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HAPPY NEW YEAR
Thornbury Club Bulletin December 2012
Presidents Report
The big Club decision about our new venue has been reached. I know that for a number of you The Swan is
not felt to be ideal, but to be honest all the potential venues have had positive and negative aspects. I hope
that everyone will now go with the choice that The Club has made and support our next few meetings loyally
but continue to give feedback to Council.
Our Fund-Raising activities in December have been hugely successful with nearly £1500 being raised by the
Mulled Wine and Wyevale collections. Thanks particularly to Chris and Derek for this - but also thanks to
everyone who contributed with their help at both events.(Let's now look at ways that we can utilise these
monies for the benefit of both local and further afield causes!).
The Christmas Evening at The Bristol Golf Club was a great social occasion, with the wonderful bonus of
the performance by Your Call. I got to the stage of becoming very concerned that several of our number
might have suffered various accidents related to overuse of their laughter muscles!!
Your Call getting the audience participating!
President Phil and Wendy in party mode
I have written to Your Call and told them how much we enjoyed their show, and have had a lovely reply
saying how much THEY enjoyed the evening, and that we were one of the best audiences that they have ever
had. I hope that we can continue to support their work in the future. Many thanks too, on your behalf, to
Mike Josey for all his work in ensuring that the evening was such a success.
The Inner Wheel Carol Service was just the right mix of the Sacred and the Secular, and , apart from being
introduced by the Vicar (just after "Good King Wenceslas") as the "Original Old Sod", I really enjoyed The
Reading that Joan Josey had asked me to present!
As I sit here writing this on New Year's Eve, having ,of course, had virtually nothing to eat or drink over the
Festive Period, and not contemplating having much tonight either, may I again wish you A Very Happy and
Healthy New Year. I look forward to seeing you at The Swan for our first Dinner Meeting of 2013 on
Wednesday the 9th. of January.
Phil
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Thornbury Lights Switch -On and Mulled Wine Stall - 20 November 2012
Once again the mulled wine and mince pies attracted attention to the Rotary Stall and together with the Food
Fayre raised a total of donations to a sum of £325 for Rotary charities as the start of the Festive Season. A
number of visitors to the Food Fayre also expressed interest in the possibility of joining a potential Satellite
Club. Thanks to Chris Marsh and his Team for organising the events. A number of photographs from the
Clive
event are reproduced below.
Bob, Gordon and Phil
Howard on ”Look-out”
Richard, Howard and Derek
Bob,Phil and Len
Mike seeks a “ bargain”
Southern Cotswolds Rotary Young Musicians Competition 2013
The Heat for Woodwind and Brass is on Sunday 13th January at Katherine Lady Berkeley School,
Kingswood, Wotton-Under-Edge at 2 p.m.
The Heat for Piano and Strings is on Sunday 27th January at Westonbirt School also at 2 p.m.
Those who have supported these events in the past will know that we are in for an excellent afternoon. There
will be a retiring collection towards expenses.
Michael Kirby
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Club Christmas Party - Bristol Golf Club - 12 December 2012
The Club held its annual Christmas Party at Bristol Golf Club. The event was very well supported with some
70 Rotarians, partners and guests attending. The evening started with President Phil welcoming everybody
followed by an excellent meal served efficiently and with a choice of menu which included the traditional
Christmas fayre. Following the meal we enjoyed the traditional game of ‘2-up’ and moved swiftly on to the
main event - a performance of Christmas stories by the Your Call Theatre Group-a group of local young
people who entertained us magnificently with a variety of very seasonal music and singing , a mini- panto
complete with “dame” who developed a worrying attraction to Chris Fairhead, rounded off with Christmas
songs by all. The youngsters included a number of the Northavon Youth Theatre members who have
entertained us in the past. A wonderful evening and very well organised by Mike Josey. A selection of photos
from the night is reproduced below courtesy of Maurice Stagg..
Clive
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Annual Christmas Rotary Charity Collection at Wyevale Garden Centre ,Thornbury.
