Past Events

Heart2

 

Fun is at the heart of all Club activity. Not least in the many and various social events organised either to raise money or just to spend time together in friendship and fellowship. In recent past years they have included:

01.Kingston2012

18 Rotarians and partners spent a fantastic fellowship visit over the Jubilee weekend 1-3 June 2012 with new and renewed friends from Kingston Rotary Club. Always a weekend to look forward to full of good times and friendship and this one certainly was. Our thanks are particularly due to our hosts and organisers Michael Kingham (Kingston) and PP Brian Clements.

02.House of LordsMany members of the Club were privileged and delighted to attend the Club's House of Lords Dinner on Thursday 31 May 2012 on the eve of the Diamond Jubilee weekend.

Nearly 120 gathered at the Palace of Westminster for the Dinner kindly hosted by The Lord Laird of Artigarvan and Kevin Cahill; we were joined by Rotarians from the London and Kingston Rotary Clubs, their Guests and other representatives from North, South America, Australia and Europe.

03.Rotarians at the crushersandscreensIntrepid Rotarians (from left) John McCleery, VP Ken Morrison, PP Gordon Millington, PP Brian Clements, PP Albert Baird and Billy McCoubrey ventured deep into the Salt Mines in Carrickfergus sporting very fetching supplied overalls, helmets and miners lamps. The visit was so popular a second visit was organised. The Tour was expected to last about two hours but they found the network of tunnels which reach 600' – 1200' feet below the Antrim coast and extend to more than 30 miles so interesting it lasted for over three! 

04.Tudor Cinema 2012

Doris and Friends (as depicted on the Cinema outside billboard) enjoyed a wonderful evening of fellowship on Wednesday 22 February at private showing in the cosy Tudor Cinema, Comber. Noel Spence (owner of the Tudor Cinema) had arranged for that to welcome the members and guests arriving for the screening of the film The Illusionist. Having enjoyed the delicious spread of eats provided by Doris all were ready for the twists and turns of the film and were not disappointed! 

05.RotarianDiners

 

 

Rotarians and guests enjoy wonderful Christmas Dinner Meetings of good food and warm fellowship at the Ulster Reform Club. 

06a.Conf

 

Club President with several members and partners attend the District 1160 Annual Conferences which are always excellent weekends of stimulating speakers and Rotary business but most of all great fellowship. We also try to have joint meals and evenings with the Dublin and Cork Clubs 

06.CharityBBQ

To conclude his Presidential year whilst fundraising for Foundation and Centenary Club Funds, President Brian and Rosie hosted a fabulous BBQ Sunday 26th June 2011. The gammon was succulent and the array of salads wonderful. To say nothing of the BBQ'd bananas and pineapple with fruit salad and coconut cream... The wonderful sum of over £1.200 was raised. It was extra special that the feasting and friendship were under the eaves of Brian's 100 year old house which was completed in 1911 - A very timely coincidence! 

07.DublinNorthVisit

 

On Monday 27 June 2011 the Club was delighted to welcome 14 members and partners from Dublin North Club. Having travelled by train they attended the Club meeting. President Mervyn Furney introduced the party and banners were exchanged. President Brian also gave President Mervyn a copy of the Club's Centenary Book and pin. They spent the rest of the day with members in Belfast visiting the City Hall and Titanic Quarter.

08.RotarianVisitorsatPRONIOn Thursday 16th June, over 40 members and guests had a most enjoyable evening at the new state-of-the-art, purpose-built archive facility of the Public Records Office, Belfast (PRONI). The Club was the first group to visit the building after the official opening on Wednesday 14th June by the First and Deputy First Ministers. It was an 'eye-opening' evening in many ways. We were initially totally struck by the complete contrast to the previous facility. The foyer is full of interesting sculptures and art together with a canteen open to the public where we had a delicious meal. 

09.Presidents Day 11

 

A fitting end to the Club year is the President's Day event held in recent years at the Royal Belfast Golf Club, Craigavad. Golfers compete for the MacNab Trophy during the afternoon and in the evening most members and partners enjoy food and fellowship. The President recounts memories of the year and the incoming President pays tribute.

10.Dublin club visit 1020 members of The Rotary Club of Dublin visited the Club on Monday 18th October 2010 and enjoyed a full day's programme. Having met the Lord Mayor they had a tour of the City Hall after which they had a tour of the Ulster Hall and were greatly entertained by President Brian's playing of the great Mulholland Organ. They were warmly welcomed at the Club luncheon Meeting concluding their visit in the afternoon with a Titanic Lagan Boat Tour taking in the historic Harland & Wolff shipyards and the famous Titanic sites around Belfast Harbour and a tour of the Pump House. 
11.BBCMembers and partners enjoyed Monday 11th October 2010 an informative guided tour of the BBC, Ormeau Avenue, getting a peek behind the scenes! Our guides Carol Lawley, and Shauna McConville showed us the BBC's wonderful art collection including some currently on loan from Broadcasting House, London. Following an excellent evening meal in the BBC canteen we had our 'own Donna & Noel' reading the news on the Newsline Studio Floor! We also experienced the Gallery where the production of what we view takes place with its bank of television monitors and operational control panels and the tour concluded in a radio studio where some voices were recorded by a producer for a potential radio trail. 

