Full of Action

Wow! What a busy two weeks! I have made four more ‘official’ District Governor visits to clubs and have actually managed to attend my own club for the first time since 23rd July.
One of the real highlights of this time has been joining the Rotary Club of Drake Plymouth for their excellent, annual event, the Diana Pursuit, named after the late HRH Princess Diana. This day provides disabled and handicapped people of all ages the experience of being on the water in sailing yachts or motor cruisers chasing each other around a course in Plymouth Sound. Supported by the Royal Western Yacht Club and local businesses, this is the 25th year that the club has put on this event.
It was a pleasure to see the delight and excitement on the faces of ‘the crews’ when they had pasties and ice creams in the yacht club’s restaurant and then receive medals and cups. What a difference this made to the lives of many who would not have had an outing like this without the work of Rotary.
Another memorable occasion was getting down to Liskeard very – and I mean ‘very’ – early to spend time with our District Overseas Projects Team as they made final preparations to leave for the long drive across Europe to Albania and Kosovo, taking fire engines and medical equipment to one of the most deprived areas of modern Europe.
The day started as it was getting light. The target was to leave Liskeard at 09.09.09.09.09 – nine minutes past nine on 9th day of the 9th month of ’09! I bet their arrival will not be that precisely timed! Reports come in daily, telling us of the teams progress. Many of you will have seen the departure shown as a news item on BBC Spotlight the day after. There have been the expected hold-ups at border controls and customs. Not everyone drive across Europe in a fully operational fire engine, even if they haven’t got the ‘bloos and toos’ going.
The next two weeks promise to be action packed as well, with lots of excitement and fun to report on later. What do they say? Watch this Space.