November 8th, 2018 - posted in Activities, Galleries, Meeting, News and Events, Theme evenings.
On 7 November 2018, the President of Rotary Club Sofia International, Mr. Enrico Repouz, welcomed more than 30 members and guests at Sofia’s “Bitburger Club Sofia, Restaurant & Garden” to our already traditional club Oktoberfest.
Our special guests were Mr. Gregory Harris a Rotarian from San Diego, California and his wife.
With typical Bavarian food and beer our members and friends had spent a fantastic evening in an informal atmosphere.
We would like to thank main organizer of this fantastic evening, our member Mr. Thomas Westerhoven,
Do not forget about our Rotary Club Sofia International Christmas Party on 28. November 2018 at Ranchero Steak House by Bodega, starting at 19:00 o’clock.
If you would like to join us, please fill in the attendance form at: Christmas Party – RCSI.
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October 31st, 2018 - posted in Galleries, Meeting, News and Events.
The regular weekly meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International was held on Halloween, 31 Oct at our regular venue – Hilton Sofia. Our guests were: Mr. Bob Backx from Rotary Club Westerlo, Belgium, Mrs. Natalia Atanasova, and our regular guest Mr. Yordan Dukov.
On this night is Halloween, or Hallowe’en (a contraction of Hallows’ Even or Hallows’ Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve, is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films. In respect of those traditions several members of the club were dressed up.
On this day is also the Reformation Day – in 1517 Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
During the meeting we discussed the venue for our Rotary Club Sofia International traditional Christmas Party, which will be on 28. November 2018 at Ranchero Steak House by Bodega, starting at 19:00 o’clock.
If you would like to join us for this celebration, please fill in the attendance form at: Christmas Party – RCSI.
After the announcements the official part of the meeting was closed ant the fellowship to continued in the lobby bar of the hotel.
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October 24th, 2018 - posted in Galleries, Meeting, News and Events.
The regular weekly meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International was held on 24 October at Hilton Sofia. The president of the club Mr. Enrico Repouz opened the meeting and gave the floor to our guests: Ms. Ajda Ramadanova and Mr. Yordan Dukov. They introduced themselves. Ms. Ramadanova is member of Interact Club Sliven, she briefed the present about her club, members, activities and projects. Mr. Yordan Dukov is our regular guest and we were happy to welcome him again.
Later on Ms. Hristova invited all members and guests to the Traditional “Party of Wine and Friendship” in the city of Harmanli. Organized by Rotary Club Harmanli.
The meeting continued with Mr. Kertev providing details on the Preliminary PETS seminar held in Sofia, sharing information on the speakers and the topics discussed.
After the announcements and the invitations, Mr. Repouz gave the floor again to Ms. Hristova to say e few words about 24 October – the World Polio Day.
World Polio Day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. Use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. As of 2013, GPEI had reduced polio worldwide by 99%.
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure, but there are safe and effective vaccines. Polio can be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. The strategy to eradicate polio is therefore based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until transmission stops and the world is polio-free.
In about 0.5 percent of cases there is muscle weakness resulting in an inability to move. This can occur over a few hours to a few days. The weakness most often involves the legs but may less commonly involve the muscles of the head, neck and diaphragm. Many people fully recover. In those with muscle weakness about 2 to 5 percent of children and 15 to 30 percent of adults die.
Rotary International has been trying to eradicate Polio. Thanks to the efforts of Rotary International with the support from the Foundation of Bill and Melinda Gates, and from the numerous donors to the campaign, we have seen a worldwide reduction in polio cases of 99.9%. Last year we only saw wild polio cases in three countries.
Rotary International is running a “We Are so Close to End the Polio” campaign, which aims at completely eliminating the disease. For more information: www.endpolio.org
After that official part of the meeting was closed and the fellowship continued in an informal atmosphere.
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October 17th, 2018 - posted in Galleries, Meeting, News and Events.
On 17 October 2018 in Hilton Sofia, Rotary Club Sofia International held its regular meeting and a past due Handover Ceremony of the old and new Presidents.
On the occasion, our Past President, Ms. Ani Hristova, held an entertaining short presentation on the achievements during her presidency. She tired through pictures to remind the members of the numerous guests, presentations, events, projects that happened during her mandate. She has also updated the club on the Rotarian events she had the chance to visit during the summer.
