Presidential handovers - Cheam & Sutton

1^st July 2014.    The first day of my year as Consort to the DG is finally here. Although my inauguration won’t take place until next Sunday, I have my first official engagement already.

The Rotary Clubs of Cheam and Sutton got together to have a joint Presidential handover, held at Surbiton Croquet club. I was invited to attend, and brought the DG with me. What a great venue it was. There were 3 or 4 croquet ‘lawns’ laid out, and as it was a fine evening, several of us were invited to have a go at playing the game, under the guidance of a club member. Speaking to him during the evening, I expressed the view that there were probably not many other croquet clubs aropund London with whom to arrange a fixture. On the contrary, it transpired that there are actually several clubs around the London area and beyond, and the club has a full fixture list every season. 

Never having played croquet in my life, it was fascinating to learn a little about the game, its rules and tactics. Croquet balls, at £70 each are rather expensive and they were carefully counted out and counted back in. Basically, you have to bash your ball through a series of hoops, whilst trying to obstruct your opponent from doing the same.

                                                                                  Croquet player extraordinaire

I found myself playing against Mike Thorn. Just a friendly knock about, I thought. But no, I discovered what a competitive spirit Mike has.  He showed me no mercy as I tried to assimilate the rules, and trounced me 7:1. I know now how the Brazilian team felt at the World Cup. I felt I would have won the second set, but we had no time as we had to go indoors to the clubhouse for the formal part of the evening. Inside the clubhouse were several Rotarians I knew well, a cheap bar and a good salad buffet on offer, so it turned out to be a convivial evening.

The handovers were conducted as two separate ceremonies. Firstly Marcel Markan, outgoing President of Cheam, handed over his chain of office to Mike Thorn. He also presented a cheque to a Charity specially invited for the evening, who were his President’s charity for the year. Following this the Sutton club did the same activity, as outgoing president Sue Desborough handed over to the new president, Peter Kearns. In his inauguration address, the new President of Sutton said that although  his club was not big in numbers, it had excellent Rotarians amongst its membership, which enabled the club to punch above its weight.

                                                    Mike  receives presidential chain of Office from Marcel

It was interesting to note that Sutton Rotary club is 90 years old, probably one of the oldest in the District. This was evidenced by the presidential chain of office, which carried 90 little plaques bearing the names of all previous Presidents, and was consequently very heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if Peter walks with a stoop by the end of his year of office.

An enjoyable first engagement, then, and I look forward to many more to come.