22 September. I visit
two Rotary clubs at the same time! New Malden club and Morden club decided to get together for my visit, which was a
more economical use of my time. New
Malden club arranged the meeting at Coombe Wood Golf Club, just off Kingston Hill.
I was particularly interested in this meeting because I was sure I had heard
once that the famous comedian Jimmy Tarbuck lived in the area and was a member
of the Golf Club.
Coombe Wood Golf Club
No doubt word would have got out about my visit this
evening, and it was quite possible that Mr Tarbuck would have wanted to meet
me. After all. It wouldn’t do his career any harm to be photographed with the
Consort to the DG, and I may be able to
introduce him to some useful people. I could even help him with some material,
as I know one or two jokes. I am always happy to offer assistance when I can.
Going back many years, I can remember that Jimmy Tarbuck used to have a car with the unique number
plate COM1C. Once, when my car was
broken down on Kingston Hill, and I was waiting by the roadside for help to
arrive, I saw a mini with the famous number plate go past, only it wasn’t him
driving it, but a woman. Perhaps it was his wife, or maybe he had sold the car
by then.
Jimmy Tarbuck with number plate
Upon arrival at the Golf Club, we thought the club house fairly
unprepossessing from the roadside, but once we went in, found it to be modern
and well appointed, with a magnificent view out across the golf course and
beyond. We met Peter Skinley, President of New Malden, who explained the reason
for the joint meeting today. It transpires that both new Malden and Morden
normally meet at venues which are upstairs, with no lift, and are therefore
inaccessible to wheelchair users. They
therefore decided to get together and change their venue to Coombe Wood GC,
which is fully accessible. I thanked him for this thoughtful act.
The DG with Assistant Governor Paul Hickson (left) and Peter Skinley
I also discovered, to my great disappointment, that Jimmy
Tarbuck has never been a member of Coombe Wood Golf Club, but is a member of Coombe Hill Golf Club, about a mile further up Kingston Hill. It is unfortunate
for him that he will probably never get the chance to use my jokes.
Both clubs had young members. I sat across from a Morden
member (Can’t remember his name) who joined Rotary from Rotaract. The thing
about Rotaract is that it is only for 18-30 year olds, so they have to leave
when they get beyond 30. We always hope that they will join Rotary afterwards,
but too often they don’t, so it was nice to meet someone who bucks this trend.
New Malden, on the other hand, have one of the youngest Rotary members I have
ever met. Angharad (Hari) Sparks is just 28 years old, and after attending a
Rotary Youth Leadership Award weekend, she was so impressed with the
organisation and the opportunity to help her community,that she became a
member.
With Hari Sparks
At the start of the meeting there was an induction ceremony
for New Malden’s newest member, Robin
Linnecar, who has a most impressive CV. He has held senior positions in
Industry, and chaired a number of Non Government Organisations (NGOs). I was particularly impressed that he was a
Cambridge Blue in Rugby, and later came to play for Rosslyn Park Rugby Club.
When asked later by the DG why he joined Rotary, he answered, rather
enigmatically, that he had been ‘conned’. I think he was joking. Robin’s induction was followed by the meal of
fish and chips followed by chocolate brownie with ice cream. Entirely acceptable, although perhaps not too
exciting.
Robin Linnecar's induction
At dinner, I sat next to John Harris, President Elect of
Morden Club, covering for his president,
who was not available for the evening.
To my right was Past District Governor David Powers, and we had a long
interesting chat about my trip to San Diego earlier in the year. When he was
DG, some 15 years ago the International Assembly was in Anaheim, California, but David
thought San Diego was a better venue. Our views coincided on a number of
issues, including standing ovations for the President of RI, first class travel
around the world for Board Members and their families, and many others. Although I had not long been a member of
Rotary when David Powers visited our club as DG, I remember his visit very
well. He brought with him a fold-up cardboard box, which opened out to become a
collecting box. I was impressed at the time with this innovative way of
collecting money, and I think the amount raised more than justified the effort.
Anaheim
The formal part of the evening began with reports from New
Malden’s various club chairmen, which was
followed by the DG’s address. As is her custom, she gave a fairly short speech,
before handing over to the assembled audience to entertain her , by asking
individuals ‘Why did you join Rotary?’, ‘What do you get out of Rotary?’ and
similar questions. This provoked a lot of discussion and comment from the
members gathered there, which I think makes the meeting more interesting for
them, rather than just listening to a speech from the DG.
The DG with John Harris and Peter Skinley
For the last few minutes the DG invited questions from the
audience, and a wide variety of topics were covered, including Friends of
Rotary, Twinning, and the date of Stroke Awareness Day (she didn’t know the
answer to that one).
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