Stags Historian honoured by Mansfield Rotary

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Paul Taylor, the President of the Stags Supporters Association, and the Official Historian of the Stags for the past 25 years, was honoured on Tuesday night at Mansfield Rotary’s meeting held at Portland College. The award of a Paul Harris Fellowship was made following a talk he gave on the history of the Stags between the period 1980 to 2000. The talk was the fourth that Paul had given to Mansfield Rotary spread across the past 18 months, beginning with the Stags origins in 1897. 

 Those present were once again amazed at Paul’s encyclopedic recall of matches, goal scorers, players, and officials. His record keeping is astonishing and eventually he will present all his records to Mansfield Museum for the benefit of everyone with an interest in the Stags history. 

NOTE:

Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary in Chicago, Illinois, USA in 1905 and Paul Harris Fellowship awards are made by Rotary to citizens who have given exceptional service to their local community.

Picture shows Rotary President Paul Bacon presenting Paul Taylor with a Paul Harris Fellowship award.

When George Nelson and Russ Davis announced, they were going to row the Atlantic to raise funds for local dementia charities, Mansfield Rotary were amongst the first to donate to the pair. Last year on 25th April George came to a Mansfield Rotary meeting and spoke about the journey that was to start later that year.

Once the row began on December 1st last year, members of Mansfield Rotary along with hundreds of other local people, began following their epic journey via the Oar Blimey website and the regular updates that George & Russ made available via the local media and the Oar Blimey website and social platforms.

This Tuesday, 9 April, George kept a promise he made back in April 2023 and came back to Mansfield Rotary, together with his wife Linda to talk about the incredible journey that was completed last month. George spoke with great energy and enthusiasm and at times raw emotion as he recalled the amazing experience which he illustrated with photos.

In acknowledgement of an incredible achievement and to further support local dementia charities Mansfield Rotary President Paul Bacon, on behalf of its members, presented Oar Blimey with a cheque for £1000 which George accepted to add to the money being raised for Our Dementia Choir and Ladybrook Enterprises.

Picture shows George Nelson, left, receiving a cheque from Rotary President Paul Bacon.

More information and further comment is available from George Nelson at george.nelson@sky.com and Paul Bacon at chestnuts@ntlworld.com