80 Years of Rotary in Morden

Thursday 24^th June. I am invited to celebrate the 80^th anniversary of Morden, one of the oldest Rotary Clubs in District 1140 and I brought the DG along with me. It was a black tie event, held at Merton College, which is actually situated in Morden. Merton is a College of Further Education, and teaches vocational skills in a number of industries, including Construction, Engineering and (particularly relevant tonight) Catering. It is normal for catering colleges to operate Restaurants which are open to the public, so as to give students a real experience of cooking and serving food to paying customers. Merton College is no exception, and Morden Rotary Club had chosen to hold their anniversary meeting at Taste Restaurant within the College.

                                          Student staff at Taste Restaurant

I have previous experience of Restaurants in catering Colleges, having worked for several years at Brooklands College in Weybridge, and I often had lunch in their training Restaurant.  I even booked the whole Restaurant one evening for my Rotary Club’s president’s Night. The students looking after us would be studying for NVQs in Food Production and Hospitality, which would involve preparing food in the kitchen and also waiting at diners’ tables. First and second year students would work together in teams and eating there was always a good experience for me.

                                            Brooklands College

When I first came to the College, my initial thought was that I would be better off avoiding the Restaurant in September and October, as the students were only just starting their training. Later in the year, however, the students would be well under way with their training, and the food would therefore be better. It wasn’t long before I realised the error of my assumption. Not only were first year students working alongside second year colleagues, but college staff kept a watchful eye on proceedings and  provided a quality control function.

                                           Michel Roux visits Brooklands

Getting back to tonight, we were warmly greeted by President Tony Hunn, and met up with some old friends, including Jean Fox and Fred Renno. John Brewer was there also, and I chastised him for being without his recently acquired Paul Harris medal. Surely this is exactly the sort of event to show off his regalia. It was a warm evening, and cocktails were enjoyed on the terrace, before we were shown to our table in the Taste Restaurant. The Restaurant appeared very modern and well appointed, rather more so than Brooklands College I would say, although to be fair I haven’t been back to Brooklands for a couple of years. From my table in the Restaurant  I could see into the kitchen, and our waiters tonight seemed exceptionally well trained, and happy to chat with diners.

                                            The kitchen, as seen from my table

A table of photographs and other memorabilia was particularly interesting. There was a menu  from the inaugural meeting of the club at the Crown Inn, Morden. I was drawn to the fact that they had a 7-course luncheon that day. I doubted if we would be so fortunate tonight. There was also a board etched with the names of all Presidents of the club since 1935.

                                                        Inaugural menu 1935

                                                          This isn't Tony's first stint as President

Tony Hunn began proceedings by declaring that tonight would be a trip down memory lane, as the Rotary club reflected on its long history.  I noticed that the chair he was using was rather impressive, more akin to a throne. Tony explained that the Presidential chair was originally made by one of the club’s founder members, Arthur Champion, and the club had it refurbished recently in time for tonight’s celebration.

Tony (in presidential chair) with DG

Among the other distinguished guests tonight, apart from myself, were the outgoing mayor of Merton Borough, Agatha Akyigyina, as well as a number of former members of the Rotary Club who had come along to help celebrate its anniversary. There was also a celebrity among the students,  a young man called Aidan, I think, who was this year’s winner of the local Rotary Young Chef competition. He was called out from the kitchen to be presented to the diners. The club has supported Young Chef for 12 years, and they clearly have a super venue for the competition in Merton College.

                                                         The DG with outgoing Mayor Agatha Akyigyina

Different speakers regaled us with stories of some of the many projects the club has been involved in. Tony himself is the organiser for Kids Out, which the club has been involved in for 25 years. They take a group of disadvantaged children to Chessington World of Adventures for a day, something that club members find very rewarding. The Club also has supported the MordenLittle League football competition for boys and girls, ever since it was formed 46 years ago. The founder of the league, Frank Adey, needed sponsorship to get it off the ground, and after making a presentation to Morden Rotary Club, he came away with sponsorship for 5 teams. The club has sponsored teams every year since then.

                                                                     Morden Little League handbook

Other projects we heard about this evening were the purchase of an Access sailing boat to enable disabled sailors to sail on Wimbledon Lake, a minibus purchased for Endeavour Boys Club,  providing Christmas gifts for children who suffered in the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, and hosting groups of Chernobyl children who were brought to the UK for a holiday.

                                                          The DG presents Tony with certificate from RI

It was a super evening, at which the DG had very little to do, apart from proposing a toast to the Rotary Club of Morden, to which Tony  Hunn responded.  The food of course was excellent. We had roast rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, followed by a dessert of deconstructed passion fruit cheese cake. There is a current fashion for deconstructed food dishes, and I suppose it gives the students an opportunity to demonstrate their skills. Call me old-fashioned but I personally prefer cheesecake to look like cheesecake. 

                                           Deconstructed cheesecake