Pumpkin Bulletin of Abbeydale Rotary, District 1220

“Service above self”

July 2020 No.694

Keeping Abbeydale in touch ….

Includes:

Immediate Past and Incoming Presidents ’ messages...

District4Foodbanks….

How members are still keeping busy during lock-

down ……...

And humour as always!!!

Photo by PMJ

Supporting Eckington

Dore & Totley Station

Club Diary

Immediate Past

President Graham sends

a final message ……….

This is my last contribution as

President to our super Pumpkin newsletter. My year

as President has come to end and by the time you

read this issue, I will have handed over my chain of

office to Steve Walker. I am sure that he will enjoy his

year of office as much as I have done. Despite the

coronavirus crisis and its effect on traditional Rotary

activities, Abbeydale Rotary has continued to operate

using on-line meetings. In the last four weeks, we

have averaged attendance figures of around 28 at our

Zoom meetings.

Lunchtime speakers have included Fumika who spoke

about her two years in Sheffield. She returns to Japan

at the end of her course at Sheffield University. She

has met many Rotarians from clubs in District 1220.

Another speaker was Angus Clark, a member of

Sheffield Vulcan Club. His talk, entitled “European

Flying Scrapbook” took us on some of his travels

when he piloted a light plane through Poland, the

Czech Republic and Germany. He had some great

photos and a power-point presentation to support his

talk. The most recent speaker was Alex Ritchie, who

gave us an illustrated talk on “Mary Queen of Scots”.

Her life and times from birth to death were

described. This included a period in Sheffield when

she was imprisoned in Manor Castle. For many, Alex

covered a lot of fascinating details about Mary.

Thanks to our speakers for adding to our lunchtime

meetings.

We have also held our Club Assembly and heard

about the plans each committee has for the year

ahead. In attendance at the Assembly was our new

DAG for Peak Clubs, Nadine Pemberton, who takes

over from Alex. Nadine joined our Zoom meeting

from St. Lucia where she is locked down, hoping to

return to her Sheffield Rotary Club when conditions

allow. Alex Ritchie has been a great ADG for Peak

Group. Our meetings have always been valuable and

helped establish contacts between the Peak Group

clubs. Thank you Alex for all the work you have done,

not just for Peak Group but also for Abbeydale

Rotary,

Our strategy planning work continues with Julia

Massey chairing this. Our first planning meeting will

be with Council shortly. The outcome of this work will

define how Abbeydale Rotary moves forward in the

years ahead. We are already taking steps to ensure

we attract more members to help with our projects.

Examples include our involvement with Volunteering

Action Sheffield. We will be taking part in a Virtual

Volunteering Fair in late July at Hallam University.

The Young Artists Exhibition date has been changed

to late October. Hopefully conditions will permit this

to take place when over 800 paintings from pupils of

local schools will be on display after judging.

Our Environmental Committee has established

excellent liaison with “FoDaTS”- The Friends of Dore

and Totley Station. With donations from our Club,

we have provided a seat and planter for siting at the

entrance to the station. Thanks to Phil Haywood who

built the planter. Thanks to others who were involved

in this successful project. (See article and photos on

pages 6 & 7)

We must not forget the Rotary4Food Banks project

which has taken off in a big way. Our nominated

Grace Food Bank has received money to buy food.

Our local depot at Upperthorpe in Sheffield 6 is

receiving food and from there it is distributed to

various collecting agencies. Graham Stevens and his

wife, Maria, are helping there to coordinate this

work. Graham reports of the many quotes from

people appreciating this food. Demands will increase

as there are further job losses and more low income

families. More help is needed to coordinate the work.

The District Council Meeting on 10th of June was held

on-line and Abbeydale Rotary was well represented.

Zoom was used for the District Handover on 26th and

the Rotary Thanksgiving Service on 28th of June. The

Service was conducted by our own member, Peter

Ingram from the Parish of Abbeydale and Millhouses,

Sheffield. I hope that you took up the chance to

attend both these events and also the Rotary Virtual

Convention.

A final note for my report “Rotary Opens

Opportunities”. Thank you for your support

throughout the year. Good luck Steve.

