JANUARY CHARTER LUNCH
 
There was an excellent turnout for our delicious January Charter lunch which was attended by 44 members. We have not had that number of members present at a lunch for at least four years. Also present were 20 visitors which included our Speaker, the Presidents and fellow officers and members of the four other Isle of Man Probus Clubs, and the President of our sponsoring Club; Ramsey Rotary Club. 

Our Guest Speaker was Sir Richard Gozney who has been a British Diplomat for over forty years and who was sworn in as  Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man on 27th May 2016. In 1989, after foreign postings that included Jakarta, Buenos Aires and Madrid, Sir Richard was Private Secretary to three Foreign and Commonwealth Secretaries. In 1993 he was appointed British High Commissioner to Swaziland. In 2000 he was appointed British Ambassador to Indonesia and then British High Commissioner to Nigeria in 2004. In 2007 his last foreign posting was as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda. Sir Richard was able to draw on this wealth of experience in presenting his talk which was entitled, “Trying to influence foreign leaders”. He explained that this was the main objective of diplomats who try to influence foreign leaders by putting themselves in their shoes. Sir Richard gave three fascinating examples from each of a number of his postings where the influence was successful and one where it was not. I wonder just how many catastrophies around the world have been prevented by careful diplomacy.
 
VISITS

The Hon Sec. has so far made arrangements for two visits for members (and guests). The first is to the Isle of Man Creamery and will take place on Monday March 27th at 10am. The visit will last about an hour and will be followed by complimentary cheese tasting and refreshments. The 2nd visit is to the Tynwald Buildings and will take place at 2.30pm on Monday June 12th. That visit will also last about an hour and it is hoped that we will be accompanied by one of the new Ramsey MHKs. At this stage, some idea is needed as to how many members (and guests) might be interested in taking part in the visits. Please indicate on the return slip at the bottom of this sheet. A third visit, later in the summer, is planned to be to Bushy’s Brewery.

OUR FEBRUARY LUNCH will be on Wednesday 8th February 2017 at Ramsey Golf Club, open from 12.30pm for a 1pm start, when our guest speaker will be:-

PETER WOOD, a well known local Advocate, whose talk is entitled “Beekeeping”