In preparation for his ‘do’, Chris said  “There’ll be no trouble with parking, I’ve arranged to use St. Josephs parking area” . Trouble was, Father Ted had forgotten that it was the church fete and the junior football tournament. Chris redeemed the situation with nice wine and good food, the sun shone and the company was first class. Incoming President Derek said some  nice things about Chris and we all agreed that it had truly been a vintage year.

We started off in the knowledge that, but for the untimely death of Rod Keighley, Chris Johnson-Green would have had a supporting role in this our 50th Anniversary as a Rotary club in Pudsey. Thrust into the limelight, Chris set about to make it a year to remember, the big event being the 50th anniversary of our charter and the ‘Golden Jubilee Dinner’ in January 2003. The dinner was held at the Banqueting Suite, Headingley Stadium in Leeds. The Lord Mayor and District Governor were our special guests and the evening was a resounding success, enjoyed by over 100 Rotarians and their guests.

Pictures from the social event
ending the President's year...
 

The calendar of social and fundraising events, and also sad events, listed below, gives and idea of the hectic year we had:

Saturday 13th July 2002. Our first purely social event was at Temple Newsome, ‘Opera in the Park’.

Sunday 14th July Geoffrey and Heather Barton’s Open Garden raised over £500.00 for the Leprosy Mission.

Saturday 20th July. The club was saddened by the death of Tony Walker, Past President in 1987, after a brave struggle against cancer.

Saturday 7th September saw us at Kirkstall Abbey enjoying ‘Classical Fantasia’, music and fireworks on the banks of the river Aire.

Friday 20th September was the first fund raiser organised by the newly formed Aquabox Team. The Quiz Night was enjoyed by all and raised £360.00.

Sunday 22nd September  we met at Fulneck church for a service to mark our Jubilee.

Saturday 5th October was the turn of the International committee. Their ‘Silent Auction’ raised £808.00 for Hope and Homes for Children and other overseas charities.

Friday 15th November had us involved in the Annual Craft Fayre, held at the same time as the switch on of Pudsey Lights.

December saw the start of John Walker’s ‘Environmental Challenge - Green Plan’. which was to be on-going throughout the year.

Christmas Day. There’s always a lot of work done behind the scenes, but it is  worth while seeing the pleasure from lonely old folk when we take their Christmas lunch.

January  2003. Our oldest member at 93, Bernard Place, died in hospital.

Thursday 23rd January . Our Diamond Jubilee Anniversary Dinner.

Saturday 5th April. We spent most of the day at the Owlcotes Centre on Stroke Awareness Day activities.

Saturday 5th April. The Aquabox team raised £400.00 with a musical evening at the Parish church.

Sunday 13th April was the culmination of a lot of planning when we had the joint event with Calverley Club. The Pudsey Plod raised over £1400.00 for PolioPlus

May.  Derek Rhodes, Past President 1976, sadly died in LGI. Also a previous member and Past President in 1981,Brian Ward, died after a long illness.

Wednesday 11th June. Our first involvement with Kids Out, taking a group of youngsters from the Stanningley Milestone School for Learning Difficulties to Flamingoland.

Saturday 21st June. International Committee raised £400.00 with their very enjoyable Book Sale.