11a.Wine Tasting

A delightful evening was had by 21 members, partners and guests on the 4th November 2010 at a wine tasting evening featuring excellent wines from the New World held in the upstairs (haunted!) room in Direct Wine Shipments. The evening was complimented by the delicious finger foods, presented by Doris, which added to the enjoyment of the evening. The evening finished to a great finale with Hilary Gault giving us an excellent recital on the grand piano allowing us to end the evening in full voice!

12.Dublin10On Monday 24th May 2010 a large group of members took the train to Dublin to visit the Rotary Club of Dublin. They visited the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire where they were shown around and were allowed into the old wine cellar, which has been transformed into a private candle-lit dining room. Unfortunately they were not allowed to sample the stock! After their Club lunch meeting in the Grand Canal Hotel they viewed the new acquisitions in the National Gallery of Ireland and were pleasantly surprised to see the number of Ulster artists acquired. A welcome saunter through Trinity College, including a little refreshment in the Pavilion bar overlooking the college playing fields, and through Front Square gave pleasant memories for Belfast TCD graduates Albert Baird, Dick Thornton, Maurice Brooks and Courtenay Thompson. 

13.walk10

On Friday 21st May 2010 22 Members and partners enjoyed a May Spring Walk along the canal, Belfast. The group had a guided talk with the Lagan Valley Regional Park Head Ranger whilst walking on the glorious evening to the Lock Keepers Cottage, Visitors Centre. They ended up at the Lock Keepers Inn for a delicious evening meal and sat outside in the relaxed setting enjoying the fun and fellowship in the balmy evening.

14.Kingston10Friday lunchtime 7th May 2010 a party of 18 from the Rotary Club of Kingston upon Thames arrived for a 3 day visit. The busy schedule included: a social evening at the Ulster Reform Club; St George's Food and Garden Market; tours of the City Hall and Titanic Exhibition; a Chinese Banquet in the ambient surroundings of member San Wong's Welcome Restaurant in the Landsdowne Court Hotel; tours of the the walled garden in Greenmount Agricultural College, the Harbour Office, the headquarters of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, the Pump House and Titanic Dock. They also participated in participated in a very interesting comparative question and answer session at the Club meeting. 
15.UMuseum10This is the happy bunch of Rotary Members venturing to see and explore what was on offer in the newly refurbished Ulster Museum 16th April 2010. The re-launched Ulster Museum has been the most talked about new experience in Northern Ireland and has been nominated for the prestigious Art Fund Prize for its spectacular redevelopment. A very informative guided tour by Martin Anglesay, Keeper of Fine Art, introduced us to many well displayed exhibits of glass, pottery, silver, and costumes through the ages as well as the exhibition of contemporary and traditional Irish art. He often stopped beside paintings to point out interesting facts of how, when, where and why they ended up looking as they did. An interesting time was had by all. 

16.Radisson10

 

Eighteen Rotarians and partners attended an excellent "Ready Steady Cook" demonstration by RadissonBLU Hotel Executive Chef Nigel Mannion on18th March 2010. Following a light meal, we were shown how to make a leak and potato soup; a risotto; a pineapple and prawn salad and a strawberry dessert. There was not much left of the samples after the tasting!

17.quiznight

A very successful District Quiz Night was organised 07 May 2009 by Past President Bryan Johnston, a record 24 teams all over Ulster participated, with a special appearance from Dublin North and the Inner Wheel. The evening was sponsored by Tesco and all proceeds went to Alzheimers, District Governor Paul Hutchinson's favoured charity for his year. The eventual winner was Donaghadee with the Londonderry team just beating the Belfast team into second place. Tesco also donated an 19" all singing all dancing HD TV which was raffled, also in aid of Alzheimers.

18.Hillsborough2 highly successful events were organised to raise funds for Rotary's End Polio Now Campaign.

On Thursday 09 April 2009 following a delicious reception of wine and canapés by 'June and Keith' in the Kitchen, we were wonderfully entertained by fascinating tales of the house from Curator David Anderson and then enchanted by songs from Marie O'Sullivan and her protegés Molly Gilmartin and Karen Thompson accompanied by Mark McGrath. 

We were also thrilled that the world class Harvard (University) Collegiate Glee Club accepted our invitation to perform a Charity Concert. It provided a wonderful opportunity to hear the jubilant voices of America's oldest collegiate chorus perform. The concert was held on Friday 27th March in the Spires Conference Centre, Belfast and delighted a large audience with men's choral music of every era from around the world in traditional and classical choral works.

65 men, mostly undergraduates at Harvard College, plus a few students from Harvard's graduate schools, from all over the USA and abroad were resplendent in white ties and tails. It was a real musical treat to listen to the jubilant voices perform traditional and classical choral works in Belfast. The performance showcased choral works both old and new, including Renaissance music and songs arranged specifically for the all-male chorus. Even the critics were bowled over, one stating it was the best male choir he had heard in a very long time. The evening ended with a Harvard football song. Following tradition the conductor invited any former members of the HGC to join the choir for this piece and Brad Kemp who had flown over from London for the concert was quick to join them.