Club Bulletin for September 2022

The Club Bulletin for September 2022


                                            Rotary Club of Cheltenham North

                                                  September 2022 Bulletin

District Forum In Gloucester Richard Purdon

An interesting evening held on Tuesday 23rd August.

DGE Anne, Sue Jenkins and I attended the above with over 70 other Rotarians at the Holiday Inn at Barnwood.

It was special as it was the first face to face meeting of such a group for over 2 years.

We were in awe of the story, new Rotarian , Will Jackson gave of the work he has being involved in for Ukraine. He has been sending and delivering goods and services since the conflict began, now 6 months ago. He has worked in Ukraine before and travelled with 2 other Ukrainians, who helped him gain access safely in and out of the changing country. The pictures he took unofficially were a very stern reminder of the awful conditions the locals are living with. One of his great help was to transport 4 x 4 vehicles on trailers. These were then camouflaged to do behind the fighting lines to assist wounded soldiers and civilians and to bring them back to safety.We then had 2 presentations about how 2 – youngish clubs - had regrouped and then attracted a new generation of members. These were Swindon Phoenix and Gloucester Quays, both of which were chartered within the last 12 years or so.

In a practical sense they went through the process Cheltenham North managed in the mid 2000s.

Namely, reviewing how they met, what the new priorities were and regrouped. Two messages were consistent in both presentations. Is the club offering relevant to new members? Is the message given out to the local community engaging enough to attract newcomers? How “we” deliver our Rotary was the common theme.

Clearly the new Cheltenham Future is addressing this need.

We also had the results of an on–line survey in July. Those who completed it – around 25% of the District members – saw the results of the state of the clubs in our District, and the view that those clubs had of District.

It was difficult to decide the relevance to our Club this had. Except to be a constant reminder if we do not review what we do and how we do it, decline can happen relatively quickly.

Of course there was a major plug to attend conference in October!!

Wine Festival Saturday 29 October 2022

Your support is requested for the wine festival next month. This is one of our major fundraising events and you can [lay a vital part by getting your friends to purchase tickets, publicising the event whenever you can and helping on the day. Please let Pater Watson know if you are free to help.

PURCHASING WINE FESTIVAL TICKETS AT THE DISCOUNTED RATEOF £20

1. Go to the Cheltenham Wine Festival web-site, whether directly or via the RCCN web-site. 2. Click on the green “Buy tickets/join the guest list” box. 3. Select the number of tickets that you wish to purchase for each session from the drop-down boxes. Click “Next”. 4. On the next page, click on “Do you have a prime code?”, just below the order details. 5. Enter ROTARY22. Use capitals and no spaces. Click apply. The order total should adjust to £20 per ticket. 6. Complete the details requested on the form and proceed.

Visit to Woodchester Winery Steve Wood

The evening of Thursday 11 August saw an intrepid group of Cheltenham North Rotarians heading south with the intention of visiting Woodchester Valley Vineyard & Winery. Having followed the detailed directions supplied by our hosts, including the encouraging information that “the satnav does not take you directly there” our group all navigated the narrow and steep final half-mile of the route with most of us arriving by the appointed time.

You will recall that 11 August fell within the great heatwave period of 2022 and so it was with pleasure that we assembled in shade outdoors to sample a taste of Culver Hill 2020. I think that we all agreed that “this wine has enticing notes of crisp and refreshing citrus and green fruits which are beautifully balanced with subtle peach and hints of minerality. The barrel fermented Ortega gives great texture and balance. This is a delicious, dry white with a clean and pleasing finish”.

Assembling outside, rather in the tasting room, was in no small way dictated by the fact that the vineyard and surrounding area were suffering a power cut. This meant that our host and guide, Greg Chappell, had to give his introductory presentation, which again took place in the open air, assisted by the slides that only he could see on his lap-top, instead of projecting the slides on to a screen. I felt that this had the advantage of inducing Greg to say more, rather letting us infer detail from the slides. It was Greg who spoke to the Club about Woodchester some time ago.

We next set off to view some vines. Our first stop was to a field of seven-year-old vines that were supporting a good crop of grapes, looking healthy in spite of the drought. In fact these vines had been watered from a tank and hoses, hand-held by two of the staff stood on the back of a tractor-towed trailer. This is the first time that they have had to resort to such irrigation. We learnt a good deal about the challenges of viniculture, not least the fauna that try their best to undermine the grape-growers best endeavours. I can recall rabbits, deer (three varieties), badgers and birds all having to be deterred.

We next moved on to view a planting of three-year-old vines that were producing their first, minimal crop. There are several thousand vines in this planting, each carefully positioned in straight rows and columns. Greg related that the fencing contractor appointed to erect the posts that support the cables to which the vine branches are fixed was unable to fulfil the contract and so Greg’s mother-in-law (and boss) purchased a post fixing machine so that Greg could complete the task. The contractor had been hired for three weeks. The work took Greg three months.

The next stop was to the winery to learn how the grapes are turned in to wine and we finished in a rather dark area, due to the power cut, where the wine is stored prior to bottling and the bottled wine is finished off, in particular removing dead yeast from sparkling wines. Woodchester does not have its own bottling plant. Instead they hire a “portable” bottling machine, which arrives on a low-loader each year. Greg believes that the man who delivers the machine and takes it away again is the best driver in England and looking at the road up to the vineyard and imagining a low-loader navigating the bends involved, it is hard to disagree.

