Good Evening Members, Friends of Rotary, Past Members, Wives and Partners that read the Keyway.
The year that we will all remember is all but over. Let’s hope that next year bring us happy times and those who want to travel can do it safely. COVID-19 19 has done none of us any favors. But we can put our thought to the positive options like traveling around our own country, catching up with friends and getting thing around the house done.
Our last meeting for the year was a prime example of in-house fun and enjoyment. I would like to thank David Teape and his committee for planning and running a very enjoyable night. Fun in Rotary and in the Christmas spirit? Santa, Christmas Carols, and Golf Putting all just made the night. Thank you too for everyone that came along to make the evening. It was great to catch up with Bruce Burton and Sue North and all our partners once again.
All the best Malcolm and your team on Sunday at the Santa’s Parade and hope you all have a great day. I am sorry that I will not be in Howick to help you.
If anyone would like a Christmas Pudding please email me or phone me. I will be back in Howick on the 22nd afternoon and will drop them off to you.
Our first club meeting for 2021 will be on the 26th January. I will see you there. David Teape is planning a Petanque Night at Howick Club on the 12th January.
The last meeting for this year was a Christmas Party celebration. Even the large man in a red suit popped in to see who had been 'good' this year. We have tried hard to be 'good' as club members and support our community where we can. Members dipped into their own pockets to generate a sizeable donation which will go to one of our local food banks this week. We know there are many families who have had additional struggles this year. We are very happy to do what we can to help.
A great evening to end an eventful and unusual year!
1. In the 1400s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb.
Hence we have 'the rule of thumb.'
2. Many years ago, in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...
Ladies Forbidden'... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
3. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David,
Hearts - Charlemagne,
Clubs -Alexander the Great,
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
4. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase.... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'
5. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.
Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
6. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts...
So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'
It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'
7. Many years ago, in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service.
'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.
8. In 1696, William III of England introduced a property tax that required those living in houses with more than six windows to pay a levy. In order to avoid the tax, house owners would brick up all windows except six. (The Window Tax lasted until 1851, and older houses with bricked-up windows are still a common sight in the U.K.) As the bricked-up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any sunlight, the tax was referred to as “daylight robbery”
Good Evening Members, Friends of Rotary, Past Members, Wives and Partners that read the Keyway.
