The 148th LAE Anniversary Dinner was held on Friday 9th May 2014. (Photos at the end of the report)
This year the dinner was moved to the month of May to avoid the chilly wet weather of February. As before the venue was ‘Leeds Seventeen’. Special guests were the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Leeds, Councillor Tom Murray and his wife Edna. Our Honorary Chaplain Reverend Canon Tony Bundock, Rector of Leeds once again joined us along with Ian Buxton, President of the Keighley Association of Engineers. Our President Andrew Kibler with his wife Charmaine along with Sheila Dyson, guest speaker and Tracey Gregory representing the Yorkshire Air Ambulance organisation completed the top table guests.
Following Grace said by Reverend Canon Tony Bundock we were served dinner which this year offered a broader menu with complimentary wine. After dinner the President of the association, Andrew Kibler proposed the loyal toast “The Queen” after which there was a short interval to replenish glasses. Incidentally, you will see from the photographs that our President was being supported by crutches following a problem with his Achilles tendon.
After the interval Andrew summoned strength to stand and make his speech and propose the toast to “Our Guests”. During the speech Andrew encouraged members to see if they could find candidates to join the association and for any guests present to consider joining and ensure our prosperity, as we are approaching the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Leeds Association of Engineers.
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Tom Murray, responded to the toast by informally taking to the floor to address the guests. During his speech the Lord Mayor pointed out the merits of the city of Leeds and its many contributions to industry and commerce. An interesting observation was that Leeds was voted in a survey to be one of the best cities in the UK in which to live.
After the initial speeches it was time to make a few presentations. The President presented the ‘Braime Rose Bowl Trophy‘ to Kevin Hegarty who won the 2013 Leeds Association Golf Tournament. Kevin had recently retired from the post of Honorary Golf Secretary after organising the tournament for many years. It was a fitting conclusion to his term to win this coveted trophy. Having said that, Kevin has won the trophy on numerous previous occasions !
A raffle had been held during the dinner in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and representative Tracey Gregory was presented with the raffle contributions for the charity. Earlier in the session of events we had been given a talk by Yorkshire Air Ambulance . Raffle prizes this year were three bottles of whisky and these were presented after the winning names were drawn. The association also gave a donation to each of the Lord Mayor’s and the Rector’s preferred charities.
The last highlight of the evening was an illustrated talk by Sheila Dyson who is an inspirational speaker. Sheila enthralled us by telling us about her flight from Netherthorpe Airfield in Sheffield all the way to Sydney Australia in a light aircraft. The talk was entitled “Flight of a Thousand Eyes” and Sheila told us about the difficulties faced in dealing with red-tape and at times appalling weather experienced during the trip.
We extend our thanks to Alex Rogers, Dinner Secretary and his wife Anne for their enormous efforts in organising and arranging the dinner. Alex also organises the public address system and background music. Our thanks also go to Honorary Toastmaster, John Bentley who kept us all in order.
Here are some photographs of the 2014 Anniversary Dinner taken by council member Ian Scholes. Click on any of the photographs below to initiate a slide show….. (Advice of any missing names to add to the captions would be most welcome and I will be pleased to update accordingly. Please email me with any information using this Contact Website Editor link. Editor)
