Wednesday 26th November: Paul & I meet two prospective members, Tim & Maggie Ellwood-Wade in Costa. They're new to the area, live in Edith Weston and made contact with us at our pitch at the Rutland Water Show.

They seem lively, but as a confirmed atheist, Tim is worried when I mention  the word "Fellowship", "you're not religious I hope". I suggest he substitutes the word Friendship, and assure him that we are Apolitical and Secular.

Later in the morning Paul and I give a talk to a group of people with dementia and their carers at VAR. The slideshow goes down well, as does the discussion we have afterward. A gentleman called Frank Foster declares his hand as a past District Governor, and at 92, he's looks more lively than some of our members.

Coffee with Paul & Charles, and then a call from Mike Cropper. He has done the job with Mike Saywood, and MS has agreed to the scale of the event, and that it needs a separate team to deliver it. Who should chair the team I ask naively, Mike confirms they both believe that I should, which is fine by me.

Paul also asks me if I would be interested in chairing Community Service next year, as it seems that Margaret Owers may be getting cold feet; I'll let him know.

So, all in all a good morning!

Tuesday 25th November: Successful morning delivery of 18 parcels to Beckwith Court.

Monday 24th November: Paul & I clear up at RAS and I load up with parcels for Beckwith Court in Empingham and eleven individuals in Ketton.

Friday 21st November: Our annual food collection starts a week early, and only outside Tesco. Tesco National cleared all their stores for the Food Bank, and we have decided to take their local offer of the earlier time. This has meant that we cannot cover the two Coops, but they only represent about 30% of donations.

I help set up at RAS, and do the 0900 to 1100 shift on Saturday morning. On Sunday morning Lorna & I go and help bag up, and then spend the morning distributing food parcels around sheltered accommodation in Uppingham.

Wednesday 19th November: The evening I have organised comes to pass, a visit to Rutland Plastics, and a meal at The Barn, with directors Steve Ayre and Stuart Johnson joining us as guests.

Twenty members in two groups of ten tour the factory, an injection moulding company founded in 1956 by Steve's grandfather. The company originally manufactured plastic toys, but with flow of manufacturing eastward, have re-invented themselves as a trade injection moulder. They run a very impressive ship, and invest in the latest technology, and in particular 3D printing both to prototype components and produce complex ones.

The Barn is fine apart from rubbery chicken, and the overall summary of the evening is most enjoyable, and that we should return to The Barn.

Tuesday 18th November: I write to Hugh making the donation offer and he replies, "what invoice, I didn't send one!" I would love to be a fly on the wall at Hubbard's Lodge this evening. So we wait some more and see what transpires.

Monday 17th November: More thought over the weekend about the 40th anniversary, and how to tackle Mike Saywood. In hindsight I'm glad I didn't rush to reply to the emails, it needed a calmer response and today I discuss with Mike & Charles. Both agree the Officers wanted a "gala event".

I suggest that in that case I need to talk to Mike one-to-one, but I really don't want to lose another Officer, one might be considered an accident, two would be considered a trend.

Mike offers, which I had thought might be a good approach in that it's not me and Mike is an executive member of the Social committee. So we will wait and see how he fares.

Emma Dodds had forwarded me an invoice from Hubbard's Lodge, £140 for stabling 14 horses on the night of the fireworks. I'm not surprised, the Major had suggested that we ought to pay for their extra work.

After some email discussion with David Wood, Mike Owers and Paul, I decide we will offer to make a donation of £250 to a charity of their choice.

Friday 14th November:

Then there is the series of emails from Social Committee members, wittering about the shape and detail of the 40th Gala Charter Dinner, or the Business as Usual Charter event if Mike Saywood and Bob Fisher get their way.

A large majority of the Officers were clear that we wanted a "Gala Event", anywhere between 120 & 150 guests, but Mike is clearly still uncomfortable with this, and it's time to lance the boil. I will have to speak with him.

I have a beer and a bite with Paul Mills in the Nelson, and I agree the one-to-one conversation is better than the email, I don't want to lose another Officer, one is an accident, two might be considered a trend.

Thursday 13th November:

On Thursday Emma forwards an invoice from Major Crouch, to no one in particular, for extra work incurred because of the fireworks, 14 horses @ £10 each, a total of £140. An insignificant sum, but a significant point. The major had commented in our meetings that we ought to be paying for his inconvenience, and he's now backed that up with this invoice.

Both David Wood and I don't believe it should be ignored, and David thinks the idea of Lions making a donation to a local charity of their choice is a good one. I make the point that even this should not be done without some assurances that we an injunction will not be sought next year, or to any fireworks that RAS or OFRC might organise; waiting to hear his response.

John Reid calls me and complains that we have allocated a Wednesday in March 2015, and he has agreed with Dick Maris for him to come as a speaker. We have a long discussion, and I tell him how I feel, how the committees don't work particularly well, and how the club relies on a few who actually "do stuff".

I tell him that I want a club where the Officers do have some executive clout, and don't just sit and listen to the same reports on a Monday and then on a Wednesday. I explain the blue/yellow imbalance of formal/informal meetings, and how we need a little more of the social able evenings. 

