THE PARTY'S NOT OVER

The first mention of a party for Senior Citizens organised by The Rotary Club of Abbeydale was in the minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Club in May 1960 although there is a record of a 'Country outing for housebound old people' and two parties in the Summer and Winter of 1959.

The parties that year were held in the Hall at St. John's Church, Abbeydale. On Wednesday 3rd June 2009, as the Club's 50th Anniversary year comes to a close, the venue changed back to St. John's after many happy parties held at Holy Trinity Church, Grove Road, Millhouses.

Over fifty years, hundreds of Sheffield's Senior Citizens have enjoyed, by invitation, a meal and entertainment in June and December with an average of 75 guests attending each party. Transport is provided by Abbeydale Rotarians.  The excellent catering has been provided by The Inner Wheel Club of Abbeydale - an independent club whose members are made up principally of wives or partners of Rotarians.

Over the years the entertainment has been quite diverse, some being home-spun from within the club and some from outside groups.  On Wednesday, following the traditional game or two of Bingo, a Jazz group from King Ecgberts School splendidly entertained the guests with a variety of solo and group performances.

For guests, the evenings are eagerly anticipated - and long remembered - especially for those people who do not get out as often as they might.

Two nonagenarian guests, Betty Brown and Doris Schweitzer, were amongst many who were enthusiastic in their praise for the social benefits of the event.  It was Betty's first visit and one of a number of 'happy returns' for Doris.

For around the past 20 years, the bi-annual parties along with bi-annual 'Derbyshire Drive-Outs with Supper' have been funded by the Dixon Pitchfork Charitable Trust which was a legacy of a late Past President of the Club and Past District Governor.  The Club looks forward to many more enjoyable evenings with its Guests.

On Saturday 15th November, the Rotary Club of Abbeydale held a Reunion of one of the Club's Charity Bands at Abbeydale Sports Club with all proceeds to Leonard Cheshire Services in Sheffield. It is around ten years since the six band members (three members and three Honorary members) last played together after a good few years of fun for good causes. An excellent hot-pot supper and raffle was followed by two sets of rock and roll. The Rotary Club of Abbeydale has long had a close association with the Sheffield Cheshire Home. Abbeydale's members built a special access garden and oriental shade hall in the quadrangle at Mickley Hall (in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Hallam) a few years ago. It was decided that all proceeds from the band reunion evening would go to Leonard Cheshire Services in Sheffield in this, their 40th year at Mickley Hall. Leonard Cheshire Services is celebrating its 60th Anniversary and the Rotary Club of Abbeydale its 50th. The club was delighted to have the Home's Service Manager and a number of Service Users present at the event. A cheque for £500 has been sent to the Home.

Calling all young artists in the City !

5th Annual
SHEFFIELD YOUNG PAINTERS OF THE YEAR COMPETITION AND EXHIBITION 2009



Kindly Supported in 2009 by GRI Group
and The Great Sheffield Art Show and Art In the Gardens



Five years ago, The Rotary Club of Abbeydale, the organisers of the event, were seeking to encourage vocational activities within the local community, and believed that young people who were good at sport or music had many events at which to showcase their talents but realised that there were very few such vehicles for young artists.

All school children within the Sheffield Education Authority are invited to enter (THROUGH THEIR SCHOOL) the Sheffield Young Painters of the Year Competition - now coming up to its fifth year. During September 2008, Heads of Art, Art Coordinators and Head Teachers at all schools within the Sheffield area are being circulated with details of how to enter pupils' work for the event. The competition is open to all key stages (1 to 5).

In addition to the general painting category, there is a Mixed Media category along with, for the first time, a NEW DRAWING CATEGORY for key stages 3,4 and 5. The key dates and details are as follows: Schools must confirm their intention to participate by returning the 'Confirmation of participation' slip at the foot of the letter sent out to schools (or by emailing either philhconsult@aol.com or sheffieldyoungpainters@googlemail.com) BEFORE SATURDAY 1st NOVEMBER 2008.

Colour-coded key stage entry slips will then be sent out in order that they can be attached to the paintings. All paintings must be submitted by the school by 6th MARCH 2009 to the Bannerdale Centre. The committee of the Great Sheffield Art Show will be involved with the mechanics of the Exhibition including the selection of paintings.

           
THE EXHIBITION (which will be open to the public), of over 700 selected paintings, will be held in the Skyline Suite at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre on FRIDAY 8th and SATURDAY 9th MAY 2009. Please check times of opening. A selection of the paintings from the 2009 exhibition will be on display at The Great Sheffield Art Show 10th,11th & 12th July 2009 and at 'Art In The (Botanical) Gardens' 4th, 5th & 6th September 2009.

ENTRY INFORMATION
PRIMARY AND JUNIOR KEY STAGES 1 & 2: Maximum number of paintings PER KEY STAGE: 10. Maximum size A4. Work produced in academic year 2008/09.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS KEY STAGES 3 & 4: Maximum number of paintings PER KEY STAGE: 10. Maximum size A3. Work produced in academic year 2008/09. inc. Mixed Media Category. NEW DRAWING CATEGORY.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS KEY STAGE 5: Maximum number of paintings PER KEY STAGE: 10. Maximum size A2. Work can have been produced during academic Year 2007/08 or 2008/09 for Key Stage 5. inc. Mixed Media Category. NEW DRAWING CATEGORY.


