Weekly meeting 14 November 2016

President Paul Robbins - Great Shave-Off !

23 members sat down to lunch today and Grace was spoken by PP Tony Nicholls. Following the meal, our Secretary reminded members that any outstanding voting forms had to be in his possession by next Monday 21 November at 13:00.

All very exciting today as before lunch our President Paul Robbins had his moustache shaved off for charity.  It had adorned his face for some forty five years and a professional barber (Efe - the UK's award winning Champion Barber from King's Barber's, High Street, Deal) was employed to do the deed.  Likewise a Press photographer from EKM was on hand to record the event for posterity 

Aprehensive President Paul Robbins - the mosutache he's had for 45 years is GOING !

No going back now !

We told him this was the barber's first attempt with a cut-throat razor!

Paul raised sponsorship money from his ‘shave-off’ and when added to the profit from the guided tour of Deal Castle and from last week’s Curry & Crooners evening, the total amount raised by Club members has reached an amazing £910 – we have also applied for a District Matching Grant, which we hope will raise an additional £450 – sufficient to meet the £1000 cost of the Salvation Army Christmas Lunch for disadvantaged local people. 

Because the monies raised for the Salvation Army’s Christmas lunch have now exceeded the total required, especially as a Grant has been applied for, Rtn Marlene Burnham suggested that perhaps any surplus could be put towards the Alternative Christmas Experience that runs on Boxing Day along the same lines as the previous day’s luncheon in that elderly, infirm or lonely people are invited to join in.  PP David Wells wondered whether we still gave money to what we still call the Deal Centre for the Retired.  Others suggested that perhaps any surplus money could usefully be split between the ACE event and the Deal Centre, and a show of hands confirmed that Club members were content with such an idea.

Our Almoner explained that Chris Farrer, who was absent today, was having trouble moving about but still aims to attend our Charter Night this Friday.  Lew Harris is ‘pushing on’ as Rtn Pat Brown said but he is not very well.

There was no 200 Club draw this week as there are still members who need to pay their dues.  The wine draw was won by Tony Nicholls. 

Our President told us that he had laid commemorative wreaths at both the War Memorial in the Hamilton Road cemetery and at the one in the grounds of Deal Hospital .  Each event he found a deeply moving experience.

David Lister, our First Vice President, had discovered there were two people lunching in another part of the restaurant who could have joined us but they were already eating so they came to be introduced at the end of the meal - Dick Doyle had been a member of the R C Ludlow and his wife Sheila has been an Inner Wheel member so they have been invited to come along and join us on a further occasion.  He also read out a letter from a member of the R C Woodbridge, Roger Burgess (a school pal of Howard’s), that he had seen in the Daily Telegraph.  This letter explained that the local Rotary Club were so fed up with the inability of their local council to repair the War Memorial in Woodbridge that they put a leaflet through every letterbox in the whole town, raised the money and repaired it ! 

Finally Paul Robbins reminded those present that he would like volunteers to help out on Christmas Day with ferrying the invited guests along to the Salvation Army’s Citadel for their Christmas luncheon.

And finally, please remember it is our Charter Night this coming Friday 18 November  - our Club’s 93^rd birthday celebration.  The event is being held at the Ramada Hotel in Dover; there is still just time to book a place - dress code Dinner Jacket and we should like you there by 7 pm and we shall sit down for dinner at 7.30pm.