Our man Charlie

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I have not come here to bury the man, but to praise him.”

I usually use this forum to vent, to verbalize what’s bothering me, but today I will not berate but applaud.

On this page, I would like to pay a timely homage to one of the nicest and hardest working member of our club.
His name is Charlie. I don’t have to say more. Everybody knows who he is.

Charlie is a humble fellow. Unlike some blowhards, he will never toot his own horn and that’s why I will blow my own on his behalf.

Charlie is the type of guy who, upon noticing that something needs fixing, will mend it… quietly. He doesn’t wait for anybody to mention the problem. He just rolls up his sleeves and goes to work.
He has been part of almost every renovation project that the club has sponsored.

Charlie is not a youngster anymore, but “aux âmes bien nées, la valeur (n’attend point) ne tient pas compte du nombre des années. »

I really didn’t have to quote paraphrase Corneille and Shakespeare to buttress my case, but it seems to be the fitting thing to do.

Charlie is a multi-talented fellow. Besides his many aptitudes, he is also ambidextrous (something I am jealous of).
During a pétanque game, if the right hand doesn’t seem to perform properly he can switch to playing with his left hand to get better results.
It is an unfair advantage, but by golly, if you have got it, flaunt it!

Charlie is also a good-humored fellow who can appreciate a good (or bad) joke such as this one:

A thief in Paris planned to steal some paintings from the Louvre.
After carefully consideration, he got past security, stole the paintings and made it safely to his van.
However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied:
“Monsieur, that’s the reason I stole the paintings. I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh.”
Corny? Of course, but life is short. Enjoy it every chance you get.

Thank you for everything you did for the club Charlie. We appreciate it!
Ò (quiò) merci hero!

Alain