7/9/25
Background: It is a small world - while visiting the UK this past February, Club member Kathy Zavaleta attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Leicester where she first met Rodney & Pam Spokes. Lo and behold, the Spokes have family in Wheaton, and this led to an invitation for them to attend one of our breakfast meetings. Leicester is located 90 miles north of London in England’s East Midlands region.
Their presentation was divided into two distinct topics:
The Rotary Club of Leicester: The local community in Leicester has benefitted greatly from the activities of the club with recent projects including collections for families facing food poverty, support for the elderly, and educational projects. Particularly interesting is their annual Technology Tournament at which teams from local secondary schools participate in a day long design/build competition. (https://rotary-leicester.org.uk/) (https://www.facebook.com/TheRotaryClubOfLeicester/)
Richard III/The Lost King: In 2012, Philippa Langley, an amateur historian, defied academic skepticism to locate the king's lost grave beneath a parking lot in Leicester. Leicester has a long history extending into ancient times. It became an important town, and the meeting place of the parliaments of 1318, 1414 and and 1450, and was frequently visited by the King and his court. Most famously King Richard III spent his last days in the town before his death at the Battle of Bosworth and was buried there in August 1485. Leicester Cathedral, where Richard III was reinterred in 2015, has stood at the city’s heart for over 900 years. Close by, the King Richard III Visitor Centre tells the story of the king’s life and death and displays his original burial site.
https://www.thelostking.movie/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-lost-king-dramatizes-the-search-for-richard-iiis-remains-the-monarchs-life-was-even-more-sensational-180981856/
