December

We invited Hilary & Roger Clarke from the St Johns Ambulance Brigade along to talk to the members and their wives on December 8th about the topic of drink awareness (especially appropriate at this time of year!). Although Hilary had a very sore throat she was able to convey the message which was mainly about how long it takes your body to be "alcohol free" after having a drink. A quiz that she ran was quite surprising.
On the 13th we had the Rotary Club Christmas Dinner - this year at Galloways in Woburn. We had a great evening though I'm not sure about the other diners when we burst into song (?) with our usual carols. Frazer entertained us on the 15th with his 'job talk' when we learnt about Nestle and their handling of their various water brands.

Christmas Eve saw the Club out in force on the High Street for the traditional Carol Singing with the Salvation Army. As usual it started at 7pm and lasted for an hour. (There seemed to be a rumour going around that this would be the last year it would be held, but people were confusing us with the Round Table who were ceasing their Santa Float.) Following the singing several members came back to Alan & Mary's house for some mulled wine and mince pies whilst the collection was sorted out. Over £2000 was raised for charity - half of which will be split with the Salvation Army after expenses have been taken out.

For some pictures of the carol singing please go here.

All Club members wish all of their supporters the very best for the festive period and for 2009.

November

On November 4th we held our popular Brain of Leighton Quiz in the Raven Theatre, Cedars School. This year 45 teams had an entertaining evening, suitably refreshed by drinks from the bar and food provided by Elizabeth Edwards Catering. The successful eveing raised over £2,500 for this year's charities which include the RNIB.
For more details, including photos and the scores please go to this page.
Tilsworth Golf Club was the venue on the 17th where we invited prospective new members to an evening on the driving range (with a competition), followed by a meal. It was great to see six new faces.

We held a Ladies Night on the 24th to which we invited Sue Villiers from the RNIB. Sue is the local Community Fundraiser covering the six local counties. She told us about the 60-odd programmes that the RNIB currently provide (without Government assistance!) to those in the unfortunate position of being either partially sighted, or completely blind. Sue also talked about their popular Talking Book scheme, and she brought a unit along to show us (and had a competition to see if we could name the speakers on a disc she had). At the end of the evening, President Giles presented Sue with a cheque for £1,000 which was raised at the recent Brain of Leighton quiz.

For more information on the organisation and what they provide, please go to their website.

October

One of the charities that Alan Bradley supported during his Presidential year was the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. On October 3rd, Alan Layzell met with two of the Hearing Dog representatives, Joan Harrington and Janet Durbidge, along with Janet's Hearing Dog, Gypsy to hand over a cheque for £500 to the charity. (Gypsy, incidentally, is the Rescue Hearing Dog of 2008 - read here for more details.) Here is a photo of Alan presenting Janet with the cheque, whilst holding a certificate of appreciation given by the Hearing Dogs to the Club.

Robert entertained us on the 13th to a talk about milestones and their history. An unusual topic as it was about something that everyone has seen, but not many people take much notice of. It was interesting to hear how they were the fore-runners of today's Ordinance Survey maps.
Sgt Mark Boulton from the RAF Forensic branch came along on the 20th to talk to us about the work he'd carried out in Basra. It was frightening to see the damage that a road side bomb could do to one of our Land Rovers that are supposed to be armoured. Mark followed this presentation by introducing us to Brian the Pirate. This was a skeleton a team of forensic archeologistists escavated in the Ascension Isles.
We held a Ladies Night on the 27th where Carl Bettison gave us a talk about being a Farrier, and the places that it has taken him. In September Carl was installed as the Master of The Worshipful Company of Farriers.

September

During the week of September 8th the Club held a Scatter Week where members go out to visit other Clubs.

The following week we had a Ladies evening when Alan Bradley invited Dawn Hewitt from CHUMS along to talk about the organisation and how it helps bereaved children come to terms with the loss of a loved one. It was a very interesting but emotional evening. At the end of her presentation and Q & A session Alan presented Dawn with a cheque for £500 as CHUMS was one of his chosen charities for his Presidential year.

Over the weekend of the 20th & 21st we had our friends from the Lesquien Club visit us.
Saturday proved to be a long day for them, due to problems with their Channel crossing, and the evening proved to be quite cold, but Sunday went well. To see a few photos click here.
On September 29th we held a Ladies Evening where we had a wine tasting evening with Kevin O'Rourke, known as "The Wineman".

August

On August 11th we had a visit from Mike Hockings who told us about the RELATE organisation.
The following week we held a Ladies night where we listened to Syd's Niece, Liz Heath, telling us about her 6 months Rotary Ambassador trip to Mexico. Rotary International paid for her to live with a Mexican family and attend a language school so that she could learn about Mexico and the Mexicans could learn about Britain. It proved to be a very valuable experience for her, which she wants to build upon in future months and years.

