Our Events

2011/2012

IMPORTANT BUT SAD BREAKING NEWS!

Windermere Air Festival 2012 cancelled due to economic climate
The Windermere Air Festival 2012 has been cancelled due to the current economic climate, lack of sponsorship and grant funding that was previously available to it and in addition, due to Olympic related events, which will take place in Bowness-on-Windermere next year.
Bluestone Events will no longer run the event, having helped organise it in 2010 and been 100% responsible for its delivery in 2011. The Windermere Air Festival was run for the first time as a commercial entity in 2011. Although this year's event was hailed as a success, with ongoing uncertainty in the economy, the event's funding sources have been squeezed even further, with the probability that if it were to go ahead next year, organisers could face a substantial loss and/or be forced to pass on higher costs to Festival visitors.
Kate Thomas of Bluestone Events, said: It is with regret that Bluestone Events has been forced to withdraw from the Windermere Air Festival but the prevailing economic climate has made it impossible for us to stage the event in 2012, as the risk it would pose to our business would simply be too great. We would support anyone wishing to take on the running of the event in the future when the economic climate has improved.
The Windermere Air Festival is a great event and we are proud to have been involved in it over the last two years.
Pat Crowfoot, President of the Rotary Club of Windermere, which organised the first 10 Air Shows said: I would like to thank Bluestone Events for making a success of this year's Windermere Air Festival. Without their involvement, it simply wouldn't have taken place, as the Air Festival has grown too big for a voluntary service organisation like ours to undertake. The Rotary Club hopes that when economic conditions have improved that an event management company will re-launch the Windermere Air Festival, with the goal of making it better than ever.

 

WATERBIRD CENTENARY CELEBRATION
We were delighted to have been invited to be represented at the Centenary Celebration Luncheon of the first flight of Waterbird.

Four members of the club attended a very enjoyable event at Storrs Hall Hotel to witness many relatives of Edward Wakefield speaking about the achievement on 25th November 1911 when the very first seaplane to be built and flown in England was launched for the first time on Windermnere.

The Lakes Waterbird as it was known was built by AV Roe & Co. for EW Wakefield of the Lakes Flying School. Mr Wakefield had been interested in water borne aircraft for two years and had found insurmountable problems in getting an aircraft to leave the water successfully. After a visit to France and another aircraft builder, Henri Fabre, he hit on the idea of a single undercarriage stepped float. This proved to be the answer to the problem and the Waterbird saw fame but not perhaps fortune at that time. Nevertheless it was the forerunner of all successive seaplanes and Lord Wakefield of Kendal is still remembered and revered for his achievement.

At the luncheon, various speakers from his family and the Navy Heritage gave interesting facts and reminiscences to entertain the large audience. Unfortunately a Sea Fury of the Royal Navy Historic flight which should have made a live appearance was unable to fly due to weather conditions.

We all had to be satisfied with examining superb models of Waterbird - two of which were made by Lakes School pupils. A replica of Waterbird is under constuction at the present time and it is hoped that it will fly on Windermere in 2012. Something to look forward to.

 

CONCORDE VISIT AT MANCHESTER AIRPORT
Concorde, the most seductive and inspirational aircraft ever to be grounded for spurious reasons, is an amazing visit and must have been an out of this world flying experience. A great day out, complete with sunshine was arranged by Dave Fletcher, our President nominee and fifteen of us really had a marvellous day. A bus, Concorde, Nimrod, an alcoholic comfort break and a first class meal all combined to give us all a day to remember. The facts and figures for this iconic aircraft are all on its website and are too numerous to detail here. Here's to many more such outings!

After all that travelling to Manchester, eating and drinking, eight of us got out the wheels and headed for Scotland. We are a club with exceptional sporting abilities and one of our unique qualities is our famed expertise in the ancient sport of curling. The new season started yesterday so we were soon out of the blocks and heading North. Never mind that it has rained in the Lakes for eternity and that the sun was shining - we preferred to spend the day on ice!
This was to be our first practice session of the year and we were raring to go. An excellent session ensued and we are now nearly ready to meet the league opponents! In case you are wondering, we play at Lockerbie.