Graham

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And so to our new

President

Steve

Walker

Steve was President of

Abbeydale 25 years ago, hence the two

photos, and has been in Abbeydale Rotary for

40 years. Congratulations on your re-election!

At Abbeydale’s Assembly two weeks ago

Steve said:

“As you all perhaps know you should never

start with negatives, make excuses, and with

how not to do something. Well this is an

exception.

As you past presidents will know, the year

before taking office you are invited to the

PEPS, (President Elect’s Preparation

Seminars), for motivation, ideas and the

message from the President of Rotary

International. The meeting was on the 15th

March but I was in a packed Malaga airport

waiting to escape the lockdown in Spain on the

14th followed by two weeks of isolation. So I

missed my indoctrination. I have had emails

from the Assistant Governor for the Peak

Group and thank you for that, Nadine, but

even so, this year, we might have to ‘wing it’ a

little.

I’m sure you all, especially Grant and Graham,

will agree that the last 15 months have been

challenging to say the least. But now it’s time

for us to look forward not back.

Thank you for the privilege of being the

president of this great club and I hope, that

with your help we can get back on the road to

normality very soon, however that manifests

itself.

Our District governor will be Dr Jill Bethell

MBE, from the Rotary club of Dronfield - and

the RI president for 2020/21 is a gentleman

from Germany and called Holger Knaack

And the RI-Theme for 2020-2021 is Rotary

Opens Opportunities. I didn’t really grasp this

at first as the emailed information came

through as a PowerPoint presentation.

Mentioning things like -

‘Become more alive, more noticeable, make

our mark, get involved, give Rotary a future,

we are all getting older!’

So I decided to Google Mr Knaack and I was

pleasantly surprised. His message is to

encourage Rotarians to seize the many

opportunities Rotary offers to enrich their lives

and the communities they serve.

He emphasized that Rotary creates pathways

for members to improve their lives and the lives

of those they help through service projects.

“Everything we do opens another opportunity

for someone, somewhere,”

He recommends that every club have a

strategic planning meeting at least once a

year. At that meeting, clubs should ask where

they want to be in five years and how they can

bring more value to their members.

I Quote -

“We will not let rapid change defeat us. We will

capture this moment to grow Rotary, making it

stronger, more adaptable, and even more

aligned with our core values.”

On a more local level – We have already,

thanks to Graham Stevens, completed the club

survey and he has submitted a strategy

discussion document on the strength of those

results.

Julia has agreed to chair our first strategy

planning meeting with Council – and then with

a select subgroup of members to move this on

a pace.

Continued…..

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We can have Visioning and Strategising and

call it what you will but I want to make sure

that, within the next few months, we put in

place a Framework/Agenda and even a

mindset for making sure that there is still a

thriving, active, Abbeydale Rotary Club in not

just five but ten years’ time.

I am continually being reminded how old I’m

getting --- and I wish my wife would stop it. Of

course the average age of our membership is

only going in one direction. So we need to

attract new members and maybe not our usual

demographic. I’m sure that we won’t be sexist,

racist or ageist but let’s try to move the club

forward with diversity, and which is more

representative of our local community!

Therefore we need to examine ways of

achieving this. This isn’t the forum for a

debate but I’m sure there will be much

discussion over the next few months.

The repercussions of the Covid-19 crisis have,

of course, been catastrophic for some. People,

businesses and even charities have found their

income stream dried up. Of course Rotary

clubs are not exempt. No Music in the

Gardens. Not sure about the Golf Day. Our

big earners, so we need to-

Live within our means

Be inventive with our projects and money

raising.

Thankfully we have never been a ‘Hand in

Pocket’ club but some of our members have

been exceptionally generous over the years

and thank you for that. Our treasurer has

already sent to all members a description of

the unpleasant realities of our finances And to

carry on with only some of the work we’ve

been doing, we need more funds. So hopefully

you will consider donating, (without any

pressure), any amount you can to the Trust

Fund.

As you would expect - we have a great team

chairing the service committees this year and

they will be running what is going to be a

challenging year.

So let’s…..

• try to enrich the lives of people in

the communities we serve

• build a framework to take

Abbeydale into the next decade

• try to be inventive.

• but also - Do what we do best

• stay safe

And as we try to rebuild from the

Coronavirus:

• Let’s hope that we can enjoy

Rotary again and for many years to

come.

