Ex-Mayor's delight at Indian stage opportunity

The ‘amazing experience’ for Karen came at the Rotary Idol International Singing Competition in Bangalore following a phone invitation out of the blue from the her husband Howard’s local Rotary colleague Dr Kabada Vasudev.

Knowing Karen was a lifelong keen singer and was ex-member of Lytham Operatics, Dr Vasudev suggested she might consider travelling over to take part in the contest.

“At first, I thought it was a joke, but he assured me he was serious,” said Karen.

“I decided to go after learning that the theme of the contest was ‘Sing for Rotary – Sing for Peace’, which I thought nicely complemented the Peace Gathering and Peace Pole at AKS School I organised when I was mayor of St Annes.

“During the visit, we were guests at an Indian wedding and attended Rotary and Inner Wheel meetings.”

Around 70 other contestants took part in the contest’s qualifying rounds and Karen was placed third overall, singing If I Ruled the World.

“The final took place on an outdoor stage, in front of several thousand Rotarians and their guests,” said Karen.

“The Idol title was awarded to a young Indian lady singing a Hindi song but I was delighted to given a special trophy for the ‘Voice for Peace’ together with a memento bar of Rotary silver.

"The hospitality and kindness of the Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs was fantastic and the whole experience was amazing.”