Rushmoor

12^th November. After all the glamour of Charter Nights and Conferences in exotic  Districts, it was back down to the bread and butter work of a Consort as I continued my club visiting programme at Rushmoor Rotary Club. The DG accompanied me, as usual. The club meets at the Army Golf Club in Aldershot, which is reached along quiet lanes without street lights. This evening it was dark and pouring with rain as we drove up to the golf club, but I handled the driving with my normal consummate skill, and swept into the golf club’s car park and straight into a parking space without the need for any manoeuvring. As I got out of the car, I kind of hoped there had been some witnesses to this exhibition of the driver’s art. I soon changed my mind about onlookers when I stepped right into a 6 inch puddle, beside which I had unwittingly parked.

                                                                 The Army Golf Club

The DG was more fortunate on her side of the car, and her feet remained dry. I however had a soaking wet right foot, but naturally I remained outwardly unconcerned as I walked into the building, hoping that the soft squelching sound coming from my shoe wouldn’t be noticed.  I should, of course have removed my sock, but did not want to draw attention to my misfortune, and carried on stoically for the rest of the evening. My thinking was that if I acted as if my foot wasn’t soaking wet, then no-one would know. Besides, golf clubs often have strict dress codes in their dining rooms, and being without a sock on one foot could be a breach of such rules. What a scandal it would be if the Consort had been refused admission due to being improperly dressed.

                                                          Dining Room

The Army Golf Club used to be exclusively for the use of military personnel, but now they let anyone join. I have evidence of this because one of my friends with whom I play golf on the occasional Saturday morning is a member here. The facilities are excellent, and it is a good venue for a Rotary Club meeting.  Rushmoor is a good sized Club, with 41 members. I already knew several of them, because they are well represented in the District team, with Owen Durrett as District Secretary, Peter Meldrum on the Bristol Conference team, Kevin Mack on Health & Safety, and of course Neil Rorie, District Membership Chair. Janet Lister has spoken at our club a couple of times, and I have met Lorna Thomas at District membership meetings. Also, I have known their current President, Stuart Casey for several years in a professional capacity, before we both joined Rotary. So I felt pretty well at home when I arrived there.

                                                                  The Golf course

The club has a number of projects and activities to keep themselves busy, one of which I experienced in July, as they provided the barbecue for the DG handover. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was possibly the best barbecue I have ever had. Their barbecue is available for hire, and they  cater at a number of events during the year, earning some good income for club funds.

They also have the ‘freewheeling’ project through which they recycle redundant/unwanted wheelchairs, and other walking aids, from various sources in the UK and make them available free of charge to the needy disabled people in Southern Africa.  Some 25,000 wheelchairs have been sent to South Africa since the project started in 1992. The DG herself has donated one of her old wheelchairs to the project.  An annual Donkey Derby is organised jointly with the Rotary clubs of Farnborough and Ash & Blackwater valley. I have been invited to next year’s event, where the DG has the dangerous task of judging a baby competition. If I was judging it, I think I would play safe and declare a dead heat between every entrant.

                                       

                                                         Farnborough Donkey Derby

One of the things I have always liked about the club, and this has been apparent on previous occasions that I have met them, is that they are very rude to each other. Nobody takes offence, and will usually respond in kind. This is, of course, a sign of a club where members like each other and are comfortable in each other’s company. You know you have been accepted when people are rude to you, and I was gratified to find that people were even rude to me and the DG on occasion.

For some reason, probably an oversight, I wasn’t put on the top table, but was looked after by Ray Hunt and Phil Blows on a table about as far removed from the top table as you could get. Also on my table was Neil Rorie, my boss on the District membership team. He had his arm in a sling tonight, and when I enquired about what he had done to it, he said that he had severely damaged tendons in his shoulder. Phil offered the explanation that it probably happened when Neil went to get his wallet from his jacket, a movement he doesn’t make very often.

Neil Rorie and his arm

The food at the golf club is excellent, and the portions enormous, which always appeals to me. Tonight we each had half a chicken, with sautéed cubed potatoes and salad.  I helped myself to two portions of potatoes, and there was still loads left over. Afterwards we had a choice of Key Lime pie (which I like) or cheese and biscuits (which I like even more).

                                         Excellent food

During the meal I chatted with Ray and Phil, and was interested to learn that Phil works for Costco. I told him that we had recently joined  Costco at their new store in Hayes, the nearest one to us, after receiving inducements in the form of Discount vouchers and free stuff from them. We had been most impressed with the Store and its range of products (their beefburgers are second to none), although we found the journey to Hayes very difficult due to heavy traffic at any time of day. He suggested we try the Farnborough store, where he works in the bakery dept. Although it was further for us to travel, it was mostly along motorway, which would be quicker and more comfortable.

                                                                 Costco Hayes

Another of their members, Brand Richey, who found notoriety for pouring cold water over the DG at the Bristol Conference dinner, had just returned from a holiday in New Orleans, and it seems traditional at Rushmoor for members returning from holiday to bring a gift back for the president. On this occasion, Brand presented a bottle of hot sauce, called ‘Bayou Butt Burner’ and also a tall hat decorated with the US flag. Stuart spent the rest of the evening wearing the hat, but I didn’t notice whether any of the sauce was used on his chicken.

After dinner the DG embarked on her presentation at which she asks questions of members to get them talking. Surprisingly, for such an outgoing club, they were a bit reticent in their replies to the question ‘Why did you join Rotary?’, and there were no fascinating stories emerging, as I have heard at other clubs.  Consequently the DG did most of the talking. One thing she likes to do when she visits clubs is to hand out lapel pins, which we usually refer to as badges, either the ones with the new Light Up Rotary theme, or the ‘King pins’, produced in honour of Peter King’s year as RIBI President. However she frequently forgets to do so, and she was in danger of forgetting it tonight as well. I decided to remind her, and when she asked for questions from members I put up my hand and asked if she wanted to say anything about badges. ‘Badges?’ she said ‘What about badges?’ She clearly hadn’t  cottoned on to my gentle reminder, so I persisted ‘Aren’t there some new badges this year?’ Finally she got the message. ‘Oh!’ she said ‘Would anyone like a badge?

                                        The King pin

The DG’s final duty of the evening was to present some awards. Firstly a Golf Cup was awarded to Dennis Cantwell. I’m not clear what he did to win the trophy, but I presume that he won a golf competition. Next there was a long service award presented to Steve Beck, who has been a member for 25 years. I wondered why my own club, Shepperton Aurora, hasn’t presented any such awards, and concluded that it could be because the club was only chartered 16 years ago. The next award was also one that our club has never awarded, and perhaps we should start doing so, it was a badge for sponsoring a new member. If our club did this, I would have a lapel full of badges by now.

                                                         Stuart Casey (wearing hat) introduces the DG

                                                      The DG presents long service award to Steve Beck

The meeting was now drawing to a close, and in recognition of yesterday having been armistice day on the 100^th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, there was a pause for reflection, whilst June Smith read the moving poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McRae. It had been an enjoyable meeting, and all that remained was to squelch my way back to the car with the DG .