Green Eaves Garden Meeting

What we did instead of Wheels

We had an excellent Rotary/Inner Wheel gathering last Sunday (18th July), courtesy of Nick and Libby Rowles  who offered their garden and sorted out the food and drink. On a very hot afternoon the cold ham and cheese salad went down extremely well, and the cooling effect of the wine and beer was as much appreciated as the alcohol effect.

Apart from getting together in small, socially-distanced groups for walks and a couple of breakfasts, this was the first Wadebridge Rotary gathering since March 2020 (and I imagine similarly for the Inner Wheel) and it was clear that people had been missing it. As such, it provided the first opportunity for the handover of the Presidential Chain from Nigel Davey to Stuart Hutchison (we have not been able to implement the Zoom object-teleportation facility).

Nigel was then able to surprise Stuart with a Paul Harris Fellowship, awarded primarily for his term of office as chairman/team leader of Wheels, our classic car event which had been scheduled for the same day, but cancelled because of Covid, not least that the vaccination centre is still occupying the Wheels space on the Showground.

Nigel sprang another surprise with another Paul Harris Fellowship award, to Kevin  Smith for getting to grips with the technology and launching Wadebridge Rotary into the Zoom era, which enabled the club to keep meeting every week, often with more attending than had generally come to the dinner meetings in person.

It was then Nigel’s turn for a surprise, as new President Stuart presented him with a third Paul Harris Fellowship, not only for his two-year leadership as President through arguably the most difficult times since the club’s founding but also for the significant contributions that he (and Team Davey) have made to Wheels and other projects.

Underlying the surprises was the remarkable fact that three separate discussions had been going on about the PHFs, without once getting the email distribution lists mixed up and thus letting the cat out of the bag. MickGoward's  ability to organise the PHFs for each President without ever letting on to the other was notable; do not play poker against this man.

As people started to leave, impeccable host Nick was on hand to press surplus baguettes on them. A great afternoon.

Photos by Martin Broadfoot   Report by Kevin Smith