ARCHERY EVENING
Ten of us turned up at Lakeside YMCA for an evening of fun! Our instructor John took us to one of the four archery ranges set up on the very extensive YMCA site. After about 10 minutes of basic training on how to hold the bow, insert the arrow and most importantly how not to point it at other people we were divided into 5 teams.

The first round or so was a bit of a learning curve for both left handed & right handed participants. However, in conventional archery tournaments I'm told the target is around 90m away. In our case the distance was around 15m so we couldn't really miss but somehow we did. (I suspect the YMCA choice of distance is to ensure some success and get repeat business!). Anyway 'youth' triumphed and the winners were Rob & Paul with a combined score of 1060 points closely followed by Don & John with 1030 points. It was a great evening - nobody was injured or volunteered for the William Tell shot but then Tell was using a cross-bow. Afterwards we adjourned to the Swan at Newby Bridge for refreshments. Possibly a little alcohol beforehand might have steadied the aim and improved the scoring!

Paul, who is a boat club member and a very good amateur chef arranged and cooked the Hog Roast and we joined Boat Club members at their excellent venue. The hog was done to a very tasty turn and was accompanied by wonderful salads and suitable veg. Loudish music more or less stifled conversation but a very enjoyable evening was had by all. The evening raised £200 for a local charfity.

 

2010/2011

President John and our members had a warm welcome for two young students last evening.
Fiona Devlin from the Lakes School Windermere and Erin Hillary from Invermere in Canada came to tell us about their experiences on an exchange which they had been enjoying. The Environment Agency had requested our financial and local selection assistance in making the exchange possible.
Both students live close to and are involved with lakes by the name of Windermere in their respective countries. The exchange was duly arranged and both girls were together at our meeting. Fiona had been to Canada and Erin returned with her to enjoy joint experiences on and around Windermere.
They told us how much they appreciated the exchange and they have obviously had a great time and are still enjoying each other's company. Programmes for their interest and information were arranged by our club here and by the Rotary club of Invermere in Canada.

A successful exchange which we were pleased to have been a part of and we hope that both Fiona and Erin will become lifelong friends.

SHELTERBOX COLLECTION

A Rotary initiated and managed charity, we hve supported Shelterbox for several years and we continue to do so. This weekend we are collecting at Booths in Windermere to raise funds to purchase and supply shelterboxes to needy countries and situations. We are jointly putting a box on show and our members, with Ambleside Kirkstone members are hoping that our local people and visitors will be generous.

Our Annual Foundation Cruise on Windermere

For probably the18th time, Windermere Lake Cruises were our hosts with their good ship Teal for our Annual Cruise. The weather was not as kind to us as the crew but 92 intrepid cruisers enjoyed yet another Sunday evening of fun, chat and music. We were entertained by the New Hall Jazz Band who have been with us on all our sailings and they were in good form and voice. The Annual Raffle was well endowed with prizes which were well received by all but the holders of tickets in the 100 range! Our thanks to all who sailed and helped to make the evening enjoyable and a contribution to our funds for the Rotary Foundation.

This was our last 'public' event of this Rotary Year and we owe President John, our Committee Chairmen and all our members a big thank you for all they have done this year to make our club membership enjoyable and rewarding. We look forward to next year with eager anticipation. Why not come and enjoy yourself with us?

