The evening was again a great success, raising valuable funds for the Craigavon branch of the Samaritans.

Among the guests was the District Governor for Ireland, Paul Hutchinson MBE, of the Newtownabbey club.

Mr Hutchinson was accompanied by Dougie Bennett from the Larne club, and there were many guests from other clubs, including Dungannon and Lurgan.

highlight

Perhaps the highlight of the evening came with the presentation of the Paul Harris Fellowship, the highest award in Rotary, to Portadown woman Philomena Hagan, the wife of past president Sean Hagan.

Mrs Hagan received the award in recognition of years of valuable work. To add to her sense of delight, the Rotary Club had arranged for the couple’s son and daughter, Paul and Helen, to travel to Portadown especially for the evening from Strasbourg and London respectively, without her or Sean’s knowledge.

The winner of the P&O prize was John Liggett and after Portadown president Catherine Dixon had thanked everyone who played a part in organising the evening, the guests were treated to excellent entertainment from the PM Big Band.