LAST WEEK’S MEETING - DINNER OUT SAA Pat - Last Tuesday was ‘dinner out’. We were at the Hilltop Hotel in Patong, which had all the potential for a dangerously exciting evening. Hilltop means something, in this case, the hotel is on the road along the spine of the mountain and if you didn’t pay attention as you exit your car….whoops, easy to fall down the side of the ridge, rolling at least 100 ft before a ledge of greenery! Last I heard no one had fallen. We climbed three flights of stairs to get an even better view… from a huge balcony/bar set up for us. As you can imagine the view was spectacular, we could almost see Africa – no we couldn’t, Sumatra is in the way. We had a large turnout of members, guests and a visiting Rotarian, Mario Barblan from St. Moritz with friend Peter Tschudi from the Swiss Drs. Group. After the tsunami, Mario & Peter worked with RCoPB and a matching grant to pay for an ambulance for Patong, which Peter checks out on every visit, it’s still working and looking great, he likes the red stripe. We thank them for their diligence and generosity. Rick Gartland, a new member of our club, presented a banner to P. Michael from his old club at Grand Rapids East in Michigan. P. Michael welcomed Rick again to the club and this time, Rick kissed Michael. P. Michael blushed and everyone applauded. Later Rick told us about the acquisition of 5000 books he had organized when he was in Michigan – all different titles – to be shipped from the US to Phuket for use in schools, libraries and play clubs for children and teenagers. Rtn Kuhn Jamie Ananpakdee announced that the Bangkok Phuket Hospital was ready with its recording studio where readers can go for a two hour recording session of their book or a book supplied by the hospital, English speakers wanted. These CDs will be donated to the deaf, placed in libraries all across the country. Three people volunteered right away and the official opening is Feb. 10. 2
The owner/manager of the Hilltop Hotel is Jan, a Dane, another person who raised a lot of money for the people affected by the Tsunami. Thanks to Jan and hundreds of other people, we at RCoPB were able to fix boats, built houses, set up scholarships for 250 plus children, build and fix water systems, etc. We had a Danish Buffet, delicious and unusual food for Phuket with Danish cheeses for dessert. It was a very social evening with laughter, joke telling with the beautiful view of Patong at our feet
HILLTOP HOTEL - 3rd February, 2009 . Brad thanked Jan for this delicious spread and reminded us all that right down there was the city we were trying to take care of, to do good things and to help the children. Thank you Jan. And Brad and all the Rotarians of Patong. It was a fine evening. Thanks Pat - ED DENIS