The Rotary Club of Corringham Thameside

On Thursday 21st January the club members extended a warm welcome to five prospective new Rotarians. Instead of the regular formal meal, the meeting was informal and included a buffet meal.
Those present were shown a short DVD highlighting why people want to join Rotary, and were then shown exhibits of some of the work the club has been involved in including the creation of the open space at Corringham Primary School.
Most importantly our guests were able to talk to the members in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere about the club in particular and Rotary in general. The evening gave our guests the opportunity to find out more about the club and to consider if they would like to join us in the future. Judging by the comments of our guests as they made their way home, we are confident that we might well be welcoming some new members in the not too distant future.

In the second round of the District 1240 Darts competition, the club was drawn away to our old friends at Rochford, who incidently had beaten us in 2008. So with the opportunity for revenge, we fielded a relatively strong team.
In the singles, Peter Matthews and Peter Burfoot both lost their matches whilst David Fenn and Terry Finnegan both recorded wins to keep the scores level. The games were hard fought with both sides having difficulty in obtaining the elusive double to seal their wins. David’s opponent somehow managed to knock the dartboard off of the wall, much to the amusement of the others, who delighted in informing him he would be fined at the next club meeting.
In the doubles the two Peter’s managed to claw us back in front, leaving David and Terry the honour of clinching the tie. Despite having a winning lead, we played the foursomes for fun, and again we took the honours – JUST!
It was a most enjoyable evening, good company, good beer and plenty of laughs. We would like to thank our hosts for their hospitality, the healthy competition and of course their friendship.

On Saturday 11th December Rotarians and their families descended on the home of club president Robert Waite and his wife Mikaila for the now traditional get together. Each rotarian provided a plate of food for the party and it was a remarkable array of goodies, – sandwiches, sausage rolls, salmon canapes, mince pies cakes of all varieties which made a very nice spread.
By some strange influence the early part of the evening found the men at one end of the room whilst the ladies sat together for a natter. As soon as Mikaila produced a game of Pictionary things changed. Everybody had a go, although most of the art work was hard to fathom, but it was all good fun.
As usual, there was the usual banter amongst the boys with Eddie Hardiman receiving more than his fair share. Peter Mestanek soon found a musical top, which lit up and played “We wish you a merry Christmas”. Not only did most of the men get involved in getting the top to “light up” it soon descended into a technical discussion on how it worked. Not content with that, Peter soon had Rob’s daughter Jessica’s pet rat out of its cage and allowed it to crawl across his shoulders. Nobody else wanted to indulge, although Brian Price did feed it some chocolate from a cocktail stick. Much to the amusement of the others, the rat soon grabbed the stick from Brian’s grasp and beat a hasty retrat to the safety of his nest.
Once again, the club displayed their well known talents to enjoy themselves and to display the sort of behaviour that got them christened “The Fun Club”.
We would all like to thank Rob and Mikaila for their hospitality, everybody enjoyed the evening and we all look forward to a very happy Christmas with our families and to a New Year that promises a lot for the club.

Fourteen rotarians wives and families (not including the dogs), met on Sunday 25th October for a leisurely stroll through the woods from One Tree Hill to The Crown (and for some, back again).  The weather was fine and the group set out in good spirits with the prize at the end, a nice cool pint at The Crown.  It was an ideal opportunity to spend some time with friends, getting some light excercise and a chance to talk over that thirst quenching pint.  Everyone enjoyed the occasion and hope to repeat the excercise in the not too distant future.

The club held its very first Race Night at Corringham Village Hall on Saturday 3rd October.  The event was organised to raise funds for local projects the club is planning over the coming months.The races were shown on the big screen by Roger Goldsmith, the chairman of Corringham Village Hall and was assisted by four rotarians who administered the tote.  There were eight races in all, which were kindly sponsored by local companies.  The club would like to place on record their thanks to the sponsors, who were :- Corringham Do-It-Yourself Centre, The Fantastic Chop Shop, Petals and Plants, Woodbrookes Plumbing & Heating Supplies Ltd., Cameo Cards, Corringham Cycles, Tip Top Dry Cleaners, Steve Smedley Carpets and Danes Corner Sandwich Bar.All present enjoyed the races and the excitement of their flutter but most of all the enjoyment of raising £300 for the Rotary work in Corringham.