 

Cumbria’s Young Chef wins National Final

Our Cumbria Young Chef winner, Oliver McGeorge, who has just had his 15th birthday, spoke at the Harrogate Conference after he won the Region 7 event, won the all RIBI Young Chef final in Stratford on 30th April, against 7 other top young chefs from throughout the British Isles. District say “We were all gobsmacked but so pleased and proud. “
However Oliver was very lucky to be able to compete in the Final. Four weeks before the Final he broke his right arm just above the wrist playing football. He needed an operation to deal with the break and then spent nearly four weeks in plaster. After telling the hospital that he had to take part in the Final of the Rotary cookery competition his plaster was removed and his wrist was put in splints – just three days before the event!
Oliver did the same menu as before except that he changed the dressing for the scallops starter to be more seasonal. The 5 judges were unanimous in their decision, but DG Albert said “how they decided is beyond me as the standard was so high.”
Oliver is off to Italy after his exams care of Filippo Berio Olive Oil (the main sponsors of the competition) and to a top London restaurant (Fifteen Restaurant founded by Jamie Oliver) for a day and he won a prize of £250.

At the event were Oliver's parents Andrew and Tracey, DG Albert and Lizzie, Wilf and Christine Ellis from our sponsoring Rotary Club of Windermere together with Richard Lea. District Youth Opportunities Committee Chairman and his wife Carole.

Through winning £600 of catering equipment for his school in 3 earlier rounds of the competition, his French teacher learned of his cooking ability and his ambition to be a chef and has got him into Marseille Catering College from September 2012 where her mother is Deputy Principal. Oliver is busily learning French! So not only has Oliver had the fantastic experience at Harrogate, won 4 Rotary Young Chef competitions, but through his involvement in Rotary Young Chef, has a place at one of the top catering colleges in the world. We may even see Oliver on TV as a top chef In Rotary We Change Lives!

ELECTRIC BLUES FEST

We are all now looking forward to an improvement in the weather which has seen Spring reach Windermere in the last week or so. Certainly the crowds are beginning to arrive and many visitors are enjoying the daffodils and even the crocuses we planted last year in Bowness.

Our much publicised Electric Blues Fest took place last week and well over 100 people thoroughly enjoyed a rousing and lively performance by one of the foremost Blues outfits in the Country.

Paul Lamb and the King Snakes came to Windermere for us as a stop on their LIVE TOUR 2011, fitting us in between their visits to Poland and Denmark! They provided wonderful music and the whole room was very quickly jumping to their very own brand of music and some well known classics. There was no opportunity to chat with your neighbour unless you happened to have a megaphone in your fist!

Additionally, Collaboration - a band formed by young students from Windermere School brought a more youthful brand of modern rock numbers to entertain us during the interludes. Congratulations to them and we wish them well in their endeavours.

So we bade farewell to our musical evening - a resounding success and our thanks to the Hydro - to Dave Fletcher and his Committee and the unfortunate people trying to dance to Olde Tyme music in the room neat door!

 

TROLLEY DASH

Our Annual Trolley Dash was a great success enabling us to add over £1150 to our charity accounts for the coming year. A young couple, Mr and Mrs Minnet were the winners and they made a super dash around Booths of Windermere collecting all they could in two minutes, here's to next time and thank you to everyone who bought tickets!

 

SPORT ETC

We continue to be victorious in our energetic sporting activities!
On one day we won our curling match at Lockerbie Ice Rink and in the evening beat Ambleside Kirkstone club at Ten Pin Bowling at the Morecambe Bowl. Bev Abley, one of our opponents had the high score of the evening - 146.

No trophies just yet but we are on our way.

The last week or two has seen us enjoying a wealth of extramural activities which have included us beating Lunesdale Club at, of all things - ten pin bowling!
Also on our energetic calendar we have had two practice sessions of Curling which have meant us crossing the border into Scotland to the ice rink at Lockerbie. Happily, we have suffered no lasting injuries from either activity - just one or two wayward stones from the amateurs amongst us!

It's not all sport though - we have ventured into the world of culture with a visit to the new Motor Museum at Backbarrow which demonstrated how much our modes of transport have evolved and advanced [or not] over the years since we were much younger.

The latest play from the pen of Alan Ayckbourn - 'Life of Riley' attracted many of us over two performances at our local theatre in Bowness. On Friday night President John had a double presentation with a surprise Birthday cake in evidence. Unfortunately there was no Marilyn Monroe to lead the singing!