Finally — thank you to Abbeydale members

for the support and best wishes for my year of

office.

Steve

And so, from Stephen Wate, let’s not have another year like this!

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Rotary4Foodbanks

Last week we had the second wave of deliveries to the Sheffield and surrounding area

under the Rotary4Foodbanks scheme. In total 15 pallets of 40 cases of food comprising

tea, coffee, custard. porridge, tinned plums, and tuna were distributed to a total of 14

foodbanks. This distribution was funded entirely from District funds.

Our distribution area has now increased to range form Buxton in the

west to Doncaster and Market Rasen in the east.

Expansion plans are afoot to have a Doncaster hub in the future.

For further information and details please see the recent District magazine where there is

much more. Graham Stevens

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Pallets in the S6 hub

awaiting collection

And don’t forget you can still help locally by:

Making cash payments direct to the Grace Food Bank

https://gracefoodbanksheffield.org.uk/donations/#food

OR

Drop food off at Holy Triniy vicarage, Grove Road S7,. Peter Ingram’s porch is always open!

Environment Activity

Dore and Totley Station

On Thursday !8th June there was a good

turnout to complete the installation of the

bench and planter . It was a rather wet day

but nevertheless 6 members of the

environment committee were there to assist

whilst keeping their social distancing.

Phil Haywood had brought the bench to the station and then collected the planter from Graham Stevens

house where it had been kept for a couple of weeks prior to the final fitting. The bench was bolted to the

planter, the plaques screwed into place on the bench and planter.

The planter was then filled with compost and plants were provided by Chris Morgan (chairman of Friends

of Dore and Totley Station) and by Hilary and Einar (Olsen) from Abbeydale Rotary.

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President Graham was also in attendance with Chris

Morgan from FoDaTS, (Friends of Dore and Totley Station).

Himalayan Balsam

On the Saturday 20th June Phil and Trevor

were at Dore station again this time to

meet up with and assist members of the

Beauchief Environment Group (BEG) to pull

up this invasive plant in Lady Spring Wood

along parts of the River Sheaf.

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Chris and Graham

Trevor and a younger member of BEG,

who was accompanied by his mother,

finding some large examples of the

balsam.

Trev and Phil having a well earned break and

making use of the new facilities at the station!

Thanks to Phil and Graham for the

photos and to Phil for the text.

Huge congratulations to all the

Environment Committee for great

work during ‘lockdown’. Ed.

Membership news—from Julia Massey

RYLA student climbs Mt Kilimanjaro

for charity

Last year’s Abbeydale

RYLA student, (Rotary

Youth Leadership

Award), Beth and a

team of several friends

climbed the height of

Kilimanjaro in seven

days in June. She climbed her home staircase

304 times a day to achieve the height!! The

group hoped to raise £1,000 for the Tearfund

charity. By 5th July they had raised £2,605. (See

photos on page 11).

Tearfund will use the money to provide families

with sanitising products to protect them from

Coronavirus. This is part of Tearfund’s “Climb”

challenge which aims to support some of the

poorest communities across the globe which are

not equipped to deal with pandemics. One such

example is Rohingya “Cox’s Bazaar” in

Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp.

Here, people live in cramped conditions with

limited hand washing facilities. The team’s

fundraising web page is still be open, the link is:

Justgiving.com/fundraising/

alicestheclimb

(Alice was Beth’s team leader)

Membership changes

We are sad to report that

some members are not

renewing their membership

for 2020/21 but thank you all

for your years of “Service

Above Self” with Rotary, Abbeydale in particular.

I know you will continue this ideal to the best of

your abilities. We will keep in touch through

avenues such as this Pumpkin.

Best club newsletter

Abbeydale’s newsletter the PUMPKIN, won the

District’s ‘Best Newsletter’ award for 2019/20

jointly with Sutton-in-Ashfield. The

announcement was made at the District

Handover on 26th June, trophy and certificate to

follow. This award celebrates the efforts of all

members who contributed over the past year

and in particular our illustrious editor Pat

Jackson. Well done all - and keep sending in

contributions!

Also from Julia…. Apparently this was

a genuine notice on a Bristol Street.

Someone needs to check their spelling!!!

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At last...

