The Rotary Club of Corringham Thameside

On Thursday 29th July thirty friends and family together with rotarians met at Ye Olde Plough House for a Friends and Family evening. After enjoying a meal of roast turkey the guests were entertained by Mr Tony Bartella who read a number of poems he had written.
First up was the verse he composed for the opening of the school garden in Corringham, and this was followed by a succession of other verses he had written on such diverse subjects as Women shopping for shoes, National service, the Olympics, School,and the pleasures of Fatherhood.
Tony’s verse kept his audience spellbound, and his sharp wit brought forth much laughter. In proposing the vote of thanks, Rotarian Terry Finnegan paid tribute to Tony’s skills as a poet and his great observation skills as well as his sense of humour. Everybody present had enjoyed a most interesting and entertaining evening with the BARD FROM BASILDON.

As a change to our normal club evening, Rotarians and friends visited the Combined Military Museum at Maldon on Thursday 10th June 2010. The visit begun with a short talk about the origins of the museum by the Curator, before those present enjoyed a finger buffet prior to studying the exhibits. There was a huge collection of firearms to study, and some of those present who had served in the armed forces quickly identified the ones they had used during their service. There was also an array of shells and ammunitions from both world wars and beyond, together with uniforms, medals and other forms of equipment. The only surviving “Cockleshell” kayak was on view as well as an engine from the TRSL aircraft. The area devoted to the spying side of life was extremely interesting with gadgets that James Bond would have been proud of. On the ground floor, one could observe the vast array of sword, axes, pikes etc. used in the Tudor and Stuart eras as well as many items of armour.

The tour took a full hour and all 22 who attended, all went home having enjoyed the evening with a better understanding of our role of our armed forces. It’s a museum for all to visit.

Our thanks to Gerry Buggle for arranging this most successful evening.

The Combined Services Museum can be found by clicking here.

On Thursday 27th May 2010 the club celebrated their 29th President’s Night at The Ivory Rooms at Billericay. Diners sat down to a three course meal in the most convivial of atmospheres with both Rotarians, families and friends enjoying the fellowship.
Vice-President David Fenn in toasting President Robert Waite reminded the members of the contribution Rob had made to the club during his time with the club. Under his Presidency the club had achieved much to be proud of and were in a strong position to move forward into the next Rotary year.
After dinner those present were entertained by comedian Willie Thompson who soon had those present rocking with laughter. The evening continued with dancing to disco music.
A good time was had by all who attended.

The club held a “Quiz Night” at Bulphan Village Hall on Saturday 6th February 2010. 54 Rotarians, together with family and friends batteld it out over ten rounds. In addition to these, there was a running question that required a good knowledge of the states of America. There was plenty of fun and some friendly rivalry amongst the teams. The questions were set by David Fenn who was ably assisted with the scoring by Doug Nash. Whilst Brian Price organised the raffle. It turned out to be an enjoyable evening for all and our thanks must go to Andrew Brogan and his committee for organising the event.

Last nights club meeting was held at The Orsett Cock for an evening of competition of darts and pool. We did not expect any competition from an overloud rock band that battered our ears for most of the night. Nevertheless, the Rotarians enjoyed an evening together playing darts and pool. The competition was fierce but friendly as one would expect.
In the darts, a one leg format of 301 finishing on a double, saw the clubs darts players move into the second round without too much trouble. From there on it was every man for himself with Andrew Brogan defeating Clive Yallop to meet Brian Munroe who beat David Fenn to the double to reach the final. Andrew took the honours in a hard fought final.
In the pool things were a little less obvious as only three of the players that represent the club in the district competition were playing. The format was just one frame to decide the winner. In the second round, Clive Yallop saw off his “B” team partner, Brian Price. It has to be said that Brian had one of those days we all dread, he couldn’t do a thing right. So the semi-final line up was Peter Mestanek against Clive and Brian Munroe against David Fenn. This is where the form book took over with Clive, who plays with the “B” team defeating Peter and David who captains the “A” team going through. The final was a bit one sided with the favourite going down, leaving Clive to take well earned honours.
Despite the unmusical noise from the band (to give it the benefit of the doubt), we had a very enjoyable evening.