Hull Paragon Rotary have now officially formalized twinning with Rotary Club of Lille Vauban on 20^th May 2006. During the excellent twinning weekend it soon became apparent that the 2 Clubs have a great deal in common, and not just in terms of being mixed clubs, but also with the same number of members! Prior to the formal twinning both Clubs had visited each other in both May and September of 2005.

9 Hull Paragon Rotarians visited Lille for the twinning weekend 19^th-21^st May - the President, President Elect, Vice President, and Secretary, as well as an honorary member, who also acted superbly as a French translator.

A superb programme was planned with outstanding hospitality and a very hard act to follow; they set a very high standard – from hospitality at President Brigitte’s home to formal twinning dinner with a large banquet style meal at the Museum of Mandarine Napoleon - a local orange liqueur as well as visiting a fort and the local Sunday market.

Some Rotarians were kindly hosted by Lille Vauban Rotarians which allowed plenty of time for general chat and lots of fellowship, whilst others investigated the local hotel (and hostilieries!!)

The 2 Presidents made speeches to recognize the Twinning and each presented the other with a Certificate of Twinning and spoke of their plans for the 2 Clubs to work together. The twinning certificates had been organised by President Mike, kindly assisted by Mary Munro Hill so that the copy for Lille Vauban was even in French!

A superb weekend and lots of fun and fellowship, plus exciting ideas for how the 2 Clubs can develop their relationship and work on International Projects together. Hull Paragon are now busy working on plans for when members of Lille Vauban visit Hull, which hopefully will be September 2006.

Nicola Mason, Twinning Co-ordinator