ROTARY CLUB OF FERNDOWN December 2013

THE ROTARY CLUB OF FERNDOWN Service above Self Special points of interest: Meets at Cobhams Sports and Social Club Merley Park Road Wimborne Telephone: 01202 885773 E-Mail: [email protected]

Issue Six

Chris’s Chatter

Chris’s Chatter French News Club’s Dinner News from Inner Wheel Greetings fro Inner Wheel Christmas Greetings !st Christmas Joke Another one from Paul Greetings from France Phil & Diane More News from France Legion Loyalty Wishes from the Editor Greetings From the Nicholsons Greeting from the Powells

Hello everyone. Perhaps we should call November the mellow, late autumn month. Each year now, Summer starts later, and Autumn ends later. The whole period has shifted to the left in the calendar. Diana and I laid wreathes on Remembrance Day on behalf of our respective clubs. It is good to see both John our Mayor, and Trevor, back up and about after their hip operations. We had an interesting talk from Norman about the car industry when he tried to persuade us that a good salesman makes only one penny per car. Hmmmm!!! Doesn’t seem like that when you are buying one! We also had very interesting talks from Jane Reynolds about the licra SDO suit that we funded, and Clare Gronow talking about Moors Valley Country Park. We also started the Haskin’s collections, and thanks to Trevor for getting it up and running. I think a special reward should go to Howard for spending four hours continuous bonging his bongos in cold temperatures!!! We look forward now to our club Christmas dinner on the 18th December, which I hope you all enjoy. You will have seen my e-mail sharing with you the considerations that have gone into the evening, and we should have an enjoyable time. James Prince will entertain and amaze us during the meal with his conjuring tricks, and young Adam Smith will entertain us after the meal. He is a very gifted musician. The next event after Christmas will be the President’s drinks and nibbles at my house on Sunday 5th January. So until the next edition, Diana and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.

Chris

News from our French Correspondents

Mr and Mrs J J Daniel 204 Route de Paulx La Blanchardière 85710 LA GARNACHE France e-mail [email protected] Tel No. 0033 251 35 41 62 Julian’s mobile: 0044 7509 231609 21st March 2013 Vive La Différence It isn’t just the good food and inexpensive wine that attracts so many people to France (or is it?) but the different way of life. Every region has its own time honoured traditions which are carried out each year. When we were in the Limousin region at the beginning of October, everywhere we went people were in the woods and fields with paper bags and baskets collecting mushrooms. There were an enormous variety of different colours, even the red and white spotted ones which the gnomes of our fairy stories sit under. These are apparently edible!!! We spoke to a monsieur who was carrying a vast array of different colours and shapes and he explained showed us which were edible, explaining of course that it essential that you know what are safe and what are poisonous. We felt with our lack of knowledge we would prefer to buy them from the supermarket! In fact we saw on the local television news that several people have died as a result of eating non-edible mushrooms so it pays to be sure. Two weeks later on the Ile de Ré, it was the season for oysters and mussels. Whenever we visited a beach there were people “bottoms up” collecting shellfish and, naturally, on our campsite there were facilities just for washing shellfish. How sensible. Now it is chestnut time and entire families are out brushing away the leaves in their search of this delicacy and are gathering them in huge bags. Not surprisingly, in the supermarkets and open markets which stock merchandise for “now” and not a minute later, there is an abundance of chestnut cooking utensils. Little flat frying pans with large holes so that the chestnuts can be cooked over the fire as in the days of yore – t’was ever thus!

LOL Jenny & Julian

FERNDOWN ROTARY CHRISTMAS FUNCTION

2013 AT COBHAMS SPORTS CLUB WEDNESDAY 18TH DECEMBER 7 pm FOR 7.30 pm ine Dead L c 10th De

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DRESS CODE: JACKET & TIE SMART SEPARATES (SPARKLE OPTIONAL & ENCOURAGED!) FOR LADIES

MENU

STARTERS: COARSE CHICKEN LIVER PATE WITH LIGHT RYE BREAD AND RED ONION MARMALADE VEGETARIAN OPTION: BRIE & APRICOT PARCEL WITH DRESSED LEAVES MAIN COURSE: TRADITIONAL ROAST CROWN OF TURKEY WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS VEGETARIAN OPTION: AUBERGINE, COURGETTE, SPINACH AND SWEET POTATO GATEAU WITH NAPOLI SAUCE DESSERT: CHRISTMAS PUDDING WITH BRANDY SAUCE OR CHEESE & BISCUITS OR ICE CREAM PLEASE INDICATE ANY VEGETARIAN OPTIONS AND CHOICE OF DESSERT ONTHE TICK LIST

