Farewell Graham

Graham joined Soham Rotary just after it was chartered in 1975. He took his Rotary very seriously and was always one of the first to lend a hand where needed and always did so with a smile on his face although there was many a cold December Saturday morning as he collected for our annual MAGPAS appeal, that he could be heard muttlering about how many layers of clothing he was having to wear in order to stay warm.

Graham was Club President in 1990 - 91 and was also awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship. Always an active Club member, Graham laterly took on the role of Club Secretary and served on Club Council for many years and also acted as Club Accounts auditor for many years.  He would contribute to the Club Newletter with articles on skiing in Obergurgle and sailing around the Isles of Scily. Both sports which he loved before he had to give in to advancing years. He ran the wine bottle draw and was always chasing up fellow members for their contributions - he also helped making sure that our Rotary Information sites were stocked up around the town on a regular basis.

Graham embraced technology in as little a way as he could get away with - many a speaker finder evening which Graham himself spoke at involved him handing out large A3 sheets, all hand drawn, showing key information relative to his talk - some that come to mine were shipping forecast areas around Britain and Battleship movements durign the 2nd world war. This style of hand drawn activity also applied to Race Nights which he would run every year, the tricast and scoreboards all being do by hand.

Latterly in the role of secretary, word processing, the Staploe News and all that went with the role were a constant challange for Graham but as usual he tried to embrace these with a little help from his friends. His jokes and limericks in the Staploe News always raised a smile. Even Zoom, WhatsApp and Facebook were gingerly embraced although we all did occassionally get a voice recording from Graham with nothing on it.

Graham was presented with an engraved whisky glass on reaching his 40 years in the Club and could often be seen on Zoom with a suitable charged glass of the amber nectar.

Graham leaves a large hole in the Clubs deminishing membership. He had a rye smile, a dry sense of humour but was always wanting to do his bit for the Club right up until the end. We will miss him.

Lynette has always been a great supporter of Club events alongside Graham and hopefully we will still manage to see her at future events. We are here to support her and the family.

Safe onward journey Graham and may the wind in your sails always be at your back.