Ms. Hristova used the opportunity to once again and from the bottom of her hearth than the Board members, who served during her year – Ms. Slavena Savkova, Mr. Enrico Repouz, Mr. Jörg Schenk, Mr. Michail Sougarev, Mr. Plamen Kertev, Mr. Tony Ripley, Mr. Horst Stüer, Mr. Plamen Lazarov.
After these emotional moments she handed over the President’s chain to the new President of the club Mr. Enrico Repouz. They also exchanged presents, as it has become a tradition in the club already, Ms. Hristova received the symbol of wisdom and our club – an owl and huge bouquet of flowers. While she presented the new President with a fashionable wooden bow tie with the Rotary logo on it.
The meeting continued with Mr. Repouz announcing future events from the calendars of the other clubs in the District. He also announced that the organization of the already traditional Oktoberfest of our club is ongoing. Te event wil take place on 7 November 2018 at Bitburger on 20, Stefan Karadzha Str. in Sofia. The registration for the event is open and should you wish to join, you can fill in the form at: https://doodle.com/poll/7tetts3zpn2vu3be, not later, than 5 November 2018.
After the official part of the meeting the members and guests moved to the lobby bar of the hotel where the congratulations for the new president continued.
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September 12th, 2018 - posted in Activities, Donations, Galleries, Meeting, News and Events, Service support.
On 12 September Rotary Club Sofia International held its informal meeting in Raketa Rakia Bar. We had the pleasure to welcome guests from Rotaract Club Sofia – Ms. Ruksina Basheva, member of the club and Mr. Gabriel Lukov, President of the club.
Rotaract Club Sofia in partnership with Bulgarian History and Rotaract Clubs in London are running the project “Bulgarian Books for Bulgarians Abroad”. They are collecting books, which will be donated to a Bulgarian school and a Community center in London. The books will go to the Bulgarian Sunday School Bukvaran and to the Bulgarian Library and Bookstore.
Our club took part of this project through our member Mrs. Hristina Malchevska and Sunray Publishing Company who donated the books for pupils and published by them. Additionally the club donated the book by Mrs. Svetla Tsvetkova, “Stoyno mi, Maly Mome – 327 Folklore Songs from Central and Western Bulgaria”, a book which our club distributed to more than 50 Community Centers in the country during the presidency of Mr. Horst Stüer. The author of the book also donated her other book “Poide Marko Dobar Yunak – 100 Folklore Songs from Kyustendil Region”.
Our friends from Rotary Club Harmanli donated a five of the “Friendship” books they have published as a part of a a project for the kids in first grade in Harmanli. Rotary Club Sofia Serdika also took part and collected children’s books, which will be sent to London also.
Should you also wish to donate books, you can contact Ms. Hristova or send a mail to: info@rc-si.org.
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September 9th, 2018 - posted in Galleries, News and Events.
On 8-9 September the members of the association “The Business of Harmanli”, most of whom are actually members of Rotary Club Harmanli and Harmanli Municipality organized the 2nd Festival “Na Harmana” (“На Хармана”).
Harman is an old Bulgarian word – a flat circular terrain, which has been used in the past for threshing (separating the grain from the plant).
The idea of the festival is to preserve the traditions of the people from the villages in the Harmanly District – traditional food specialties from the region, crafts, clothes, etc. At over 50 booths the local producers exhibited traditional dishes and products from the area.
One of the attractions was the spectacle of a Bulgarian survival school “Baga-Tur”. They rode horses, fought authentic battles armed with real swords and shields, presented characteristic combat techniques from the past based on historical facts, recreated the dances of our ancestors.
The program included also folklore performances, presentation of authentic rituals, lifestyle and culture typical of the region. The official opening of the grape harvest in southern Sakar in old Bulgarian tradition was also part of the festival.
Our Past President Ms. Ani Hristova visited the Festival and apart from enjoying the activities, also helped our friend on their stands.
Ms. Hristova once again thanked for the hospitality of the Rotarians in Harmanli and received an invitation for all the members of Rotary Club Sofia International to visit the fest next year in the beginning of September.
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September 5th, 2018 - posted in Meeting, News and Events, Visits to clubs.
On 5 September 2018 our Past President Ms. Ani Hristova visited the regular meeting of Rotary Club Harmanli. The meeting was opened by Mr. Milko Milkov, President Elect, with a prayer.
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The President of the club, Mr. Karagyozov, welcomed warmly Ms. Ani Hristova and introduced her to the present members.
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Rotary Club Harmanli shared their future projects, including special books for the kids from first grade in all schools in Harmanli, as well as, the idea for a Global Grant project for constructing a multi-functional sports playground in the city.