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It is just over a year since Ann Norris

and her colleague ran a very

successful training event at Korce

University in Albania. As you will

remember this was funded by

Abbeydale and a District Grant.

Although Ann, being no longer able

to drive, reluctantly had to move

from Abbeydale and joined

Eckington, she still maintains great

links with Abbeydale and, of course,

Albania and also her apartment in

the small town of Librazhd.

Not surprisingly Ann is working on

another project in Librazhd with

which she hopes Rotarians can help.

She writes, (originally to Eckington

members), :

“Together4Librazhd is a NGO (charity) which

aims to help those living in poverty in the area of

my town of Librazhd in Albania. It is linking with

many Albanians especially those from Librazhd,

who now live here in the UK, Germany, USA to

name but a few. Donations go to various

projects, repairing houses, provide seeds and

fruit trees, books for children to go to school,

small presents for children at around Christmas

time. It is run by a young man I have known for

20 years. I trust him implicitly; he has on a

couple of occasion extracted me from awkward

situations. Please see the website, link attached.

The other link is a family I know and the appalling

conditions in which they live.

A small project I have been running personally

for a couple of years, I collect small toys,

costume jewellery from friends children. Around

October I send these items by post to Redi who

runs Togethr4Librazhd. These go the children in

the poverty stricken areas. I know they get to

where I intend them to go because I have seen

boys playing with the cars and girls wearing the

jewellery and hair slides etc. Many of the

families I know personally.

I would be happy to

do this under the

banner of Rotary,

by donating the

postage to club

funds, getting receipts for the postage and claim

it back.

As we are a very small club [i.e. Eckington — Ed] it

would be a way of contributing to an

International cause. It would give us a PR

opportunity for Rotary. I think that we could

appeal to community groups, not for money, but

for small items that I could send out another way

of promoting Rotary.”

Website Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnGwnsH84DU

https://www.together4librazhdi.al/

Editor’s comment:

I have watched these

videos and was very

moved by the plight of

these families.

How should Abbeydale

continue to support Ann

and help these struggling

communities in rural

Albanian ?

What did You do in the Great Covid19 Lockdown Daddy? I’m sure we have all been busy even during the lockdown. First, I tackled lots of jobs that

were “just waiting to be done”. These included sorting out all of my music into alphabetical styles and files, sorting through filing cabinets, tidying my desk, etc. Then there were all

the odd jobs in the garden – taking down old worn fencing, cutting it up, planting hedges and taking down overgrown and ugly small trees.

Then I built a house! Actually, it is a one-

thirtieth scale model of my house. I spent ages measuring walls, roofs, internal rooms, windows

etc, and drew elaborate scale plans. I built it mostly out of scrap wood and Perspex in the garage. Kathleen calls this rubbish, but I know it

is treasure.

I even made a scale model of my car to go in the garage. The house has a lot of internal

fittings – cupboards, worktops - even beds.

This week I made a bug hotel, again using scraps from the garage and

sticks from the small trees I cut down.

We have also been busy doing jig-saws. I started a WhatsApp group for our estate during the first week of lockdown and a jigsaw exchange is

just one of many developments from it. The other, main thing is that the group has been used to collect food and money for the Grace Food

bank.

How will I find the time when lockdown is over?

Mike Cox

As lockdown eases, (for those not shielding at least), it would seem that

many of you are becoming too busy to let us know what you’re up to…..

However many thanks to those who have contributed.

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Photos from Ian

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Ann receiving her

District Award

Meanwhile one of our past RYLA students was keeping

VERY fit and raising lots of money for charity…..

Another snippet from Ann Norris.. In the last pumpkin I told you of my attempts to grow

vegetables. Well after a battle with the slugs, I can report that my cucumber plant has fruited and I am

now the proud owner, except I ate it, of a four-inch cucumber!!

My potatoes, (Barlborough Royales), are thriving and I

hope by the next pumpkin to have dug some up. The

runner beans that were pictured last month are now

flowering so hopefully more home grown food on the

horizon.

Beth, who is hopefully

off to Bristol Uni in

the Autumn.

Another from Stephen Ware ….

(Especially for Geoffrey, Peter I and

Catherine????)

