90th anniversary of Fatima sent By YM Ranjith Attygalle

Shepherds Field Church, Bethlehem, Palastine

Silver 14 pointed star marks site of Jusus’ birthplace

Bathing area ... The Dead Sea, Israel.

Warning for bathers in Dead Sea

Editor Shane & daughter Natasha boating in Sea of Galilee

Attendees at S/W Dist Conference

2012

The S/W District Conference in progress at Mt. Lavinia on 21st September.

PICTURE GALLERY

Christmas Message

May this Christmas and the present year end on a cheerful note and

make way for a peaceful and prosperous New Year. Let the warmth

and joy of this Christmas bring us closer to each other. It’s that time

of the year where we forgive and forget and where we give and

share. Let us cherish peace and goodwill and joy in our lives and in

the lives of our family members. The Yuletide season is a time for

celebrations, happiness joy and love. May the season be special to

all of us in Y’s the Men’s Club of Dehiwela.

Christmas is a celebration where we celebrate the birth of Jesus

Christ, the Son of God. It is the most widely celebrated festival in

the world. The grand occasion of Christmas reminds us about the

importance of working together as a team to achieve better results

and fulfill our tasks as Y’s Men in the coming year. At this time

when we celebrate we must be aware of others, be respectful of

other beliefs and foster peace. We must give to and help persons in

desperate situations as Christmas is the best time of the year for

giving. Let us serve our beautiful land, Sri Lanka with greater vigor

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013

.Bulletin Editor

THE Y’S MEN’S CLUB

OF DEHIWALA

(Chartered 13th June

1981)

**************** OCTOBER—

DECEMBER

2012 ***************

Editorial

Greetings

Humor

Christmas Story

Christianity & Jesus

Club News

Things we should know about popular

Christmas Carols

Recipe Corner

A Cosy Read

Picture Gallery

**

Editor

Shane Balthazaar

E mail

shane.balthazaar@hot

mail.com

Telephone 2811800

77 1978551 (M

Page 2

EDITORIAL—One’s Attitude Positive attitude is essential. If you believe you can, you can. We can improve our

lives by altering our attitude of mind. If bricks are thrown at you, you can build up

by using those very bricks. Then you will be successful. Thomas Edison declared,

"Genius is ninety nine percent perspiration and one percent inspiration". Attitude

was his forte. He also once said; "Many of life's failures are people who did not

realize how close they were to success, when they gave up".

The average person wants to be motivated by someone else. He feels his circum-

stances are responsible for the way he thinks. Whether circumstances or atti-

tude comes first, really does not matter. No worries what happens in the past, be-

cause it is your attitude which is your choice for your success today and for the

future. The winner’s edge is always the correct attitude and frame of mind. Attitude

is crucial, as it determines how you act. Maintaining a good attitude is easier than

regaining one. Be active; do something worthwhile for your club and organization.

Don't despair, if you are having a difficult time. You can come out of it. Read

books that help you to get a positive mind. Listen to motivational tapes and re-

cordings. Join people who are positive thinkers and you will achieve your goals,

surely and steadily. Don't allow yourself to 'get into a rut'. Take part in club activi-

ties and community work. Who knows; you will make the correct contacts and

forge ahead. With the right attitude we can join in and throw ourselves forward

with new ideas. Let’s all visit the various institutions this club deals with and im-

prove the community work that is required from us, one and all.

We shall condition our minds with the right attitude.

