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Strings Play in Silves Theatre

March 31, 2023 2:39 pm

Saturday 25th March was an evening to remember. A talented string quartet played an inspiring programme in front of a highly appreciative audience at a concert organized by the Silves Rotary Club at the wonderful little Teatro Mascarenhas Gregório in Silves.

The Quarteto do Barlavento gave us delightful music by Mozart, Shostakovich and Algarvean composer Cristóvão Silva. Petra Vahle-Francis joined Bernhard & Christel Schlünder, Petra Axt-Adam and Daniela Zlatkin to perform a Mozart string quintet. Three of these musicians are members of local Rotary clubs. The special ambient of this intimate theatre was a perfect venue for such delightful music.

This benefit concert raised €3.000 for the Silves Rotary Clubs educational projects in local Silves schools. These projects provide pupils with the experiences and resources to expand their knowledge of the world, to build their self-esteem and maximise their opportunities.

Thanks go to Silves Câmara for generously allowing Silves Rotary Club to use their theatre for this concert and also special thanks to The Spectrum IFA Group for their kind sponsorship.

Charity Concert with Local Rotarian Musicians

March 6, 2023 3:16 pm

Silves Rotary Club have wasted no time in putting their talented newest club member Petra Vahle-Francis on the stage!! Petra is a founder member “Solistes Europeens, Luxembourg” (SEL) which has for the last 30 years been one of the main attractions of Luxembourg’s music scene. She has just returned to the Algarve after performing in their most recent concert. The Quarteto de Barlavento has asked her to join them as their guest as they perform the Stringquintett KV 516 from W.A.Mozart in this charity concert.

On Saturday 25th March the Quarteto do Barlavento well known in the Algarve will perform a delightful programme of classical music at the Teatro Mascarenhas Gregorio in Silves. The evening’s programme features some of the finest string quartet music ever written: Mozart’s Stringquartett KV 525 (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik), Mozart’s String Quartet KV 516. It also includes the famous Waltz N° 2 by Shostakovich and a piece by local composer from Portimão Cristovao Silva “Recuerdos de Buenos Aires”. Each half is approximately 40 mins.

Its members are Bernhard Schlunder on violin, is President of the Praia da Rocha Rotary Club. He has played in concerts as a soloist in string quartets, Algarve International Orchestra (AIO) & the Barlavento Ensemble. Christel Schlunder on viola d’arco has also played in concerts with the AIO, the Orchestra Medica Iberico (OMI) and string quartets. Petra Axt-Adam on violin joined the Quarteto do Barlavento in 2021. She also plays with the AIO & OMI. In Holland she was a member of Rotterdam’s Yourth Orchestra & the Baroque Orchestra of Gouda. Daniela Zlatkin on violoncello also joined Quarteto do Barlavento in 2021. Since arriving in the Algarve in 2020 she has become part of the Algarve Camarata & Orquestra Sinfonica do Algarve. She has played with various Orchestras in Israel and Holland and has conducted youth orchestras and is the director of two music schools.

The theatre doors open at 7pm and attendees will be welcomed with drinks & snacks before the performance at 8pm.

Bookings and additional information please contact:
Sue Butler-Cole email: sueloram@gmail.com – Mob: 933 374 865 alternatively Maria Carvalho Mob: 916 145 739.

Tickets are a €25 donation per person which includes drinks and snacks. All funds raised will go towards Silves Rotary Club Educational Project.

SUPPORTING EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS THROUGH MUSIC:
Silves Rotary Club’s educational projects in local Silves schools provide pupils with the experiences and resources to expand their knowledge of the world, to build their self-esteem and maximise their opportunities. The Rotary Club of Silves works hard to raise funds so that it can help and support local schools in providing some of these stimulating extra curricula activities. Your attending this concert means that, not only will you be experiencing a lovely evening in a wonderful setting, but you will also be directly contributing to these such worthwhile school projects.