 

Professor Alan Pickering, a Past President of our club, made a welcome return to give us one of his renowned talks on our natural environment. Alan is a retired scientist who worked at the Freshwater Biology Association on the Windermere lakeside for many years. He has a very wide interest in the flora, fauna, geology and waters of the Lake District and his knowledge of these subjects is legend.

His talk to us was entitled 'Bird Life in Cumbria.' Alan and his wife Christine are volunteers who are taking part in a wide ranging survey of bird species' presence across the County. At different times in each of the four seasons of the year, they walk the area of their given tetrad. The tetrad is a specific divison of the Cumbian countryside . Alan and Christine are surveying an area close to the Eastern shore of Coniston Water.

With excellent photos, Alan showed us the many birds that have been seen and recorded on their walks and described to us their many habitats, lifestyles, breeding habits, migratory cycles and threats to their livelihoods.

A most interesting talk for all of us and we look forward to seeing and hearing from him again in the future.

We were all stretching our memories back to the 'Swinging Sixties' at our Annual Charter Dinner celebration this year..

That was the theme for the evening at the Hydro when members, guests and spouses enjoyed an evening of fun, food and frolic as we danced away the night to the music of the Sounds of Jazz Band from Keswick. We commenced with an excellenet meal accompanied by our choices of wine or other refreshment followed by a toast by Trevor Hughes, President of the Kendal club. Our own President John then responded before we moved to the Ballroom to be entertained by the Band. A very different night for our club which may have set the scene for further developments of this Annual event.

 

2009/2010

TECHNOLOGY TOURNAMENT - SHINING LIGHTS !

Over one hundred students from nine schools stretching from Penrith to Milnthorpe came together at The Hydro Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere to demonstrate their organisational and design skills at the recent Technology Tournament organized by the Rotary Club of Windermere and supported by other Clubs. The event which is in its fifth year was sponsored by BAE Systems.

Each team of four students was given an identical set of materials and, having considered a number of designs to satisfy the criteria, set about building their apparatus for the panel of judges. The teenagers had to design and build a beacon with a flashing light on top and displaying an advertising billboard. The display had to show an advertisement for a new charity of the students’ choice. Extra marks were gained the longer the beacon was able to flash.

Organisers were again impressed with the enthusiasm and diligence shown by the students as they applied themselves to the task. “I believe that the students really enjoyed their day as did those who helped to organise the event” said the Rotary Organiser Wilf Ellis, adding “the same task is set nationally by Rotary to really stretch the wits of the youngsters”.

The task is only revealed on the day and the teachers are not permitted to help and indeed are themselves set an advanced task to complete. The teachers were joined this year, in their efforts, by our MP Tim Farron, who pitched in with great enthusiasm. He said he soon appreciated that they were excellent teachers as he was the dunce of the group.

Prizes were awarded to students in 3 age ranges and cups and books were handed out by Cllr Bill Smith, the Mayor of Windermere. The basic task for younger students was won by Queen Katherine School in Kendal, the intermediate by Windermere St Anne’s School and the advanced by Kirkbie Kendal B.

Mick Eady, Rotary’s Governor for the North West was present and said “it gives them the chance to do something outstanding and challenge themselves against other schools. The fact that they are all here on a school day shows that schools see the benefit it brings”

 

News update: Tents top priority in Haiti

 