PROFESSIONAL ENTERTAINMENT

News from The Inner Wheel Club of Ferndown The Guest speaker at the recent Charity Lunch held by the Inner Wheel club of Ferndown was Neil Lucas from Knoll Gardens. Some amazing photographs accompanied his talk Showing garden scenes where grasses are used to create drifts of colour and shape. We learnt that contrary to the thought that these ornamental grasses grow just anywhere; like many shrubs and perennials, there are specific varieties for shade, full sun or dry stony situations. Neil has won ten gold medals at Chelsea during his horticultural career and has become a leading expert in the propagation of grasses, so we were not surprised to learn that he travels worldwide as a lecturer and consultant. When thanking Neil for his talk, Club President Diana said how lucky we were to have experienced such a presentation and we appreciated his help in making the event so successful. The total amount raised was £900, which would be donated to overseas charities, in fact the £200 raised from the raffle would go immediately to the Philippines disaster fund. The following week, the speaker at our dinner meeting was Bonny Sartin, who was a member of the Yetties for 50 years until the group decided that it was time to retire. Since then, Bonny has developed a series of talks, all with Dorset backgrounds, and the subject he covered while with us was a History of Smuggling in Dorset and Hampshire during the 18th century. He told us that because of exorbitant taxation, commodities were so highly priced that smuggling became a highly organised occupation for many local people. Organised gangs roamed the countryside importing tea, tobacco, brandy, lace, leather and wine and were able to sell these products for much less than the price currently requested by lawabiding businessmen. It all became such a strong profession? that customs men, law enforcement officers and most of those who were involved in keeping law and order were bribed or threatened to keep silent. There were tales of battles on the high seas as well as traps laid for the smugglers on various beaches and hidden coves. Finally this thriving but violent way of life came to an end when the government eventually cut the taxes and goods became legally affordable. Mr Sartin delivered this talk with great humour and sang a few local songs all in the lovely Dorset dialect. We are now looking forward to holding a stall at the Ferndown Hollyberry Fair in early December, followed a few days later by our own Christmas meeting.

Sheila Smith Club Correspondent

Merry Christmas To All Our Rotary Friends

And A Happy and Healthy and Prosperous New Year Chris & Diana

Merry Christmas John & Linda

Seasons Greetings Graham & Jo

Happy Holidays Graham & JO

Seasons Greetings June

Happy Holidays Jim & Lizzie

A Happy Christmas And a Prosperous New Year Ann & Alan

Happy Holidays Howard

Happy Christmas George & Maddy

Merry Christmas Geoff & Pauline

Best Wishes for Christmas Les & Helen

Christmas wishes Bill

Seasons Greeting Mike & Jill

Merry Christmas Paul & Jean

Happy Holidays Gordon & Jenny

Seasons Greetings Peter &Sue A Happy Happy Christmas And a Prosperous New Year

Christmas wishes Bob

Happy Holidays Mike & Sue

Happy Christmas Gordon & Barbara Seasons Greetings Phil & Dianne

Seasons Greeting Ove & Cynthia

Merry Christmas John & Val

Happy Holidays Graham & JO

Christmas Greetings Tim & Pat

Happy Holidays Eileen

A Happy Christmas And a Prosperous New Year Ann & Alan

Merry Christmas Alan & Vera

Joyeux Noel Julian & Jenny

Seasons Greetings Mike & Margaret

A Happy Christmas Ann & Alan

Happy Christmas Mike & Doreen

Happy Holidays Malcolm & Janet

Merry Christmas Paul & Sue

Happy Holidays John & Megan

Best Wishes for Christmas Trevor & Susan

Seasons Greetings Geoff & Janet Happy Holidays Neil & Pat

Seasons Greetings Neville & Maureen

Happy Holidays Ian & Suzy Best Wishes Norman & Myra

Happy Holidays John & Sheila Happy Christmas Geoff & Ruby

MerryChristmas Keith & Maggie

Best Wishes John & Jean Happy Christmas John & Barbara

Happy Christmas Richard

Happy Holidays Martin & Madeleine Best Wishes Helen MerryChristmas Gerry

Merry Christmas To All Our Rotary Friends

And A Happy and Healthy and Prosperous New Year Bob & Maureen

Merry Christmas To all our Rotary Friends And A Happy and Prosperous New Year From Derrick & Pam

First Christmas Joke Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. 'In honour of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.' The Englishman fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 'It's a candle', he said. 'You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said. The Scotsman reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, 'They're bells.' Saint Peter said 'You may pass through the pearly gates'. The Irishman started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?' The paddy replied, 'These are Carols.' And So The Christmas Season Begins......

Another One from Paul Hunter With a very seductive voice the woman asked her husband, "Have you ever seen a Twenty Pound Note all crumpled up?" "No," said her husband She gave him a sexy little smile, unbuttoned the top 3 or 4 buttons of her blouse, and slowly reached down into the cleavage created by a soft, silky push-up bra, and pulled out a crumpled Twenty Pound Note He took the crumpled Twenty Pounds from her and smiled approvingly. She then asked him, "Have you ever seen Fifty Pounds all crumpled up?" "Uh... no, I haven't," he said, with an anxious tone in his voice. She gave him another sexy little smile, pulled up her skirt, and seductively reached into her tight, sheer panties... and pulled out a crumpled Fifty Pound Note He took the crumpled Fifty Pounds and started breathing a little quicker with anticipation. "Now," she said, "have you ever seen £40,000 all crumpled up?" "No way!" he said, while obviously becoming even more aroused and excited, to which she replied "Go look in the garage!" Been there done that