Contributed by YM Shane Balthazaar

Page 15

AP - Area President APE - Area President Elect AS - Area Secretary ASD - Area Service Director ASF - Alexander Scholarship Fund AT - Area Treasurer BC - Brother Club BF - Brotherhood Fund BFEC - Brotherhood Fund Expenditures Committee BFECC - Brotherhood Fund Expenditures Committee Chairperson CE - Christian Emphasis CS - Community Service DG - District Governor E - Extension EF - Endowment Fund H - Historian HC - Host Committee HCC - Host Committee Chairperson IBC - International Brother Clubs IC - International Council or International Convention ICC - International Convention Committee ICCC - International Convention Committee Chairperson ICM - International Council Member or International Council Meeting ID - International Director, Y’s Menettes IEO - International Executive Officer (IP, IPE, imm. PIP and IT) IHQ - International Headquarters IP - International President IPE - International President Elect ISD - International Service Director ISG - International Secretary General (also abbreviated to SG)

IT - International Treasurer ITC - International Travel Coordinator IYC - International Youth Convocation LRP - Long Range Plan LTOD - Leadership Training & Organisation Development MC - Membership – Conservation MYM - Mid Year Meeting PIP - Past International President PR - Public Relations PRD - Past Regional Director PWAF - Paul William Alexander Fellow RD - Regional Director RDE - Regional Director Elect RS - Regional Secretary RSD - Regional Service Director Regional Treasurer SDS - Special Development Support STEP - Short Term Exchange Pro-gramme TC - Travel Coordinator TF - Task Force TOF-GP - Time of Fast - Global Project WA - World Alliance (of YMCAs) WAL - World Alliance Liaison to Y’s Men International YC - Youth Committee YEEP - Youth Educational Exchange Programme YES - Y’s Extension Support Pro-gramme YIA - Youth Involvement and Activities YI - Youth Intern YIM - Youth Intern Mentor YL - Y’s Men International Liaison to the World Alliance YMCA - Young Men’s Christian Association YR - Youth Representative YRM - Youth Representative Mentor

Abbreviations used in Y’sdom

School: A place where Papa pays and Sana plays.

Life Insurance: A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die Rich.

Nurse: A person who wakes you up to give you sleeping pills.

Marriage: It is an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters.

Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine water-power.

Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Dictionary: A place where success comes before work.

Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody dis-agrees later on.

Father: A banker provided by nature.

Criminal: A guy no different from the rest.... except that he got caught.

Boss: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after.

Doctor: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you by bills.

Classics: Books, which people praise, but do not read.

Smile: A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouths.

Etc.: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Experience: The name men give to their mistakes.

Atom Bomb: An invention to end all inventions.

Philosopher: A fool who torments himself during life, to be wise. Cheers Shane Balthazaar

