Nov 1st.
The actual day of the Conference. It was an early start at 9.00 a.m and
would continue until 5 p.m. Fortunately we didn’t have far to go as the Southport
Convention Centre and Theatre was just next door to the hotel. Another difference to our own Conference was
that instead of rows of seats ‘theatre style’ we were seated at circular tables
on the floor of the hall, with the stage before us, and the Rotary Showcase up
some steps behind us. Thus everything was in the same room, which certainly had
its advantages, as it was easier for delegates to visit the exhibitors stands,
without having to go to another room to find them.
Southport Convention Centre
We were on a reserved table which we shared with Lyn and Ron
Marshall, Alistair and Margaret Marquis and Pat Wilson. Ken and Elaine were
manning the Trade Aid stand, whilst Les spent all day on the stage in a
comfy-looking sofa. Not too comfortable, I hoped, it wouldn’t do for him to nod
off during someone’s presentation. Although Les introduced speakers and thanked
them when they left, he wasn’t required to deliver a keynote speech, as happens
at our Conference.
A Trade Aid Stand
In the Rotary
Showcase, I noticed Jane Walker, from the Philippines Community Fund, who we
have seen at several events and she spoke superbly at our conference, so she
seems like an old friend now. Trade Aid, of course were there too, and another
charity that caught my eye was the Wheelchair Foundation, which sends out new
wheelchairs to Africa. An example of one of their wheelchairs was on display,
and of course it needs to be very sturdy to cope with difficult terrain in
remote areas. It was certainly quite heavy, much heavier, in fact than the
lightweight ones favoured by the DG.
Jane Walker at a Philippines Community Trust stand
The Conference got under way on time, and after being called
to order by Sergeant at Arms John McIlroy, Les Wilson started off the proceedings and
introduced the mayor of Southport, who welcomed us all to the town. The DG had
a speaking role at this point, as she was called upon by Les to read out the
Rotary Four-Way Test, which guides Rotarians in their behaviour both within,
and outside of Rotary. Next up was Jess, Representative of the RI president
Gary Huang, who spoke eloquently about when he first met Les Wilson, and also
about Gary’s message of ‘Light Up Rotary’.Another change from our Conference
was that speakers did not seem to be timed, so timings were a bit fluid. This
didn’t seem to cause any problems, though, as some over-ran, some under-ran,
and sessions finished more or less to schedule.
Our final speaker before coffee break was past RIBI
President Gordon McInally, who spoke to us about the excellent charity Hope and
Homes, which tries to ensure that orphaned children around the world are given
the opportunity to live in a family environment, rather than an institution. A very good cause, and Gordon spoke
passionately about his involvement in the Charity. He spoke a lot better about it than I could
have done, which almost happened. As his turn on stage approached, one of the
stewards approached me and said ‘Are you Gordon’ indicating I should get mic’d
up for my presentation. I pointed out that I wasn’t Gordon, and that he was
actually sitting right behind me. Fortunately they got the right man on stage.
Gordon McInally
After coffee, we had RIBI President Peter King, who is a
consummate speaker, followed by the excellent Ken Billington, speaking again
about Trade Aid, and then Milton Frary, speaking on behalf of the Wheelchair
Foundation. This particular charity was founded by a rich US businessman, Kenneth
E Behring, who wanted to help disabled people in remote corners of the world to
become mobile again, and has been supported by Rotary since 2001. Following
Milton was the most unusual presentation I have ever heard from an Inner Wheel
president. Angela Williams started off delivering the ‘usual’ speech about the
good works done by Inner Wheel, and their close association with Rotary. Then,
completely to Les’s surprise, she gave an impromptu performance playing her
clarinet, which brought the house down. It’s not often speakers leave the stage
with the audience calling for more!
Peter King addresses the Conference
As lunch approached, we had our final speaker of the
morning, and the one I think I enjoyed most. It was Dame Lorna Muirhead, the
Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside. A midwife by career, she spoke superbly, and
often hilariously, about how she came to be the Queen’s representative on
Merseyside, and about various times she had met the Queen and Prince Philip. I
enjoyed her description of how the Queen passes messages to her courtiers when she thinks it is time to leave a function. She gets out her lipstick and starts
re-doing her make-up. If the courtier doesn’t
spot this subtle signal, she then gets her handbag and plonks it down on the table, by which time the penny
usually drops.
