ON Friday, May 29, the Rotary Club of Wellington celebrated its President’s Night at the Oake Manor Golf Club.

After an excellent meal Rotary district governor Mike Kew presented Brian Withers, the club’s new incoming president, with his chain of office.

Brian thanked the members for entrusting him with the role of president for a second time and outlined his hopes for the coming Rotary year.

These included continued support of local organisations and charities through the use of the town’s Pop-Up-Shop, the Christmas collection, and other fund-raising endeavours.

Other guests included assistant district governor Peter Townley, Wellington Town Council chief executive Dave Farrow, and president of Wellington Inner Wheel, Rosemary Wharton.

Brian’s first duty as president was to award Rotarian Mike Field with a Paul Harris Fellowship in recognition of his extraordinary, often unsung, service to Rotary and the local community.

The awarding of a Paul Harris Fellowship is the highest personal honour any Rotary club can bestow.

The award is named after Paul P. Harris, who founded the Rotary movement in 1905.

Such is the importance of this award that in the 72 years since being formed in 1954, the Rotary Club of Wellington has presented only 51 fellowships, including six to non-Rotarians.

Ken Atherton

THE Monument Probus Club of Wellington has extended an invitation for potential new members to join its ranks.

In his opening remarks to the club's June meeting, held at the Beambridge Inn, Sampford Arundel, the president, David Badham, said: “Although we are a thriving club and our current membership is quite good, we should not lose sight of the ongoing need to attract new members.

“It is important that we continue to attract new blood to ensure the future of our club for years to come.

“We are a friendly group, who meet monthly and any potential new members can be assured of a warm welcome.”

The Monument Probus Club is a non-political and non-sectarian social organisation for retired and semi-retired men.

It meets on the first Thursday of each month at 11 am at the Beambridge Inn. Further details can be obtained by emailing the secretary on [email protected].

After members were welcomed by the president, a brief business section of the June meeting was followed by an illustrated presentation by William Waddington, entitled ‘Cycling on the Western Front’.

Supported by photographs and a series of maps, Mr Waddington gave an account of a journey of more than 800 miles, undertaken by him and a group of fellow cycling enthusiasts along a route from the France/Switzerland border to the English Channel.

The cyclists' journey was inspired by a book, entitled ‘The Path of Peace’, by Anthony Seldon, who had walked the route, which takes in many of the towns, landmarks, and areas of France synonymous with the battles and horrors of the First World War.

Mr Waddington highlighted the different terrains the cyclists had encountered, the locations they visited and the warm welcome they received along the way.

The speaker concluded his presentation by answering questions from members before receiving a vote of thanks, proposed by the president.

The club's next meeting will be at the Beambridge Inn on Thursday, July 2, at 11 am, when the guest speaker will be Mike Menhennit, who will talk on ‘The History of Wellington from Saxon Times to the Present Day'.

THE annual presentations by St Mary’s Church Charity Shop, in Hemyock, have taken place.

Guests were welcomed to the occasion, held in the church rooms, by Hazel Partridge, treasurer of St Mary’s.

Ms Partridge said: “When the Charity Shop was first set up by Brian Samuels of Wellington, some 12 or so years ago, it was always the intention to give away 25 percent of the net proceeds received through the sale of goods donated by folks in Hemyock and the surrounding area.

“We have always made these donations to many and various groups in Hemyock and/or linked to this parish.

“This is a good time to first say a very big public thank you to all the (at present) ladies who help run this Charity Shop, whether in the shop, or sorting, and our new branch of selling online and even Vintage Cash Cow for things we feel will not sell easily in Hemyock.

“Thank you also to the Friends of St Mary’s Church who run the Coffee Shop end of the Charity Shop, set up, put away, make many cakes, and much coffee.

“Thank you all very much.”

Ms Partridge said it was a pleasure to give away £250 to each of the following organisations, which had been chosen by the ladies in the Charity Shop, the choices representing different ages in the community, plus one special group: Play and Stay (little ones), Hemyock PTFA (primary school children), Riverside Club (older folks) and Parkinsons Group, who meet monthly, giving support to those who struggle with Parkinsons.

WELLINGTON u3a gets together once a month as a group but within that larger organisation there are many interest groups which meet throughout the month, ie, writing creatively, knit and natter, garden group and almost anything else people may have an interest in.

If we do not have it covered we can get one started as many members have discovered.

The monthly meeting began with the usual reminders for fire exits, health and safety notices, with additional items pertaining to the various groups and our 40th anniversary being arranged for next year.

These are given regularly as required but also for the new members who may not have been before.

The speaker for this month was introduced as Doug Fowler the author of a book he is promoting, ‘Tee Time Tales’.

Not having seen the spelling of this title, members were fooled into expecting tea and cake, only to get a marshal’s point of view on the popular game of golf.

He, apparently, got in to the game by accident and at a young age, early teens, while watching an amateur game and noticing a player taking part as the only one without a caddy - the guy who carries the clubs around.

Doug offered his services, was accepted with enthusiasm, and on that hangs the tale.

The first competition he took part in was something called Rabbits and Midways in which he was told ‘this is a game, relax, enjoy’, then walked off with the cup.

He told a lot of snippets involving numbers, birdies, eagles, etc, which were difficult to follow, showed some photographs of his family golfing occasions and also well-known golfers he had met over his time marshalling and scoring which happened after only two years of becoming involved.

Familiar names, even to members with no sporting interest, were St Andrew’s, the Ryder Cup, Hoylake (Royal Liverpool Golf Club).

Names such as Tiger Woods, Seve Balisteros, Bill Clinton, and Dustin Hoffman.

While everything was found financially, accommodation was harder to come by with escalating prices relating to competitions, some as high as £3,500 for a week in Ryder Cup week.

Friends do come in handy in the right place sometimes.

Clothing was supplied but again not always what it seems.

Designer labels do some unrealistic sizes for us ‘normal people’.

The last job was from heaven!

A letter, offering accommodation from a church in Hoylake, Liverpool.

There was an apartment empty for the week at a cost of £50 a night, which was grabbed with both hands and lived on fish and chips for the duration. Heaven indeed.

A short question and answer session completed the talk with a giveaway of a book to close.

The presentation was well received by a largely female audience - apologies for sounding sexist as members are aware anybody plays, though it is a mixed demographic.

The u3a’s next general meeting is again in the Wellington Rugby Club, in Corams Lane, at 10.15 am, on July 13, when the presentation will be by Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

For those wishing to attend, do check the access roads carefully, as there are a lot of closures in the immediate area at the moment and ongoing.

The u3a looks forward to meeting everybody in July, when we may be in summer!

Anne Dearness

PLASTIC plant pots can now be accepted for recycling by Somerset Council.

Under ‘Simpler Recycling’ regulations, councils in England must make sure households can recycle the same core materials from home.

For Somerset residents, that means non-black plastic plant pots can now go in the blue bag with other accepted plastic pots, tubs, and trays.

Pots should be empty and reasonably clean before recycling.

Black plant pots cannot be recycled because the pigment is not recognised by the optical sorting machines.

These should continue to be reused where possible, and if not, placed in the rubbish bin.

Plastic plant pots can also be taken to any Somerset recycling site for recycling.