Page 14

Wonderful Definitions g r e e t I n g s

October

2nd YY Shaunel De Kretser

6th Mnt. Liz Diaz

8th Mnt. Malar Attygalle

14th YY Asanka Peiris

15th Mnt. Jeyam Kandiah

19th YY Vindula Ranasinghe

27th YY Anika Weerasuriya

28th Y Spouse Chatura Jayathilaka

31st YY Taryne Jayathilaka

November

1st YM Herschell Diaz

2nd YM Gladwin Philips

6th Mnt. Barbara Holsinger

8th LYM Marcella Ranasinghe

12th YY Natasha Balthazaar

15th YY Michele Peiris

18th YY Jeremy Holsinger

18th LYM Dawn De Kretser

20th YM Johann Anderson

24th YY Sharon Thiele

30th Mnt. Devaki Diaz

December

4th YM Malcolm Dias

4th Y Spouse Ben Bastiampillai

6th YY Yohan Philips

7th YM Ranjith Attygalle

9th Mnt. Shereen Keegel

10th YY Shannon De Kretser

22nd YY Elizabeth Diaz

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

14th Oct YM Rienzie & Mnt. Liz Diaz

3rd Dec YY Romesh & YY Ramani Kandiah

3rd Dec YY Wendell & YY Sharon Thiele

27th Dec YM Shirley & Mnt. Barbara Holsinger

27th Dec YM Malcolm & Mnt. Bernie Dias

28th Dec YY Dallas & YY Kishendra Kelaart

29th Dec YM Gladwin & Mnt. Jayakumari Philips

30th Dec YM Shane & Mnt. Jayanthi Balthazaar

Page 3

32nd

4th

42nd

40th

12th

20th

Page 4

By the time he had made enough money to be able to eat in the finest restaurants, drink the finest wines and cavort with the most beautiful woman – his doctor restricted his diet, banned alcohol and told him not to exert himself too much. You know you’re getting old when almost every story you tell begins, “back when I was your age” or “when I was young.” He hasn’t got an enemy in the whole world. He’s so old his outlived all the people he cheated, ruined and lied about. James told his wife, “I think I have aged remarkably well. Women still chase after me”. His wife replied, “That’s because you still keep stealing their hand bags and running away”. You know you’re old when you recall that in your youth a kiss happened at the end of a beautiful evening. Today a kiss means it’s the start of a fantastic evening. Excuse me, Sir , said the policemen, “but where are you going?”

I am going to a lec….lecture,” replied the drunk. “who is giving the lecture?” said the police men . “wh… when I… g…get home,” said the drunk, “my wife will give me a lecture”.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013

Bulletin Editor Shane Balthazaar

HUMOR

Page 13

Continued from page 12

The sad fact is that books for reading pleasure are expensive. There are too few

lending libraries, especially in the out station towns. There are very good writers

of fiction in Sinhala and Tamil but are they available in all school libraries or in

homes? If parents never touch a book, how can their small children acquire the

reading habit? Reading one’s text books is a necessity for a school child. But

reading for sheer enjoyment has to be encouraged also. It had been said that read-

ing can take us to the remotest regions of the earth, yes, by sitting in a comfort-

able chair with a book in hand.(Concluded)

PUNCTUATION IS POWERFUL…..

Contributed by YM Shane Balthazaar

Page 12

Reading for pleasure has been considerably supplanted these days by television.

Take the detective novel for example. Once it was the favourite choice of many

readers. Murder, mystery, mayhem. It occupied the leisure time of the compul-

sive reader. But today murder, mystery, mayhem are amply provided on televi-

sion and keenly watched by viewers.

You can eat while you watch. Some English magazines contain recipes for TV

watchers. Of course the food must be prepared before one sits down in front of

one’s TV set and if and when hunger begins to rumble, why, one just serves out

a portion of the food and one eats it with eyes fixed on the television screen. It is

not so easy to read and eat.

But there you are, relaxed in your arm chair, your feet on a stool or on a another

chair, watching your favourite programme which is an exciting mystery. Of

course, you have to wait impatiently for further instalments, whereas in the case

of reading a detective story, you can carry on reading all night, if you should

want to do so.

The detective story, most often a murder mystery, is about a century old. Some

think that it was the writer Edgar Alan Poe who first created the genre. But by

the 1920’s, a woman writer took up the theme. Agatha Christie became a house-

hold name and she was also called the Queen of Crime. She produced a detec-

tive novel every year for many, many years and it was generally published at

Christmas time. She never repeated herself. Every theme is unique. She created

the character of Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, small and dapper but

quick to spot the criminal and ensure the mystery was solved, the criminal pay-

ing for his crime. Even a second time around, her books are fascinating.

There are the country house murders, murder on long distance trains and even

one set in a dentist’s surgery or rather the enter room to the surgery.

Several other writers of detective stories, to me all cosy reads, have also pro-

duced excellent books. As a reader not drawn to general or romantic fiction, I

cannot resist the detective genre. Of course everyone is entitled to one’s own

choice of a cosy read but I find that most young ones of today prefer to watch

TV than read a book. Reading, it has been said, maketh a full man but I believe

that was said before the invention of television. Teachers advise that children

should be introduced to books at an early age. There are even cloth books for the

very young though I do not know if they are still available locally. Some parents

make it a point to tell their child a story at bedtime. No doubt a good practice but

the little one is usually asleep before the story ends.