Phil & Diane Presenting a cheque for £1000 to Poole Salvation Army

Mr and Mrs J J Daniel 204 Route de Paulx La Blanchardière 85710 LA GARNACHE Hi everybody. It is that time again!! We are now looking forward to Christmas as ever which always starts off with our Village party which we hold for about 22 people where we all enjoy a buffet including homemade mince pies and mulled wine and of course Christmas crackers all of which are a real novelty for the village. France is very festive at the moment; lights in all the streets, prettily decorated shops and presents and decorations everywhere. Quite different from the time when we use to come to France for Christmas thirty odd years ago. We still, however, have to be vigilant to find a turkey. They arrive at the beginning of December and depart the following week – catch it when you can - capon being the preferred Christmas dinner choice. Naomi and family will be with us for a week during the festive season while Rebecca and family will be with Jon’s parents as they are on alternate years. As usual we apologize for an e-mail letter instead of a card but postage is exorbitant here in France. The price of posting a birthday card is much higher than the card itself so this little exercise means we can send greetings to all our friends and saves us around £150 which is worth considering. We have had a good year but busy as always. We had a lovely tenant in our house in Ferndown last year and everything went well. We arrived back to England dutifully after our six month’s stay expecting to see the start of our conservatory which we had set in motion before leaving. No such luck! You know the story, it was finally completed end July and we are thrilled with it. Morgane has been with us every school holiday as usual and in the summer was with us 2 weeks in La Blanchardière and two and a half weeks in England which she loves. We consider ourselves to be very privileged to have her spending so much time with us. This also means we see Naomi and Stéph frequently because we take it in turns to deliver her and collect her. Rebecca, Jon, Thomas (17) and Joseph (15) live in Hampshire which is just about half an hour from us so we see them frequently when we are in England and they visit their holiday house in Brittany during all the school holidays so we see them in France too. It has worked out well. Life in the village goes on as usual and we returned briefly for the Village Party in July when we were blessed with wonderful weather as were we all – well deserved after the long winter. We returned from UK beginning of October, having installed a lovely couple in our house and after a week attempting to settle in and do the garden – not easy after having been left for 2 ½ months – we left what wasn’t done and to take advantage of the fine weather, took ourselves off for a week to the the Limousin region of France which is a wonderful region of forests, rivers and streams, high in the mountains. We were in a wonderful campsite in the National Regional Forest and were blessed with wonderful weather until the last day when the temperature dropped to 3 degrees and poor Julian nearly lost his fingers while coupling up the caravan. We were pleased to be back to the warmer climes of the Vendée. Another week to finish where we left off and then Morgane arrived for the two weeks half term holiday. We straightaway took the caravan to the beautiful Ile de Ré – our third visit. Our campsite is a stone’s throw from a long sandy beach which at that time of year is almost empty. Lovely long walks and sleeping to the sound of the waves lapping on the sand. All that seems a long time ago now that the colder weather is with us. Now after a brief synopsis of our year, we sincerely wish you all a very happy and enjoyable Christmas and a happy and fun 2014 with all you could wish for including the best of health. We look forward to receiving your news and to catching up with you all when we return to UK.

Love from us both Jenny and Julian xxx

Legion Loyalty Recognised A stalwart of the Royal British Legion has been acknowledged for 62 years service. Alan Dean, aged 87, was presented with a long service award after retiring from “ active duty “ following the Remembrance Sunday Parade in Wimborne. He joined the Ferndown Legion in 1952 although he has more recently been involved with the Wimborne Branch, acting as a co-ordinator with special responsibility for the poppy appeal for the past 14 years. He was presented with his award by Commodore Richard Bridges RN, the President of the Legion in Dorset who said: “ I feel privileged to be able to recognise Alan for all his work” Other members were also presented certificates for their service. Commodore Bridges added “ So much work goes unrewarded and unmentioned and it is a humbling experience to meet people who give so much to the Legion.

Well done Alan you are a credit to the country, the county and to Rotary.

Well Folks this is the last Newsletter of 2013, I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have producing them. I wish to thank all of you who have contributed to the newsletters and look forward to receiving more of the same in 2014. So Maureen and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The Object of Rotary The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster: 1. 2.

The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service. High ethical standards in business and professions, and the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society. 3. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business and community life. 4. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

The “Four-Way Test” First: Is it the truth Second: Is it fair to all Concerned? Third: Will it build goodwill and better friend ships Fourth: Will it be beneficial to all concerned

Business Partners of Ferndown Rotary Club Helping Our Community Haskins Garden Centres Henderson’s Opticians Hendy Group Motor Dealers Insley & Partners,Solicitors A.E.Jolliffe & Sons, Funeral Directors Kingston PTM Financial Advisers Merlo UK Ltd Moors Pharmacy Simon R Puddle, Certified Accountant Swift Body Repairs The Practice at Ferndown, Osteopaths The Roman Group Printers Wellstead & Wellstead Estate Agents