The Rotary Club of Edinburgh

Bulletin 2123 - 24th August 2006

REVIEW

Last week's Meeting - 18 August 2006

There was a light hearted holiday feel to our meeting last week, no doubt because it was preceded by a free glass of wine and the lunch only cost £10, due to the need to cooperate with the hotel's festival programme and change to Friday. The President extended his bonhomie and welcome to all. Two eminent London visitors (sisters) had permeated the hotel labyrinth the previous day spending a precious festival hour looking for us but returned jubilantly to join the meeting, giving triumphant notice that since one sister was shortly to join the other as a Rotarian, numbers in the London club might soon equate with ours and vie for position as the largest club in Great Britain. Other North American visitors entered into the spirit bringing colourful and warm greetings from Madision, New Hampshire, Peterborough, Prince George and Washington D.C. Dick Allan, Assistant District Governor celebrated his birthday lunch again this year at Rotary, accompanied by his charming wife Margaret, a member of Leith Rotary. Perhaps it was her birthday treat to him? Those who happened to join them at table were entertained to sparkling conversation and a decanter of wine. Alberto Santandreo, former Spanish Consul in Edinburgh and still retaining a flat here and membership of Edinburgh Rotary graced the top table, bringing mouth watering greetings from Madrid where rotary lunch seems to extend to a languorous afternoon. Greetings were also brought from Penicuik comfortably nearer home. The banter of 49 members, 6 visitors and 3 guests enjoying Rotarian fellowship certainly marked the beginning of a sultry afternoon in Festival Edinburgh.

New Member

Robert Fleming, from Lenzie, Director of Development and Alumni Services, University of Edinburgh was formally inducted as a new Active member with a classification of University Development. The Club is delighted to welcome him cementing our strong links with Senior officials within University. For the past ten years Robert has worked for Trinity College London and the Royal Shakespeare Company and amongst his other interests has been Chairman of the "Mendelssohn on Mull Festival"; He is married to Ellen with their first child on the way.

Update

The President particularly welcomed the presence of George Brodlie, Honorary Member, sprightly in a wheel chair. George visits his sister-in -law every week at Strachan House and also sees Gerald Cowie who is also frail and now resident in the Nursing Home. Jinty Kerr faces a major operation on 31 August and the good wishes of the club for her speedy recovery are being conveyed to her. She will be convalescing thereafter at the Police Convalescent Home in Auchterarder.

Intimations

The President's Questionnaire has been issued to all members by e-mail or hard copy.
Please return as soon as possible to the secretary
Tickets for the Barry Cryer Evening on 29 August are still available from himself and Tim Simpson.
Daughter Club Portsmouth and Southsea is celebrating its 90th anniversary on Tuesday 14 November and would welcome representatives to its celebrations. For further details, names to Secretary as soon as possible.

Land of the Thunder and the Dragon

It seemed to be in keeping with the holiday mood of our meeting that the speaker was our own member Richard Philip, now retired as a vetinary surgeon specialist in Tropical diseases. His 35 year career had taken him to all sorts of locations throughout the world which included 8 special years in the Kingdom of Bhutan from 1991 to 1999 where he headed an EC project to strengthen the country's Veterinary Services. After the much appreciated computer expertise of John Shepherd, (a visitor from Prince George, Canada) to resolve a technical hitch Richard took us travelling with him illustrating stories of his time there with beautiful slides. These showed the the breathtaking mountain vistas of Bhutan, a small Buddhist Monarchy above the clouds in the Himalayas, sandwiched between China and India with a population of just over half a million. Bhutan is known to its inhabitants as Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon. The national sport is Archery and the national dress for the smiling men pictured is the gho a knee length robe tied by a cloth belt, reminiscent of the Scottish kilt, worn with top socks. The women wear ankle length dress. Their King once said the "Gross National happiness is more important than GNP"

Golf Notes

Lost and Found

WORD OF THE WEEK

From our educationalist - guess who?
Perhaps you have been sampling it to keep pace with festivalising!
Plonk (wine) believed to be from the Australian troops in France (World War I) from Vin Blanc now used to describe any bog standard red or white wine.