Retired persons often find themselves idle. Some indulge in walks, but many are

unable to do so as it may not be safe for an old person to go out for a walk unac-

companied. But an old person with the reading habit is never really alone. A

friend’s grandfather who lived to the grand old age of eighty five was reading a

book the evening he told his daughter he felt tired and would like to lie down.

She helped him to his bed and when she went in later to call him to dinner he

had passed, peacefully away. The book he had been reading was by his side. Continued on page 13

A COSY READ Contributed by Mnt, Malar Attygalle

Page 5

Christmas Day in the humble home of Emil Fernando and family was the happiest

day of the year. Emil, wife Janice, eldest daughter Violet age 16 and teenaged son

and daughter Rex and Monica, were busy enjoying the Joy of Christmas morning

after having attended Midnight Mass in the Parish Church. Their little home was

gaily decorated with the carefully preserved decorations of yester years and bal-

loons hung up. The Christmas tree was well lit up with the Christmas bulbs and the

Crib was prominently positioned in the home giving Baby Jesus the pride of place.

The Christmas breakfast table with a beautiful Christmas table cloth was laid with

a spread of Dutch Breuther, kiri-buth, lunu-miris, plantains, cream cracker bis-

cuits, cheese and other sweets.

Emil seated at the head of the table commenced with the grace before meals. No

sooner had he finished giving thanks to the Lord, there was a loud knock on the

front door of the house. Emil was quick to open the door. To his surprise framed in

the doorway greeting him happily was his never-do-well friend Rocky, shabbily

dressed and reeking with a faint smell of alcohol. Rocky had fallen unto bad times

having squandered all the wealth bequeathed by his parents by drinking and gam-

bling. He was un-married and the sole child in the family. He had even mortgaged

the family house and was now a person of no fixed abode. He used to drop in

every now and then to see Emil and obtain some financial assistance. But what a

day and time for him to show up, thought Emil. Emil had no option but to invite

him to join in the family Christmas breakfast, much to the discomfiture of his wife

and children. Rocky fully enjoyed the Christmas meal thanking the family pro-

fusely in between his servings.

On conclusion of breakfast, at the first available opportunity Emil's wife Janice

was quick to tell him, 'Get rid of that pest as soon as possible'. Emil nodded in

agreement. However it became soon apparent that Rocky had no intention of leav-

ing immediately. He started talking about the good old days he and Emil had

shared together as boys and young men. Emil could not help enjoying the memo-

rable days and times recounted by his poor and unfortunate friend who certainly

was gifted with the art of telling a story and bringing the situation alive. In his

mood of happiness, Emil did the most unpardonable gesture in Janice's mind, of-

fering Rocky a drink of Brandy, which was specially presented by his sister for

Christmas. “Now this rotter will end up spoiling our Christmas lunch by being

with us”, thought Janice. Continued on

CHRISTMAS STORY

By YM Shirley Holsinger

Page 6

However, after downing a few shots of Brandy, Rocky stood up and said to Emil,

“Dear Emil, thank you and your family for your kind and blessed hospitality on

this great day of Christmas. My sincere apologies to your wife, children and

yourself for my rude intrusion into your home on this Great Day. But this may be

my last Christmas. I have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I will not give you

details. Good-bye dear friend and my best wishes to your dear wife and Children.

Do enjoy a Happy Christmas”.

While leaving, almost like as an after thought, he turned around reached into his

pocket and withdrew a shabby dirty little package and handed it to Emil and re-

marked that, “Perhaps your wife may like this, this is the only possession of my

late mother which I have not parted with”.

Emil accepted the little package and handed it over to his wife Janice who daintily

opened it with the tips of her fingers as the wrapping was not very clean. To her

utter surprise, the package contained six gleaming gold bangles and a gold chain

and cross. Janice had always wanted a gold chain but they could ill afford this

luxury. She stared at the beautiful gold jewellery for sometime and to the aston-

ishment of Emil and the children exclaimed, “This belongs to Baby Jesus”.

