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News Archive 2007
The following news stories have been archived:
Club Handover for 2007-2008
 
On Monday 2nd July 2007, the Rotary Club of Swaffham said farewell to their outgoing club president Alan Henry and welcomed the beginning of a new Rotary year, under the direction of Simon Thair the incoming club president for 2007-2008.
The handover took place at The George Hotel in Swaffham, and both partners and honorary club members were in attendance. Seals of office were handed over to the club secretary, treasurer and vice-president elect Chris Vardy, and a special Paul Harris Fellowship Award was warmly presented to Tony Hopping for 30 years of hard work and dedication to the Rotary movement and to the Swaffham club.
The entertainment for the evening was provided "in house" by our very own Trio of Grumpy Old Rotarians, with a comedy sketch that delighted the audience.
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Foundation Jazz BBQ
On Sunday 29th July 2007, the Rotary Club of Swaffham's Foundation Committee held their annual Summer Jazz BBQ, with around 100 guests including children in attendance.
Despite our fears for the weather, it was a dry and relatively warm day, and everyone enjoyed the food and the music in the lovely setting of Mike and Jane Cornwell's garden at Ling's End.
Our thanks to Mike and Jane and to all those who helped behind the scenes and on the day, especially those who helped with erecting and dismantling the marquees, carting the chairs, preparing the food, and doing the barbecuing.
A good day, good fellowship, and a good result. Profits will be in the order of £900 and Barclays Bank Plc., have generously agreed to sponsor the event to the sum of £750.
Foundation has got off to a great start this year! Well done everybody.
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New Town Notice Board for Swaffham
On Friday 29th June 2007, members of the public gathered to witness the unveiling of a new town notice board for Swaffham, located on the wall outside the Assembly Rooms building in the market square.
The notice board was commissioned and donated to the town by the Rotary Club of Swaffham, and was officially handed over to Mayor Shirley Matthews, by club president Alan Henry.
Shirley Matthews thanked the Rotary Club of Swaffham for its generous donation to the town, and said that she was delighted to accept the key to the notice board, on behalf of Swaffham town council, visitors to Swaffham, and its residents.
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Visit to SCWS Dereham
Members of both the Rotary Club of Swaffham and the Rotary Club of Dereham met
at the old site of the Crane Fruehauf factory in Dereham, where SCWS have now
consolidated their considerable steel fabrication business.
The party were met by Andrew Scales, Managing Director, David Green, Commercial
Director and other managers from SCWS. A brief presentation by David Green
gave the history of the company, the expansion over recent years, an outline
of the work carried out within the business, and examples of some of their larger
contracts within the U.K.
The visitors were split into smaller groups and were able to see the factory and
the most interesting details within the Drawing Office. It was indeed a fascinating evening, everyone found it most interesting
particularly the members with past engineering experience!
Andrew and members of the family looked after us very well, and produced a superb
buffet and drinks before departing..
For more information about SCWS, click here to visit their website.
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SOLD OUT - Rotary Bears Find New Homes
Great News! The Rotary Club of Swaffham are very pleased to announce, that ALL of the Rotary Centennial Celebration Bears have now been sold.
The bears were made exclusively by Steiff, and were commissioned by the Rotary Club of Swaffham to commemmorate the 100th anniversary of Rotary.
The bears (part of a limited edition), were sold to buyers, other Rotarians and Steiff collectors all over the world, with some bears finding new homes as far afield as Australia.
The proceeds from the sale of the bears will go into the general charity account, and will be used to benefit many local and international projects.
Many thanks to Steiff for lending their support, and to everyone involved. Well done!
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French Rotarians Visit Swaffham
The Rotary Club of Swaffham and the Rotary Club of Rue-Baie de Somme, (in northern France), have just celebrated 30 years of fellowship and friendship together.
The two clubs were twinned back in 1967, and have met every year since that date. To mark the 30th anniversary, the Rotary Club of Swaffham
organised a fantastic programme of events covering the whole weekend, beginning on Friday 27th April 2007 with a welcome lunch at the Lydney House Hotel in Swaffham.
On the Saturday,
everyone met at Sandringham for a tour of the house, museum and gardens, followed by tea at the visitor centre. This was followed in the evening by
a three course dinner at Timbers Restaurant in Fincham.
On Sunday 29th April, all the rotarians gathered to say "Au Revoir" over a yet another fantastic buffet lunch. Many thanks to everyone involved for making the whole weekend such an enjoyable and memorable occassion.
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RIBI Conference Report
Three days is a very short time, but eight members and partners did not find
the time difficult to fill at the 2007 RIBI Conference in sunny Bournemouth!
President Alan and members Colin E, Denis B, Simon T,Malcolm W, Mike L,
Dorothy P-H, and Lawrie G with partners enjoyed a full and very successful
conference.
Highlights included a Classic Car Rally, a fly-past, a record breaking Kite
Flying Competition by Rotaract, Maori Dances, Banner display, Postage Stamp
display, a very well presented House of Friendship, well organised
conference venue, an appearance on BBC News 24 live television AND many
excellent speakers. Of the speakers I will only pick out the ones that particularly stood out
for many of us.
RI President Bill Boyd - a very quiet, dedicated and intense man with a very
relaxed style.
Julian Fellowes, actor, writer, producer and dedicated fund raiser for
Cancer charities who was presented with a Paul Harris Fellowsip of his
tireless work for charity.
Chris Moon, a mine field victim and a replacement speaker for Heather Mills.
A very, very good replacement! Inner Wheel President Phyl Fennelly - a very funny, but dedicated lady from
Dublin.
There where many more outstanding presentations from the Interact members,
Foundation Scholars, other charities, RI and RIBI leaders, Andrew Neil for
Barnardos, Ken Behring of the Wheelchair Foundation and the US Ambassador (not a great speaker I must say - too much
political comment).
However our outstanding memory will be the speech by the incoming RIBI
President Alan Jagger - he was excellent. Extremely funny and at the same
time with a right amount of serious comment. The video based on the 'Hovis
Advert' pushing the trade bike up the hill, flat cap and all, was so funny!
We were not looking forward to Blackpool next year - but after that speech
we may, just may have changed our minds.
On top of all that Swaffham members also had a great time in local
restaurants - of course - see the photos! A great time was had by all - maybe more members can join us next year?
Rtn. Denis Bishop (Club Secretary)
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