This item is taken from the Rotary Magazine Autumn 2024 magazine and is part of a larger article encouraging Rotarians to support Rotary Foundation as a means of being a true Rotarian.
What is a true Rotarian?
On a fair Saturday evening in early November, soon after dusk, the crowds started pouring in to Canford Park, Westbury-on -Trym for the much-anticipated annual Bristol Fireworks Fiesta jointly organised by the Rotary Club of Clifton and the Bristol Round Table.
Our after lunch speaker this week, Kurtis Walters, has been operating in Bristol for several years running fitness programs especially designed to meet individual clients requirements. He also runs a number of different courses for small groups of people all keen to improve their physical wellbeing.
On our '5th Wednesday Social Meeting' an evening when we entertain our partners, our after dinner speaker treated to a first class account of the brave rescue of a group of young people in Thailand from from a flooded cave system. Worldwide news editors followed the operation avidly and our speaker and his colleagues became worthy overnight celebrities.
Following our weekly lunch today (16th October) we were treated to a lively presentation on the state of our rivers, the effects of doing nothing to halt their continuing degradation and what we will need to do to recover them fom decades of insufficient care. Our speakers, Michelle Walker of the Rivers Trust and Simon Hunter (pictured) of Bristol Avon Trust certainly know their subject and presented their observations in a most captivating manner. See further information about Michelle and Simon in the footnote following the report.