Janice thereupon placed the gold bangles and the chain round and at the feet of

Baby Jesus in the Crib of their Home.

The Gold in the Crib did shine with great splendor and the spirit of Christmas

soared to the great Joy and Happiness of Christmas in the hearts of Emil, Janice,

their children and their home.

CHRISTMAS STORY Continued from page 5

We record with deep sorrow, the sad demise of Mr. Raymond Nicholas, beloved father of Menette Bernardine Dias. His mortal remains were laid to rest on Thursday, 29th November after a sol-emn service at the Chapel of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10.

“Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden and I will give you rest “ Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord.

Announcing … a New Emblem: The 21 Council Members voted unanimously at the International Coun-

cil Meeting 2012 in Stavanger, Norway, to accept a proposal from the

Image Task Force to simplify the emblem by removing the words ‘Y’s

Men’s Club’ from the field inside the triangle and from the downward

stroke of the ‘Y’. You will therefore note that our cover displays the

new logo with the Globe underneath.

Courtesy Y’s Men’s World No. 1 2012/13

Page 11

Peace One Day's Love Cake

Ingredients 150g unsalted butter, 350g caster sugar, 6 eggs, 3 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp rose water,1 orange, the zest of, 1 lemon, the zest of, 1 tsp nutmeg, grated, 1 tsp cardamom, ground, 1 tsp cinnamon 200g unsalted cashew nuts, coarsley chopped, 250g coarse semolina, 50g glace cherries, 25g mixed peel 25g ginger preserve, 1 dusting icing sugar

Instructions Preheat the oven to 150˚C/300˚F and line a 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in) cake tin with baking paper. Dice 150g of unsalted butter and leave in a warm place to soften. Once soft, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add honey, rose water, zest, nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon. Use a spatula to gently fold through Next fold through the cashew nuts, semolina, glacé cherries, mixed peel and ginger preserve until combined. Do not over mix. Turn into prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until pale golden on top. The cake comes out best in a slow-cook process and should ideally feel chewy on top and moist in the middle. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes. Turn out of the tin, and when completely cool dust with icing sugar.

Milk Wine 1 1/2 bottle arrack, 1/2 bottle water, 1/2 bottle milk, 500 grms. sugar, 1 1/2 tea cups burnt sugar 15 cloves, 15 cardamoms, and a little cinnamon 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple juice, juice and rind of three small limes, juice and rind of one orange. Crush the cloves, nutmeg, cardamoms, and orange and lime rind well. (Do not powder it) add to this half bottle of arrack. Cork well and keep for three days. Make sure to shake the bottle twice daily. Then empty the contents into a basin, add the rest of the, sugar and stir well, warm the milk and add the lime juice and let it stand for a while, then add it to the rest of the ingredients, along with the burnt sugar, orange and pineapple juice. Mix will and strain first with a thick cloth and then twice with filter paper till quite clear. Bottle and cork tightly. Contributed by YY Bernardine Browning Dias

RECIPE CORNER

Page 10

Things we should know about popular Christmas Carols

Christmas is nice because of the Carols. Singing Carols and listening to Carols commence a month before Christmas day. The Christmas feeling is unique. We get into the mood to commemorate and celebrate the birth of Christ from the first Sunday in Advent. We like many Christmas Carols and Songs. Recently, I visited the Holy Land with my father and learnt quit a lot. Here are a few main Car-ols sung in Churches, the world over:

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING

This was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley whose brothet John, founded The Methodist Church. Felix Mendelssohn composed the tune sung today in 1840 to commemorate Guttenburg’s printing press. The Lyrics were adapted to ’Hark the Herald Angels sing’ by William H. Cummings in 1855, to fit the original melody.

O COME ALL YE FAIYHFUL

This is popularly thought to have been written in the 13th century. It was a Latin original. This Carol was written by a Catholic named James Francis Wade who fled France and worked in England. It was first translated to English in 1789. There are over fifty versions in English alone.

