Speaker Alister Morrison

Rotary club of Stirling meeting of 25/1/19

President Sandy Farquharson welcomed members to our Friday meeting.  Arrangements for the final of the Primary school quiz on 27th April at the university of Stirling are in hand, and we plan a fund-raising wine tasting at the Smith in May.

Our speaker Rotarian Alister Morrison only recently joined the Stirling club but has been a Rotarian for 28 years in various other clubs where his work has taken him. Alister started on £3 per week as a gardener at Touch before rising to £3.50 plus a free suit working with RR Henderson the outfitters in Friar Street. With suits generally costing £10 to £15, Henderson’s was rather upmarket, their suits retailing at 18 guineas. To try to keep him his pay was raised to £15 per week, but it had been suggested that, with his obvious skills as a salesman, he should move into insurance, which is what he did for most of the rest of his working life, moving to a new house eight times and in the end being responsible for 600 salesmen. After his retirement he was persuaded to take up a position organising upmarket golf events which he did for a further seven years. He had a number of hobbies, pursued with great enthusiasm, including golf, squash and motor cycle racing. Alister's work was always carried out with great attention to detail, knowing his staff and looking after them, which produced productive outcomes for his employers.

Next week's meeting is a fellowship meeting, visitor's host, Derek Anderson.

Ian Richardson