Wyevale at Thornbury again this year allowed us to collect for Rotary Charities at their Thornbury Garden
Centre over 5 weekend days commencing on 9 December and finishing on 23 December with each day
collections staffed by two Rotarians undertaking each of the three daily 2 hour shifts. Derek Baker provided
the organisation and the opportunity was taken to display the work of the Club and Rotary at the collection
area. The customers were generous and appreciative and a total of £1082 was raised by these collections. Our
thanks to all who contributed and to the Wyevale management . A couple of of photographs of collectors are
reproduced below.
Clive
Chris,John and President Phil
Richard and Adrian
Skittles Team update (see November edition)
I thought you might all like to know that we won our final league match against Portishead by 18 pins (221 to
203 ) thus 4 wins out of 4.!! Portishead were the best team we have played against so far this season but they
were still no match for the in-form Thornbury Squad. It was a very enjoyable evening despite hassle from an
irate vicar!!!
We now have to wait for results elsewhere to see if we go through to the quarter finals.
Well played to all in the squad
Bob Slade
"Good Luck Mr. Gorsky" after astronaut Neil Armstrong( Died 2012)
On July 20, 1969, as Commander of the
Apollo 11 lunar module, Neil Armstrong
was the first person to set foot on the moon.
His first words after stepping
on the moon, "that's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind," were
televised to earth and heard by millions.*
But just before he re-entered the lander, he made the
enigmatic remark -"Good luck, Mr. Gorsky."
many people at Nasa thought it was a casual remark
concerning some rival Soviet cosmonaut. however, upon checking,
there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs
Over the years, many people
questioned Armstrong as to what the ’Good luck,Mr. Gorsky'
statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
(contd p5)
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On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering
questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old
question about Mr Gorsky to Armstrong.
This time he finally responded because Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil
Armstrong felt he could now answer the question.
HERE IS THE ANSWER TO "WHO WAS MR GORSKY":
In 1938, when he was a kid in a small mid-western town , he was
playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. his friend hit the ball,
which landed in his neighbour's yard by their bedroom window.
His neighbours were Mr. & Mrs.Gorsky. as he leaned
down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky
shouting at Mr. Gorsky,
"Sex! you want sex?! You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"
IT broke the place up
NEIL ARMSTRONG'S FAMILY CONFIRMED THIS IS A TRUE STORY. NEIL ARMSTRONG
DIED ON 25 AUGUST 2012
Maurice Stagg
The Spanish Computer Teacher!
A Spanish Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either
masculine or feminine.
'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la Casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'
A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to
decide for themselves whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to
give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'),
because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories
for it.
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a
better model.
The women won.
David Thomas
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IMMEDIATE PROGRAMME
Date
Function
NO MEETING -Bank Holiday
2
13
D
M Kirby
A Thompson
Council Meeting
16
EE
23
D
30
7:30pm Lady Elizabeth White- National Trust
The Swan
14:00 Heat for South Cotswold Rotary Young Musicians 2013
Katherine Lady Berkeley School, Wotton
15
27
Visitors Friend
VENUES
JANUARY 2013
9
Speaker Friend
6:30pm Business Meeting
7:30pm Dr Allen Moller
The Swan
Life with the British Council
The Swan
M Turner
M Josey
R Underwood
D Holliday
D Baker
14:00 Heat for South Cotswold Rotary Young Musicians 2013
Westonbirt School
D
7:30pm
Event
Guest Evening Mrs Romy Gill Asian Food
Olveston Village Hall
FEBUARY 2013
6
EE
6:30pm Announcements and Committees
The Swan
13
D
7:30pm Dinner Meeting
The Swan
20
EE
6;30pm Business Meeting
The Swan
27
D
7:30pm Dinner Meeting
The Swan
G Brown
R Hiscock
R Carney
R Cole-Morgan
L Hales
R Craddy
MARCH 2013
District Conference Commences
1
6
EE
6:30pm Business Meeting
Torquay
The Swan
N Dawes
Swimarathon Commences
8
13
D
7:30pm Dinner Meeting
The Swan
20
EE
6:30pm SCATTER WEEK -Allan Taylor-Fellowship
27
D
7:30pm Dinner Meeting
The Swan
PLEASE CHECK WEBSITE FOR ANY
CHANGES TO PROGRAMME/VENUE
D Hilton
A Dennis
T Grey
M Dunkley