The Mayor of Bournemouth


Councillor Lawrence Williams gave us a very warm civic welcome to Bournemouth of which he is obviously very proud. He had previously been responsible for Tourism, Leisure and the Arts in the town.


In the 16th century Bournemouth was nothing more than a remote heathland on the banks of the river Bourne. In 1812, a retired army officer, Lewis Tregonwell, of whom there is a statue outside the BIC, purchased land to build a new home, subsequently building a series of sea villas for holiday letting. This house is now the Royal Exeter Hotel and with the beautiful gardens created after draining fields to the south, Bournemouth is now a popular holiday destination


welcoming 5 million visitors a year. Adding to its popularity are the 7 miles of golden beaches and its pier. The arrival of the railway brought people to visit and theatres, the concert hall, museums and art galleries add to the attractions.


At the end of the Mayor’s speech he exhorted us to “enjoy our stay”! President Liz and the Mayor compared the magnificent chains of office that each was proud to wear and agreed that the Mayor’s chain was the larger of the two but that Liz’s was shinier!


Fiona Marwick


RIBI President


Denis Spiller, President of RIBI in Great Britain and Ireland, is a member of the Rotary Club of Strood, Kent and a former member of Rotaract which, he told us, is widely recognised as the best marriage agency in the country!


Denis said Rotary is focussed on rejuvenation, bringing in Millennials and not just Baby Boomers. He stressed that the use of technology was vitally important these days and that social media has a big place in modern-day life, stating that if Facebook was a country it would be the fifth biggest country in the world. Denis believes the writing is on the wall for service organisations and that we should encourage the use of the internet and mobile phones to post photographs of our work.


He was promoting Rotary 2, which he described as project- driven, family oriented, with better networking, informal meetings, no meals and no traditions. There are already 80 clubs in Rotary 2.


Rotary Clubs have also been planting trees, over 1.2 million of them, one for each Rotarian, the latest being a Japanese Parasol Tree in Coventry, in memory of Hiroshima.


A Banger Rally is taking place in York in July, in aid of Polio Plus and President Denis is driving a custom painted purple Volkswagen Beetle to publicise the event.


In closing, President Denis said that Inner Wheel and Rotary are facing the same challenges and extended a warm welcome to the RIBI Conference in Torquay, from 6th to 8th April 2018.


Ann Fox


Page. 8


Innerwheel


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