Club News

Rotarians have always enjoyed the fun and fellowship that is part and parcel of being a Rotarian and part of the fun is going to places that you might not otherwise have come across.

Faversham Rotary is no exception and the Club’s most recent visit had a cultural flavour – the Chagall Windows at Tudeley church. It was a most interesting and enlightening visit - made all the better by John Blackford, one of our club members who acted as our guide. He has an amazing way of bringing the artist Marc Chagall and Tudeley Church to life with his interesting anecdotes and history.

Here are a few of John’s notes about the beautiful windows.

“In July several of us went to Tudeley church to see the Chagall windows, after enjoying a convivial pub lunch on the way. We were fortunate that it was a bright day and the sunlight dramatically lit up the colours in the glass, progressing from deep blue in the north wall windows to gold on the south.

The main window is a memorial to a local young woman who drowned in a yachting accident. As her father was Jewish and her mother Christian they commissioned Marc Chagall, the great Jewish artist of the 20th century, to make a memorial window in her mother’s church.

When he came to its installation Chagall saw that there were 11 other windows, all in clear glass. ‘I will do them all,’ he said, with the result that Tudeley is the only church in the world to have all its windows made by Chagall. They vividly show the changing of darkness into light, which is a universal image with meaning for everyone.”

The Rotary Year starts on 1st July and that’s the date when new Club Presidents take office.
Faversham Rotary Club’s President for the new year will be Scott Reeve who was previously President in 2009/10.

Scott takes over from Dave Darby whose year started when we still couldn’t meet face-to-face, but that didn’t stop members from supporting events and good causes, both locally and internationally, with Dave leading from the front.

Dave said, “It has been a considerable honour to be President of the Rotary Club of Faversham for the last 12 months. The fantastic members and friends of the club organised and supported many great local events, including bringing back the Faversham Family Bike Ride. One local good cause that readily springs to mind is the Club’s recognition of the unsung Heroes who are young carers within our community. I was also extremely proud of the people of Faversham who supported us so generously in raising a considerable sum to help the Ukrainian refugees.”

Dave added, “Aside from helping others, we also like to ensure we have fun and a laugh in the process and I know Scott, the incoming President, will lead the Club on to greater achievements with the same fun element firmly in place.”

New President Scott Reeve said, “I will be looking forward to carrying on the good work the Club does for the local and international community. We have a busy and exciting year ahead with several key community events including the Faversham Family Bike Ride and the much loved Rotary Christmas Carol tour. We will also be welcoming fellow Rotarians from our four European contact clubs in May next year.”

Scott continued, “Growing our membership will also be an important focus for 2022/23. The more members and friends we have, the more we can achieve.”

If you would like to know more about Rotary in Faversham please look around the website to find out who we are and what we do.

After a break of two years, Faversham Open Gardens returned on Sunday 26th June.

Rotarian Sue Hoey has taken part in Open Gardens before, but this year she decided that she’d like to offer refreshments as well.
Several Club members, together with family and friends, set about baking scones, cakes and meringues to tempt the visitors. Tea, coffee and soft drinks were available too, with Club members taking it in turns to “man the café” in Sue’s kitchen!

The garden looked fabulous and people were full of praise for how lovely it was. “A hidden gem” was a phrase used by more than one visitor. 
The English summer weather couldn’t have been better and an amazing number of people came through the gate to enjoy the beautiful colourful garden created by Sue and her late husband Michael.

Many visitors took the opportunity to sit and soak up the atmosphere while enjoying their tea and cake. Thanks to their generous donations £400 was collected which Faversham Rotary will put to good use supporting local projects.