Recollections of yesteryear

The halcyon days of decades past were evoked in an absorbing double-bill of talks from former Presidents Geraint Griffith and Roger Harrison-Jones at Faenol Fawr. First to take members on an indelibly personal trip down memory lane was academic, ubiquitous sporting high achiever and acclaimed lecturer Geraint Griffith, a Rhyl Rotarian of 45 years standing and the club’s President in 1986. A graduate geographer of Aberystwyth University, a teacher at two of Wales’ grammar schools and later a senior Bangor University adult education lecturer, his expansive and diverse journey included musical links with choral singing at numerous Welsh National Eisteddfodau and Denbigh Choral Society, not to mention acclaimed first team soccer appearances on the wing at both Aberystwyth and Llandudno among his various ports of call. A debut aged 14 at Seabank Bowling Club, Rhyl, was followed by a long and legendary association with frequent title-winners Sunny Rhyl at their celebrated Botanical Gardens home, for the multi-talented bilingual all-rounder . Part two saw Roger Harrison-Jones underline his proud status as a second-generation Rhyl member, by emphasising the special delight at succeeding the club’s 1952 President Llew Harrison-Jones, his father, with his own installation in 1981. A member since 1969, aged 31, he served as Community Service chairman alongside an active role in developing the widely famed Rhyl family firm of Roger W. Jones, while modestly omitting his notable attainments as a long-distance Welsh international athlete, accumulating a host of awards at many landmark stages throughout his prolonged love of track and road running that still persists today. Both prominent members acknowledged their affection for and appreciation of their long and privileged years of enjoyment and fellowship in Rotary and were warmly thanked for their outstanding talks by President Keith Roberts.