July

A very subdued Club saw the start of July following Tony's death. On the 9th we joined Tony's family and host of people from all walks of his life at All Saints Church for a service of rememberance. The Church was packed which showed how much Tony meant to a host of people in Leighton Buzzard, Linslade and the surrounding villages.
Towards the end of the month, Giles Tawell took over as Club President from Alan Bradley.
The first event of Giles' year was a Ladies evening where Ian Dillamore talked about the I Luv Leighton Buzzard organisation, that is aiming to develop more interest in Leighton as a town. He had some interesting plans which, hopefully will work out and bring more people into the town.
The Club was, as usual, involved in helping the Town Council with their Canal Festival at Tiddenfoot Water Park on July 26th. Luckily the weather stayed dry for the event, which was attended by many thousands of people despite some last minute hitchs.
The following day Giles held a Strawberry Sunday event at his home to which the 41 Club was also invited. What was planned to be an event for a couple of hours last well into the late evening as everyone was enjoying themselves so much.

June

The month started with our usual business meeting at The Hunt, followed the next week by a social gathering as we had no speaker.
On the 16th we paid a trip to the Pitstone Green Museum. This is a fascinating rural life museum, but it does house a full size reconstruction of an Avro Lancaster bomber. We followed this visit with a trip to The Swan at Cheddington for a well-deserved meal.
Mike West gave us an interesting talk on the history of Leighton's famous Market Cross and the work that has gone in to the structure by the small band of Cross Trustees (several of whom are also Rotarians!) to make sure that future generations can also gather around it.
Two days later we had devasting news when we learnt that Tony Guess had suddenly passed away on the morning of the 25th. All Club activity was suspended until after his funeral and all of our hearts went out to Gill and their family.

May

Highlight of the month as usual was our May Day Fayre held on the Bank Holiday Monday. 45 stalls were out on the High Street, supporting a number of local charities and organisations. The weather this year was glorious so there was a mass demand for liquid refreshment throughout the day (non-alcoholic of course as the High Street and Parson's Close are alcohol-free zones!).
A large number of people came to see the Midland's heat of the World's Strongest Man. The top 4 from this competition will go through to the England competition; the winners from that go to the UK competition and the winners from that will go on to the World competition so it's possible that we saw a future World Champion in Parson's Close. (I'm still staggered at how these guys lift those weights a number of times through the day - I couldn't lift one off the ground once !).
The Club had record takings making over £8,000 available to our nominated charities. Other stall holders also reported record takings and we estimate that, overall, over £12,000 was raised through the Fayre. The day was completed by a meal at The Swan in Cheddington.
To see some photos from the day please go here.
On the 19th we held a Ladies Night when the speaker was John Moss from the Wolverton and Stony Stratford Club. He organised the Loop the Loop event last year that Nick and Gary raised money through, and John gave us an insight as to where the money was spent. A fascinating view of how Rotary Clubs in UK are helping build and finance schools in South Africa.

April

On the 14th Nick gave us a talk about Rotary the World Over - well mainly India, as a result of his recent business trip to the sub-continent.

March

This month proved to be a reasonably empty one as far as The Hunt were concerned as we were only there for one evening - the 10th - for the monthly business meeting.
Saturday, the 1st saw the Club members and their wives donning their best bib and tucker when they attended the Spring Ball at the Leighton Golf Club.
Then, on the 15th, Giles organised a Safari Dinner which saw various members displaying their culinary arts as they hosted other members to a three course meal. It was very interesting because no one knew where they were going until the Friday evening when they received an e-mail advising where they were going to get their starters. Whilst there they were then advised where the main course would be, and then everyone congregated back at Granary farm.
Easter Saturday then saw several members in Middleton Hall for the Rotary Showcase. It was a great day with a lot of attention shown in our stand - not necessarily about the Rotary element; more in the dogs from the Hearing Dogs organisation who came along to support us. (Click here to see what they said about the day). We will see what the comments were later in the year when District have had a chance to put them all together.
The last Monday in March saw several of us in action at Dunstable's 10-pin bowling alley. Winner of the evening was John , followed by Giles and Alan L .

February

The first Monday (the 4th) was our usual monthly business meeting where the events of the Maltese weekend were picked over.
John Parker, from DebRA gave us a talk about this genetic skin condition on the 11th, which was frighteningly enlightening.
On the 18th we were paid a visit by Elizabeth Sheldon from the Brickhill's Club. She has the onerous task of organising the Rotary Showcase in Middleton Hall Milton Keynes on Easter Saturday. It will be a gathering of all of the clubs in District 1260 where we can meet-n-greet the general public to show them what Rotary can do, and also (maybe) gain some new members. A general discussion ensued where we decided what we would do on our stand.
The following Monday clashed with the Mayor's Charity dinner at the Akash Restaurant which is usually supported by several of the members so no Rotary meeting was held that evening.

January

We saw the New Year in with the usual monthly business meeting.
On the 14th we played host to Mark West from the Bedford and Luton Community Foundation who, as the name implies seeks to provide financial assistance to some of the Community organisations in the area. For information on what they can do please go to their web site.
On the 21st we held a Ladies Night where the speaker was Robert Ward who spoke about the Mercy Ships that Rotary provide assistance for. This web site shows a little bit of the valuable work they carry out. The following weekend members packed their suitcases and headed away to Malta for a long weekend (anything to escape the cold of the British winter!)

Past diaries

To see what we have been doing over the years, look here 2005, 2006 or 2007 for our past activities.