Our tour completed, it was time for our grazing table supper and more wine tasting. We actually ventured in to the tasting room for this part of the evening. It still being very light outside, the lack of electric lighting was no problem. The wines that we tasted were:

Bacchus 2020, “A quintessential representation of the varietal style. Aromatic yet dry, With both Early and Late harvested fruit this wine offers complex flavours of zesty citrus and gooseberry, subtle lychee and pineapple, with a distinctive elderflower aroma. The finish is mouthwatering and incredibly refreshing”.

Pinot Rosé 2021, “Beautifully dry, crisp and refreshing with wonderful red fruit aromas and a bone dry palate”.

Cotswold Classic 2019, “A blend of 75% Seyval Blanc and 25% Pinot Blanc with fresh citrus notes, aromas of red apple and subtle stone fruits, this wine has a great mid-palate structure and a balance that is nicely rounded with good effervescence. The lees ageing brings some aromas of pastry and brioche reminiscent of a delicious apple pie.”

Reserve Cuvée 2018, “This non-vintage Reserve Cuvée has a minimum of 24 months lees ageing in bottle which is expressed by the toasted autolytic characters of this Pinot dominant blend. The wine shows great complexity both aromatically and on the palate, expressing ripe red fruit and subtle red apple with great balance, a fine mousse and an excellent lingering finish.”

All very tasty - some of us were even moved to buy some wine. This was a very enjoyable evening and we were made most welcome. We look forward to seeing Woodchester Valley Vineyard at the Wine Festival in October - tickets still available!

Foundation Contributions in 2021/22 Richard Purdon

As part of the role of a Club Foundation Chairman is the need to update the membership on contributions to our major Rotary Charity.

For newer members this has an administration office in RGBI in Alcester. But, the Trustees sit in Chicago and manage the income, expenditure and investment, under US Law.

The full set of accounts for the last Rotary year will be published within the next 3 months.

But, I now have the details of the figures from our District for the year in question.

Figures in $ Foundation Fund End Polio Now Other Income TOTAL

District Payments 100,193 22,069 633 122,894

Cheltenham North 266 - - 266

The following personal observations are recorded:-

· Foundation Donations are down – partly because of the difficulty of having many face to face meetings in some of 21/22.

· Membership numbers are down, so the target of $100 per member per year is more difficult to achieve. The target is set with the membership numbers at the start of the year.

· The consequence of falling donations is the amount available to support District Grants becomes smaller.

· The End Polio Now figure is very much down. Partly as above. But partly due more emphasis doing to covid support? The outbreak recently in London is a stark reminder about finishing the programme to total eradication.

Richard Purdon - Club Foundation Chair 2022/23

Prescott Hill Climb Collection for LINC Gill Rouse

A huge thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help over this coming weekend – 3rd/4th September. Although there will be donation buckets around we have changed to contactless card machines for easy donations. At the moment we have 3 such machines and I am sure you will all be able to manage them. There will also be a raffle and here again, people can use the card machine.

I am extremely grateful to Tony and Linda Pawley who are going to oversee this weekend with my enforced absence. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the weather. This weekend sees the British and Midland Hill Climb Championships and, we are told, should be very busy.

As you know, Tony took part in the LINC Cycle Ride in July raising £1000 in sponsorship. This year we had prizes donated from local cycle shops and I was delighted to award Tony the prize for the most sponsorship raised.

Future Programme

Thu, Sep 8th 2022 at 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Council Meeting on 8th September 2022

A Club Council Meeting at the New Club NOTE START TIME OF 5:30PM

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Thu, Sep 15th 2022 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club

Club Meeting at the New Club with Guest Speaker The Speaker will be David Hearle. Title of talk TBA Host Mary Ann Rust

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Thu, Sep 29th 2022 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

A Club Meeting with Guest Speaker and Partners

Club Meeting with Partners and Guest Speaker Monica Farthing who will give a talk on the National Star College NOTE MEETING AT COTSWOLD HILLS GOLF CLUB Host David Setchell

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Thu, Oct 6th 2022 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club

Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker Rosie Barron who will give a talk on "The Work of the MOD War Detectives" at the New Club Host Shirley Setchell

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Sat, Oct 15th 2022 at 9:30 am - 5:00 pm

District 1100 One day Conference

The District One Day Conference is to be held at the BAWA Health & Leisure Club Bristol BS34 7RG See "Details" for information on Programme. Application form available from Conference Chairman Richard Purdon

Tue, Oct 18th 2022 at 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

A Theatre trip to the Everyman

A Theatre trip to see "The lavender Hill Mob" at the Everman

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Thu, Oct 20th 2022 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club

A Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club Details of Guest Speaker TBA Host Sally Whittal

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Mon, Oct 24th 2022 at 1:00 am - 11:00 pm

World Polio Day

The Rotary Organisation celebrates World Polio Day and its commitment to the eradication of Polio See website for an update on the "Mile of Coins" event organised in support of this Project.

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Sat, Oct 29th 2022 at 12:00 - 7:00 pm

The Cheltenham Wine Festival 2022 on 29th October 2022

The 2021 Event raised nearly £11000 for Charities supported by Rotary Tickets for the 2022 event now on Sale.

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