Barry, our pony-tailed hero, is almost ready for the AGM and World Conference in Stratford-upon-Avon at the end of this week. National President Steve James and his conference committee have been working tirelessly (so Martin Green says) for the past 3 years to make this a memorable conference for the 450 plus visitors who are now descending on Stratford. 27 countries of 41 INTERNATIONAL together with members of Tangent and Agora are represented and, as I write, the pre-tour is now underway. Over the last couple of months Barry has been very busy travelling. He went to Estonia at the beginning of March for the joint meeting of the 41 INTERNATIONAL Board with RTI and this was followed by a visit to go ice-fishing in Finland, although I think he went to a meeting as well. On to the GB&I conference in Jersey and then just back in time from Denmark and Italy, where he joined Napoli's party when they won the Italian Serie A, for the World Meeting. For those of you who don't kno
Full steam ahead in the first month for King Barry It's been all go in the month of May for Barry as he takes over as the International President. The world meeting in Stratford-on-Avon was a wonderful, fun-filled event culminating in the installation of our own pony-tailed hero as the new International President for 2023/24. A few people have asked why is the blog called "There's only one.....blog". Those in GB&I, and others from overseas may well remember that when Barry was National President he frequently coined the phrase "There's only one Barry Durman" to which those of us who knew him well would respond with "thank goodness for that!". This blog continues the theme. Barry launched his international presidency with the theme of "Full Steam Ahead", a passing reference to his passion for steam trains but also a reference to his vision for 41 CLUB INTERNATIONAL. It is worth reminding those who were still awake at the end o
Ending 2023 on a high. We left our pony-tailed hero having finished the half-year meeting in Cyprus and the halfway point of his year as 41 Club International President. His next visit was to Switzerland for their AGM in November. First stop was a visit to stay with Swiss IRO, the irrepressible Noe Zanotta. Noe of course provided wonderful company but also was happy to show Barry around. A trip to one of Noe’s shops was followed by visits to Montreux and a highlight visit to “Barryland”. Yes there really is one, in Martigny, but unfortunately it is not dedicated to the Barry we know but to a very worthwhile cause, that of the Great St. Bernard Dog breed. They then moved on to the beautiful city of Lausanne for the AGM where many friends met for the last International AGM of 2023. The final trip of the year was to be in Merano for the renowned Chestnut Festival. Squeezed in between Switzerland and Merano Barry and Rachel joined five other past GB&I Presidents (in
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