The Rotary Club of Corringham Thameside

At their Friends and Families evening at Ye Olde Plough at Bulphan on Thursday 30th July, 38 Rotarians and their families and friends enjoyed a most pleasant evening together.  It was a pleasure to see President Christine Miles from the Inner Wheel present amongst the guests who were welcomed by Club President Robert Waite.  The speaker was Leo Smith from Taste Italia cookery school at Ramsden Heath who told those present about his earlier business life and how he came to found the school which provides tuition in the art of Italian cookery.  Amongst the chefs at the school is Jamie Oliver’s mentor, GennaroContaldo, Ursula Ferrigno, Caterina di Riccardi and Mariano Faraoni.  Apart from the courses for adults the school also provides opportunities for children to indulge in the art of Italian cookery.  All present enjoyed the evening.

We will be holding an evening with guest speaker Leo Smith on ‘Taste Italia’ on the 30th July 2009 at the Ye Olde Plough, Bulphan.

On Sunday 12th July, the Rotary Club of Corringham Thameside together with the Anniversary Fishing Syndicate hosted their annual fishing day for handicapped and special needs children at South Ockendon.
The weather was kind as eleven children, ably assisted by an experienced fisherman set to to land their catch, whilst the rotarians kept them supplied with a steady stream of hamburgers, hot dogs and soft drinks. During the afternoon a total in excess of 200 fish were landed. Ryan Murphy landed a prize winning 45 fish whilst Rhys Martin landed the biggest catch of the day, a nineteen and a half pound carp. But is was Shaun Murphy who caused the biggest buzz around the lake when he landed an eel. According to the members of the fishing club, this was the first time in fourteen years that an eel had been caught at the lake. All the children went home with a trophy and plenty of tales about the one that got away.
The fishing club then presented the Rotary Club with a cheque for £200 which they had raised throughout the year. In all it was yet another successful venture which brought big smiles to both the children and the adults.

On Wednesday 8th July, President Robert Waite, Vice-President David Fenn and Past – President Terry Finnegan visited Giffards Primary School to present to them their Dictionaries 4 Life.  The Rotarians were invited to take part in the school assembly and had the opportunity to tell the children a little about the work of the Rotary Club.  This was followed by a question and answer session where the children quizzed the Rotarians about their work and achievements.  The session lasted over ten minutes, with questions about How much money had we raised?  How did we help the homeless?  What is the largest ammount did we raise?  How long did it take to complete Trailwalker? and many more.  The children gave the Rotarians a resounding THANK YOU for their gift.
A meeting has been arranged with the Headteacher for September when the school and the club will discuss various ways in which the Rotary club can work with the school.

At the meeting of the club on Thursday 2nd July 2009 the outgoing club president, Terry Finnegan handed over the chain of office to Rotarian Robert Waite who will hold the office until the end of June 2010.35 year old Robert, a professional photographer, becomes the club’s twenty ninth president and the youngest ever to have held the office. Rotarian Eddie Hardiman who was Robert’s sponsor when he joined the club said that he was confident that Robert would have a very successful year in office. The club members would like to place on record their appreciation of the hard work that past president Terry Finnegan had put into his year of office, which proved to be a very successful one.  We would also like to extend to our new president our congratulations and best wishes for another fruitful year for the club.Terry’s happy to pass the Presidents chain over to Rob !!