Charter in Grand Surroundings 22nd March

The Town Hall at Burton upon Trent was the venue for the 77th Charter Anniversary celebration of the Rotary Club of Mansfield.  It is a most impressive building and a fine setting for such a celebration.  With snow and very cold temperatures being the prevailing weather all day, Gail and I set off for Mansfield in company with Rtn Ron Giffin from our club.    As we neared Burton the amount of lying snow diminished till in the town there was none.   However it was snowing steadily as we arrived and this continued during the evening so that when we left there was a covering of an inch or so.

We were greeted by President William Saunders, resplendent in his tartan - there seemed to be a Scottish theme running during the evening with several others similarly attired.    President William had arranged for members of the Derby Magic Circle to provide table entertainment during an excellent meal.    After the meal the toasts followed the traditional pattern.    At the conclusion of his talk, President William made a number of presentations to worthy Rotarians.   Arthur Greenhalgh and George Beacock received Sapphire Pins for the PHF awards and Janet Threlfall and Keith Howard received Paul Harris Fellowship - my congratulations to each of them.  William also gave floral gifts to a number of ladies who were top table guests of the club, including Gail.

After the formal part of the evening members of the Derby Magic Circle provided further magical entertainment till the conclusion of the celebrations at 11pm.  It was an excellent evening's celebration of Rotary and with great entertainment Gail and I had a thoroughly great time.

President William, his wife Eileen and my wife Gail

Table magician in full flow

My thanks to Ron for accompanying us and to all members of the Burton Club, particularly President William for organising such a great event.