Chairman's Report
I would like to praise the efforts of the Officers and
Committee members of KentARA for all their hard work in getting KentARA back
on track so quickly.
We started off in May with a very successful Tea Dance, our next one is on the
9th November and will be over by the time you receive this newsletter.
The John Hardiman Short Mat Bowls Memorial Cup, run by Tony Mulcuck, was won
by Joydens Wood (JARA) well done to them again.
Our Craft Fair, also run by Tony, was held at Ditton and once again proved
what fantastic talent we have in our organisation. The only drawback was that
not really enough clubs took part.
The Race Evening brought members from all corners of Kent and filled the
Ditton Community Centre almost to capacity, I was so pleased to see so many
members enjoying themselves.
We still have the Thanksgiving Service at Rochester Cathedral, organised this
year by MaidARA (Maidstone) to look forward to on the 11th October and I am
hoping we will be able to get a report into this newsletter before it goes to
press.
Other events organised for this year are the Tinsel & Turkey at Warners,
Cricket St. Thomas, and our fantastic Christmas Concert at Mote Park with the
Len Phillips Big Band. And next year a Spring Break in the Isle of Wight and a
wonderful Jamboree in September, all advertised in this issue.
Coaches for the Jamboree are being organised with Classic Tours of Torquay,
and at the reasonable price of £30 per person, all you have to do is to
contact Peter Nicholls with the number of places required, such as 14 or 87
and your local pick-up point, this will save clubs having to fill a coach or
having just one coach, you will be receiving the paperwork in due course.
Excursions from the holiday resort will include Plymouth, Exeter, Dartmouth,
Trago Mills, Buckfast Abbey, Widecombe, Otter St, Mary, The Eden Project and
the Lost Gardens of Heligan.
At the moment we are organising the opening of two new clubs, one in Slade
Green near Dartford and the other in Edenbridge, both of these should be up
and running by the next newsletter.
I had the pleasure of being invited to the Whitstable Active Retirement
Association’s annual music concert (High Hopes) what an enjoyable,
professional performance this turned out to be, with an incredible 90 of their
members taking part, it was a pleasure to watch.
I also had the pleasure of inviting Paul James (the Radio Kent entertainer),
at the request of KentARA to become an Honorary Member of KentARA for his
services to our clubs, and take this opportunity to welcome him on board.
The KentARA website is now in its second year, have you visited it yet?, Its
very informative, giving news of what we have done and what we hope to be
doing in the future, and a list of all the ARAs throughout Kent, you can even
have your own club highlighted if you have your own web site.
Yes, as you can see, we are well and truly back on track, and even travelling faster.
Gerald Benham.