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

This lovely Carol was first sung in 1876 by Rev. Phillips Brooks, a Philadelphian Vicar, after a horse ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem where he helped at Midnight Mass. He stood in the Old Church, close to the spot where Jesus was born in a Manger and sang Carol after Carol with others in the congregation, including this famous one which he had written in 1865.

AWAY IN A MANGER

This Nativity play favorite Carol was first printed in a Lutheran Book for little school children in 1885. The first two verses, no body remembers who wrone them, but the third verse was penned by John T. Mc Farland and the words were set to music by Composer James Murray in 1887,

SILENT NIGHT

This great Carol originated in Germany in 1816. Silent Night has been translated into 150 languages since then and sung all over the world. On Christmas eve, 24th December 1915, during the First World War from the Battle trenches in the German line. The Carol was sung by German soldiers and the Allies heard the music from their trench line

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID CITY

This was written by Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander, the wife of the Bishop of Derry, England, in 1848. In 1849, Henry Gauntlette set it to music.

WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT

Yes, they did so from Shepherd’s field, Holy Land, Bethlehem, now in Palestine. This superb Carol was written by a poet laureate named Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady in 1703 during the reign of Queen Anne. At that time in England, only the Psalms were sung by the Anglican Church. The melody of this great Carol comes from Handel’s Opera ’Siroe’.

JOY TO THE WORLD

This joyful Carol was written by Isaac Watts in 1719. He was an Englishman. The music is believed to have been inspired by Handel’s ‘Messiah’. The rousing music was by Lowell Mason

Contributed by YY Natasha Balthazaar

Page 7

Christians do go to Church on Sunday and pray to Jesus and even offer various

offerings and ask Jesus to forgive. As our LORD JESUS CHRIST is always sym-

pathetic towards anyone, He forgives their sins, but people again commit various

sins, again people ask Jesus for pardon and forgiveness and Jesus again forgives

and people again commit sins. So it goes on and on. Is this reasonable and is this

who a good and a true Christian is ?Why don't such people have sympathy on our

Lord who is so kind and sympathetic towards the human-beings and forgives

their sins over and over again? Christians should understand Jesus and try to

obey, respect and honor what Jesus has done for them by forgiving their sins and

try to correct themselves, without continuing to commit sin. It should be the way

of honest loyal and a proper Christians.

Another weakness of Christians, is that they complain to Jesus that their requests

or appeals to Him have not been answered. I have met people who even blame

Jesus. Well, such people cannot be considered to be true Christians. As Chris-

tians, we all know that Jesus tests us and we got to have patience and continue to

be honest, loyal and true to Jesus. We will then find that Jesus has answered our

prayers.

So, let my short message be taken-up in true Christian spirit and let us try to be

honest and loyal to Jesus Christ our Lord and we will be blessed by Jesus abun-

dantly.

All what I have mentioned above is what I have experienced in my life during

this short period that I have been a Christian.

May God Bless the readers.

Thank you.

PS: (We would love to have your comments on our short letter)

Note from Editor

Ranjith was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in the early stages. I

took him to my classmate, Dr. Ishan Abdeen, a great old Antonian,

who practices alternate medicine. He worked on this in USA for 22

years and was quite famous in certain circles. He lectured there too.

Now he is in Attidiya, Ratmalana, doing wonders. Ranjith was a

Buddhist who became a Christian a few years ago. God cured him

through this doctor.

CHRISTIANITY AND JESUS CHRIST Contributed by YM Ranjith & Mnt. Malar Attygalle

Page 8

C l u b

Progress on projects

Home for the Elders Kotte Overlooked by YM Tutu and Mnt. Preethi:

Dinner at a cost of Rs. 3,623/- was served at this home of 20 inmates on 12th October. It was also decided to donate a meal around Christmas time to this home. YM Ranjith Attygalle made a generous dona-tion of Rs. 5,000/- towards this project, so that a good meal could be served.

