Centurions Captain’s Christmas Letter

Charlie Weston C584, Abbeygate Cottage, Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, Republic of Ireland

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         18^th. December 2009 

Dear Fellow Centurions,                                                                       

 Season’s Greetings to you all!  Once again I thank you for electing me as Captain for a fifth term.

 Sadly I have to inform you of the death of the following Centurions over the past year, namely:  E. W. Shaw C159; M.C.E. Cazely C161; N.S. Stephenson C180; A.H. Foster C248; P.A. Jobson C249; J.R. Taylor C250; M. Kastelijns C387; J. van Elfen C520; B. Bruil C541; K. Read C547; R.I.M. Purkis C652;  D. Hill C.398; V.J. Dillon C.165 and R.S. Porter C721.

 We shall remember all of them and have sent our condolences to their respective families, and also to the relatives of Vi McSweeney (aged 95), the widow of Sid McSweeney C289.

 Annual General Meeting

23 Centurions attended this year’s A.G.M. which  was held on 31st January in London at which all our Officers were re-elected unopposed.  Jill Green C898 was elected as a Vice President in recognition for her achievements over the past years as a Centurion and Vice Captain, and a well deserved election it is for her.

 The Committee continues to make preparations for our Centenary and also the publishing of a new Handbook and it is hoped that a publication containing individual anecdotes of Centurions will also be available in 2011, our Centenary year.

 The next AGM will be held on Saturday 30th January 2010 at the London Irish Rifles Regimental Association at Connaught House, 4 Flodden Road, Camberwell, London, SE5 9LL at 1.30 pm for a prompt 2 pm start and we thank Sean Pender, C.1067 for suggesting this venue.  The nearest Underground station is the Oval.  Our Hon. Secretary, Chris Flint C.849, can be contacted on 01304 368324.  I hope that as many of you as possible will be able to attend as we are now only 17 months away from the our Centenary Celebration Dinner which is to be held on Saturday 14th May 2011 between 6 pm and 10.30 pm at the House of Commons (Members’ Dining Room).  Your suggestions for the Dinner arrangements and other Centenary events would be very welcome.

 Donations

May I take this opportunity to thank those of you who have made donations to the Centurions. This year I am making a special appeal to those of you who are able to make a contribution towards our Centenary celebration.  We are not a sports club or organisation which receive annual subscriptions, but have to rely on your kindness to help pay for medals, engraving, postage and insurance, and other administrative expenses from our modest funds. I know that our Hon. Treasurer, Hans Rennie C.915, would be pleased to receive any donations, or beneficiary amounts from Wills, etc

 Parish Walk (Isle of Man) and 100 Miles in 24 Hours (Newmarket)

Kathy Crilley C.933, Centurions webmaster, puts our results on the website.  Again, this year many records were broken in the Isle of Man Parish Walk (85 miles) with an entry increased by 26 to 1620.   Starters numbered 1402 (3 more than last year) and this included 24 Centurions, 17 of which completed the full distance.  The record of 163 finishers in 2007 was increased to 187.  The winner was Centurion Jack Waddington C.1034 for the second year running in a time of 15:45:56.  This year the 100 miles was held in conjunction with the Captain Barclay Bi-Centenary Walking weekend on 11/12th July, promoted by the New Astley Club.  Our thanks must go to Ron Wallwork C893 and his Committee for organising a wonderful weekend of walking. The full result is on website and special praise must go to Sandra C735 and Richard C760 Brown for their fine performances, finishing in 1st and 2nd positions.

 We welcome the following 11 new members listed below to the Centurion Brotherhood.  Well done to you all.

1068                 G. Heunks                                            R.W.V.  (Holland)

1069                 M. Wall                                                Leicester W.C.

1070                 Marie-Paule Vandenabeele                    OLAT (Belgium)

1071                 Carol  Baird                                          ACT  RWC  (Australia)

1072                 J. Koning                                              LAT  (Holland)

1073                 M. Haumesser                                      Villenueve aAscq (France)

1074                 B. Blom-HertBeek                                LAT   (Holland)

1075                 S. Kemp                                               unattached  (Essex)

1076                 A. Trigg                                                Leicester W.C.

1077                 J. Asselberghs                                       OLAT  (Belgium)

1078                 M. Sutton                                              Ilford A.C.

 Once again our thanks must go to Piet Jansens C389 for bringing a large contingent of European competitors to our main event.  We send our congratulations to Ad Leermakers C561 on receiving the Queen of the Netherlands Royal Medal for his services to Race Walking.  An invitation was received from Centurion Vereniging Nederland for members of our committee to attend their 39th AGM at Muiden on 28th November 2009.  Our Hon. Secretary Chris Flint C.849, together with Jill Green C.898, Kathy Crilley C.933 and Sandra Brown C735 represented us.  The event was a wonderful example of Centurion comradeship and fraternity, and included a visit and guided tour around the medieval castle at Muiden followed by an excellent lunch during which the Certificates were awarded to the new Dutch Centurions and trophies presented.  We thank our Dutch Centurions for their generous hospitality and friendship. 

As your Captain I extend my warmest wishes to you all and in time honoured tradition please join me in raising a glass to fellow Centurions worldwide at 2pm on Christmas Day. The toast is ‘The Centurions’.  God Bless and a Happy Christmas and New Year to you all.

 Charlie Weston C.854

Captain, Centurions1911