LATE BURNS NIGHT

This was the second occasion that President Rob had chaired our Burns Night which he did with his usual flair. The meal was excellent, as always at the Hydro, comprising Melon, Haggis, a choice of Pheasant, Venison or Salmon followed by Tipsy Laird Trifle & Coffee. The Haggis was ceremoniously piped in by piper Richard Cowie who proceeded to address it with great feeling before stabbing it dead and allowing the assembled company to partake of portions of such a fine winged and five legged delicacy.
Don’s brother Iain Kelso who was hilariously funny ably proposed following the Loyal Toast, The Immortal Memory. President Rob then proposed a toast to the Lassies in verse form to which Christine McGraw as president of Inner Wheel responded in equal verse. The Haggis then responded to it’s toast through the medium of Richard Cowie and the evening was rounded off with a couple of verses of Auld Lang Syne.
Credit was given to Ernie and Anne Fallowfield and Don and Mary Kelso as organisers, to Don for his usual humorous toastmaster routine, to Barbara Willcox for the table flowers and to Ed Baily for the menus.
One joke appropriate to the occasion was about a pub in Aberdeen which for it’s 100th Anniversary was selling beer at 2p a pint and the pub was empty. An enquiry about this revealed that the Aberdonians were awaiting for Happy Hour.

CHARTER ANNIVERSARY DINNER OCTOBER

Our club is now 63 years old and we celebrated that Birthday in style at the Hydro. As well as our own members we had visitors, with their wives, husbands and partners from 14 different clubs in our immedite area. The occasion was a splendid black tie affair with everybody, even the men, looking their best. President Alan was in the chair for the evening and after the meal we were entertained by a brilliant young harpist, Kate Anna Pearson who lent a sophisticated air to the  speeches which were to follow. A latish finish did not take the gloss off the evening and everyone retired home to a well deserved rest whilst making a note to be present at our 64th Celebration

   

   

   

 

                      

Our Annual Golf Am/Am saw 31 teams of golfers from across our North West area taking part in an enjoyable,
if wet, day of great golfing skills.

The hope was “Third Time Lucky” but not to be so for the third year in a row waterproofs and umbrellas were again the order of the day for the earlier starters at the Club’s annual AM/AM golf competition.  At one point  about 06.20am, yes some of us were up getting ready for the day at that time, it looked as though we may have to call the event off but no come the 06.55am weather forecast it was right and the weather faired up as the day progressed

 

31 teams took part travelling from near & far.   Despite the conditions, the Windermere course was in immaculate condition thanks to all the effort of David Wilkinson and the greens team.  Windermere Golf club did us proud again with the hospitality extended by Peter and his bar team along with Colin & Liz the caterers.

 

This years main winners were ‘The Ambleside Fore’ lead by Mike Thornton with a great score of 123pts and in a reversal of last years places Holbeck Ghyll lead by David Nicholson with 120pts cpo were second and our new Rotarian Dave Fletcher of ADL with 120pts cpo were third.  Special winners were the Junior Team, lead by Junior Captain Will McAllister, invited by the Club to enter our event and in fact they had the best score of 132pts and were presented with special prizes.

 

 

PRESIDENTIAL HANDOVER

July 1st is the beginning of a new Rotary Year throughout the world. This day sees all the Rotary Club Presidents taking  over from their predecessors and all other club officers starting the new year with them.
Our new President is Alan Katz and all our members wish him a happy and successful year in office.
Manchester born Alan and Susan have a long association with Windermere and have lived here since 1990. A retired accountant, Alan is a keen supporter of events like our golf AM AM, Airshow, Windermere Walks, and Youth Concerts that fit with his themes of supporting youth and promoting health. These are all fun events where Rotarians happily give our time and experience also to raise substantial funds. “Not at all our only priority, fund raising does help promote well being and relieve suffering through many local and international charities that we support. Most Rotarians also give their time directly. This may be to support our youth, our elderly, the sick and disadvantaged, be that individually, through Club activities, and by helping other organisations in these objectives”.

“ We all enjoy the many aspects of Rotary in different ways. We may give as much or as little time as we wish and can spare to service.  The common thread is that we all greatly enjoy each others’ company around our weekly dinner meetings and many  social events, we get to know each other really well and that is the foundation for also enjoying working closely together for service to others”. 