People of Action Around the globe

February 8, 2023 11:15 am

In September 10 members and friends of RC Silves with an average age of 73year, completed a 75 mile walk to raise funds for a sensory room and garden at a school in Armação de Pêra. Rotary International Magazine and Rotary Portugal Magazine picked up on our efforts and reported on the walk and our fundraising efforts. We hope that we inspired others to action.

Cabrita Wines Gains Professional Award

February 7, 2023 3:47 pm

On the 19 January, RC Silves members and friends visited Cabrita Wines for a tour of the Vineyard. The tour was given by enologist Duarte. Cabrita Wines is a family business, dating back to 1977, and is a project by José Manuel Cabrita, current owner who inherited the property – Quinta da Vinha – and the family business from his father. In 2000, he decided to invest in planting a new vineyard and invited winemakers António Maçanita, Cláudia Favinha and Joana Maçanita to embrace the project, and Cabrita Wines was born in 2007. The project’s philosophy is to value the Portuguese and native varieties of the Algarve, and to extract from them all the quality potential for the production of excellent wines.

During lunch at the vineyard, RC Silves presented the business with its Professional award for 2023. In recognition of its achievements.

Casa do Povo in Messines celebrate 88 years

February 7, 2023 3:29 pm

Casa do Povo in Messines celebrated 88 years in December and invited those who worked with them to attend a celebration. Isabel Flores, the current president of RC Silves, represented the club at the event. RC Silves has helped support Casa do Povo with projects for people with learning Difficulties and with food and masks during Covid pandemic. The President of the Casa do Povo de S. B. Messines, José Carlos Araújo, presented Isabel with a gift to thank RC Silves for all their support and to celebrate her presence at the Anniversary Gala.

Classic Car Rally and Christmas Swim

February 7, 2023 3:21 pm

RC Silves worked closely with the Junta de Freguesia de Armação de Pêra and Classic Car Club of Barlavento this year to raise money to feed families in need over Christmas and the new year. The money from the raffle at the classic car rally and donations at the Christmas swim raised double that of previous years and enabled families to be fed for a further month. Thank you to all who bought tickets or donated at the swim.

Classic Car Event in Armação de Pêra

October 29, 2022 2:45 pm

On the 6 November the Classic Car Club of Barlavento will hold its next classic car event which will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the area of the old Mini-Golf, in Armaçao de Pêra. This is a great opportunity to see up close these magnificently maintained vehicles that are part of transport history. Entry is free but this is also a fundraising event with raffles for vouchers offered by Holiday Inn Algarve and Vila Galé Nautico hotels. Christmas is fast approaching and the funds raised will be given to the Junta de Freguesia de Armação de Pêra to support of needy families in the parish. The draw will take place on December 4 at the final classic car event this year. The Rotary Club of Silves is supporting this event as part of its work for the communities in Silves.

If you have never been it is well worth a visit!

Christmas is coming. Time for the Shoebox Appeal

October 29, 2022 2:21 pm

This is the 18th Annual Shoebox Appeal for the elderly of Silves. Christmas is just around the corner and this has been a difficult year for all but the elderly are suffering the most. These gifts at Christmas make a big difference. Members of the RC Silves contribute each year to this appeal and this year will be no exception. We hope that you can help us to provide gifts this Christmas. One Shoebox can make all the difference. See the poster below to see how you can help.

Rotary Pilgrims Arrive in Santiago de Compostela

October 12, 2022 9:40 am

At the start of the pilgrimage the walkers were striding out energetically calling out to each other cheerfully, but as the days passed smiling faces turn to grim determination as we see ever more of the pilgrims succumbing to aches, strains & blisters and eventually shuffling & limping along. By the time we are in sight of the city of Santiago de Compostela we pass a thin line of the walking wounded. It is no coincidence that we counted 12 farmacies along the Caminho into town which leads to the cathedral, all doing a brisk business in knee & leg support bandages, slings, plasters, crutches and prosthetic limbs !

At km 82 we passed a blind man tentatively walking the Caminho, he smiled as we passed calling “Bom Caminho”! His Portuguese helper was describing to him the landscape they encountered as they walked. These two were real pilgrims.

