Record Signing for Club - Steve Daley

It was great for us to spend this evening in the company of former Wolves player Steve Daley.

Originally from Yorkshire Steve joined Wolves as an apprentice making his professional début with the Club in 1971 going on to establish himself as a regular in the first team and earning caps with England's B team.

1979 saw his transfer to Manchester City for a then British Record £1,437,500 - though played out of position the move did not go well leading the Observer to class it as number 1 in their top 10 list of the biggest wastes of money in football history.

Parting company with City two years later Steve crossed the Atlantic for three successful seasons as a player in the North American Soccer League.

Since leaving the game Steve has made quite a name for himself as an after dinner speaker - so much so that he was recognised as 'Soccer Speaker of the Year' in 2009.

It's easy to see why Steve won the award - his has been a career which has seen both its ups and its downs and he's got some great stories to share as a result. Steve gave the lads in the room a great nights entertainment  - he had us in stitches all evening - and we give him our thanks and wish him continued success in his speaking career and in his charitable work with other ex Wolves players raising money for local charities.

In Memory - Remembrance Day 2012

Remembrance Day has been observed since the end of the First World War and today President Ian together with Club members Ivan Hill and Brian Tranter joined the Mayor of Wolverhampton, service men and women and representatives of ex service and civic societies to pay our respects to the fallen by the laying of wreaths of poppies at the City's War Memorial.

Attendance at the City Service of Remembrance grows each year - an opportunity for us to contemplate and to recognise the sacrifice of those who fought for our freedom during the two World Wars and those who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts.

In Flanders' Fields

In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' Fields.

John McCrae

Armistice Concert

There's nothing to beat live music and this evening the Perton Community Hall was filled with the music of the Sharmanaires Big Band who were performing at the Club's Armistice Concert to help raise funds for local Rotary charities.

The Sharmanaires have been entertaining audiences in the Midlands since the 70's with a mix of traditional hits made famous by the likes of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Ted Heath, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and Harry James and they certainly didn't disappoint with tonight's performance.

As the Club prepared to remember the fallen of the Second World War at Sunday's Civic Service of Remembrance the Sharmanaires helped us remember the music that inspired troop morale and bolstered morale on the home front.



Our thanks go to impresario Peter Maddox for his work in organising a great evenings entertainment.

Malcolm Bason Award

Each year the Club recognises the pivotal role played by our first President, Malcolm Bason, by the presentation of the Malcolm Bason Award in his memory.

The award is made by the Club's Presidential team to recognise the contribution of a member Rotarian to the ongoing development of the Club. This years award is made to Club Communications Officer David Cave. A professional photographer by trade David gives freely of his time and skill to help to promote the work of the Club and of our partner organisations and as a former Foundation chair he has been instrumental in the success of past GSE team visits and in ensuring that our Club met the Gates Challenge as a further step towards the eradication of polio.

As part of the award the receiving Rotarian is entitled to nominate a charity or project of their choice to receive a donation of £250 in Malcolm's memory. David asked that the donation be given to help the work of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research a charity which is dedicated to research into blood cancers, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myelom.

A Leukaemia survivor himself David can testify to the valuable work carried out by the Charity but for which he would not be with us today.