I explain why we need three meetings reserved to David Ford's work, and give time to members to absorb, discuss, and debate potential developments about membership and the way the club is organised. I think I may have made a little inroad, not sure. 

Monday 10th November: A quieter week with no Lions meeting. Several coffee sessions with Mike, Paul & Charles, even an afternoon session with Tim Haward, he's a strange old sod.

Friday 7th November: Paul & I visit Emma and agree the storage, packing and distribution of food collected from Tesco on 21/22nd November.

In discussions we find that RAS have decided that the County Show will be on Sunday 31st May, not 7th May, which of course means that we could revert to Sat 6th June for our Gala Charter, assuming Vic Hall is available.

It's good to talk, and Paul/Mike chew more fat in Costa for a while afterward.

Thursday 6th November: A good day for a brain-wave, why not ask RAS if we can use their space for our food collection. No problem, and no cost replies Emma; who's a clever boy?

Wednesday 5th November: Having made the decision not to travel to Ethiopia, naturally I'm available for our regular meeting at The Whipper. Charles informs me beforehand that Robin would like to make a statement, and that he has a Proclamation to make. Along with Adam Lowe's induction and a speaker from the LF&RS, it will be a busy night.

Robin's statement is basically that he has a lot of extra-curricular activities and would like to become a Lion at Large for the remainder of the Lion year, and then review what he wishes to do. He commits to events that he has already signed up for.

The Proclamation which is required to be brief, but impressive, and it certainly is. Apparently I have "successfully opened the door of Lionism" to at least two individuals, and I am thus awarded the Key button hole. It is brief, but party poppers make sure that it's also impressive.

The induction goes well, as it should as David, Charles & I liaise beforehand to ensure it does.

Our speaker is excellent, Ed Rogers, a fire-fighter from LF&RS, giving the talk/presentation he gives to 15-22 year olds concerning road safety in Leicestershire. he unveils some startling facts, such as one death every week, one life-changing injury every day, the most likely cause of death for a teenage girl is in an RTA where her boyfriend has been driving the car, and mobile phones/texting pose a greater safety threat than drink driving.........all great food for thought if you have a teenage daughter or granddaughter.

It's a good meeting, the food is fine, and everything goes according to plan, and Pail and I chew the fat in the Nelson afterwards.

Monday 3rd November: An Officers meeting at The Wheatsheaf in Oakham, where we have the back room to ourselves, thanks to MC and Dan, the landlord.

A good meeting with all ten Officers present, Mike Crosland joining us following Robin's resignation. We make a good fist of updating our event calendar, and I just about manage to keep the meeting on track. Two keys topics that take a fair amount of time are the rearranged Food Collection this year, following Tesco's decision to move our dates, and then the 40th Charter Dinner.

I hope we have offered Mike Saywood an alternative to his very conservative vision for the evening of just 70 people. If that's all we can manage, then Victoria Hall is the wrong venue. I think we might just have persuaded him to think about a bigger model, 150 people at £30/head, gives a budget of £4,500, and if a good meal can be delivered for £20/head, it leaves well over £1,000 for entertainment.

Mike Cropper has even gone as far as committing £200 to any loss that we might incur should we not get the numbers we will aim for.

Sunday 2nd November: Clear up morning and the rain sets in, but we're packed away by 11am, and I make sure the lock-up is well ordered, happy with that.

My hip is giving me increasing discomfort, and I hobble around for the morning. The afternoon I take the radio back to Hubbards Lodge and I meet Mary, the Major's wife and Hugh's mother. She assails me with all the hurt, the dogs, the horses, half an hour of unending verbiage. I make my escape and let Brian & Michael know that they owe me a beer.

Saturday 1st November: Well a busy day ahead which starts at the lock-up at 8am. The day continues well, and it is warm and by lunch-time tents are erected, catering tent organised, lighting erected, generators positioned, and we're ready to go.

Shane & Iain have decided to pre-cook food this year and keep it hot. This serves two purposes, firstly it will allow them to manage the peak demand, and secondly to use our usual burgers instead of the thin patties. It works well and there's not much left from the 700 servings Shane ordered.

I visit Hugh Crouch to collect the walkie-talkie radio, and he seems in good humour, and his wife, who I hadn't met before indicates that she thinks it's all a storm in a tea cup, and that everything will be fine. We agree the communication timing but as it turns out, the radio doesn't work well at all and I have to use the mobile phone.

The weather stays dry, but is cooled by a strong wind blowing in the direction of the studs, but the displays go off faultlessly, and over 2,000 people attend; we even sell out of tickets at Fords.

Two PCs turn up to help us with guiding the public into and out of the Showground, and the lighting works well. My role is a combination of photographer and liaison with the horse people, I also garble a thank you message over the tannoy between the two displays.

My photography is aided by a chance conversation with a local photographer in the morning, who tells me about the "bulb" setting, basically allows you to keep the shutter open with your finger on the button. Along with an ISO setting of 100, and the aperture set at circa f12, you can produce great firework images. The main tip is off course to use a tripod, but mine is broken, and I hand hold, but still get some great images, see below:

At the end of the second display, there's a mad rush for the exit, and we are able to get our tents packed dry, always a bonus.

Net profit, initial estimate, circa £4,500, not at all shabby.