranging dis-

cussion on the changing face

of Rotary. We were told of the

Interim Club being formed that

wish to be known as Parley

Rotary. (Somewhere in the

New Forest) and do not wish

to add the word “Club”. What

do you think of that?

There were many other matters

discussed but I will not burden

you with these.

Mike Swinburne

RC Southampton change of venue and time

From January 2012 the Club

will be meeting at the Dolphin

Hotel, 34-35 High Street,

Southampton SO14 2HN.

To advise attendance a mes-

sage can be left on an ansa-

phone – 023 8033 3591 or by

email –

george.tutte@btinternet.com –

by noon of the Wednesday

prior to the meeting.

The pattern of meetings is as

follows:

1st Friday of the Month: Break-

fast 7.15 for 7.30am

2nd

Friday of the Month:

Lunch 12.30 for 1.00pm

Following Thursday Evening

Buffet 6.00 for 6.30pm

4th

Friday of the Month: Lunch

12.30 for 1.00pm

5th

Friday of the Month – con-

tact the Secretary

Andrew Huckett

Secretary

When I was a boy……….

y mum would send me

down to the corner shop

with a shilling, and I’d come

back with 5lbs of potatoes, two

loaves of bread, 3 bottles of

milk, a hunk of cheese, a pack-

et of tea and six eggs.

You can’t do that now – too

many damn security cameras!!

Our Wishing Well has undergone a facelift!

n an effort to increase

awareness of our Wishing

Well, hidden as it is amongst a

myriad of commercial ven-

tures, a refurbishment has tak-

en place.

Aided by the Precinct Manager

and Friend of Rotary Pam

Marsden, and utilizing the

skills of designer Peter a

scheme whereby a nominated

charity is advertised has been

devised.

Display boards mounted on the

roof line of the well indicate

the current lead charity. This

will be reviewed each quarter,

with a view to ensuring con-

tinuing interest from the pub-

lic.

Rtn Bob Mussellwhite devised

and manufactured the support-

ing frames for the display

boards to a very high standard.

All was prepared and installed

in readiness for an official visit

by the Mayor and mayoress of

Fareham 0n 1st December.

The Wishing Well was com-

missioned and declared ready

for business by the ceremonial

rolling of a coin! In fact I un-

derstand that several pound

coins were given a trial run –

non returnable of course!!

The event was overseen by a

number of Club members, who

approved the ‘New Look’.

Gary and I will keep a close

eye out for an increase in tak-

ings.

____________Dave_______

The Bailout. t is a slow day in a little

Greek Village……

The rain is beating down and

the streets are deserted. Times

are tough, everybody is in

debt, and everybody lives on

credit. On this particular day a

rich German tourist is driving

through the village, stops at the

local hotel and lays a €100

note on the desk, telling the

hotel owner he wants to in-

spect the rooms upstairs in or-

der to pick one to spend the

night. The owner gives him

some keys and, as soon as the

visitor has walked upstairs, the

hotelier grabs the €100 note

and runs next door to pay his

debt to the butcher. The butch-

M

I

I

er takes the €100 note and runs

down the street to repay his

debt to the pig farmer. The pig

farmer takes the €100 note and

heads off to pay his bill at the

supplier of feed and fuel. The

guy at the Farmers' Co-op

takes the €100 note and runs to

pay his drinks bill at the taver-

na. The publican slips the

money along to the local pros-

titute drinking at the bar, who

has also been facing hard times

and has had to offer him "ser-

vices" on credit. She then

rushes to the hotel and pays off

her room bill to the hotel own-

er with the €100 note. The ho-

tel proprietor then places the

€100 note back on the counter

so the rich traveller will not

suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller

comes down the stairs, picks

up the €100 note, states that

the rooms are not satisfactory,

pockets the money, and leaves

town. No one produced any-

thing. No one earned anything.

However, the whole village is

now out of debt and looking to

the future with a lot more op-

timism. And that, Ladies and

Gentlemen, is how the bailout

package works.

(Thanks to George Cantrill)

A Report from Rebecca areham Traditional Fish &

Chips have teamed up with

Fareham and Gosport Basic

Bank. They are based in As-

pect House, Westbury Road,

and Fareham. At present or-

ganisations refer people who

are in need or homeless to the

Fareham & Gosport Basic

Bank, who may issue a vouch-

er which may be exchanged

for everyday basics, for exam-

ple, tea, coffee, tins etc, nap-

pies or toiletries Mike and I

went to discuss if we could

help in anyway with the chip

shop in offering hot food in

exchanged for a voucher, val-

ued at the cost price of, for ex-

ample, a small portion of chips

with either fishcake or jumbo

sausage for £1.00p with a can

of non-alcoholic drink £1.40p.

The offer was discussed at the

Fareham and Gosport Basic

Bank on the 25th November

2011, and the idea given ap-

proval. The voucher scheme

will operate with only the

Fareham and Gosport Basic

Bank giving out the voucher or

vouchers if a family, these will

then be used instead of cash

for payment in the chip shop.

