Free Portland News Entries

A Very Happy Christmas

I don’t think that you need me to tell you that Christmas is almost upon us, and this applies no less to the Rotary Club and its members than it does to those who are not Rotarians.

I have just returned from a thoroughly enjoyable Table Top Sale in aid of Julia’s House, and my thanks to all of those of you who came to support that superb charity.  From what I saw many of you were buying Christmas presents – both small and large.  I hope you all enjoyed your morning.  As usual the Rotarians had fun – mostly at my expense as usual.  This time we had Liz doing a brilliant job on the bacon butties and Bruce turned his many talents to making tea and coffee instead.  I was joined on the cake stand by Avril, one of our Friends of Rotary, and she was just as good at collecting monies as she was at slicing the Victoria sponge or the coffee and walnut cake.  My thanks also to the young lady who came up to say that she enjoyed reading FPN and learning more about the aims of Rotary and what we are doing.  At least one person reads this column which is very encouraging to know.  

But to continue - -.
That was the last Table Top Sale of this year – we do not hold them in December and January – so the next one will be on 11th. February and will be in aid of Forever Hounds Trust so come along then and support this great dog rescue charity – remember A Dog is Not Just For Christmas.  

We already have all the beneficiary slots fixed for the next calendar year and I will list them for you in the New Year.  

However, we have now lost one or two of our regular stall holders for a variety of reasons so we do have some gaps if anyone or any charity wants to have a stall each month.  The cost for a six foot table is just £6 monthly (which goes to the benefiting cause), and anything that you take above that is yours.

 If you are interested, please contact Carolyn on carolynhumphreys@live.co.uk.

We have also had another trip to Bath organised by Janet and, from what I hear, that too was a great success and, I would guess, a lot of Christmas shopping was done as well.  These trips are very popular and Janet runs them through the Facebook page so get your bids in early.  There will also be a coach trip to London on 3rd.December for more Christmas shopping if you are interested.

Santa’s sleigh has been put together again and we have asked Santa if he can do some pre-Christmas trips to Portland before he starts his round-the-world travel on Christmas Eve.

We hope to have him with us for the Sparkle, the Teddy Tombola (thanks to Tesco once again) on 10th. and 11th. December, for the round-the-island Carol singing on either 14th., 15th., 19th or 21st – depending on the weather, and Rotarians will be helping him to deliver presents on Christmas morning as we have done for many years.  Santa has already apologised for missing last year due to Covid so, hopefully, this year all will be well.  If any Mum or Dad wants a parcel delivered, please drop it/them into Hull Gregson and Hull in Easton in the week before Christmas.

Then of course there is the annual Children’s Party on 10th. which has become a firm favourite, so it looks as if the pre-Christmas period will be very busy for the Portland Rotarians - but also a lot of fun.

With so much going on, we are always on the lookout for new members who would like to help us, not only in our Christmas commitments but in all the other things we do, so, if there is anyone out there who wants to learn more about joining us, please contact me on kbeejay13@gmail.com

Finally, I am not sure if we will be having another FPN entry before the festivities.  If not, may I, on behalf of all the members of the Rotary Club of The Island and Royal Manor of Portland, wish all readers of FPN a Wonderful, Happy, Peaceful Christmas, and all the best for a Healthy, Happy and Polio-Free 2023.

Keith