ROTARIANS RETURN TO THE COPELANDS

On Wednesday 13 th August 2003 the members of Donaghadee Rotary Club assembled on Donaghadee pier to meet the children parents and conductors from The Lighthouse Summer School.The occasion was the now annual trip to the Copeland Islands on board “The Brothers” Last year the trip had to be curtailed due to rough seas but not so this year as it was a beautiful calm sunny evening. The Lighthouse Summer School takes place during July and August in Donaghadee and is organised for children with cerebral palsy with conductors trained at the Peto Institute in Hungary . The party were taken around the Copeland Islands and all on board enjoyed the sights of the wild life on the Islands . This included numerous seals basking in the evening sunshine. It was noted that the seals were a different colour this year. Instead of being grey they were a mottled brown colour. A number of explanations were put forward to account for this change, some being more plausible than others. These suggestions included, sunburn, oil slicks, late winter coats and early winter coats. The secretary of Donaghadee Rotary Club Robert McIlveen would be interested to hear of any other explanations on this subject. All correspondence will be acknowledged.After the trip the party enjoyed a meal in the comfortable surroundings of Pier 36.

President Les Jones presented Thomas Bruton with the Donaghadee Rotary Club Endeavour Award for 2003, which was well deserved after his success in being named as Rider of the Year by the Irish Riding for the Disabled Association.  

The Rotarians would like to thank Quinton Nelson for making “The Brothers” available for this trip and Denis and Margaret Waterworth and their staff at Pier 36 for looking after the party.  

Some Rotarians stayed on in Pier 36 to hold an impromptu meeting but as they were not properly attired they could not be persuaded to visit The Hawaiian night at Ocean Drive .  

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