District Governor's Blogg- The year begins-----

The District Handover took place on Sunday 4th July at Dartington Hall which is a wonderful venue for Sunday lunch. The weather was kind and the drizzle held off just long for us to drink our Pimms on the lawn before lunch. In many ways we were quite pleased to see the skies cloud over, as it was planned to show a video as part of my address, and there is no way of covering the large windows in the Great Hall. The idea was that those assembled weren’t just talked at for the whole of the formalities.

The video, Star Trek 9½: The District Adventure, is now available to view on the District website and is entitled ‘Our Voyage’ It did its job by sending us home smiling, so I think we can say we had a very happy day.

I gathered myself together on Monday and set off mid afternoon for an RIBI Membership Development and Retention Committee (MDRC) meeting at Alcester on Tuesday. I have given you the abbreviation because you soon find that you have a whole host of these to learn once you get anywhere near General Council and RIBI committees. It wasn’t my first trip to ‘Head Office’ so it wasn’t too daunting, but it was the first time I had gone there to work. It turned out to be a pretty intensive day with a working lunch, finishing just before 4.00 p.m., but I enjoyed it immensely and I felt that we had achieved a great deal, although I did have to brace myself for the three hour drive home.

Wednesday saw me with a local meeting with a club President in the morning followed by my very first Club visit to RC Exe Valley in the evening. They turned out to be a lively bunch and were very hospitable. I had a most enjoyable evening and it was particularly interesting to attend a business meeting. It certainly put me in the mood for more and left me looking forward to the next one.

On Monday 12th July I found myself having ham, egg and chips with RC Exmouth after a good chin wag with a number of the members in the hotel bar. It was fortuitous that I saw a member of the club whilst trying to find somewhere to park my car, and he pointed me in the right direction to find a bit of free car parking. They were a very hospitable and friendly group, and I much enjoyed their company.

Monday saw me doing an official visit to my own club of Totnes; a very strange feeling being a guest in your own club, and in a way a bit daunting because they know the person behind the public image. They were, however, gentle with me and I am, of course, one of their biggest fans. It was a first as Governor too, because I inducted three new members into the club. Totnes, have I hope set the trend, so let’s have lots more inductions during the year!

On Sunday 18 July Les and I had the pleasure of attending Rotoproj, the fantastic District Project run by the two Rotary Clubs in Kingsbridge. In the morning at about 10.30, the coaches arrived carrying the five hundred plus disadvantaged young people and adults who had been invited for a day out. Many of them had been looking forward to it for months, having attended the event for several years. They spent the morning enjoying the thrills of the fun fair rides, generously donated for the occasion by David Rowlands and his family. In the background a jazz group was playing, and clowns on stilts were walking about.