More than 80 senior citizens from Rye and nearby villages enjoyed a Sunday lunch by courtesy of Rye & District Lions Club. The lunch was laid on at Rye Community Centre and all seniors that required transport were collected by Rye Community Transport and Lion Club members cars and returned home at the end of the afternoon.
The guests were welcomed with a glass of sherry or fruit juice and then sat down to a full Sunday lunch of roast beef followed by apple crumble, accompanied by wine or fruit juice.
After lunch, the seniors enjoyed coffee or tea with mints and were entertained by a very talented group, Ro’s Gang, with a wide selection of popular songs, which the seniors joined in with the song sheets handed to them. Several of the younger members of Ro’s Gang brought the odd tear to the eye with their solo performances of songs from Les Miserables. The entertainment was followed by a free raffle of many prizes which included the spring flower table arrangements.
Rye Lions President, Malcolm McDonough, thanked Ro’s Gang, the St. John’s Ambulance, Pat and her fellow drivers from the Community buses and the seniors for attending. He also thanked his fellow Lions and their families for their hard work and a special thanks to Chris Emson and her kitchen “staff” and Reg Emson for master-minding the whole event again.
The Lions would not be able to provide such a lunch without the continuing support of the public with their donations at their various fund-raising events. They intend running their stalls at the local village fetes, the Maritime Festival and the Horse and Dog Show as in other years to enable them to continue to make donations to good causes, particularly in the Rye area. They have been pleased to have several new members join recently and would welcome enquiries from adults in the area who would like to have fun whilst raising money for those less fortunate and would enjoy social gatherings and anyone interested should ring Terry Cobby on 01797 252382.
Plans are well underway for their Annual Rye Raft Race and Fete which this year will take place on Sunday 25 August and any pub, club, college or other organisation wishing to enter a raft should contact Bob Harvey on 0845 833 2825. Stall spaces for the Fete are filling fast, and last year late applications had to be declined as the site was fully booked, so stall holders wishing to reserve a space should contact Reg Emson on 01797 224174.
“Rye’s Own” May 2013
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