garden for the blind with a wall round it. Bill Shalders, who followed Gordon Warren and was Treasurer at the time, played a large part in the organisation of this.
Charter Night – Yet More Memories
I would like to go back before the Charter. The Charter night was quite a night at the Elizabeth Hall, with a large attendance. The Rotary had a set Charter ceremony before the meeting and we sang our Rotary Grace as we always did. John Challis didn’t like the tune, so we sang it to the Old Hundred. The other thing they made us do, which was a bit stupid, was recite the objectives of Rotary.
The Charter night was attended by a lot of important people at Rotary. We had our meal first, and toasts went on afterwards, starting with the Loyal Toast and then a toast by the London District Governor, John Mackie. The meetings were always well attended and there was a black mark if you did not have at least one representative there. As London was a very large district, there were lots of people there. We were addressed alphabetically and had to receive another badge. The first toast on the Charter night was to Rotary International coupled with the Hornchurch Club. It was read by Tom Benson of Northampton. He was the RIBI President and that was quite a lengthy talk. The next toast was naming the important Rotarians there, including Bill Carter, later District Governor. This was the last toast and it was quite late when we finished. We were now an official Rotary Club.
The Immediate Post-War Years The war was now finished; when we started, the war was still on. This was
February 1946. From there it is easier to take things by the Presidents. The Canon had been our first President from the interim Club until the Charter, and he carried on until the end of June. He was noted for his funny old car; he was a dear old man. I always remember, he christened my daughter Alison. When we drove up to the ceremony, the Canon was crossing the road with a kettle of hot water to put in the font to warm it. I was very fond of the Canon.
The fellowship really built up before we had meetings in each other’s house. We attended meetings every month and I don’t know how we found the time. We attended everything as well as the Charter nights, and got to know
9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40