        

     2008/2009

      MILLENNIUM GAMES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all know that the Year is coming to a close when we have the Annual Millennium Games Day. This year, the competition between our club and our Inner Wheel Club took place at President Rob's home. He and Christine very generously gave us the run of house and gadrden to play our dominoes, quoits, Jenga, putting and pick up sticks. Prior to that though, we all enjoyed a sumptuous buffet lunch and drinks which nobody really wanted to leave in order to play strenuous and demanding games. Eventually, after an heroic last ditch move by the Rotarians, Inner Wheel triumphed by a margin best forgotten. Our thanks to everybody but particularly our two Presidents, Rob and Christine and their spouses Christine and Alan. Very Well Done to you all!

    DISTRICT CONFERENCE

Recently several of our members and their wives ventured into Yorkshire to our Annual District Conference in Leeds.

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VALENTINE'S DAY

Our club's social life is also full of fun. We held a Valentine's party on Valentine's Day - we are surely the 'Romantics' of Windermere. This was a Jacob's Join Evening with entertainment provided by our own members and friends. The highlights of the event were the quizzes and the illusions provided by the two resident Artistes - Geoff Stocker and Mike Fletcher. Needless to say, a very enjoyable and romantic evening was had by all.

 

 

 

 

TECHNOLOGY TOURNAMENT [March]

The Annual Schools Technology Tournament was once again hosted in our area by our club. The Hydro kindly allowed us to hold the event there and the hotel was very lively all day. There were 21 teams of four pupils who were challenged to launch a sphere [table tennis ball] into space [10 metres above a table]  from the launch pad. The launch pad had to be constructed, as did the sphere carrier, from an assortment of wood, card, rubber bands, polystyrene cup, paper clips, cotton, sellotape and wire.

Teamwork and creativity were of the essence and some very commendable results were presented by all the teams. There had to be winners in each of three classes but everybody, including the judges, thoroughly enjoyed their day. The winners of the Basic, Intermediate and Senior classes were - Queen Katherine's School Kendal; Kirkbie Kendal School and Ullswater School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS 2008

President Rob, along with other Rotarians, was in good voice at our Annual Carols Evening at the Hydro Hotel. An excellent audience came along and enjoyed being entertained by various performers as well as a "choir" of all the men in the audience who became Good King Wenceslas!

The girls of the Windermere Junior School gave us a wonderful Christmas play in words and song with many welll known carols amongst their repertoire. Sue Almond, the school's music teacher had trained the children wonderfully and they were brilliant. They looked great too - all in red T shirts and Christmas hats - well done girls!

Our music for the evening was once again provided by Burneside Brass under the baton of Stuart Moore, their leader and director - they played with obvious professionalism and were so very good at accompanying the amateur voices.

Kathryn West, who has sung for us on two previous occasions was delightful as she sang two Carols unaccompanied and enthralled the audience with her beautiful looks and voice. We thank all our contributors and are pleased that a collection will help our work at this time of year in our local Community.

 

 

 

 

CHARTER ANNIVERSARY DINNER 2008
Our Annual Charter Anniversary Dinner and Celebration Evening was held on October 22nd at The Hydro.
For the second time, we invited our Ladies and the Ladies of our visiting Rotary Club members to join us for this occasion.
We were 117 in number and our visitors came from Rotary Clubs as far afield as Carlisle and Lancaster to spend a very enjoyable evening with us.
President Rob had also invited two guests  who provided us with excellent entertainment - Kathryn West, a young singer who sang four songs for us accompanied by her music teacher on his guitar and Paul Harkness - the UK Formula 1 sailing champion who regaled us with his sailing exploits and encouraged us to take up the sport.
A highlight of the evening was the unexpected presentation by President Rob of Paul Harris Fellowships to two of our members - Peter Nattrass and John Tiscornia. District Governor Tony Parrini was on hand to assist in the actual presentations.

 

    

 

 

 

Wine Tasting 7^th November 2008
Following two successful years and thanks to our good friends Deborah and Kevin who supply the wine and the script, we are    arranging another “Call My Bluff” Wine Tasting evening at the Marchesi Centre on 7th November at 7.30pm. The Panel will be the same as before with Deborah, Kevin and President Rob McGraw but we shall deal with the scoring a little differently.
If you enjoy drinking wine and having a laugh trying to decide who is pulling your leg in describing each wine and all this in support of good Rotary causes, come along and support us. It only costs £8 including the wine, tea/coffee and a few biscuits etc. to cleanse the palate. There is also a raffle with good prizes.

