Carol Taylor’s first contact with the Club was when we sponsored her skydiving for charity. This time, with the same infectious smile, she is jumping for joy at being inducted into membership of our lively club.

After going full-time to dance school at Art Education , London, she sadly injured her back and had to find another career. She became a nursery nurse, then got married, had two pairs of twins and now has two grandsons.

Over the years she has been a Supervisor for M & S, a support worker at The Dene and the manager of a retail shop. Carol is now at the Dolphin Practice where she was first of all Manager of Reception, but has been HCA there for the last four years.

At the age of 50, Carol became very ill with Bacterial Meningitis and so she is lucky to be here. Although she has been involved in raising money for charities for many years, she saw how RCCL not only did so, but had such great fun whilst about it. So here she is. Welcome.

On a wet November evening a goodly number of Rotarians, together with their partners, braved the filthy weather and assembled at the Emperor Chinese Restaurant in Burgess Hill.

Lazy Susans and Food warmers were placed all down the long table and we waited with keen anticipation. Disappointed we were not. After popadoms with pickles, prawn toasts and seaweed came the most amazing succession of dishes. Chow mein was followed by foo yung, and char sui by Szechuan chicken and so it went on. The procession of food seemed to go on for ever and the lazy Susans whirled so fast that the dishes were in danger of being flung off by centrifugal force. We got wonderful service and all agreed that it was an excellent social evening out.

Not to be Missed

Highly successful a few years ago, this novel event is being repeated. It is highly popular and the capacity of the venue is limited so don’t delay and buy your tickets now.

Friday 21 April 2017 at Scaynes Hill memorial Hall

Tickets from Trevor Clapp 01444 482 743   treval@sky.com

Brian was a founder member of RCCL, but had to retire from the Club a few years ago due to ill health.

He was an avid cricket fan, both watching the game and researching its history, especially its links with Sheffield Park. Brian enjoyed giving talks and, as well as on cricket he gave a talk on the history of Horsted Keynes where his grandfather was once landlord of the Green Man.

Brian was born in Lindfield and lived there all his life and worked locally, consequently he was very well know in the area. At his memorial service the United Services church overflowed into the annexe and side rooms where people watched the proceedings on video screens.

Our thoughts go out to Sue and the family.

Right up to the end Alan was a fighter. He attended Club meetings when he could hardly walk, let alone get up the stairs at the Bent. He played bridge with his pals until almost the last minute.

Even when he had difficulty walking he would turn up for events where he could do jobs sitting down such as the money at coconut shies, the calculator at Darts Marathons and car parking at Ansty.

 Of all the members of RCCL, Alan was the one who probably rendered service the most, constantly, consistently, both visibly and much behind the scenes. He was presented with the Paul Harris Fellowship Award for outstanding service.

You can read about Alan’s life and his love for his cars in the Gazettes of March and April 2016. The picture shows him chauffering at a wedding in his beloved Rolls.

The cattle were lowing as a cheque for £2,000 was handed over to Nathan Newnham, who also spoke in the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition on the subject of Badger Culling.

Head of the Farm, John Blackholly said, We are so grateful to the Rotary Club for this donation. The money will be used to improve the natural environment for our animals with better outdoor housing and fencing.

Also pictured are some of the 100 members of the Farmers Club.

This is the second edition of the Street Map and directory. It is a 52 page book which contains maps and street directories of Cuckfield, Lindfield, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, as well as 77 advertisements and editorial matter.

It is distributed free-of-charge by estate agents and other outlets where newcomers to the area will find it most useful. They will not only want to find their way around, but they will be also looking for local shops and services.

The highly professionally designed and printed publication netted proceeds of over £6,000 for St Peter & St James and Chestnut Tree House Hospices, and other charities supported by Rotary.

Much appreciated are the Rotarians for their footwork in obtaining the advertising, but in particular Mike Harper who produced the design work to such a high standard.

A jolly crowd of 50 people took part in a challenging quiz at the Bent Arms, Lindfield on Sunday 5 February 2017. The event was organised by Penny Hoyle (Penny Black Barber’s Shop fame) as a purely social affair. The entrance fee was £1 which all went in prize money.

As well as a number of Club members, there was a gang from the Lindfield Bonfire Society, a Bent Arms Staff Team plus members of the public. As well as enjoying ourselves the purpose was to publicise Rotary and a special leaflet was distributed around the teams of up to six. One person expressed interest and has been sent a copy of the Gazette and invited to attend a meeting as a guest.

Penny’s husband Craig proved to be a lively quizmaster and the questions ranged from TV theme tunes (blasted out) to pictures of flags and, of course general knowledge. The winning team was the “Best Lookers” comprising the Kirsty & Nev Perryman-Bests, Karen & Gareth Lookers plus Bill and Maureen Mann.

Andy Harrison hails from Crook, County Durham, the son of a policeman. He also became a policeman, but two years later he joined the RAF and flew Shackletons and Vulcans. After leaving the RAF Andy worked for Dan Air, British Airways and Cathay Pacific. He is currently employed by Boeing as a flight simulator instructor at Crawley, on the 777 and the 787 Dreamliner.

Living in Cuckfield, Andy is married to Margaret. He has served as a Cuckfield parish councillor and has been involved in charity work for many years. The Club is delighted to welcome Andy who we are sure will be a great contributor to all our activities.

Carol Taylor is presented by President Jaime Wallden with two cheques for £250 each for her charities, Winston’s Wish and the Meningitis Research Foundation, in recognition of her skydive in aid of these charities. More details to follow…

President George Ruse hands over the baton to President-elect Jaime Wallden on 21 June 2016 and checks his script whilst adjusting the chain of office.

The annual silent film show continues to be a popular success for yet another year when on 19 March 2016 a full house at the Queen’s Hall Cuckfield enjoyed the latest offering, The Navigator, starring Buster Keaton.

President-elect Jaime Wallden presents a cheque for £1,200 to Joanne Smith, Community Fund Raiser of Chestnut Tree House

Well kitted-out in his bright daffodil-yellow strip, here’s Bernard Jarvis, one of the Club’s collectors attracting donations for the Marie Curie charity outside the Co-op in Lindfield High Street.

Every year the Club takes part in this activity to add to the funds of Marie Curie which offers care, guidance and support to people with terminal illnesses and their families.