Clarendon Home Mt. Lavinia

Overlooked by PRD Anton & Mnt. Jeyam:

Rations valued at Rs. 5,000/- plus is do-nated monthly. DG Asoka donated break-fast at a cost of Rs. 2,420/- in honour of his son, Asanka whose birthday was on 14th October. YM Shane Balthazaar donated Rs. 4,000/- towards a meal for the home in Octo-ber.

School for the Blind Ratmalana Overlooked by YM Chinka: A special lunch was arranged for the Deaf & Blind schools on the 20th of Oc-tober which was attended by Y’s Presi-dent Anton and DG Asoka. The meal was sponsored by Mr. Lovell at the request of Y’s President Anton. The letter of thanks from the school, together with a letter of appreciation from the Dehiwala Club will be handed over to Mr. Lovell by Y’s President An-ton.

Elders Home Madapatha Overlooked by RD Rienzie & Mnt. Liz:

The Club will donate individual gifts to the inmates at Christmas time. Members will make personal contribu-tions towards meeting the cost of these gifts.

OUR GUESTS We were happy and privileged to have PAP Rita Hettiarachchi at our October meeting. She is a frequent and welcome guest at our Club functions and is one of our biggest fans and an ardent sup-porter.

NEW MEMBER We are happy to welcome YM Ranjith Atty-galle and his charming Menette Malar who were inducted at our September meeting.

OUR GRACIOUS HOSTS We express our grateful thanks to our members for their generosity in cor-dially hosting our Club meetings during the period under review: PRD/Y’s President Anton and Menette Jeyam Kandiah for hosting our Meeting on 19th October. YM Shannon and Menette Shereen Kee-gel for hosting our Meeting on 17th No-vember. YM Tutu & Mnt. Preethi for hosting our Christmas meeting & Party at their resi-dence on 8th December.

Freedom Home Kelaniya Overlooked by RD Rienzie:

The Club continues to pay Rs. 2,000/- per month towards the home meeting its electricity costs. Colombo Home for Mentally Retarded Children Maharagama Overlooked by YM Tutu:

A breakfast was donated to the 8 chil-dren and the 2 staff members at a cost of Rs. 800/- by Menette Preethi in October.

Page 9

NN E W S

TOUR OF HOLY LAND Our Editor, YM Shane Balthazaar had the good fortune of visiting the Holy Land from 5th to

15th September. His group was accompanied by the Parish priest of St. Anne's, Thalawila and

his daughter Natasha was also a member of the tour group. They were privileged to visit

most of the historical places related to the birth of Christianity which included the place

where Jesus was born, the river Jordan and the place where Jesus was baptized, the Sea of

Galilee where Jesus spent a great deal of time preaching and working miracles and the Dead

Sea, among others.

YM Shane continued to stay in touch with the Club during his travels, working on the Septem-

ber bulletin and also collecting material for this Christmas issue of ‘The Light’. He has been

kind enough to share some of the photographs he took, some of which are displayed on the

back cover of this issue in our picture gallery. We are inspired by YM Shane’s commitment to

his duties and his explicit faith that is an inspiration to us, one and all.

THE LIGHT TAKES THIS

OPPORTUNITY TO WISH ALL MEMBERS AND THEIR

FAMILIES A JOYOUS, HOLY & FUNFILLED TIME

AT THE C H R I S T M A S P A R T Y

ON 8TH DECEMBER

The Light wishes YY Ravindra Attygalle, safe travel to the Middle East. May all his undertakings receive God’s bless-ings and be crowned with success.

Training Program: A training program was con-ducted by PAP Rita Hettiarachchi for the members on 19th October. It commenced with the introduction of the new members. Most of the training program took the form of Q & A. Symbols of Y’s dom were explained and the mode of ad-ministration of the different funds – ASF, TOF, BF, Endow-ment; were explained. The structure of Y’sdom – Club, District, Region, Area and International; was also explained.