President's lunch
- The Webmaster
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
On Friday June 26th we had our annual President’s Lunch and Handover event. The main purpose of the lunch is to celebrate and thank all those who help us in our endeavours: spouses, partners and friends, who get roped into helping out, or who support Rotarians in less obvious ways.
The lunch started with drinks and plenty of conversation on Novotel’s riverside terrace, in searing heat. Ladies sporting racegoing hats added a delightfully formal touch. Following a thought for the day from President Elect Jane Albon, our three-course lunch was, by all accounts and, significantly by the foodies among us, highly rated: it turned out that the chef had been newly recruited to the post, an appointment which we entirely endorse!
Our after-lunch speaker was Professor Shaunna Burke, an academic in Exercise and Health Psychology at the University of Leeds. Shaunna presented herself as a seasoned climber with two successful ascents to the summit of Everest. This in itself would be a phenomenal achievement, but Shaunna’s second climb, which took place in April and May of this year, was accomplished against the background of her incurable stage-four cancer. Shaunna told us that, having, of course, not chosen to contract cancer, she had indeed chosen to continue climbing in order to test her ability to manage challenge, fear and uncertainty. Having already once reached the summit of Everest, she decided to retrace her steps, rather than go for a different peak, because in this way she would have more impact. She needed to create impact, given her desire to keep cancer-related conversations going and, crucially, to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. You can read about Shaunna in a recent BBC article at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyv22ry3mn0o and make a donation at https://givestar.io/gs/dying-to-climb-shaunna-burkes-return-to-everest
And then… in a reprise of last year’s successful musical contribution to the President’s lunch, we were entertained again by the York Rotary Choir under the batons of Rotarian Mike Hay and his wife Ros. The choir’s three numbers included a specially-rewritten (by Mike) version of the sixties’ Scaffold hit “Thank you Very Much”, bringing home the all-important theme of the day. To watch a short video of the choir click on the image below:
After the applause had died down, we were able to move on to the second, and much shorter event, the official handing over of the office of President. President Paul gave a brief speech outlining the club’s achievements since July 2025 and thanking club officers and team leaders for their hard work and support. Then, with due ceremony, he passed the presidential badge of office to Jane Albon, wishing her well for 2026-7 and naming her club officers for the year.
All in all, the event was very successful, an excellent combination of good food, drink and company, a stimulating, thought-provoking and at times deeply moving presentation, jolly singing and tradition-led ceremonial.
Paul Roberts
Comments