Photo : Phil Haywood

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Many people have remarked that lockdown

has made them reassess their lives… Here

an, (unusually?)) poignant contribution From

Dave Ludlam, (but still with his usual

humorous touch!) gives food for thought.

AND THEN IT IS WINTER….

You know time has a way of moving quickly and

catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems

like yesterday that I was young, just married, and

embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way,

it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all those

years went.

I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it

was back then and of all my hopes and dreams. But,

here it is... the winter of my life, and it catches me by

surprise... How did I get here so fast? Where did the

years go and where did my youth go? I remember well

seeing older people through the years and thinking

that those "older people" were years away from me

and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom

it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is….. my friends are retired and getting

grey... they move slower and I see an older person in

myself now. Some are in better and some worse

shape than me... but I see the great change... Not like

the ones that I remember who were young and

vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show

and we are now those older folks that we used to see

and never thought we'd be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real

target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat

anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't of my own

free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so... now I enter this new season of my life

unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of

strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I

had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that

though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how

long it will last... this I know, that when it's over on

this earth... it's over. A new adventure will begin.

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't

done... things I should have done, but indeed, there are

also many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a

lifetime.

So, if you're not in your winter yet... let me remind

you, that it will be here faster than you think. So,

whatever you would like to accomplish in your life,

please do it quickly! Don't put things off too

long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can

TODAY, as you can never be sure whether this is your

winter or not!

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons

of your life... so, LIVE FOR TODAY and say all the

things that you want your loved ones to remember..

and hope that they appreciate and love you for all

the things that you have done for them in all the

years past!!

"Life" is a GIFT to you. The way you live your

life is your gift to those who come after. Make

it a fantastic one.

Remember: "It is health that is real wealth and

not pieces of gold and silver."

~Your kids are becoming you......

But your grandchildren are perfect!

~Going out is good.. coming home is even better!

~You forget names... but it's OK, because other

people forgot they even knew you!!!

~You realize you're never going to be really good at

anything.... especially golf.

~The things you used to care to do, you no longer

care to do, but you really do care that you don't

care to do them anymore.

~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV

blaring than in bed. It's called ‘pre-sleep’.

~You miss the days when everything worked with just

an "ON" and "OFF" switch..

~You tend to use more four letter words ...

what?"..."when?"..???

~Now that you can afford expensive jewellery, it's not

safe to wear it anywhere.

~You notice everything they sell in stores is

"sleeveless?!"

~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.

~Everybody whispers.

~You have three sizes of clothes in your wardrobe....

two of which you will never wear.

~But "Old" is good in some things:

Old Songs, Old movies ...

and best of all, our dear ...OLD FRIENDS!!

Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!"

All contributions for the next edition by email,

please, to the editor:

pat.jackson@blueyonder.co.uk

by 19th August 2020 Please put

“Pumpkin” somewhere in the subject line,

thanks, Pat

N.B. The editor takes NO responsibility for

opinions expressed in this publication

which are written by and ascribed to

another contributor!

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www.abbeydalerotary club.org.uk

www.facebook.com/AbbeydaleRotaryClub

Twitter: @AbbeydaleRotary

Other useful links www.rotary.org www.rotarygbi.org

www.district.rotary1220.org

Club Diary

Council meetings , some committee

meetings and full meetings are

currently continuing to be ’Zoomed’ .

“ZOOM” dates July Host /Chair

Tues 7th 7pm Council Steve Walker

Wed 8th 1pm Club Mtg Steve Walker

8th 7pm Vocational Heather Morris

Wed 15th 1pm Club Mtg Steve Walker

Wed 22nd 1pm Club Mtg Steve Walker

Tues 28th am Volunteers’ Fair Graham T.

Hopefully actual event dates…. !!! September

5th/6th Art in the Gardens Ian P/Ken M

Wed 9th 3pm Y.A. Judging at St.J. Ian Powell

Fri 11th Golf Day Steve Wilkin

Tues 22nd even. Drive Out Val Barnes

October

16/17 Young Artists’ Exhibition Ian/ Ken

Occasionally readers send in letters or comments in response to articles. It is great

to have feedback, so PLEASE feel free to contribute in this way. It is always good to

have differing opinions.

And finally…. another project for

Phil and the environmental team ?

You could make a fortune .for

charity!!