Pilgrim’s Passports

One of our main concerns was getting enough stamps every day into our Pilgrim’s Passport, issued in Valenca. To validade our 6 day walk a minimum of 2 stamps were required each consecutive day in order to receive the all important Pilgrimage Certificate issued & signed by the cathedral. We had heard that failure to obtain the mandatory 2 stamps would mean we would have to go back and start all over again with a fresh passport, but that could just have been a ploy to make us keep going….

Arrival

From afar we caught glimpses of the gothic towers of the ancient cathedral, the third most holy shrine in Christendom. All of us were now filled with anticipation & excitement as we surged into the huge square in front of the cathedral mingling with happy fellow pilgrims all bursting with emotion & spontaneous hugs & smiles for everyone. We could see a cross being raised in front of us by a group of around 100 teenagers jumping up & down in unison as they sang their college anthem.

I read that in the 17th Century pilgrims, on arrival at the cathedral in ecstasy, stripped off their worn & smelly robes in the square and burnt them (a shedding of the old life) and donned clean vestments issued by the church. I briefly thought of reviving this ancient tradition but hesitated as possibly this was not in keeping with Rotary’s mantra!

In Retrospect

All 10 of our Rotary pilgrims agree that our journey has been a moving experience. We all have spent our professional lives working in diverse parts of the world and perhaps taken the very simplest things of life for granted. This novel experience is one which will be with us for the rest of our lives.

On our journey we were accompanied virtually by the school kids from the various Silves Sul Schools giving us constant encouragement and cheering their school mascots which each of us carried. Their daily messages of FORCA helped us on our way to reach our goal. All 10 of us are now proud possessors of a certificate in Latin as genuine pilgrims having trodden the Portuguese Way from Valenca to Santiago de Compostela.

Walking through History

September 29, 2022 9:11 am

Valenca in Northern Portugal, on the Rio Minho, was a truly wonderful place to start our Silves Rotary Club fund-raising pilgrimage, the purpose of which is to fund a sensory room & garden for autistic kids and others with learning difficulties.

We set off from the ramparts of the magnificent Starfort, the origins of which dates back to the 13th Century, it is the site of many important battles through the ages.

As we trudge along the well worn pilgrims way towards Santiago de Compostela we can feel a sense of history all around us. Pilgrims have been walking this very same route since the 12th Century – all drawn like magnets towards the holy site. As we walk inevitably we are overtaken my many youthful travellers who smile at us and we exchange “Bom Caminho” as they swiftly disappear before us.

We have now finished day 2 of our 6 day journey and are at present resting at the Convento de Vilavella founded in 1554 in Redondela, Galicia. Our stay at this historic convento was sprung on us as a surprise by our leader Phillipe – a brilliant piece of planning, so totally removed from the run of the mill hostels available to pilgrims like ourselves.

We are pleased to say that all 10 of our members are holding up well under the challenges of the terrain, not one complaint so far of any aches & pains. The first aid backpack, which we pilgrims take turns in carrying, has remained unopened – so far – AND we’ve been blessed with ideal walking conditions through shady woodlands. Perhaps the mascots given to us by the schoolkids are indeed lucky charms!

Although our leader has just told us that the closer we get to Santiago de Compostela there is an 80% chance of rain….

During the Caminho’s heyday in the 12th & 13thC, pilgrims would continue westwards to the shores of Finisterre (the end of the earth) to collect scallop shells as physical proof, and a souvenir, of having completed their pilgrimage, the lines on the shells reminding them of the rays of the setting sun and the different caminhos all leading to Santiago de Compostela.

Todays modern pilgrims can collect their shells along the route which can come in very useful if, like us, you have forgotten to bring a spoon for your yoghurt or a cup to scoop up water.

You cannot help but notice that you see no returning pilgrims – they are all going in one direction only. Just a thought, when they reach Finisterre do they drop off the end of the earth – in ecstasy.

Rotary Clube de Silves