And then came April.......

Since last putting pen to paper my feet don't seem to have touched the ground. I spent a very interesting evening with Exeter Eastgate Club, who had asked me to go along to their meeting to give a presentation to a clutch of potential Rotarians. Although a small club who have struggled with numbers recently, I am very impressed by the way they have grasped the nettle, and their determination to succeed with recruitment. I wish then every success; they deserve it.

The conference committee held a very successful debrief meeting and celebrated with a glass of fizz. DGE Paul, DGN Graham, DGNN Barry and PDG George were all in attendance. Many lessons were learned from the committee's experience, and they were able to pass these on to our successors, along with a very comprehensive Conference Manual which has been prepared by Conference Chairman, David.

Next came the first of the new club charter nights; Braunton Caen. It was a joyous occasion commencing with a fanfare and was celebrated in real style. This was followed the next day by Axminster's President's Night. They held a professionally organised Murder Mystery at Lyme Regis Golf Club. It was a most enjoyable evening and I was lucky enough to win the prize.

I attended a very interesting meeting at my own club of Totnes when returning members of the Brazil GSE Team made a a comprehensive presentation of their visit and showed us how GSE really does change lives.

The following day the Governor group held their regular Continuity Meeting. This is probably one of the most important committees in the District, because it means that future leaders are kept completely in the loop and have ownership of all that we do. This means that we can avoid the stop, start Rotary which can be a feature of annual office and ensures smooth succession.

I travelled to Cornwall for the Young Chef regional final and was delighted to be present to see one of candidates win through to the National Final in Stratford on Avon. I shall be travelling there to support her on 30 April and hoping for her success.

On my return from Cornwall I attended the second of our new club Charters. Teignmouth Estuary held their celebrations at the Teignmouth Golf Club and I think I can safely say a good time was had by all.

At the end of March I attended RIBI Assembly in Birmingham. It was a really good assembly this year and all of the team were enthusiastic about the programme and it's content.

Last weekend I spent a very enjoyable evening at South Molton's President's Night and I congratulate Kathy and the club on an excellent evening.

After a pretty late night I was up early on Sunday morning to drive the sixty miles to Upton to support and take part in the Exmoor Challenge, which I am pleased to say, we have managed to win back from District 1200 this year. My sincere thanks to all those of you who rose to the challenge and turned out to do the walks, and to RC of Exmoor for their fantastic organisation. It was a most enjoyable day, only marred slightly for me by the fact that I had to drive on to Alcester for a briefing meeting on Monday morning.

Following Monday's drive home and a very quick change it was a rush back to Exeter for their President's night. Again, a super evening where I presented eight very well deserved Paul Harris Fellowships. President Graham tells me that it is many years since the club have made any Paul Harris recognitions!

A meeting art Seale Hayne College to prepare for District Assembly and my last District Council Meeting of the year last night brings us up to date.

I shall be flying to Dublin on Tuesday for the Annual Conference and I very much hope that those of you unable to attend, or who have never managed to attend an RIBI Conference will watch the business meeting on line.

You don't have to miss the all-important Business Meeting, because it will be broadcast on the RIBI website, live from Dublin, on Saturday 16th April between 2.00pm and 5.00pm.

Simply go to the Dublin Conference Webcast page, in the Events area, to see what's going on and you can follow it all using the Annual Report, Accounts and Resolutions insert in this month's Rotary Today magazine. (Not got a copy? Read it online here.) Please note, the webcast page will not go live until Saturday 16th.