The vouchers will be re-

claimed for payment from the

Basic Bank once a month. Ap-

prox. 1-3 vouchers will be giv-

en out each week. This will

start sometime in the New

Year once the vouchers have

been designed and printed.

(Thanks for that Rebecca – a

well thought out scheme. – Ed)

young man named John

received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude

and an even worse vocabulary.

Every word out of the bird's

mouth was rude, obnoxious

and laced with profanity. John

tried and tried to change the

bird's attitude by consistently

saying only polite words, play-

ing soft music and anything

else he could think of to 'clean

up' the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and

he yelled at the parrot.

The parrot yelled back. John

shook the parrot and the parrot

got angrier and even ruder.

John, in desperation, threw up

his hand, grabbed the bird and

put him in the freezer. For a

few minutes the parrot

squawked and kicked and

screamed. Then suddenly there

was total quiet. Not a peep was

heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he'd hurt the par-

rot, John quickly opened the

door to the freezer. The parrot

calmly stepped out onto John's

outstretched arms and said "I

believe I may have offended

you with my rude language

and actions. I'm sincerely re-

morseful for my inappropriate

transgressions and I fully in-

tend to do everything I can to

correct my rude behaviour."

John was stunned at the

change in the bird's attitude.

As he was about to ask the par-

rot what had made such a

dramatic change in his behav-

iour, the bird spoke-up, very

softly, "May I ask what the

turkey did?" Chris Thomas.

_________________________

Re-organisation of RIBI

anagement organisation-

al changes are being

proposed for RIBI, as the or-

ganisation adapts and prepares

itself for the needs, demands

and aspirations of the second

decade of the 21st century.

These proposals, which have

been carefully considered and

agreed by your General Coun-

cil, aim to streamline RIBI so

that it can rise to the challeng-

es ahead. Please talk to your

District Governor for more in-

formation about November's

General Council meeting that

agreed the headline changes.

By-law changes will be con-

sidered and voted upon at the

business meeting at the 2012

Annual Conference in

Bournemouth.

Your thoughts and views are

requested in order to ensure

that the proposed changes real-

ly do help to guarantee a bright

and prosperous future for RI-

F

A

M

BI, its clubs and all its mem-

bers.

To view details of the pro-

posed changes, go to:

http://www.ribi.org/resources/r

eorganisation-of-ribi

Golfing the Nullarbor.

ur friend Alan has never

been a golfer. However,

intrigued by this latest attrac-

tion, he signed up in Norseman

& we have now ‘golfed’ across

Western & Southern Australia

during a recent holiday. Set up

less than 2 years ago by a cou-

ple of real golfers you start in

Kalgoorlie & end up at the

18th hole in Ceduna – some

1365 kilometres away. Or, of

course, you can do it in the

other direction. Each partici-

pating town or roadhouse

along the Eyre Highway con-

tributes to the course. We had

to miss the first 3 holes as we

started in Norseman & not up

in Kalgoorlie.

Some treat it seriously but

most just for fun & a good way

for a break along the track –

everyone talks & has a laugh

about the scores. It’s a par 72

& obviously serious people

will bring their own clubs but

for those like us you can hire a

set at each hole for $5.00. Los-

ing balls is a major hazard but

somehow you always manage

to find one or two as well!

Hazards are the terrain – total-

ly different at each hole, espe-

cially with the weather we

have been experiencing. Kan-

garoos & emus at Fraser

Range but all seem totally im-

mune to it! Flies – up your

nose, in your ears, behind your

sunglasses – annoying but

that’s all – March flies – mak-

ing you do a dance all over the

course trying to stay out of

their way – quick bite, swells

up but doesn’t last long. Crows

(huge buggers) – waiting to

claim your balls – somehow

they seem to know how far

you are going to hit the ball &

cackle waiting for it to land,

then they nick it. Water –

shouldn’t be around but they

seem to have had all their 8

inches annual rainfall while

we’ve been here. Watching out

for snakes – not seen one but

you never know! Lots pickled

in jars in the Nullarbor Road-

house!

Good point, according to the

lady at Ceduna TIC, is that it

has much reduced the acci-

dents on the road as people are

stopping & getting out of their

vehicles & not just driving

endlessly. This can only be

good. Alan’s final score was

153 & for a non-golfer didn’t

think that was too bad. Sartori-

al elegance was not displayed

at all – doubt if he’d got on

any course in UK ….. but this

is Australia

(Extract from an email, sent by

a friend in Oz. Dave.)

Christmas collections.

ur collections this year

took place during the

week before Christmas, with

pitches at Sainsbury’s for three

days, followed by a two day

spell inside Fareham Shopping

Centre.

Sainsbury’s proved to be a

popular spot, with a continu-

ous flow of customers passing

our prime collecting site.

