With all the Burns Night traditions of piping in and addressing the haggis, the evening included a good helping of Robert Burns’ poetry, plenty of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, rounded off with a lively Ceilidh dance.  Favourite numbers included the Gay Gordons and Strip the Willow.

Cherry Trees charity was founded in 1980 by a group of parents and doctors and has become a lifeline for the families of more than 100 children and young people who are regularly cared for in East Clandon, nr Guildford – for a few hours, a weekend or even a couple of weeks.

David Greatbatch, President of Guildford Chantries Rotary Club said “Chantries is delighted to support the excellent work that Cherry Trees provides to our local community.  It was a real team effort on the night and thank you to everyone who came along.”

The milestone is seen as a testament to the determination of Rotary members across the world to eradicate the infectious disease through the mass immunisation of children, a goal Rotary took on 27 years ago.

For further information, click here.

The Guildford Vox Community Choir will be leading the singing from 6.30pm outside the Guildhall, with song sheets provided so everyone can join in! 

The event is aimed at raising awareness of the work carried out in our community by Guildford Action, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. 

For further information on the carol singing, please contact Martin Grant on 01483 303830.

Around 200 people signed up to either walk 2km or run 6km through the Chantries Woods in Guildford, in spooky fancy dress and after dark, to raise funds for the Hospital’s Appeal. 

A team from Chantries Rotary Club helped out acting as marshalls along the nighttime forest route with torches, glow sticks, water and encouragement to help the participants on their way.  The event was a great success for the Appeal and we are pleased to have been able to help.

A couple of hours later and with many photos taken, it was time to turn to the main purpose of our visit – raising money for the Richard Burns Foundation. We stood at the main exit encouraging the departing visitors to contribute to a very worthy cause! During our shift, we enjoyed glorious sunshine and a shower or two, but we came away with the feel good factor warming the inner person. Next year, why not join us? You too might get to meet Laurel and Hardy!!

The varying skills of the competitors enabled a division into two teams under the captaincy of President David and Past President Martin for a competition appropriately dubbed ‘The Presidents Scramble’.

The absence of television cameras or on-course commentators prevents an authentic report of the finer points of this hard fought nine-hole battle. Tales of incredible skill and remarkable shots were many and varied in a round that resulting in a very close finish.

After several ‘count backs’, rewriting the rules and adjustments by an impartial adjudicator, the result gave Past President Martin’s team the win by one hole.

The evening was rounded off with a light meal and liquid refreshment in the Rokers clubhouse.

Come and join us for a great evening of entertainment, with a 3 course dinner and help us raise funds for the Cherry Trees Charity, as well as other Rotary charities.  Tickets for this Black Tie event are £30 or get a group together and come as a table of 8 or 10!  For further details click here, email Des or call him on 01483 573814.

Following this, we will be moving on to visit the Samson Centre, the home of the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Group (Guildford) and finishing with a buffet lunch at the Holiday Inn by Surrey Sports Park at 12.30pm.  Everyone is welcome to join us -local Rotarians and those interested in finding out a bit more about what we do in Rotary –both at the Castle and for the Buffet lunch, but please let Frank know if you are planning to attend, so we are aware of numbers.

With amazing photos of the resident nature and wildlife, we could experience the signature Saguaro cactus of Arizona and the hollow, but still living, Giant Sequoia telescope tree that you can see all the way up inside to the sky above in the Mariposa Grove, in Yosemite. 

Even more dramatic were the images of the US national emblem of the bald (well really white) Eagle swooping to catch fish in the Theodore Lake, the blackbear [although this one was quite blond!], in Yosemite Valley and the playful lions in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand hotel (supposed to be direct descendents of the original MGM lion). 

Turning to man-made structures, Mike contrasted the cliff dwellings built into the hillsides, by the Salado Tribes, together with the dwellings of the Sinaqua tribes further north, in the 1300s but all abandoned in 1400s (but no one seems to know why), with the modern structures like the Theodore Roosevelt Lake Bridge on the Apache Trail  – the longest, clear span bridge in Arizona at 1900 ft long – and the ultra modern Watts Towers in Los Angeles created single-handedly by Italian Simon Rodia in the mid 1900s from reinforced concrete, broken glass, pottery, mosaic tiles, sea shells etc.

An amazing trip and we were delighted to share the highlights.