Club Chronicle

27 November 2025: From Calgary to Vancouver

Today’s speaker was our 1st VP and PDG Anne Moriaty, who told us about the trip she and her husband, Steve, made when they attended a Rotary international Convention in Calgary this year. It took place two weeks before the annual Calgary Stampede.

The Convention took place in a stadium large enough to take the 20,000 attending. As is traditional, it began with a presentation by members of the First Nations. Anne was pleased to be able to speak a number of Rotarians, including the District Governor of Ireland’s sole Rotary District.

It was not possible to travel around Calgary without realising that the Rotarian Convention was happening, as there were numerous references to it, including this banner in the local stadium.

Anne and Steve also went along a trail in the local forest. Various quotations were displayed on pieces of wood along the trail, including one saying “May the forest heal your heart.”

After the Convention Anne and Steve boarded the Rocky Mountaineer for the next stage of their journey. The journey took a couple of days. The meals were served in a dining room on the lower level of a carriage which had a viewing area on top. As to be expected, there were tremendous views. The train travels on a track used only by the Rocky Mountaineer and freight trains. Occasionally the Mountaineer had to stop to let a freight train pass (slowly!) but there were passing places.

In places the track was parallel to a nearby line used by other trains. Anne shoed us a photograph they had taken from their window showing a large bear on the neighbouring track. They were safe inside their train.

Senior Guests’ Summer Party

We held our Summer Pary for Senior Guests on Saturday, 26 July 2025. As usual, it was held at the Chapter House.

It also followed the usual format:

• A non-alcoholic “cocktail” for each guest on arrival.
• Afternoon tea served at the tables by some of our members.
• Musical entertainment while people were eating.
• An interval with a quiz.
• Cake and tea/coffee with a musical accompaniment.

As has become traditional, the musical accompaaiment was songs the guests would have known, sung by Steve Moriaty, the husband of PDG and 1st Vice President Anne Moriaty. He is usually joined by their daughter, Pippa, but unfortunately she had to call off earlier in the morning.

Francis Whitbread was the quizmaster. Each table formed a team. There were twenty questions. Two tables tied with a very creditable score of 18 correct answers. Francis gave them a tiebreaker, “HOw long, in miles, is the Great Wall of China?” The two tables gave answers of 450 and 550. The team giving that second answer won because they were nearer the true figure of over 5,000.

W good time was had by all. Each guest was sent home with a goody bag.

Our thanks to all the Rotarians who gave guests lifts from home and back again or helped with the party in other ways. Our thanks, too, to Steve for once again singing for us and to the Cathedral and their Vergers for facilitating our use of the Chapter House.

Young Musician Regional Final

The Regional Final of Rotary Young Musician was held in Chelmsford Cathedral on the evening of Saturday, 8 March 2025. Two of our members handed out programmes. Other members of our Club attended, as did other Rotarians. The Region covers Districts 1080, 1090, 1240 and 1260, taking in much of Central and Eastern England. As Youth Lead for District 1240, Peter Dowse organised the Regional competition.

There were eight competitors, four instrumentalists and four vocalists. Our Club sponsored Amelia Yang, the sole violinist among the group, who won both the Chelmsford heat we organised and the District 1240 Final. The adjudicators were Liz Childs, a flute teacher at the University of East Anglia, Are Wangcharoensab, Assistant Director of Music at New Hall School, and Elyse Maugher, Music Lead at Isaac Newton Academy.

At is to be expected at this stage of the competition, we were treated to an evening of great music. Each competitor performed two or three pieces. The music they selected ranged from classical to modern. None of us envied the adjudicators the task of choosing winners and runners-up.

After all the competitors had performed there was an interval while the adjudicators deliberated and those who wished drank tea or coffee, stretched our legs, chatted with friends or did all three.

Art Wangcharoensab gave the adjudicators’ feedback. He said the competitors were “all winners”, which at this stage of the competition is literally true. The winning vocalist was Oscar Riley (District 1080) and the runner-up Nina Ayling (District 1090). The winning instrumentalist was clarinetist Fred Blackshaw (District 1080) and the runner-up our own Amelia Yang. The winners will now go forward to the National Final in Romford.

Quiz Night

Report by President Francis

The Wilderness Foundation quiz, was held at the Essex Young Farmers building at Chatham Green on 28 November 2024. We provided the quiz, quizmaster and admin on the night, leaving the charity to find teams, supply prizes, venue etc. We did a quiz on these lines for the Wilderness Foundation last year. They kindly asked us back as a result, and again the evening was a great success, with plenty of positive feedback. Nine teams took part, with the winning score 76 out of a possible 92, and more importantly, over £800 was raised for the Wilderness Foundation, which is a charity we are very pleased to support, not least because it is a District 1240 corporate member.

I had only one piece of negative feedback, from a quizzer who didn’t think I should have described Richard Osman as a comedian, but despite that I think we might be invited back next year to do another quiz, which we will be very pleased to do.

My thanks to fellow members Angela, Geoff, Graham, John, Anne and Bob, who were there to help with the quiz on the night and made sure it ran smoothly. Thanks also to Anne’s husband Steve for again providing the audio equipment and Bob’s wife Jean for being part of the team our club entered.