DG's Visits Week 23

This stage of a DG's year is one of change. Many activities which have become almost a way of life, draw to a close, other new activities begin, and there is always an awareness that time is passing rapidly by, with many objectives still to be achieved. Tuesday saw Daphne and I heading first of all southwards for a short meeting with the two other Scottish District Governors in the cold wilderness of upland Lanarkshire. The wind chill factor must have been considerable with temperature, elevation and wind speed combined. We then reversed our tracks to get to the Queensferry Hotel for the meeting of the West Fife Club. This is a very recent change of venue for their members, and is obviously different from their previous venue of many years standing. However, it is a super environment, with many plus factors and I am sure that it will soon feel like 'home'. The Club is in great heart, with many boxes ticked on the 'things to do' list. I would admit to a mixture of feelings on the evening as this was the last of my 87 Clubs to visit. On the one hand, it is good to complete the list before winter really sets in. I had not fancied driving back from Thurso on a cold winter's night with heavy snow. However, just to underline that nothing can be assumed, we were faced with heavy rain mixed with snow on the way home! On the other side of the coin, I will really miss my regular meetings with Clubs and their Rotarians. This is where the real business of Rotary goes on and I have the feeling that I will be more at arms length in the future, despite my best endeavours to do otherwise. However, I will watch with interest, the endeavours of the Clubs, no less so in the case of West Fife, where raising yet more money and increasing their member numbers figure highly in their plans. I wish President George and his members well on both counts.
I take this opportunity to thank all of the District 1010 Clubs for their warmth of welcome, hospitality and unfailing courtesy to Daphne and I on all of our visits. This has been a period of my life which I will always treasure, with all sorts of different memories from the many different parts which constitute this wonderful District. Daphne and I have been fortunate beyond measure and we do look forward to visiting the Clubs again in the future, on a less formal basis, and perhaps at a slower pace which will allow us to enjoy to the maximum, the Rotarians and their surroundings.