 

AIRSHOW 2008
Well, what a weekend! The sun came out and so did you!
An incredible number of people, young and old, came to the Glebe to enjoy the best weekend of fun and interest that Bowness has ever seen. Once again our eighth WINDERMERE AIRSHOW proved to be an enormous attraction even without the superb aerobatics of the RAF Red Arrows team. For two days there was entertainment both on the ground and in the skies with glorious weather which not only brought people in their thousands but also benefitted all the shops and other tradespeople in and around Bowness.
We also benefitted a little from the fact that the weather was not as kind on the East coast where sadly for them, the Sunderland Airshow had to cancel all flying due to sea frets on Saturday and Sunday. We had a surprise visit by the Chinook Helicopter which lifted the Falcon parachutists after their drop onto the Glebe.
For more information and photos please go to the Airshow 2008 page.

 

 

 

 

We are very grateful for the support of our business sponsors. Our main sponsor, Lakeland Limited would be very pleased to see or hear from you at their Windermere Store or through their website. So if you are looking for accommodation, somewhere to eat, enjoy a drink or buy yourself that Lakeland present do please visit our sponsors - you can find them all here.

WE ALSO HELD OUR ANNUAL GOLF AM/AM ON 18TH JULY

For the second year in a row every picture tells a story!  Waterproofs and umbrellas were again the order of the day for the starters at the Club’s annual AM/AM golf competition. The weather faired up as the day progressed but with heavy over head cloud the later starter needed miners’ lamps for the last couple of holes, if only the sun had come out!!

 

38 teams took part travelling from near & far. There were 5 visiting Rotary Club teams with new boys in 2 teams from The Rotary Club of Richmond in North Yorkshire. Despite the conditions, the Windermere course was in immaculate condition thanks to all the effort of David Wilkinson and the greens team. Windermere Golf club did us proud again with the hospitality extended by Peter and his bar team along with Colin & Liz the caterers.

 

This years winners were ‘Lakes Golf led by Alex Wood with a magnificent score of 131pts followed by Dave Fletcher of ADL with 123pts and Holbeck Ghyll led by David Nicholson on 122pts.

 

Now who is going to benefit from the £2500+? just slipped the  memory!!! – Alzheimer’s and Prostrate Cancer UK in Cumbria area.  This brings the total raised by the AM/AM since its relaunch back in 1996 to over £34,000. The Club is again most grateful to Windermere Golf Club and the sponsors of the event. Thanks must also go to all the members of the club who assisted John with the setting up & running of the event on the day.

 

     

 

Our members hope that you may find something in our website pages to interest you. We are always very happy to welcome your involvement in our activities and events such as the AIRSHOW. This coming year we shall have new events and well tried and tested ones too.  Although we are not specifically a fund raising club we do support charities both locally and internationally and some of our events are aimed specifically at their needs. We would also encourage you to talk to us if you feel that membership of our club could be something you might welcome and enjoy.

OUR SPONSORED WALK

         

      Summer arrived at last in the Lake District – even though it was late September!  On a dry, warm, hazy day walkers from as far afield as Newcastle, Liverpool and Huddersfield set off from St Anne’s School, Windermere to walk 3, 5 or 10 miles for charity.  The high      point (quite literally) for each of the walks was Orrest Head, one of Wainwright’s favourite viewpoints.  As many of you know, Wainwright had his ashes scattered at Innominate Tarn (another of his ‘special’ places) and, as the first walkers reached the summit of Orrest Head, they witnessed another memorial service at which the ashes of a local walker were scattered. 
    
