The second half........

The Christmas and New Year break were very welcome and it certainly took several days to get properly back into harness. It's amazing how quickly you can lose the plot!

January is Rotary Awareness month and perhaps we should turn our minds to San Diego where Governor Elect Paul is undergoing a week of intensive training. It is there that he will be inspired to lead this District forward in its mission to support our clubs, so that they can achieve even more to support our local and international communities. This is the most important part of his two year journey towards taking over as Governor, and when he returns in early February he will be the best informed Rotarian in the District. My thoughts are with him.

January started with a party. So many club Christmas celebrations had to be cancelled due to the wintery weather, and one on of those was the Asburton/ Buckfastleigh's bash on 4 January. There was a terrific turnout and I was privileged to induct a new member and present three very well deserved Paul Harris Fellowships. I think I can safely say that a good time was had by all.

The following day there was an audio meeting of the RIBI Membership Development and Retention Committee in the morning, followed by a Conference Committee Meeting in the evening. Things are really hotting up now, and we are extremely pleased with the way registrations are going; many thanks to you all for your support.

District Foundation Committee comes round with amazing regularity and their meeting also took place during the week.

The second week in the month saw me visiting RC Honiton alongside Extension Officer Felicity to see how we can secure the future of a club in the town. This week also saw the beginning of President of RIBI Jim's visit to us, when he attended the 90th Anniversary of RC Torquay. They were well supported by the Bay Group of clubs and it was really to see the support that this group gives each other. It was the first Rotary Club south of Bristol which was their mother club. Ninety years; what an achievement. It was a sparkling occasion and we were treated to a potted history by their archivist, who gave us a most interesting account.

On Monday Jim and I visited RC Tiverton for lunch. It was a lively meeting and a good number of visiting members, together with several District officers were present. We then drove on to North Devon for the Inaugural meeting of RC Ilfracombe Compass. As usual, my drive to Ilfracombe proved to be extremely wet! It was, however, better this time because we arrived in the light.

The Ilfracombe Golf Club was full to bursting, and it turned out to be an extremely enjoyable evening with a great deal of fun and repartee. If this was a sample of the way they do their Rotary, I am sure they will go from strength to strength. On Tuesday morning, Jim and I, and our kind hosts Ian and Cynthia Stuart were up early as we were looking forward to a very full day starting with a visit to St Nicholas Chapel on Lantern Hill in the Harbour, the restoration and running of which is a project of RC of Ilfracombe. We then went on to have coffee with the members of the club who were to meet later for lunch. We were fortunate that there was a complete change in the weather with not a breath of wind with the sun shining down from a blue sky. This was just as well, as we were next on our way to visit and tour of the Calvert Trust. We had also agreed, weather permitting, to do an abseil. They treated us to a sandwich lunch and we were then back to Banstaple, so that Jim could check out the charity shop which is being run so successfully by the two clubs there.

By mid afternoon we were back on the road to South Devon where there was just time to have a shower, change and catch our breath, before an evening meeting in Totnes. It was a vibrant meeting and we were very pleased to be able to show off our very swish newly refurbished venue to members from fifteen other local clubs who came along to meet Jim.

All in all, I believe it was a very successful RIBI President's visit to 1170, and I very much thank those of you who came along to the meetings. It was thanks to your efforts that it worked so well.