POPULAR Tavistock Rotary Club member Peter Barron, of Whitchurch, has received the highest honour possible at club level for his Rotary work — the Paul Harris Fellowship.

A partner in the firm of Roland Bailey florists, Mr Barron, 70, last year organised the successful Yanomamo musical at Tavistock College, involving Benjamin Luxon, Valerie Hoppe, the children of 18 schools, their tutors and many helpers.

It was the culmination of many years of Rotary service for Peter, who was president of the Tavistock club in 1979, Yanomamo — so named after a tribe which lives in the Brazilian rain forest — was an ambitious project for the club. It involved Peter in 12 months of planning, supported in his endeavours by his wife, Jill. Rehearsals were held in all the schools in the run-up to the event.

No building in Tavistock was large enough for the musical so the choirs of the 18 schools were split into two massed choirs and two separate performances were given on the same day. More than 1,200 people were involved.

The target was to raise £1,000 for the World Wide Fund for Nature. This was achieved comfortably and a further £2,000 was raised for various Rotary charities. The event, the brainchild of former Rotarian Monty Shulberg, also furthered Rotary's other stated aims. A community-based project involving young people, it also fostered international understanding.

Mr Barron, who became a Rotarian in 1971, is one of only four Tavistock Rotarians to be awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship since the club's inception in 1946. The others were Dennis Carr, the late Cyril Jephcott and the late John Barker.

Paul Harris founded the Rotary movement in America in 1905, and the award acknowledges a contribution by the Tavistock club of $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation for international Rotary projects, the most high profile of these being the Polio Plus Campaign, designed to eradicate the disease worldwide.

When presented with the award at the Bedford Hotel by President Frank Lawrence, Mr Barron was taken by surprise. Speaking later, he said: 'I knew absolutely nothing. I feel privileged. It is an honour I really didn't expect.'