Charlie Carrington (Left) was inducted as a new member of Rotary Club of Great Missenden by President Terry Cann. Charlie is concerned with Regulatory Management at GE in Amersham (formerly Amersham International). The members warmly welcome Charlie and his wife Sally. [19 Oct 2009]

Rotarian Steve Gill, now working for Noah Enertprise, explained their aims and operations. NOAH (New Opportunities and Horizons) is a Luton-based charity offering hope and support to people struggling against homelessness and exclusion. The range of services include counselling, welfare, advise, training, meals and access to NHS services. They have their own shops as well. They plan to build a comprehensive £10m facility.  Click here for more info. [19 Oct 2009]

The Rotary Club of Great Missenden celebrated their 25th Anniversary at Ellesborough Golf Club. The event was master-minded by Alan Jones and Ed Whymark.

It began with a minute's silence to mark the death of Rotarian John Dyett during the week. Then there was entertainment by two young singers - Fraye Turton and Francesca Lewis accompanied by Rebecca Holt - arranged through Anne Fairlcoth. They thrilled everyone with their skills. Superb food was followed by Immediate Past District Governor Les Lee praising the Club's contributions over the years to different avenues of service. He also acknowledged the Club's involvement in District matters. Rotarian Mike Rainford, in his inimitable style, kept everyone amused with his resume of the club's 25 year history.

The function was well attended, including Asst Governor Jenny Muir, President of Chesham Rotary Derek Upcott, four past members and their wives and six Honorary Rotarians. Click here for detailed pictures. [12 Oct 2009]

John Dyett: It is with great sadness that we report the death of our fellow Rotarian John Dyett on 6 Oct 2009. Our thoughts and condolences go to his wife Noriko and their family. The photos show some of the moments the members shared with John... L to R: Boules in Missenden Abbey, At dinner after Golf in Wendover and At the Garden party at Tony/Sheila Shaw's home. [6 Oct 2009]

President Nigel Blackburn of Rotary Club of Misbourne Matins from our neighbouring District 1090 visited the Club and presented a generous cheque for £200 to President Terry Cann of Great Missenden. He did this in spite of the fact that our Club beat them in the Quiz held on 30 Sep 09! It is to support our project to send Dictionaries for Life (D4L) to Mumbai through Rotary Club of Bombay.  Click here for an update on the progress of the D4L Mumbai project.  [5 Oct 2009]

Danny Baker explained how the Endeavour Centre in Chesham stimulates people with learning  / physical disabilities, and bring in enjoyment. He is the Treasurer of the Charity 'Friends of the Endeavour Centre'. His wife Angela pictured here also takes an active role. Supporters include our Rotarian Brian Barnett and his wife Cathy.  They also has a thriving horticultural unit which used to be based at the Missenden Abbey.

Now they are at: Endeavour Nursery, Cameron Road, Chesham HP5 3DF. Click here for further information. [28 Sep 2009]

Several members of Rotary Club of Great Missenden helped as volunteers in the Ground Breaking Ceremony for a new building for Chilterns MS Centre. The actor David Jason was the Chief Guest and he said that he would like to be back in a year's time to open the front door of the new building. They have raised over £1.34m of their target £1.5m. It includes £1m in the cost of building provided by the developers as 'community gain'. One of Great Missenden Rotarians, Paul McDowell, is a Trustee of the MS Centre.[18 Sep 2009]

District Governor of 1260, Sandy Aked-Walker, seen here with the President of Great Missenden Rotary Terry Cann, visited the Club. She urged the Club to take the 'Thanks for Life' project to the local schools and gave some tips on interacting with the children. She highlighted other opportunities like Youth Exchange, Group Study Exchange with Chennai (Madras) in India and the District Conference in Bath due to be held in Bath. She was accompanied by her husband Rtn David Walker. [14 Sep 2009]

12 Oct 09, at 7 for 7:45 pm, £22 pp

.. join us to celebrate Great Missenden Rotary's  25th Anniversary Dinner on Mon 12 Oct at Ellesborough Golf Club... with some musical entertainment.

Members of Great Missenden Rotary Club visited Amersham Museum. They also took the opportunity to enjoy a magnum of Champagne in the garden of the Museum - courtesy of Rotarian Steve Gill who won it at a raffle during the visit to Chequers. Past President Mike Rainford had the bottle under full control as he opened it ... having seen it done many times at various Grand Prix races.[27 July 2009]

Weather conditions were ideal for the club members to enjoy an evening of Boules in the grounds of Missenden Abbey. After a great deal of tight decisions in the early rounds, the final round was between Brian Barnett and John Faircloth [top RHS of picture]. Brian won the 'John Pierce Jones' Trophy for 2009. President Terry Cann awarded the trophy. [20 July 2009]

Immediate Past District Governor Les Lee [right] made a surprise visit to the Club to present Guru Guruswamy with an International service Award from RIBI - in recognition of his International and World Community Service. Guru has been a member of the District International Committee for several years.  Les also handed over some gifts to Guru from the Immediate Past District Chairman of Inner Wheel, Jeannette Lee, for managing their website. [13 July 2009]

Rotarian Ed Whymark organised another successful Larder Trophy Golf tournament at Weston Turville. The event also raised four hundred pounds for Rotary supported charities.

The winners are: (L to R) Paul McDowell, John Curtis (Guest of John Faircloth), Peter Rodwell, Noriko Dyett, Sue Rodwell and Ed Whymark. [9 July 09] 

Rtn John Skrimshire (right) hands over the office of the President of the Rotary Club of Great Missenden for the year 2009-10 to Rtn Terry Cann.

In his inaugural address, Rtn Terry Cann said, " I would like to pay tribute to our retiring President, John Skrimshire, who has fulfilled the role with great skill and humour at a time when he was recovering from severe injury and remedial surgery. He has made light of these difficulties and has continued to lead from the front. He has my admiration and gratitude as do the Members of our Club Committee who have supported him during this time". [6 July 2009]

Peter Sachs shared his personal experience of how he and nine other inheritors from his family managed to get restitution for their building property in Berlin Mitte. It was confiscated first by the Nazis and then by East German authorities. In the back drop to his story of perseverance was the plight of families who had to flee or endure the Nazi regime, and subsequent bureaucracy while dealing with their claims. 

One of the interesting exhibits he showed was his passport when he was a child. It includes Nazi rubber stamps as well as a Visa for Britain, issued in Aug 1938. Peter was born in Leeds.[29 June 2009]

Walter Brown gave a fascinating insight into silver spoons with examples from pre-1660s. He described the design features, the functionalities and the differences. It was obvious from his talk that he has a passion for collecting them. [22 June 2009]