(Dave Barclay and Chris

Thomas were provided with a

welcome cup of hot coffee on

one occasion, which was most

welcome!) Aided by Honorary

Rotarians ‘Homer Santa’ and

Pip the Dog, we were able to

collect a significant sum,

which will enable us to fulfill

many charitable functions dur-

ing the coming year.

The collections within the

Shopping Centre, whilst add-

ing to the total, were not quite

so profitable – maybe because

passers-by were anxious to get

home after racing around do-

ing last minute shopping!

However, a splendid effort all

round, and once again well or-

ganised by PP Tony Cove,

with the assistance of PP Mike

Hurley and Colin Frampton

At our Christmas lunch Tony

announced the final totals col-

O O

lected, and thanked all those

who had taken part in the col-

lections. -Dave

Christmas Greetings Wall

Very many thanks to all who

contributed to the Wall, and

had their messages displayed

in the December issue of the

‘Flyer’. A grand total of £100

was raised, and will be added

to the Stubbington Study Cen-

tre bursary fund. Dave.

Rotary Friends

have recently started ex-

changing newsletters with

the Rotary Club of Salt Lake

City, and would like to draw

the attention of our Club

members to their newsletter,

‘Lekhon’

The link to their club is: http://www.rotary3291.in/saltlake-

central.html

Our Twin in Australia, the Ro-

tary Club of Karrinyup also

has a very good journal, which

may be found via their website

at:

http://karrinyuprotary.org.au/

Here is the link to our Ameri-

can Twin in Del Amo, Califor-

nia:

http://www.clubrunner.ca/Port

al/Home.aspx?cid=2514

Closer to home, how about a

look at Rotary Club of Gosport

website at: www.gosportrotary.co.uk

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS.

JANUARY MENU

5

th Beef & Ale Pie, sauté

potatoes and veg.

12th Grilled salmon, Hollan-

daise sauce, new potatoes

and veg. 19

th Honey Roast Gammon,

Roast potatoes and veg. 26

th Lasagne, Garlic bread and

salad.

JANUARY EVENTS

5th Business & Fellowship

meeting

11th

Group 7 meeting 12

th Speaker – Dave Barclay.

‘The Dan Patch Line’ 17

th Club Council Meeting 19

th Fellowship Meeting 24

th Youth Speaks 26 Business & Fellowship

meeting

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

he Dalai Lama, when

asked what surprised him

most about humanity, an-

swered “Man. Because he sac-

rifices his health in order to

make money. The he sacrifices

money to recuperate his health.

And then he is so anxious

about the future that he does

not enjoy the present; the re-

sult being that he does not live

in the present or the future; he

lives as if he is never going to

die, and then he dies never

having really lived”

I

4th John Landaw

7th Jane Courtenay

15th Dave Barclay

16th Anne Trowbridge

16th John Rowlinson

23rd Eileen Davis

26th Lettice Palmer

28th Pam Gillard

T

NZ Earthquake Update

From Tony Cove:

You may recall you included in

the October 2010 Flyer (above

Ed.) an article on the New

Zealand earthquakes which

contained an email from our

friends Ken and Carole in

Christchurch giving a

firsthand account of the quakes

and their after effects. Having

learned just days before

Christmas of more earth-

quakes affecting Christchurch,

our Christmas greetings to

Ken and Carole were coupled

with concern for their wellbe-

ing. Below is their reply, both

reassuring and amusing, which

may be of further interest to

the Flyer readers.

Many thanks for your good

wishes. Yes, thank goodness,

we've been spared the brunt of

the quakes this time, as they

were centred to the east of the

city. One has to feel especially

sorry for those poor people

who are now shovelling lique-

faction from their homes for

the fifth time!

We are slowly getting back to

normal with earthquake repairs

etc., but sometimes the cure is

worse than the original prob-

lem! While we were having

our cracked forecourt and

driveways re-concreted the

concrete pump truck, weighing

over 30 tonnes, and with a

boom over 50 metres long,

managed to put down a stabi-

liser straight through our septic

tank.

The tank was smashed, the

truck up-ended, and the boom

came crashing down through

the roof. Fortunately no-one

was seriously hurt, but the

driver was very shaken, and

one of the workers was grazed

by the boom as it fell.

The pump truck ended up

balanced on one stabiliser,

which was buckling under the

weight, and had it given way

the entire truck would have

fallen straight through the

main living room wall. A 150

tonne crane and pilot vehicle

had to be diverted from quake

demolition duties in the town

centre to come and right the

pump truck. It made it through

the gate with less than an inch

to spare each side.

The roof is now repaired, but

the septic tank is unfortunately

still cracked and open to the

air. Not pleasant during the

summer months! We're keep-

ing our fingers crossed that

they can replace like with like,

as the compliance laws have

changed since the house was

built. If not we face endless

months waiting for planning

permission from the Council,

and drainage consent from En-

vironment Canterbury. As you

can imagine they've been in-

undated with requests over the

last year. We are still having

aftershocks, but only 3 today,

and none greater than 3.9.

Many thanks Tony – a very

interesting episode!