The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Arthur Dunworth with Organiser Rotarian Ken Marshall at the opening of the 2008 Exhibition.

Each year, The Lord Mayor of Sheffield has opened the Exhibition and presented the winner of each category with a silver salver inscribed with his / her name and school. As this is an annual award, the salvers are displayed at the winners’ schools until the following year. The winner and runners-up in each category are each presented with a plaque. All pupils having a painting in the Exhibition are presented with a certificate. For each category there is a Special Endeavour Award to recognise a painter of special quality. This event, is now established in the City's calendar and the Rotary Club of Abbeydale is continuously seeking financial sponsorship. If you or your company would like further details about this aspect, please contact the Organiser, Ken Marshall on Sheffield 235 0515 or email: sheffieldyoungpainters@googlemail.com. Please support this event if you can, it is a delight to see the work and ability of so many young artists.
Entry to Exhibition at Ponds Forge: Adults £1, 18 years and under FREE

On Saturday 16th August 2008, a small team made up from from the Rotary Club of Abbeydale and the Rotary Club of Sheffield Vulcan held a collection on Fargate Sheffield during Rotary International's 'Polio Plus Awareness Weekend' collecting for Rotary's 'End Polio Now Campaign' - a $100 million Challenge 2008-2010 . The two clubs are used to being involved in many 'hands-on' service projects within the local community. What was behind the collection may be somewhat of a surprise to anyone unfamiliar with the work of the Rotary movement. A financial challenge recognised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $100 million dollars on the proviso that Rotarians worldwide commit to match this grant over a three year period from January 2008.  To achieve this goal every Rotary club worldwide is being challenged to organise public fundraising events to raise a minimum of $1,000 annually for the next three years.   “Eradicating polio will be one of the most significant public health accomplishments in history and we are committed to helping reach that goal with Rotary as one of our key partners” Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.   It was in 1985 when Rotary made the historic decision to immunize the world’s children against polio.  3 years later in 1988, Rotary became the spearheading partner in the Global Eradication Initiative, along with the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.   Since then, more than 1 million Rotarians worldwide have donated their time and resources to help immunize more than 2 billion children in 122 countries.  Key Facts – Polio Eradication - PolioPlus Not long ago more than 125 countries were polio endemic – 1000 people a day killed or crippled, the majority children. In the 1980’s Rotary began one of the most ambitious humanitarian programs ever undertaken by a private entity by launching PolioPlus – a multimillion dollar initiative to immunize all the world’s children against polio. 1988 – World Health Assembly resolved to support Rotary’s commitment to wipe out the disease that had killed and paralyzed for 5,000 years. For 20 years Rotary, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have worked in partnership to eradicate the wild poliovirus. Rotary has contributed $700 million to date. Since 1985 more than 2 billion children have been vaccinated and reported cases have dropped by 99.8% (from 350,000 a year in 1988 to fewer than 2,000 a year in 2006) – 5 million have been spared disability and over 250, 000 deaths prevented. Polio is now endemic in only 4 countries – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.  The poorest and most war-torn and most crowded countries have stopped polio.   Key Facts – Polio must be eradicated: A humanitarian legacy: already, 5 million children are walking who would have been paralyzed and more than 1.5 million lives have been saved. Switching to a 'control' strategy, instead of finishing eradication, would condemn 10 million children to polio over the next 40 years alone. A financial responsibility: once polio is eradicated, the developing world can save over US$1 billion each year. Polio eradication will also help secure the future earning potential of children and reduce the massive costs of polio that are now borne by the poorest families and communities. Even a temporary cutback would result in the re-infection of polio-free areas, delays in outbreak response, a surge in polio-paralyzed children and an increase in overall costs. Insufficient funds at this late stage imperil the entire 20-year eradication effort, as well as related gains in routine childhood immunization, global communicable disease control, preparedness and response and other child survival and international health activities.   Key Facts – Polio – The Disease (source/acknowledgement Wikipedia): Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis is an acute viral infectious disease. Spreads from person to person via the fecal-oral route. The term derives from the Greek polio meaning “grey”, myelon referring to the “spinal cord” and – itis which denotes “inflammation”. 90% of polio infections have no symptoms at all. Individuals can exhibit a range of symptoms if the virus enters the bloodstream. In fewer than 1% of cases the virus enters the central nervous system, infecting and destroying motor neurons which leads to muscle weakness and acute flaccid paralysis. Different types of paralysis may occur depending on the nerves involved.  Spinal polio is the most common form – characterised by asymmetric paralysis that most often affects the legs Bulbar polio which leads to weakness of muscles innervated by cranial nerves. Bulbospinal polio is a combination of both spinal and bulbar paralysis. Key Facts - Rotary   Rotary is the largest worldwide service organisation of men and women (over 1.2 million members) who volunteer their time and talents to serve their communities at home and overseas . Their are five Rotary Clubs in the Sheffield area: Sheffield, Abbeydale, Hallam, Sheffield Vulcan and Wortley. Rotary's Motto is "Service above self". For further information, please contact: abbeydalerotarypr@googlemail.com or visit www.rotary.org Thank you for taking the time to read this.