Members of the Rotary Club of Frodsham & Helsby meet the Dalai Lama
His Holiness, the Dalai
Lama, attended a meeting on Friday 30th May at Rhodes House, Oxford,
entitled “The British in Tibet” The invited audience consisted of
families of individuals who had worked or visited Tibet pre 1950 or had
been associated with Tibetans in exile in India and Nepal.
Rotarians President Barry Linaker and Richard Brooks were very fortunate to have been invited by Rotarian David Roaf and his family who have very strong Tibetan connections via his father Professor Robert Roaf. The late Prof Roaf was one of the most distinguished orthopaedic surgeons of his day and a member of the 1936 expedition to Sikkim and Ladakh and was a life long supporter of the Tibetan people and the Tibetan form of Buddhism. Professor Roaf was recognised by the Rotary Club of Frodsham and Helsby as a Paul Harris Fellow not only for his own international service but also for the encouragement and support he gave to others to study, visit and support Tibetan exiled communities in India and Nepal.
Rotarians and Doctors Barry Linaker and Richard Brook had both worked with Tibetans in exile, Barry in Delek Hospital, Dharamsala, Northern India (where the Dalai Lama and his government in exile reside) and Richard in Kathmandu, Nepal.
About 250 people were present and after the address by his Holiness, The Dalai Lama, on relations with China, Tibetan culture and his philosophy on life and relationships, he was introduced to all members of the audience. Unfortunately, each group was allotted only 2 minutes and, as he is very calm and charismatic, and a great giggler, time passed all too quickly. He was presented with and graciously accepted a Rotary banner from our club. Although he is in his 70’s he remains extremely fit, and indeed needed to be, as he was addressing the Oxford Union after our own audience
It was a great privilege to meet such a famous world leader, even though for all too short a time. Although Tibet has a relatively small population, this amazing man, who was recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama when he was only four years old, ensured that his country, culture and faith have not been forgotten by the rest of the world, even though its giant neighbour would prefer a “less turbulent priest”.
Presentation to
the 4th Frodsham Scout Troup.
On Thursday the 5th of June our Club formally handed over a variety of camping equipment badly needed by a local Scout Troup.
Following a donation made in February of this year, the way was made clear for the leaders of the Scout Troop to arrange the purchase of equipment such as Tents, Cooking and Catering Equipment and a Trailer that would replace similar items, now long passed their best days, which will be used by the Troup’s Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.
To mark this handover, Group Scout Leader Ron Sayle, other Scout Leaders and a large number of uniformed Beavers and Scouts provided a display of their newly acquired equipment at the Forest Hills Hotel, for the members of our Club to view. The occasion was made particularly poignant by the presence of Daniela Cervenka, the wife of the late Tony Cervenka, a recent Past President of our Club.
Tony devoted a substantial amount of his time and effort into Rotary Youth Projects involving youngsters both Locally, Nationally and particularly from his native Czech Republic.In recognition of Tony’s work, it was arranged that the equipment be appropriately marked with his name and that of our Club, as an expression of respect and appreciation.
The awards however did not stop there however as, during our normal weekly meeting that followed the Scout’s presentation, we bestowed a posthumous Paul Harris Fellowship on Tony. IPP Malcolm gave a brief presentation that outlined in appropriate detail Tony’s work, and President Barry presented the award Document and Medals to Daniela.
Seen here with President Barry, Daniela Cervenka and Ron Sayle, are all the uniformed Troup as well as many Rotary Club members.
The 13th Annual RIBI Clay Target Shoot
For Poynton & District Rotary Club, 13 was a lucky number. Having been a regular high scoring team, they finally made it to the top of the order at the RIBI clay target shoot.
Once again the annual RIBI Clay target shoot at Catton Hall Frodsham was a great success, 84 guns took part and £1,000 was raised for the International Rotary Charity (The Rotary Foundation).
Whilst former champion and ex England shot, Colin Caws was sadly missed by the Newport Isle of Wight Rotary Club Team; still the furthest travellers and eleven times winner, his absence (having emigrated to New Zealand) opened up the competition for new champions to emerge.
The next longest travellers, from Kirriemuir near Dundee, were rewarded with success as their captain James Arnott was the winning gun with a high score of 65 out of 75 clays, runner up (or reserve high gun to quote the parlance of the experts), was Andy Freedman of the Rotary Club of Poynton and District only one shot behind with a score of 64. His day was made especially joyful as he was also the proud recipient of the Top Team award with his colleagues Ian Perry and Trevor Blueman with a score of 164.
The Reserve Team from the Rotary Club of Prescot scored 145 the members Mark Salmon, Hetty Salmon and John Holland received their trophy and replicas from Frodsham Club President Barry Linaker.
As of course did all other award winners, unfortunately the winners of the Clay Preservation (Oswestry ‘C’) award had already left to begin their celebrations en-route to Oswestry. Former Oswestry President and now member of the Frodsham Club, David Roaf accepted the trophy on behalf of Chris Perry, Ray Lewis and Mike Jones.
The Rotary Club of Frodsham & Helsby wishes to thank all who participated, shooters, supporters and helpers for making this a successful day as the shooters said “This was a well organised and impressive shoot” and we look forward the welcoming them again next year.
The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
