President’s Night is normally one of the big events of our year and a chance to dress up in black tie and glad rags. This year it was a really big event as it was the 40^th Anniversary of our Charter Night. President Patrick decided to combine the two events and it turned out to be an excellent idea.

We met in The Crown Manor House Hotel as usual but this time with 91 present. Special guests were the District Governor Mike Jackson and his wife Carol,  President Mike Newland from Hythe Rotary our ‘mother club’ with his wife Mary and our guest speaker, the very well-known Fred Dinage of Meridian TV.  

The evening certainly lived up to expectations and we all had a great time.  President Patrick presented commemorative gifts to the five members who were original founder members in 1975 – John Kernan, Frank Letch, Arthur Page Les Puttock and Sam Turner. He also made gifts to Pat Porter and Trish Barradell in memory of their late husbands who were the founder President and Vice president.

‘To try to help others is the best thing in the world’
President Patrick Dibben May 2015

When Fred Dinage got up to speak he used the above quote printed on the Menu as his theme. He congratulated the Club on the achievements of the past forty years and gave a hugely entertaining talk about his efforts to help others during his time with ITV which including him abseiling down the Spinnaker tower with a 90 year old lady.  Fred concluded by enrolling us all in an elimination game which gave us much amusement.

During the evening President Patrick and others outlined the huge number of charities and individuals which the New Forest Club had helped and the hard work and the fun and also the sense of satisfaction which we have all enjoyed.  As we left we were all presented with a beautifully produced book which detailed the achievements of each of the forty years. This had been produced by Ken Ball in collaboration with Ray Dawes and will be a proud reminder of the Club’s history.

All photos by Ray Dawes