    Each walk was clearly marked and marshalled by Windermere Rotarians and refreshments were available for the walkers at the start and the finish.  A team from Inner Wheel, led by President Christine Pickering, raised money for the Altzheimer’s Society as a contribution to their ‘Memory Walk’. In addition, groups of walkers supported Med Equip 4 Kids, Marie Curie Nurses, Kirkwood Hospice for Kirklees, Bendrigg Lodge, the Rainbow Trust, and PIES (Partners in Education Swaziland).   

   This was the our first effort at organizing a sponsored walk where the participants nominated their own charities and it is hoped that this will become an annual event. 

2007/2008

During the year we shall have many events which are worth recording for both members' and perhaps your interest. We shall use this page to tell and show you what we as a club have done recently.

Our first two have been a members trip to Gateshead with local visits and our Golf AM/AM at Windermere Golf Club. Both have been very successful and our thanks are due to Fred Parker and John Tiscornia for organising these opening events.

 

 

 

 

On the way to Gateshead we all met at Durham Cathedral for coffee and a look at one of the Country's finest Cathedrals. Dating back to Anglo Saxon and Norman times this powerful building expresses clearly the style of secular architecture of the age. The columns of the nave are a wonder in themselves and everybody enjoyed seeing many features of the cathedral. The afternoon was reserved for a visit and tour of Sir Norman Foster's Sage Concert Hall on the quayside at Gateshead. Unfortunately we were not able to sample any music or theatre but we were all delighted with the wealth of information gleaned on the tour and the ambience of this very modern addition to Gateshead's facilities for music and theatre. The following day we went back in time and ended the trip with a visit to the Museum at Beamish.

 

 

 

 

Friday July 13th was very wet and miserable, particularly in the afternoon - it was also the day of our Annual Golf AM/AM at Windermere Golf Club. 41 Teams of stalwart golfers from near and far ignored the weather and teed off from early morning to late afternoon. Sadly, many were really defeated by the weather but everyone declared that they had enjoyed themselves. We are very grateful to all those who entered and have helped us to make good donations to the two nominated Charities - Life Education Cumbria and the Starlight Children's Foundation.

The winners were The Butchers with 118 points, followed by The Bandits with 114 points. Third were Demels Picklers, captained by our own John Tiscornia with 112 points and fourth were The Ambleside Four with 110 points.

Our social activities are of course, legend and last week we held a Wine Tasting for Charity 'Call My Bluff' evening. It was well attended and tables of around six people were asked to taste seven wines, three white, one rose and three reds. The tastings were accompanied by three descriptions of the wines, one of which was correct.

Our panelists were two wine experts and an expert amateur - you have to guess who he was!. The wine experts were Kevin Boles and Deborah Brooks. Deborah is an associate with Paul Boutinot Wine Agencies and Kevin is head of the Cumbria University Business School and has an interest in wines. An excellent social evening arranged by Brian Jowett and other members of the Community Service Committee.          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last three weeks have seen us really enjoying the social side of our Rotary fellowship as well as raising funds for very worthwhile causes.
On Saturday 17^th May 2008, we combined our efforts with Inner Wheel, Soroptomists and the local Support Committee for the charity, Hope & Homes for Children to raise money to settle orphaned children in foster homes in Eastern Europe and Africa. A garden party was held at Rayrigg Hall, in Windermere which raised around £2,500 for the charity, thus providing enough funds to settle up to three destitute children into a secure family life. The club and its partners are grateful for the help and support received.

Our evening event at St Martin's College - the true story of Rorke's Drift had an audience of 120 people enthralled at the animated talk which accurately described the infamous battle which took place there. Almost £900 was raised for the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team - the club has increased that to £1250.00.

At the end of each Rotary year our President and the President of our ladies' Inner Wheel Club kindly combine to provide lunch and an afternoon of fun and competition between the clubs at our 'Annual Millennium Games' After an exciting play off, the Trophy Decanter this year went to the Inner Wheel Club. Our thanks are due to both Susan and Alan Katz and Bill and Judith MacCormack for an excellent and enjoyable afternoon. Below are some of the antics our members got up to!