I have always said that Christmas is the reason I joined
Rotary, because I remember the magic I felt as a child, when Father Christmas
came down our road, waving at me from his brightly lit sleigh, with Christmas carols playing through a
loudspeaker. (Obviously this was in the days before Health and Safety was
invented, as Santa would not be allowed to ride in his sleigh today). I didn’t
know then that it was all organised by the Rotary Club. When, 40 years later, I got to know some of
the local Rotary members, and they asked me if I would be interested in joining
them, it was the thought of being part of that magic that persuaded me. Now after
15 years in Rotary, I have done many interesting things and travelled the world
as a Rotarian, but it is still our Christmas activities that I enjoy most.
Street collections at Christmas
Shepperton Aurora’s sleigh is stored during the year at a
local farm, and at the end of November it is brought out for cleaning and, if
necessary, repairs and refurbishment.
John Dumbrell keeps it in his garage during the festive period, and
members take it out and put it back whenever it is required. We share it with
our ‘mother’ club, Shepperton and Sunbury, and split the various routes and
collecting opportunities between us. I didn’t get involved this year with
getting the sleigh out of summer storage, being busy with official duties as
Consort to the District Governor, so the festive period for me got under way on
3rd December with the Rotary Club Christmas party, held this year at
Castello Restaurant, opposite Church Square in Shepperton.
Castello Restaurant
Parking in that area is always a bit difficult, however
Douglas and Sally Dick, who live just a few doors up from the Restaurant,
allowed the DG and I to park on their drive, which was a great help. There was
a good group of 30 or so of us, but we were a little more restrained than we
might otherwise have been as we did not have the Restaurant to ourselves, but
were segregated into the conservatory, whilst families and couples took up the
remaining tables at the Restaurant. The organisers of the party, Chris and
Karen, had been very busy organising quizzes and prizes, and making sure we
pre-ordered our menu choices, them reminding us on the night what we had
ordered. For some reason, they wanted me to attend as an Italian gangster, so I
had an appropriate hat to wear, and I endeavoured to look suitably
intimidating, and threatened a number of members with horses heads in their
beds if they did not behave. We were
divided into teams for various quizzes, and our team, comprising the DG,
myself, Janet and Pauline did exceptionally well, I thought, but were robbed of
victory by several other teams.
The conservatory at Castellos
We had a special visitor on the night in the form of Michal
Cantrell, a Rotary Global Scholar from the USA, who Rotary have funded to study
for a year at Kings College in London. Shepperton
Aurora is her official host club, and she came along to our Christmas party,
staying overnight with John and Jean. Originally from Arizona, she is an
officer cadet at West Point Military Academy, and shortly to be commissioned.
She was very interested in what we got up to as a Rotary club, particularly in
our activity of accompanying Santa and his sleigh around the local streets, which doesn't seem to happen where she lives. She
expressed a particular interest in a tour of Sandhurst, which I shall
investigate on her behalf.
Party night, with Michal Cantrell front left and the DG front right
The next Christmas activity for me was our static collection
in Shepperton High Street on 6 December. Here we park our sleigh near the BP
Garage, where Santa himself joins us, whilst four of our members take up
positions along the high street with collecting buckets. It is very popular
with young families and Santa is kept busy all day greeting children and
adults, offering sweets and bonhomie to all. My slot as a collector was for the
hour from 11 a.m. to 12 noon for which I stood outside the Co-op, trying not to
obstruct their entrance or their trolley stand. You certainly see life when you
stand in one spot for a period of time. There is a narrow service road outside
the Co-op, and I saw some interesting attempts at parking, and some resultant
car rage from other drivers. One poor woman parked her car, but every time she
tried to lock it the car alarm sounded, much to her embarrassment and the
annoyance of nearby shop owners. I offered to keep an eye on it if she left it
unlocked, but even then the alarm went off periodically.
Fine weather this year - Ken Howe and Andrew Wasilewski with Santa
I am always surprised at the number of people who will stop
and chat to someone standing holding a bucket wearing a hi viz jacket with
Shepperton Aurora Rotary emblazoned across it. One woman told me most of her
life story in five minutes, others brought their dogs along to be patted. Quite
a few people said to me that they had already put money into the buckets of one
of my colleagues, for which I thanked them profusely and let them off any
further donations. At the end of our 4 hour stint we had collected over £500 which
I felt made it a worthwhile exercise. I like to think that people trust Rotary
and are happy to give money to us knowing it will be well used.
Conditions in the High Street were different 3 years ago!
There was a time when I avoided the High Street collections,
as I was a bit embarrassed about people who knew me seeing me with a collecting
bucket. My view has turned full circle since then, and I am now delighted to
meet people I know whilst I am
collecting. During my hour in the High Street I met several acquaintances, and
saw it as a good opportunity to catch up with old friends, and explaining to
them how the Consort would not normally be doing such menial work as
collecting, but wanted to show that even someone in my exalted position can do
his bit for the Rotary Club. Incidentally, I would have volunteered my services
for longer than one hour, but I had to get back to Daisy, who was on her own at
home. Once upon a time, the DG and I used to bring Daisy with us when
collecting in the High Street. She would lie on a rug near the sleigh and would
be quite happy being admired by her adoring public. However we had to stop
doing this after an officious local councillor pointed out that we were violating a by-law (it might have been by-law number14 sub-section b (5) which forbids using unpaid dogs to entice innocent
people to part with their cash (or words to that effect). Bah, humbug!
The DG does a stint
On 8th December we took the sleigh on our 3rd
annual visit to Upper Halliford Nursing Home. This is one of our street
collecting evenings, starting at 5.30 p.m. with Joe as Santa’s helper, and
Laurie towing the sleigh. We always try to finish our routes by 8 p.m. on the
basis that our target audience should all be in bed by then. Anyway on this
evening Joe, Laurie and I met beforehand at the Nursing Home at 4.30 p.m. to give the
residents some festive cheer, before going on to the street collection. The
Nursing Home staff are very good at getting as many of the residents as possible
into the foyer to meet Santa, and it’s remarkable how much excitement there is
among some very elderly, and very disabled people at meeting Father Christmas. Proof indeed, if it was needed, that Christmas isn’t just for kids. We spent
some time there, with Joe explaining what we would be doing later on this evening. He also gave some
amusing anecdotes about what children say to Santa when they met him. It was a
pleasure to come here and share a few minutes with the residents and staff,
before heading off to start the evening street collection.
Upper Halliford Nursing Home (from their website)
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