King Charles 111 sends ‘his heartfelt congratulations and warmest good wishes to you all for a most enjoyable celebration’
Saffron Walden Rotary recently marked its centennial with a dinner at Saffron Walden Golf Club. A congratulatory letter from the President of Rotary worldwide was read out and a framed Centennial Certificate presented to Saffron Walden President Andrew Burton.
No doubt many people are unaware of nurseryman Carl Engelmann’s contribution in founding the Club in 1925 or, indeed his involvement in the Town as a benefactor & councillor. It was in 1924 that Carl Gustav Engelmann played a leading role in the formation of the Club in Saffron Walden, which was one of the first to be formed in the UK. The club held early meetings at the Flora Club, and Engelmann became their first president in 1925, having previously been appointed their interim president.
Apart from running Engelmann’s nursery, Carl had an active public life and took a great interest in local affairs in and around Saffron Walden, where he served as a borough councillor. He is credited with starting to grow daffodils on roadside verges and planting flowering cherries on new housing areas. Around 1913-14 he was involved with the Boys British School who were organising a carnation competition and a window-box competition for adults. He also served as a governor of Saffron Walden Grammar School and was instrumental in the revival of the Saffron Walden Horticultural Society in 1923 and presented a silver challenge cup. On show days he had his own stand of carnations and always opened his nursery as well. In 1919 he provided his staff with a social club at 22 Church Street, Saffron Walden, saying at the opening that ‘a large business depends upon the comfort and contentment of the staff and a close relationship between employer and employed – workers need pleasure, recreation and rest’.
Another of Engelmann’s firsts was the introduction in this country of a new service for customers, ‘Flowers by Wire – which girdles the earth and knows no frontiers’, the forerunner of Inter-Flora and the catch-phrase, ‘Say it with flowers’. Carl was an early member of the British Telegraph Delivery Association, becoming its president in 1924-25. Full details of Carl Engelman’s story can be seen here
For the 100th anniversary, the toast to the club was made by the Mayor Deryk Eke who thanked Rotarians for all they do in support of the local community. He concluded by congratulating Rotary on its ‘massive achievements’ and by reading a letter from the King’s Secretary in which King Charles lll sent ‘his heartfelt congratulations and warmest good wishes to you all for a most enjoyable celebration’.