New Rotary Year

My year as President of the Forres Rotary Club has come to an end and I like to thank all members for their great support.

It’s been a great year for me, I enjoyed it to the full and it was a great way to be able to learn more about the workings of Rotary and even better getting to know the members better.

I also like to thanks the council members who very very supportive, patient and understanding, well most of the time.

Lastly, I like to wish to thank the new President Ian Widdowson for his fantastic support and wish him the best of years in Rotary as new Club President!

Citizen of the Year announced!

The Rotary Club of Forres in cooperation with the Forres Gazette are proudly to announce that John Keenleyside has won the Citizen of the Year competition 2009. See photo and Forres Gazette article below:

Forres Area Citizen of the Year 2009, John Keenleyside, receives his award from president of the Rotary Club of Forres, Rene Looper. Looking on are John’s wife Margaret and Rotarians Jane Munro (left) holding the certificate which was also presented to John, and Doreen McCaig with a bouquet handed over to Margaret.

Announcing John as the winner of the award, chosen by readers of the Forres Gazette and a panel of Rotarians headed by P.P. Ally Urquhart, Rene said it was thoroughly deserved.

John has been a real stalwart of the Forres in Bloom oganisation and continues to be so. He can be seen in all weathers out tending to flower beds and planters around the town, making sure they are free from weeds and looking their best. He is consientious, hard-working and totally immersed in making sure that Forres continues look its best.

He is exactly the type of person Forres Rotary looks for in their Forres Area Citizen of the year. In his reply John said that the only cup he had ever previously won was 50 years ago when he won the trophy for best leeks in show. This is a great honour and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me said John.

President Rene performs is last official duty as President by Presenting John Keenleyside

The Forres Citizen of the Year 2009

Photo shows Lto R Member Jane Munro, Pres Rene, John his wife Margaret and International convenor Doreen McCaig

Search on for Forres Citizen of the year

The Rotary club of Forres in conjunction with the Forres Gazette are seeking support in nominating worthy residents of Forres and district to be considered for this year’s Citizen of the Year award.

Everyone knows somebody who deserves some recognition: people who are always willing to go the extra mile for the people they live beside, people who are always at hand when assistance is needed. If you know who has worked selflessly for good causes; who has been a good neighbour, going over and above what is normally expected; who has stood up to be counted when local issues need to be addressed; who has been a staunch supporter of local groups intent on improving the quality of life for individuals or neighbourhoods; then get their name in!

EuroScholar

The Rotary Club of Forres sponsored Forres Academy student Jenny Hughes, for a trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg and Jenny was joining us today to talk about her experiences.

Jenny started off in perfect French and she gave the club a great presentation of her trip to Strasbourg. She also had some questions on Europe for our club members which caused great hilarity and interaction. Good to see that this trip was a success for Jenny and a fantastic learning opportunity. A great way for young people to learn and interact with other nationalities.

President Rene and members of the Vocational Committee presenting Jenny Hughes the EuroScholar certificate

Stroke association

Rotarian Andy Wardley has been very helpful with organising a speaker on Stroke awareness and we got a good talk on this subject from Angela Mcleod who is communications manager of the Stroke association.

The Stroke Association set up an office in Scotland in April 2007.  The charity believes establishing itself in Scotland, will benefit stroke survivors and carers and others in the stroke field. Since 1995, The Stroke Association has funded £1.5 million of stroke research in Scotland.  The charity provides welfare grants and information services including publications, leaflets and a helpline.

Angela’s presentation was excellent and we wish her all the best in raising funds for this very worthwhile cause.

Latest on Italian Earthquake

See BBC interview with Andrew Biss from ShelterBox here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7994427.stm

Pres. Rene

Happy Easter!

A very happy Easter to all!

Very happy with the decision made yesterday by the club of sending a Shelterbox to the Italian Earthquake area.

Each ShelterBox contains a 10-person tent, blankets, water purification and cooking equipment, basic tools, a stove and other essential equipment required in the wake of this disaster. This will allow those made homeless to at least have essential shelter, and temporary living conditions. Every box is individually numbered and can be tracked by donors. It will make a big difference to the recipients  in Italy and that’s what Rotary is all about I think.

To see the latest news on the Shelterbox organisation click the image on the right.

Happy Easter!

President Rene

Earthquake Italy

Rotary Shelterbox, a global Rotary club project,   has quickly responded by sending thousands of Rotary Shelter boxes to the affected disaster area in Italy.  See below the letter I received from Rtn Lasse Peterson from the Shelterbox trust.

shelterbox-and-rotary-respond-to-italy-earthquake

Makes you proud to be a Rotarian.

See more info on the Shelterbox website

Pres. Rene

To follow:

posts on Forres in Bloom and Ken Smith’s talk. Watch this space…

Rotary Dinner Dance

Friday the 13th of March was not only this year’s Red Nose day it was also the date of  our annual formal dinner at the Ramnee Hotel in Forres. It also coincided with the annual Highland Business Women Club in Inverness, hence the reason my dear wife Pamela  wasn’t able to join me as she is President of the HBWC since last week.

A great night with good food, great company and a fantastic band! 

More info to follow. In the meantime see the photo collage below provided  by Margaret Williamson. (who is a great dancer by the way!)

Tony and social committee, thanks for a great night!