Dame Lorna Muirhead (on right)
Lunch followed, and John McIllroy took the DG and I under
his wing. Lunch was served at a buffet, which we brought back to our tables, and
a queue quickly formed. John escorted me to the front of the queue to collect
our lunch, which was an excellent cold buffet. Being a competent chef myself, I
appreciate good quality food, but given a choice between quality and quantity,
I am inclined to go for quantity. I was not disappointed with quantity or
quality here. There was just an hour for lunch, which was barely time to
collect it, eat it, and have a quick dash around the Rotary Showcase, before
the afternoon session got under way.
The Southport Champion, one of the Champion Group newspapers
First up was Betty Drummond, the chief Executive of the
Champion group of newspapers, a well-known newspaper Group in the North West,
who told her personal story of how she started out as a local reporter and came
to be running a newspaper group. A series of short presentations then followed
from the ‘Rotary family’, which included representatives from Rotakids,
Interact and Rotaract and was then followed by presentations from Rotarians about some District
projects.
Following afternoon tea came the long-awaited motivational
talk from the legendary Geoff Mackey, who I have seen before and knew I would
thoroughly enjoy it. His theme today was ‘Why not give it a try’ and it was
illustrated by dozens of hilarious photos, which more or less followed the
theme of what he was saying. It was a lively and entertaining speech from a
larger than life character. The Conference was drawing to a close now, and Jess
was on stage next to speak a little about the Philippines, and give his view on
the Conference, which he declared to be the best he had ever attended. That must
have been music to Les’s ears, because DGs must all worry about what the RI Rep’s
report on the Conference will be like. There was a brief plug for next year’s
Conference in Chester, presentation by Les of some trophies, and then Les declared the
session over. It had been a long day,
but very enjoyable and informative, and we all went back to the Hotel to
prepare for the evening’s gala dinner.
RI President's representative Jess Nicdao
Dressed in all our finery, gongs etc. we once again met in
Les and Pat’s room before going down to dinner. This time it was so full we
couldn’t get in, and a few of us stood around in the corridor with our drinks.
Everyone looked great, particularly the ladies, but Alistair Marquis outdid
them all, looking resplendent in his Scottish Highland outfit complete with
kilt. The dinner was held in the same room we had been in all day at the
Convention Centre, but this time it had been transformed into a glittering
ballroom. As members of the District Governor’s party, we were clapped in to
the ball room (I’m becoming used to this now) and took our places at the top
table, along with Lyn, Ron, Ken, Elaine, Alan (another Trade Aid colleague),
Alistair and Margaret and also DG Jean Thompson, another visiting DG. The
dinner was memorable again for its quantity, which has been a feature of our
visit to this Conference.
Alistair and Margaret
During the meal, a singer, David Marshall sang some easy
listening background music, accompanying himself on the guitar. Diners
frequently stopped to show their appreciation with a round of applause. After
dinner we saw a different side to him. With a backing track being played by an
off stage accomplice (we later learned this was his daughter)
he re-appeared on stage wearing a mask and sang songs from Phantom of the
Opera, brilliantly. He then removed the mask and sang arias from popular
operas, and once again he was tremendous. What a find this man was. I would
have loved to have had him at our Conference in Bristol, if only we had known
about him then. He is apparently from the local area near Southport, but is
prepared to travel to gigs.
David Marshall entertains
At one point, David introduced his daughter, Olivia,
who sang a super rendition of the Kate Bush song Wuthering Heights. The whole
family is clearly talented. After a break, he returned again and sang party
numbers, well known pop songs and rock and roll, which had everybody, even the
DG, dancing along. At one point I was dancing with Elaine Sefton, and
congratulated her on her movement. Well, you could have knocked me down with a
feather when she said that she had been in the Pans People dance troupe in
1972. ‘What?’ I said ‘Pans People? I was in love with Pans People (in fact I
think I have an autographed photo of them somewhere). Every week I looked
forward to watching them on Top of the Pops!’ And here I was dancing with one
of them. As they say in these parts, I was made up.
Les Wilson surrounded by his guests.....
....and with his family
....and dancing with his fellow DG
It really was a great evening’s entertainment, which even
included a rousing rendition of the Liverpool football anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk
Alone’ complete with scarf waving. I don’t think Les Wilson, a lifelong Everton
fan, was impressed. However I think he was impressed, and rightly so, with this
super District Conference finished off with such style on Saturday night.
'You'll Never Walk Alone'
Pan's People
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