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Ms. Hristova shared the project Rotary Club Sofia International is involved in and also asked Rotary Club Harmanli to support a project of Rotaract Club Sofia who are collecting books for a community center and a Bulgarian School in London. Rotary Club Harmanli donated 5 of their books for the kids from first grade.
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The President Mr. Karagyozov invited all members of our club to their regular “Wine and Friendship Fest 2018”, which will be held on 1 December 2018 in Prikazkite Restaurant. Additional information can be found at the following link: https://goo.gl/fgXTjD. The places are limited, please reserve your place as soon as possible.
September 2nd, 2018 - posted in Activities, D2482, Galleries, News and Events.
On 31 August our Past President Ms. Ani Hristova, Mrs. Inna Badan and Mr. Claude Badan arrived in Borovets where they were welcomed by the President of Rotary Club Samokov, Mrs. Lusi Barzanova, and were invited for a dinner.
On 1 September the group our three friends joined a group of 82 Rotarians and friends from 14 clubs for the 15th Annual Rotarian Musala Peak Climb organized by Rotary Club Samokov. Musala is the highest peak in the Balkan Peninsula, standing at 2,925 meters. All major mountain ranges of Bulgaria can be seen from the top; these include Vitosha to the Northwest, Sredna Gora towards the Northeast, the Balkan Mountains along most of the Northern horizon behind Vitosha and Sredna Gora, the Rhodope Mountains to the Southeast, Pirin to the South, Osogovo and Ruy Mountain to the West, and Rila.
After a short breath of fresh air at the top of the peak and a lot of pictures the group continued downhill, which proved to be a hard task as well. The dinner was in “Black Tiger“ Restaurant, where Mrs. Barzanova welcomed all the participants in the event. The party included traditional Bulgarian folk dances performed by a local dance formation and a DJ who made sure the good mood stayed lifted all night.
On Sunday morning the program continued with visit of Tsarska Bistritsa (“Tsar’s Bistritsa”) – a former royal palace, just above the resort of Borovets, near the banks of the Bistritsa River. Built between 1898 and 1914, it served as the hunting lodge of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and his son Boris III.
Before leaving for Sofia our members thanked once again Rotary Club Samokov for the great organisation, friendly atmosphere, and the chance to meet new friends.
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July 5th, 2018 - posted in Activities, Donations, Galleries, News and Events, Service support.
On 5 July we finalized the project with the Association DEBRA Bulgaria for support to the people suffering from Bullous Epidermolysis. We collected 3,900 BGN during our Wine It! event – the traditional wine tasting fundraising evening organized annually by Rotary Club Sofia International, which was held on 15 March 2018 in Ranchero Steakhouse by Bodega.
The funds collected during the charity initiative were used to buy supplies for the “butterfly” people – patients suffering from Bullous Epidermolysis. With the collected money we also covered the transport costs for sending the supplies directly to the homes of the people who needed these.
The “butterfly” people suffer from severe chronic wounds throughout their lives. Such patients are confronted with daily pain and decreased quality of life, as well as the need for hourly care and treatment. Successful therapy depends on the wounds hygienic condition. We purchased the medications to relieve the diagnosed with this incurable disease from the German pharmaceutical company B. Broun. B. Brown has developed a wide range of wound care products that allow for optimal wound manipulation by assisting and accelerating the healing.
Huge thanks to them and to our member Mr. Horst Stüer for the support, appreciation also to our Past President Ms. Ani Hristova, who lead the project from the beginning to the successful realization with great passion and dedication.
The project, of course, would not have been possible without our kind sponsors and all the guests who attended the events.
Rotary Club Sofia International would like to wholeheartedly thank:
1. Vinprom Rousse
2. Via Vinera Karabunar Estate
3. Tatratea
4. Chateau Copsa
5. Manolev Winery
6. Menada Winery
7. Asen Milchev
8. Saloon-American Pub
9. Hilton Sofia
10. Graphya Ltd.
11. Ranchero Steakhouse by Bodega – our hosts.
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July 3rd, 2018 - posted in Activities, Galleries, Visits to clubs.
Our member and friend Mr. Alberto Rossi was guest of Rotary Club Bacolod South in District 3850 Philippines. The club meets Tuesday at noon. There are 25 members, who are representative of many different professions. The club was chartered in September 1969. At the meeting they shared their activities and service support projects and Mr. Rossi recounted about the projects our club is engaged in.
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